ITALIAN, AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA, 17TH CENTURY

Details

A RED WAX MODEL OF VENUS AND CUPID
ITALIAN, AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA, 17TH CENTURY
Venus depicted resting her leg on a tripartite base and removing a thorn from her foot, while Cupid stands by her side; on a later spreading, panelled ormolu base decorated in relief with garlands and key-lock patterns; repairs to the wax
5 in. (12.7 cm.) high; 8¾ in. (22.3 cm.) high, overall

Provenance

Sir Thomas Lawrence; his sale, Christie's, London, 19 June 1830, lot 353.
Purchased from the above sale for Richard Ford (1796-1856) by Colnaghi.
Thence by descent to Sir Brinsley Ford.
Given by the above to David Villiers by whom bequeathed back to Sir Brinsley Ford

Literature

'The Ford Collection', The Walpole Society, 1998, no. RF118, p. 78.
COMAPRATIVE LITERATURE:
N. Penny, Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum 1540 to the Present Day, Oxford, 1992, Vol. I, pp. 60-1, no. 46

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The present wax model of Venus Removing a Thorn from her foot with Cupid beside her is virtually identical in size and composition to a very closely related group in bronze in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Penny, loc. cit.). Considering the fact that the present lot is not hand modelled and is also a hollow cast, it might perhaps have been a preparatory model for a bronze, additional examples of which can be found in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (ibid).

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