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Lot Essay
The compositions of these beautifully executed reliefs are taken from a series of seven plaquettes attributed to Guglielmo della Porta. They depict scenes from Ovid's Metamorphosis, and are often said to represent ambition or pride being humbled. The series was very popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, and was reproduced in bronze, porcelain and ivory (for a discussion of the series see Ucella, loc. cit.). In the Massacre of the Niobids, Niobe's children are slaughtered by Apollo and Diana, and Niobe herself is turned to stone for boasting of her superiority over Latona. The Battle of the Gods and Giants occurred when the giants attempted to climb to the heavens and overthrow Jupiter. They were struck down by Jupiter's thunderbolts.
Giovanni Battista Pozzi trained under the medallist Hamerani and spent his working life in Rome. He seems to have specialised particularly in small ivories after antique subjects, no doubt in order to capitalise on the influx of visitors to Italy on the grand tour. The attribution of the present reliefs to Pozzi is based on its stylisitic similarity to a relief of Diana and Callisto, formerly in the collection of the Duke of Portland, at Welbeck Abbey (illustrated in Theuerkauff, loc. cit.). A bill of 1725/26 exists for the purchase of that relief, where it is described as 'by Pozzo - the finest he ever did'. Also from the Portland collection are ivory reliefs of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt 'by D[itt]o' and two other oval reliefs from the same hand, one of which, depicting the Farnese Flora, is signed 'G.P.'. Furthermore, a set of four ivory reliefs, including two examples almost identical to the present lot, were sold in London (Sotheby's, 4 July 1991, lot 341) with an attribution to Pozzi.
Although no document is known to exist which proves the exact date of acquisition of the present ivories, it is likely that they were purchased by George Parker, later 2nd Earl of Macclesfield. Parker did the Grand Tour between 1719 and 1722, and is known to have commissioned important works of art including large bronzes after the antique from the workshop of Soldani. It is highly likely that he also bought the present ivories during his stay in Rome in 1721, the year in which his father was made Earl of Macclesfield and he himself became Viscount Parker.
Giovanni Battista Pozzi trained under the medallist Hamerani and spent his working life in Rome. He seems to have specialised particularly in small ivories after antique subjects, no doubt in order to capitalise on the influx of visitors to Italy on the grand tour. The attribution of the present reliefs to Pozzi is based on its stylisitic similarity to a relief of Diana and Callisto, formerly in the collection of the Duke of Portland, at Welbeck Abbey (illustrated in Theuerkauff, loc. cit.). A bill of 1725/26 exists for the purchase of that relief, where it is described as 'by Pozzo - the finest he ever did'. Also from the Portland collection are ivory reliefs of The Rest on the Flight into Egypt 'by D[itt]o' and two other oval reliefs from the same hand, one of which, depicting the Farnese Flora, is signed 'G.P.'. Furthermore, a set of four ivory reliefs, including two examples almost identical to the present lot, were sold in London (Sotheby's, 4 July 1991, lot 341) with an attribution to Pozzi.
Although no document is known to exist which proves the exact date of acquisition of the present ivories, it is likely that they were purchased by George Parker, later 2nd Earl of Macclesfield. Parker did the Grand Tour between 1719 and 1722, and is known to have commissioned important works of art including large bronzes after the antique from the workshop of Soldani. It is highly likely that he also bought the present ivories during his stay in Rome in 1721, the year in which his father was made Earl of Macclesfield and he himself became Viscount Parker.