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Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
C. Avery and K. Watson, "Medici and Stuart: a Grand Ducal gift of 'Giovanni Bologna' bronzes for Henry Prince of Wales (1612)," The Burlington Magazine, CXV, 1973, pp. 493-507.
C. Avery and A. Radcliffe, eds., Giambologna: Sculptor to the Medici, London, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1978, nos. 135-8.
N. Penny, Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum 1540 to the Present Day, Oxford, 1992, I, no. 44.
C. Avery and M. Hall, Giambologna: An Exhibition of Sculpture by the Master and his Followers from the Collection of Michael Hall, Esq., Salander O'Reilly Galleries, New York, 1998, no. 52.
V. Avery, ed., Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Fitzwilliam Museum, London, p. 307, no. 4.
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 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 (Avery, 1998, loc. cit.) and another that was sold Christie's, London, 7 July 2005, lot 437. Although no two bronzes are absolutely identical, each have unquestionable Susini trademarks: crisply modeled 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.
C. Avery and K. Watson, "Medici and Stuart: a Grand Ducal gift of 'Giovanni Bologna' bronzes for Henry Prince of Wales (1612)," The Burlington Magazine, CXV, 1973, pp. 493-507.
C. Avery and A. Radcliffe, eds., Giambologna: Sculptor to the Medici, London, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1978, nos. 135-8.
N. Penny, Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum 1540 to the Present Day, Oxford, 1992, I, no. 44.
C. Avery and M. Hall, Giambologna: An Exhibition of Sculpture by the Master and his Followers from the Collection of Michael Hall, Esq., Salander O'Reilly Galleries, New York, 1998, no. 52.
V. Avery, ed., Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Fitzwilliam Museum, London, p. 307, no. 4.
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 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 (Avery, 1998, loc. cit.) and another that was sold Christie's, London, 7 July 2005, lot 437. Although no two bronzes are absolutely identical, each have unquestionable Susini trademarks: crisply modeled 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.