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Lot Essay
THE ATTRIBUTION
These fierce terracotta groups, so redolent of the drama of the hunt, are clearly the work of the celebrated Schwanthaler family of Austria, and Johann Georg, in particular. In the collection of the Kremsmünster Benedictine Abbey there is an almost identical group of a bear being attacked by four hounds -- the only noticeable difference being the hound under the bear is in a slightly different position (illustrated in Die Bildhauerfamilie Schwanthaler 1633-1848: Vom Barock zum Klassizismus, exh. cat., Augustinerchorherrenstift Reichersberg am Inn, 3 May - 13 October, 1974, no 239).
THE PROVENANCE
Castle Upton, in the village of Templepatrick, Northern Ireland, was originally built by Sir Robert Norton in 1611. Robert Adam was appointed by Upton's descendents, the Viscounts Templeton, to make various additions. Adam extended the house by adding apartments for the 1st Lord Templeton in 1783, he added stables for his son, the 2nd Viscount in 1788, and built the classical Templeton Mausoleum in the form of a triumphal arch, which is now owned by the National Trust. The 2nd Baron, and later 1st Viscount Templetown, Henry Montagu Upton (1799-1863) succeeded his father as Viscount in 1846. He never married, so when he passed, he was succeeded by his brother, George Frederick, as the 3rd Viscount.
These fierce terracotta groups, so redolent of the drama of the hunt, are clearly the work of the celebrated Schwanthaler family of Austria, and Johann Georg, in particular. In the collection of the Kremsmünster Benedictine Abbey there is an almost identical group of a bear being attacked by four hounds -- the only noticeable difference being the hound under the bear is in a slightly different position (illustrated in Die Bildhauerfamilie Schwanthaler 1633-1848: Vom Barock zum Klassizismus, exh. cat., Augustinerchorherrenstift Reichersberg am Inn, 3 May - 13 October, 1974, no 239).
THE PROVENANCE
Castle Upton, in the village of Templepatrick, Northern Ireland, was originally built by Sir Robert Norton in 1611. Robert Adam was appointed by Upton's descendents, the Viscounts Templeton, to make various additions. Adam extended the house by adding apartments for the 1st Lord Templeton in 1783, he added stables for his son, the 2nd Viscount in 1788, and built the classical Templeton Mausoleum in the form of a triumphal arch, which is now owned by the National Trust. The 2nd Baron, and later 1st Viscount Templetown, Henry Montagu Upton (1799-1863) succeeded his father as Viscount in 1846. He never married, so when he passed, he was succeeded by his brother, George Frederick, as the 3rd Viscount.