Classical Busts , XVIII Century
A Pair of Classical Busts
(French, late 17th / early 18th century)
A pair of classical female busts carved from Pierre de Tonnerre, depicting two fragmentary female figures, each wearing classically inspired drapery.
Height: 50cm Width: 45cm
Provenance:
Château de Bacalan, Ludon-Médoc, France Galerie Sismann, Paris, 2010.
Carved from Pierre de Tonnerre, a fine- grained limestone from Burgundy prized for its pale colour, close texture and ability to take crisp sculptural detail, the busts reflect the French taste for classically inspired architectural sculpture that flourished under Louis XIV.
There is a particular beauty in their fragmentary, timeworn state, which gives the two figures a calm, almost ethereal presence with idealised features, softly worked drapery.
A useful contemporary comparison is found in the collection of Nicolas Fouquet, whose 1666 inventory (preserved in the MET museum) recorded fourteen life-size figures of gods and goddesses carved in Pierre de Tonnerre after celebrated Roman antiquities.
The group illustrates both the status of the material and the extent to which classical models informed French decorative sculpture in the later 17th century.
The present busts fit within the same tradition, while their provenance from Château de Bacalan supports a similar setting within an aristocratic architectural or garden scheme.
(French, late 17th / early 18th century)
A pair of classical female busts carved from Pierre de Tonnerre, depicting two fragmentary female figures, each wearing classically inspired drapery.
Height: 50cm Width: 45cm
Provenance:
Château de Bacalan, Ludon-Médoc, France Galerie Sismann, Paris, 2010.
Carved from Pierre de Tonnerre, a fine- grained limestone from Burgundy prized for its pale colour, close texture and ability to take crisp sculptural detail, the busts reflect the French taste for classically inspired architectural sculpture that flourished under Louis XIV.
There is a particular beauty in their fragmentary, timeworn state, which gives the two figures a calm, almost ethereal presence with idealised features, softly worked drapery.
A useful contemporary comparison is found in the collection of Nicolas Fouquet, whose 1666 inventory (preserved in the MET museum) recorded fourteen life-size figures of gods and goddesses carved in Pierre de Tonnerre after celebrated Roman antiquities.
The group illustrates both the status of the material and the extent to which classical models informed French decorative sculpture in the later 17th century.
The present busts fit within the same tradition, while their provenance from Château de Bacalan supports a similar setting within an aristocratic architectural or garden scheme.
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