The forthcoming auction of Fine Interiors, on 8th March, features a superb group of oil paintings, bronzes and works of art, from the early 18th century through to the late 19th century, and in advance of the auction we explore a selection.
————————————–
Circle of Michael Dahl (1659-1743), Portrait of a lady, oil on canvas, a three-quarter length work, depicts a lady in a rich orange silk gown, a light blue silk wrap is draped loosely over one shoulder and deep folds of the garment are arranged to her left. She sits in a landscape alongside an arrangement of carnations, one of which she holds in her right hand. Michael Dahl was perhaps the best internationally known Swedish painter of his era and he spent most of his life and career in England, his sitters included Queen Anne, Prince George of Denmark and the exiled Queen Christina of Sweden. Portrait of a Woman, by Michael Dahl, in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, shows a figural arrangement typical of Dahl, originally conceived as a three-quarter work it was later extended and is thought to date from 1700. Dahl also painted three-quarter portraits of three other ladies and as with the Metropolitan Museum portrait, all of these show a wall, a column and a cypress tree against the sky in the background – once Dahl formulated an agreeable composition he used it frequently. The setting for our lady is remarkably similar to that in Dahl’s Portrait of a Woman, as is the handling of her drapery and the flower arrangement; one glaring omission is the dog, sitting in the foreground of Dahl’s work, the canine companion here is believed to have been painted in by Dahl’s assistant.
The pair of mid 19th century French patinated bronze figures of a girl and boy putti is in the manner of Étienne Maurice Falconet (1716-1791), the French sculptor whose Bronze Horseman, unveiled in 1782 depicting Czar Peter I of Russia, is perhaps his most notable work. Prior to his sojourn in St Petersburg Falconet was appointed director of the sculpture atelier for Sèvres in 1757, and for the firm he created a series of white biscuit table garnitures of putti, to compliment Sèvres’ grand dinner services; the fashion for similar small table sculptures soon spread to other European porcelain manufacturers. The charm, attractive style and playfulness of our later bronze putti pay tribute to Falconet’s approach to his subjects, these elements are clear, for example, in his marble, Seated Cupid, commissioned by Madame de Pompadour and exhibited to great acclaim at the Paris Salon of 1757.
Jean Baptiste Germain’s The Sower Went Forth to Sow is an elegant, large brown bronze patinated young man in motion, moving forward powerfully whilst in the act of sowing. The well known theme of the sower from the gospel of Matthew appears here as a late 19th century classically-inspired figure: his attire, the style of his hair, the muscular detail of his physique, all pay homage to Roman marbles and bronzes of young men in action. The sower strides across an uneven terrain atop a turned plinth bearing the work’s title, which clearly displays the era’s Art Nouveau aesthetics. Germain exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon from 1866 to 1909, his output mainly comprised busts, statues and bas-reliefs and he also worked in marble.
The artist William Hughes (1843-1901) was known for his still life compositions and his two oil on canvas works in the auction date from the late 19th century (lot 201 is illustrated right, see lot 202, Still life of fruit on a ledge, est. £4,000-6,000 (+fees) in the online catalogue here). He trained under George Lance (1802-1864), also known for his still lifes as well as portrait miniatures, and William Henry Hunt (1790-1864), the watercolourist. Hunt produced detailed naturalistic still lifes of flowers, fruit and bird’s nests – which earned him the sobriquet ‘Bird’s Nest’ Hunt. William Hughes himself exhibited every year at the Royal Academy from 1866 until his death, and he received a major commission for a series of large bird paintings from the Liberal politician, Frederick Gough-Calthorpe, 5th Baron Calthorpe (1826-1893), for his Grosvenor Square home. Hughes’ work, A Chaffinch at its Nest, shows his skill in capturing the delicate features and colours of the tiny bird with its carefully crafted nest, the same talent is demonstrated in our oils at auction this March.
Giovanni Battista Lombardi (1822-1880) was the son of a stone mason and through his contact, the architect Rodolfo Vantini, he attended the School of Ornament and Architecture in Rezzato from 1839. In 1852, under the patronage of Countess Marietta Mazzuchelli Longo, he moved permanently to Rome where he continued his studies and worked alongside the sculptor Pietro Tenerani. Lombardi had a relatively short and sad life, his wife died at the age of 29 in 1872, and six years later, when he was seriously ill, Lombardi relocated to Brescia where he died in 1880. His work is often labelled as ‘naturalistic neoclassicist’ and in our marble the nod here is seen in the abundance of flowers woven through the young girl’s hair as well as her bare shoulders presenting a clean, strong line. Lombardi also worked on a monumental scale: Bella Italia, commemorated the fallen from the uprising known as the Ten Days of Brescia, 1849, and was completed in 1864. He also produced marble monuments, several of which are in the cemetery of Brescia, as well as a monument to his wife set in Rome’s Verano cemetery.
Fine Interiors including Cherry Barker – Collecting the English Vernacular, 8th March 2022, 2pm
Browse the full online catalogue here | View the page turning catalogue on issuu.com here
For all auction enquiries: +44 (0)207 281 2790 or email: info@thepedestal.com