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拍品專文
The iconography is derived from the kriophoros ("ram-bearer") cult figures of Greek antiquity; the best-known example of this type is the moschophoros ("calf-bearer") from around 560 BCE, found on the Athenian Acropolis in 1864. The pose was adopted into Christian art in St. Christopher Carrying the Christ Child and later in 18th century France by Clodion and Jean-Joseph Foucou in his Bacchante portant un Satyre enfant in the Louvre (see J.-R. Gaborit, ed., Sculpture Française II - Renaissance et temps modernes, I, Paris, 1998, no. LL 39, p. 378).
The composition lent itself naturally to the vogue during Second Empire France for figural candelabra or torchères. It was adopted by bronziers and fondeurs who often engaged prestigious sculptors of the time to model lifesize figures supporting candelabra or lamps. The figures are often of loosely robed nymphs or putti of neoclassical appearance standing, or as herms atop pedestals. The Val d'Osne foundry produced garden figures of this type predominantly in cast-iron, whilst firms such as Barbedienne and Christofle made them in bronze and electroplate for interior use - see the monumental figural torchères sculpted by Carrier-Belleuse which flank the Grand Stairway at the Opéra Garnier, Paris. As here, the most magnificent torchères have figures of Carrera marble combined with vivid polychrome marbles bases and embellished with gilt-bronze mounts. Compare:
- A pair of important French life-size marble figural torchères by Eugène Delaplanche, dated 1885, with ormolu mounts by Christofle, sold 'Le Grand Goût- A Private European Collection', Christie's, London, 17 June 2009, lot 150 (£325,250).
- A pair of French ormolu-mounted bleu turquin and white marble twelve-light candelabra, by Alfred Beurdeley, circa 1880, sold 'The Wildenstein Collection', Christie's, London, 14-15 December 2005, lot 103 (£265,600).
Although the sculptor/maker of the present figures is unknown, the exquisite quality of the carving of the herm figures coupled with the luxuriant ormolu-mounted red marble pedestals dates them to the last quarter of the 19th century and shows the hand of a masterful sculpteur-statuaire. The model was at some point sufficiently documented to inspire the New York firm of Edward F. Caldwell to produce closely related torchères in the early 20th century, a pair of which (also lacking their candelabra) sold Christie's, New York, 18-19 April 2012, lot 413.
The provenance traces them back in the present owner's family to the Belvedere Hotel in Sydney which was sadly demolished in 1969 to make way for the Kings Cross tunnel and expressway. The prestigious Belvedere hotel evoked the belle époque and played host to stars such as Maurice Chevalier, Yehudi Menuhin and Margot Fonteyn, among many others. It is not known how the figures came to Australia. They could have been bought in Europe directly by a wealthy Australian collector or, another possibility, is that they were displayed at the Sydney or Melbourne International Exhibitions of 1879 and 1880.
The composition lent itself naturally to the vogue during Second Empire France for figural candelabra or torchères. It was adopted by bronziers and fondeurs who often engaged prestigious sculptors of the time to model lifesize figures supporting candelabra or lamps. The figures are often of loosely robed nymphs or putti of neoclassical appearance standing, or as herms atop pedestals. The Val d'Osne foundry produced garden figures of this type predominantly in cast-iron, whilst firms such as Barbedienne and Christofle made them in bronze and electroplate for interior use - see the monumental figural torchères sculpted by Carrier-Belleuse which flank the Grand Stairway at the Opéra Garnier, Paris. As here, the most magnificent torchères have figures of Carrera marble combined with vivid polychrome marbles bases and embellished with gilt-bronze mounts. Compare:
- A pair of important French life-size marble figural torchères by Eugène Delaplanche, dated 1885, with ormolu mounts by Christofle, sold 'Le Grand Goût- A Private European Collection', Christie's, London, 17 June 2009, lot 150 (£325,250).
- A pair of French ormolu-mounted bleu turquin and white marble twelve-light candelabra, by Alfred Beurdeley, circa 1880, sold 'The Wildenstein Collection', Christie's, London, 14-15 December 2005, lot 103 (£265,600).
Although the sculptor/maker of the present figures is unknown, the exquisite quality of the carving of the herm figures coupled with the luxuriant ormolu-mounted red marble pedestals dates them to the last quarter of the 19th century and shows the hand of a masterful sculpteur-statuaire. The model was at some point sufficiently documented to inspire the New York firm of Edward F. Caldwell to produce closely related torchères in the early 20th century, a pair of which (also lacking their candelabra) sold Christie's, New York, 18-19 April 2012, lot 413.
The provenance traces them back in the present owner's family to the Belvedere Hotel in Sydney which was sadly demolished in 1969 to make way for the Kings Cross tunnel and expressway. The prestigious Belvedere hotel evoked the belle époque and played host to stars such as Maurice Chevalier, Yehudi Menuhin and Margot Fonteyn, among many others. It is not known how the figures came to Australia. They could have been bought in Europe directly by a wealthy Australian collector or, another possibility, is that they were displayed at the Sydney or Melbourne International Exhibitions of 1879 and 1880.