Lot Essay
This tiny wax modello is an amazing survival for such a fragile material, clearly indicating the esteem in which the figure has always been held. Modelled onto a wire armature for support (part of which can be seen protruding from the right ankle), the figure may represent the ongoing attempts of a sculptor trying to resolve some compositional difficulties. Considering its scale, however, it seems more likely that it is in fact a gold- or silversmith's model for a finial figure, destined to adorn the top of a covered tankard or nautilus cup. This would also account for the presence of the apparently original wooden socle, which has parallels (as a support) among exactly this sort of finial figure. A drawing of a salt-cellar in the form of a ship attributed to the school of Salviati (third quarter 16th century, illustrated in Hayward, op. cit., fig. 83) has a finial in the form of Neptune with a dolphin which is a relevant comparison.