NORTH ITALIAN, 16TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE OIL LAMP
NORTH ITALIAN, 16TH CENTURY
In the form of a pelican plucking at its breast; the bird's back transformed into two masks; on an integrally cast oval plinth decorated in relief on the underside with a further grotesque mask and inscribed in red with the inventory number '235'; blackish brown patina with warm medium brown high points
4 3/8 in. (11 cm.) high

Provenance

Purchased by Alfred Beit (1853-1906) by 1904.
Thence by descent to Lady (Clementine) Beit (1915-2005) by whom donated to the Alfred Beit Foundation in 2005.

Literature

W. Bode, The Art Collection of Mr. Alfred Beit at His Residence 26 Park Lane London, Berlin, 1904, as 'School of Riccio'.
W. Bode, Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures and Bronzes in the Possession of Mr. Otto Beit, London, 1913, p. 110, no. 235, as 'Workshop or School of Riccio'.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
L. Planiscig, Andrea Riccio, Vienna, 1927, pp. 378-379, fig. 474.
V. Krahn, Bronzetti Veneziani - Die venezianischen Kleinbronzen der Renaissance aus dem Bode-Museum Berlin, Berlin, 2003, pp. 104-107, no. 25.

Exhibited

London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, Catalogue of a Collection of Italian Sculpture and other Plastic Art of the Renaissance, 1913, pl. XL, no. 33.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Sale room notice

Please note that the foot of this bronze is stamped with the initials 'B M', which is the collector's mark of Baron Boissel de Monville (1763-1832).

Lot Essay

This oil lamp, which manages to integrate a pelican and three further grotesque masks, is known in numerous examples. In the past it has been attributed to the school of Riccio, not least because of the existence of an example in the Galleria Estense, Modena, which includes a female head which appears to be derived from Riccio della Torre's tomb in Verona (Krahn, op. cit.).

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