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Lot Essay
Grand in scale and supremely regal, these magnificent busts of Nelusko and Selika are among the finest examples of polychrome sculpture created in the second half of the 19th century. First employed in Antiquity, this sculptural technique of combining rare stones and metals to create rich representations of the human form resulted in figures rendered vividly life-like by the contrasting hues of the materials. It was especially prized by 19th century sculptors, including Luigi Pagani, whose busts are a fine manifestation of the grandeur of the era.
The present sculptures represent two of the central characters in an opera first performed in Paris in 1865: ‘L’Africaine’ written by Eugène Scribe, with score by Giacomo Meyerbeer. In this opera – centred on the life of Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama – Nelusko, a chieftan, and Selika, a princess, are brought back to the Portuguese court by the explorer as evidence of a newly discovered, exotic land in the East. In a plot rife with intrigue, Selika attempts to marry da Gama but is ultimately prevented from doing so when Inez, da Gama’s former love, dramatically re-appears at the opera’s climax. As a result, the desolate Selika commits suicide by inhaling the vapours of deadly flowers, and is followed shortly thereafter by Nelusko, who had long pined for her. Noted for its headlining performances and spectacular scenery, the Paris production was quickly followed by openings in Britain and the United States later that same year.
Faithful to their librettist precedent, Pagani’s busts represent two resolute figures of remarkable nobility, dressed in the regal splendour of elaborate crowns, exotic jewels and exquisitely carved capes. Their finely detailed visages in bronze are splendidly offset by the gleaming white marble plumes of their headdresses and tumbling draperies. While Pagani’s sculptures reflect the great popularity of the opera – no doubt one of the grandest productions of its day – they also manifest a trend amongst contemporary sculptors who created so-called 'ethnographic’ portraits of figures from non-Western lands.
Chief among these sculptors was the Frenchman, Charles Henri Joseph Cordier (1827-1905) who created a celebrated series of ethnographic busts including Nègre du Soudan (circa 1856-1857) and Capresse des colonies (1861), which beautifully combine bronze with richly veined onyx. Today these are in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris (RF 2997 and RF 2996, respectively). A further bust by Cordier in the Musée d’Orsay, Arabe d’El Aghouat en burnous, depicts a veiled figure with a finely detailed bronze visage surrounded entirely by thick folds of drapery rendered in white onyx (RF 3598). Cordier’s bust was shown at the Salon of 1857 and, in many ways, presages the present busts, particularly Nelusko.
Sculptors in Italy created works in this vein including Pagani’s contemporary, Pietro Calvi (1833-1884) who also trained at the Accademia di Brera and lived on the same street in Milan (C. Sharpe, 'El escultor Pietro Calvi (1833-1884): El Otelo y otros bustos polícromos,’ Copia e invención, Valladolid, 14-16 February 2013, p. 537). Early in his career, Calvi visited Paris during the 1857 Salon where he may have seen Cordier’s Arabe d’el Aghouat en burnous which could have inspired his polychrome bust of Othello, produced shortly thereafter (C. Sharpe, op. cit. p. 533). With its finely detailed bronze elements and richly carved stone draperies, Calvi’s Othello is also closely related to the present busts by Pagani.
Calvi also created a polychrome figure representing Selika clutching a flower in the moments before her suicide, which was exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1872. Based on the similarities between the two busts, Sharpe has suggested that both Calvi and Pagani may have been inspired by the same model in their representations of Selika (C. Sharpe, op. cit., p. 538, illustrated fig. 4, p. 544). This would thereby establish a connection between the œuvres of Calvi, Pagani and Cordier, linking the preeminent French sculptor in this artistic vein with his Italian confrères.
Pagani’s Nelusko and Selika were first shown in 1872 at the Royal Academy in London (nos. 1509-10). Owing to the dating on the present busts (1871), they are almost certainly those displayed at the Royal Academy. A pair of busts was also shown at the Exposicion de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1878 and at the Promotrice di Belle Arti in Torino in 1880. Today, in addition to the present lot, two further pairs of busts are known: the first in the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth, formerly ascribed to Calvi but today attributed to Pagani (SC20 and SC22); and the second, thought to have been presented by the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, to the Krupps family, Glensanda House, Rhyl, later sold Christie’s, London, 3 April 1985, lot 246. A single bust of Selika sold Bonhams, London, 5 July 2012, lot 157 (£97,250). That none of the other known busts are dated further reinforces the likelihood that the present pair were the first created and, therefore, the first to be publically exhibited in London in 1872.
Luigi Pagani was born in Bergamo and, after an initial formation in the Accademia di Brera in Milan, won the institution’s sculpture competition with his Gesù nel-orto (Jesus in the garden). Pagani would go on to complete a number of ecclesiastical sculptures including Via crucis (The Way of the Cross) for the Duomo in Bergamo and, from the early 1860s forward, showed regularly at the great art exhibitions of the period both in Italy and abroad. As the present pair of busts suggests, one of the artist’s greatest strengths was his work in the field of polychrome sculpture. Evocative of both the period’s interest in non-Western lands and the combination of fine and rare materials, these busts are exemplary of 19th century sculpture and a fine manifestation of the luxurious and eccentric taste of the time.
The present sculptures represent two of the central characters in an opera first performed in Paris in 1865: ‘L’Africaine’ written by Eugène Scribe, with score by Giacomo Meyerbeer. In this opera – centred on the life of Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama – Nelusko, a chieftan, and Selika, a princess, are brought back to the Portuguese court by the explorer as evidence of a newly discovered, exotic land in the East. In a plot rife with intrigue, Selika attempts to marry da Gama but is ultimately prevented from doing so when Inez, da Gama’s former love, dramatically re-appears at the opera’s climax. As a result, the desolate Selika commits suicide by inhaling the vapours of deadly flowers, and is followed shortly thereafter by Nelusko, who had long pined for her. Noted for its headlining performances and spectacular scenery, the Paris production was quickly followed by openings in Britain and the United States later that same year.
Faithful to their librettist precedent, Pagani’s busts represent two resolute figures of remarkable nobility, dressed in the regal splendour of elaborate crowns, exotic jewels and exquisitely carved capes. Their finely detailed visages in bronze are splendidly offset by the gleaming white marble plumes of their headdresses and tumbling draperies. While Pagani’s sculptures reflect the great popularity of the opera – no doubt one of the grandest productions of its day – they also manifest a trend amongst contemporary sculptors who created so-called 'ethnographic’ portraits of figures from non-Western lands.
Chief among these sculptors was the Frenchman, Charles Henri Joseph Cordier (1827-1905) who created a celebrated series of ethnographic busts including Nègre du Soudan (circa 1856-1857) and Capresse des colonies (1861), which beautifully combine bronze with richly veined onyx. Today these are in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris (RF 2997 and RF 2996, respectively). A further bust by Cordier in the Musée d’Orsay, Arabe d’El Aghouat en burnous, depicts a veiled figure with a finely detailed bronze visage surrounded entirely by thick folds of drapery rendered in white onyx (RF 3598). Cordier’s bust was shown at the Salon of 1857 and, in many ways, presages the present busts, particularly Nelusko.
Sculptors in Italy created works in this vein including Pagani’s contemporary, Pietro Calvi (1833-1884) who also trained at the Accademia di Brera and lived on the same street in Milan (C. Sharpe, 'El escultor Pietro Calvi (1833-1884): El Otelo y otros bustos polícromos,’ Copia e invención, Valladolid, 14-16 February 2013, p. 537). Early in his career, Calvi visited Paris during the 1857 Salon where he may have seen Cordier’s Arabe d’el Aghouat en burnous which could have inspired his polychrome bust of Othello, produced shortly thereafter (C. Sharpe, op. cit. p. 533). With its finely detailed bronze elements and richly carved stone draperies, Calvi’s Othello is also closely related to the present busts by Pagani.
Calvi also created a polychrome figure representing Selika clutching a flower in the moments before her suicide, which was exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1872. Based on the similarities between the two busts, Sharpe has suggested that both Calvi and Pagani may have been inspired by the same model in their representations of Selika (C. Sharpe, op. cit., p. 538, illustrated fig. 4, p. 544). This would thereby establish a connection between the œuvres of Calvi, Pagani and Cordier, linking the preeminent French sculptor in this artistic vein with his Italian confrères.
Pagani’s Nelusko and Selika were first shown in 1872 at the Royal Academy in London (nos. 1509-10). Owing to the dating on the present busts (1871), they are almost certainly those displayed at the Royal Academy. A pair of busts was also shown at the Exposicion de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1878 and at the Promotrice di Belle Arti in Torino in 1880. Today, in addition to the present lot, two further pairs of busts are known: the first in the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth, formerly ascribed to Calvi but today attributed to Pagani (SC20 and SC22); and the second, thought to have been presented by the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, to the Krupps family, Glensanda House, Rhyl, later sold Christie’s, London, 3 April 1985, lot 246. A single bust of Selika sold Bonhams, London, 5 July 2012, lot 157 (£97,250). That none of the other known busts are dated further reinforces the likelihood that the present pair were the first created and, therefore, the first to be publically exhibited in London in 1872.
Luigi Pagani was born in Bergamo and, after an initial formation in the Accademia di Brera in Milan, won the institution’s sculpture competition with his Gesù nel-orto (Jesus in the garden). Pagani would go on to complete a number of ecclesiastical sculptures including Via crucis (The Way of the Cross) for the Duomo in Bergamo and, from the early 1860s forward, showed regularly at the great art exhibitions of the period both in Italy and abroad. As the present pair of busts suggests, one of the artist’s greatest strengths was his work in the field of polychrome sculpture. Evocative of both the period’s interest in non-Western lands and the combination of fine and rare materials, these busts are exemplary of 19th century sculpture and a fine manifestation of the luxurious and eccentric taste of the time.