VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buy… Read more

A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI WHITE AND BLUE-PAINTED PLASTER BAS RELIEFS IN GILTWOOD FRAMES

LATE 18TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI WHITE AND BLUE-PAINTED PLASTER BAS RELIEFS IN GILTWOOD FRAMES
Late 18th Century
Of rectangular shape, each panel simulating jasperware with raised decoration depicting a satyr approaching a reclining draped maiden, one panel with an eagle, the other with a putto attending the maiden, within an ebonised, carved and giltwood frame, the outer egg-and-dart frame contemporary but possibly associated
14 in. (36 cm) high; 32 in. (81 cm.) wide (2)

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

These trompe l'oeil bas reliefs depicts mythological revival scenes fashionable in the late 18th Century: the first panel depicts the nymph Antiope surprised by Jupiter in the guise of a satyr and accompanied by his eagle; the other shows Cupid attending as Venus is surprised by one of Pan's satyr companions. Both derive from Ovid's celebrated Métamorphoses.
They also attest the esprit libertin which inspired the foremost artists such as François Boucher (1703-1770) or Claude Michel known as Clodion (1738-1814). The latter executed for the hôtel de Bouret de Vézelay an impressive bas relief with related lustful mythological figures which is illustrated, Exhibition catalogue, Clodion, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1992, p. 181-187.

More from Important European Furniture, Sculpture and Carpets

View All