ATTRIBUTED TO ANTONIO OR GIANFRANCESCO SUSINI, CAST FROM A MODEL BY GIAMBOLOGNA, EARLY 17TH CENTURY

The earliest specific reference to the model of a seated Bagpiper, an example of which is offered here, is in a bill of lading of March 1611 recording bronze statuettes sent by the Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici to Prince Henry of Wales: 'uno Pastore che suona la piva' (a shepherd who plays the pipes, see Avery and Watson, op. cit.). Further down the list of the 1611 bill was another bronze of 'uno Pastore che s'appoggia a uno bastone' (a shepherd who leans on a crook) with which the latter bronze was almost certainly paired (see Avery and Radcliffe, op. cit., nos. 135 and 138 respectively). A similar pair of silver figures, presumably made by Giambologna, were loaned in 1601 to Antonio Susini by the Grand Duke who may have wanted further casts made.

A number of high quality casts of the Bagpiper, cast by Susini and his workshop, still survive, with the prime version almost certainly being the gilt-bronze model in the Bargello, Florence (ibid, no. 135). Other virtually identical, high quality, casts to the present bronze can also be found in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (V. Avery, loc. cit.), the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Michael Hall collection, New York (Avery, 1998, loc. cit.). Although no two bronzes are absolutely identical, each have unquestionable Susini trademarks: crisply modelled details, extremely fine filing across the surface, punch-work to the tree trunk and a rich brown patina with traces of a translucent reddish-gold brown lacquer.