AFTER JOHN CHEERE, POSSIBLY MID-18TH CENTURY

The serpentine form of the present bracket of Apollo, the sun deity and lyre-bearing leader of the muses, is conceived in the French 'picturesque' fashion popularised by the French sculptors Jacques Caffieri (d. 1755) and Charles Cressent (d. 1768). The design is attributed to the sculptor John Cheere (d. 1787), who is known for his work supplied in lead and plaster. Cheere is credited with the manufacture of related brackets supplied for Kirkleatham Hall, Yorkshire. The poetic pattern for this pair of 'Brackets for Bustos' is likely to have been invented for the 'Cabinet Room' at Felbrigg, Norfolk, which was designed for William Windham in the 1750s by the architect James Paine (d. 1789). A bracket of Apollo of the same model, paired with a figure of Fame, was sold from the collection of Callaly Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, Christie's, 22-24 September 1986, lot 114, and then subsequently from The Collection of Christopher Gibbs, The Manor House, Clifton Hampden, Christie's, 25-26 September 2000, lot 365 (£11,000 including premium).