Lot 174
174
A RECTANGULAR CARVED WALNUT RELIEF DEPICTING MOSES CROSSING THE RED SEA
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A RECTANGULAR CARVED WALNUT RELIEF DEPICTING MOSES CROSSING THE RED SEA

BY ANTOINE-MARIN MELOTTE (1722-1795), MID-18TH CENTURY

Details
A RECTANGULAR CARVED WALNUT RELIEF DEPICTING MOSES CROSSING THE RED SEA
BY ANTOINE-MARIN MELOTTE (1722-1795), MID-18TH CENTURY
Moses stands on a rocky crag to the centre of the scene pointing with his staff to the pursuing Egyptians, to the right are the saved Hebrews; inscribed to the bottom right corner 'PASSAGE DE LA MER ROUGE PAR A. MELOTTE STATUAIRE A. LIEGE; in a contemporary wood frame with a paper label to the reverse inscibed in ink '{Lord Lo....ale}'[Lonsdale?], and a further circular paper label to the reverse of the relief inscibed in ink '412 £ Vtr=z'; very minor worming
28 x 19½ in. (71 x 49.5 cm.); 30 5/8 x 22½ in. (77.8 x 57.2 cm.) the frame
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

A pupil of Simon Cognoulles, Antoine-Marin Melotte matriculated from the Guild of Carpenters at Liege in 1739 and by 1746 was described as a 'marchand sculpteur'. Like Cognoulles, his reliefs were often based on graphic compositions derived from print sources; among his favourite themes were the battles of Alexander the Great after the painter Le Brun, and, as is evident in the present lot, in similarly complex biblical stories.

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