THE TERRACOTTA UPRIGHTS FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY, THE MARBLE ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED

Details

A NEOCLASSICAL TERRACOTTA AND VERT DE MER MARBLE CONSOLE
THE TERRACOTTA UPRIGHTS FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY, THE MARBLE ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED
With a rectangular vert de mer marble rest supported by seated griffins headed by rosettes, the uprights probably originally bronzed
45 in. (114.5 cm.) high, 77 in. (195.5 cm.) wide, 17 in. (43 cm.) deep

Provenance

Anonymous Sale (The Property of a Private Collector); Christie's, New York, 25 May 1993, lot 83 ($25,300).

Special notice

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Victoria Tudor

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Lot Essay

The à l’antique terracotta griffin supports of this console show signs of having been previously painted to imitate bronze, and it is therefore fascinating to note that the sons of the celebrated designer and engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Francesco and Pietro Piranesi, established a manufactory in Morfontaine in Northeastern France creating‘antique’ terracotta wares which included ‘cariatides’ and ‘chimères bronzées’ which must have been similar in spirit to the uprights on this console (see Athenaeum ou Galerie Française des Productions de Tous les Arts, Paris, 1806, p. 5; information kindly supplied by Dr. Ulrich Leben).

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