17th century Bronze Transparent reddish patina, traces of dark patina sculpture: 22 x 16 x 8 cm base: 13 x 11 x 11 cm Barthelemy Prieur was the court sculptor of Henry IV and his wife Marie de' Medici. In addition to creating monumental works for the royal couple, he also produced a series of small studio bronzes, vaguely erotic, depicting naked Venerinas in various attitudes. The bust proposed here depicts Mary de' Medici and was born paired with that of her husband, Henry IV. Being replicated in the foundry as diplomatic gifts, it is possible to see some replicas of varying quality, made by the workshop or attributable to the hand of the master.
17th century Bronze, reddish transparent patina, traces of dark patina sculpture: 21 x 16 x 8 cm base: 7 x 10 x 10 cm This very rare bronze is attributed to Barthelemy Prieur, court sculptor of Henry IV, king of France. It was most likely part of a triptych of busts depicting allegories of France and Navarre, with the king, Henry IV, in the centre. There are very few surviving castings of this enchanting subject: Charles Avery, cataloging the one kept in the Lia Museum, La Spezia, indicates three ancient ones and one later. Comparing it with the bronze in question, one can notice the absolute stylistic similarity, for example in the easy handling of the hair, created directly in the wax model, or in the deep and expressive gaze. Even the transparent red patina with black bituminous traces appears consistent. Charles Avery attributes the bust in the Lia collection to the workshop of Barthelemy Prieur. Charles Avery, La Spezia-Amedeo Lia Civic Museum-Sculptures, Bronzes, Plaques, Medals, Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 1989, pp. 191-193.
(2) Barthelemy PRIEUR (1536-1611) "att." pair of bronze statues of "naked men". Each statue depicts a man in a different position. Both statues rest on a rather large marble base. - Weight: 2.73 kg - Shipping available - Sizes: H 280 mm x L 85mm - At first glance: good condition
Barthelemy Prieur (Berzieux, 1538- Parigi 1611) (school of) Dog scratching its ear Probably 17th century  Full bronze, red patina with traces of dark patina 5,5x10x8,5 cm This charming bronze depicts a small dog scratching its ear, a subject after an engraving by the so-called "Master of the House Book" (Germany, 16th century).   A subject known since antiquity and considered one of the earliest German Renaissance bronzes, it was initially attributed to Peter Vischer (Nuremberg, 1455-1529) or his school. It was later attributed to Georg Schweigger, follower of Durer (17th century). Nowadays scholars attribute this this rare bronze to the workshop of Barthelemy Prieur, court sculptor for Henry IV.   A few replicas with variations and in various metals are known. The best known are held in the Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunsweig, and in the Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden.   A similar bronze from Antony Embden collection passed at a Sotheby's auction.   Our bronze is a variant with a dog resting on a grass, tied with a chain, now lost, to a tree trunk.   Some cold casting definition, charming red patina over traces of black patina.   Bibliography Ursel Berger-Volker Krahn, Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, 1994, pp. 274-276. Volker Krahn, Von Allen Seiten Schon. Bronzen der Renaissance und Des Barock, Volker Huber Edition, Berlin, 1996, pp 544-545.  
Barthelemy Prieur (Berzieux, 1536- Parigi 1611) Venus pulling a thorn from her foot Bronze, redish patina, traces of darker patina Fine neoclassical setting in mixed marble and gilded bronze Overall 28,5x10x10 cm Bronze 19,7x9x6 cm   The bronze is accompanied by the expertise of Dr. Charles Avery. Examination of the metal alloy carried out at the laboratories of the University of Engineering, Milan. The lot is accompanied by a certificate of free circulation indicating the name of the author and the appropriate valuation of € 100,000   Known for his role as court sculptor to Henry IV and Marie de Medici, Barthelemy Prieur also travelled to Italy where he worked for the Savoy family. In addition to his monumental sculptures for the French royal family, he also produced enchanting bronze female figures in various poses (washing, drying or combing their hair) destined for a refined studio collection of a vaguely voyeuristic taste.   The high quality of the material and the sensual elegance of the small-format castings appear to be in perfect harmony with the need for aesthetic gratification that characterises the collecting of bronzes.   Provenance: Baron Hippolyte Boissel de Monville (1794-1873), collector and agent for the Rothschilds. The illustrious provenance is attested by the stamping BM (Baron de Monville) engraved in the trunk.   Bibliography Anthony Radcliffe-Nicholas Penny, Renaissance Bronze, 1500-1650, The Robert H. Smith Collection, Philip Wilson Publishers, London, 2004, card 38, pp 220-21  
Barthelemy Prieur (Berzieux, 1536-Parigi, 1611) (school of) Narcissus Bronze, redish patina Overall 30x7x8 cm Bronze 20x5x5,5 cm The artwork had long been attributed to Francesco da Sant'Agata, but recent criticism has instead placed it among the works of the great French sculptor Barthelemy Prieur, active at the court of Henry IV. Prieur depicts Narcissus in an upright position with his arms raised to surround his head, thus adopting an alternative iconographic solution to the traditional representation of the youth gazing at the water, clearly inspired by Michelangelo's Prisoners, which the author had the opportunity to admire firsthand. It is a beautiful casting, with a highly detailed and glossy surface, adorned with a splendid translucent patina in reddish tones. Likely dating back to the 17th century, it belongs to the school of Barthelemy Prieur. Bibliography: Voler Khran, Von Allen Seiten Schon, Edition Volker Huber, Offenbach am Main, 1995, cat. 141.
PRIEUR BARTHÉLEMY (1536 - 1611). After a model by. Marie de' Medici. Dimensions with marble base: 34,8x14,30x10,7 cm. Comparative literature: ""The French Bronze 1500 to 1800"", Knoedler & Co., New York 1968, n°10; W. D. Wixom, ""Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collection"", The Cleveland Museum of Art 1975, fig. 230; G. Bresc-Bautier and G. Scherf, ""Bronzes français de la Renaissance au Siècle des lumières"", Musée de Louvre, Paris 2008, pp. 126-127, n° 23 and 24.. Cm 14,30 x 21,50 x 6,50.
A BRONZE FIGURE OF A SEATED NUDE WOMAN BRAIDING HER HAIR BARTHÉLEMY PRIEUR ( C. 1536-1611), CIRCA 1600-1610 A BRONZE FIGURE OF A SEATED NUDE WOMAN BRAIDING HER HAIR BARTHÉLEMY PRIEUR (/C./ 1536-1611), /CIRCA/ 1600-1610 On a rectangular molded ebonized wood base, inscribed in white paint '31289.39' 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm.) high
PRIEUR BARTHÉLEMY (1536 - 1611). Woman pulling a thorn from her foot. The artwork is accompanied by an export licence. The artwork is accompanied by the expertise by Dr. Charles Avery of September 2020 (an excerpt of which is edited below) and by a document of examination of the metal alloy. Mark ""BM"" on the truncated top of the tree stump (Boissel de Monville). Dimension of the marble base: 8.5x10x10 cm. Provenance: Baron Hippolyte Boissel de Monville (1794-1873), collector and agent, especially for the Rothschilds; ""Catalogue de la Précieuse Collection de Bronzes Italiens des XVe et XVI siècles, composant la ColLection de M B. de M [onville]"", Drouot, Paris 24-25 January 1861, lot 11, sold for 750 Fr .; Comparative literature: W. Bode, ""Collection of J. Pierpont Morgan: Bronzes of the Renaissance and subsequent periods"", Paris 1910, pp. XXXIV-V; G. Brière and M.-M. Lamy, ""L'inventaire de Barthélémy Prieur, sculpteur du roi"", in Bulletin historique et littéraire de la Société du Protestantisme francais, XCVI, (Paris 1949, pp. 41-68); C. Grodecki, ""Documents du Minutier Centrai des Notaires de Paris: histoire de art aux XVIe siècle"" (Cl 540-1600), II, Paris 1986, pp. 129-33; M. Buckling, ""Die Negervenus"", Liebieghaus, Fratùcfurt-am-Main, 1991; A. Lefebure, ""L'atelier de Barthélemy Prieur et imagerie royale sous le règne d'Henri IV"", and R. Seelig-Teeuwen, ""Barthélemy Prieur, portraitiste d'Henri IV et Marie de Medicis"", in Avènement d 'Henri IV, quatrième centenaire, vol. 5, Les arts au temps d'Henri IV, Association Henri IV, 1989 (Pau, 1992); R. Seelig-Teeuwen, ""Barthélemy Prieur, contemporain de Germain Pilon"", in Germain Pilon et les sculpteurs francais de la Renaissance (Louvre, Conférences et colloques. La Documentation française) (Paris 1993), pp. 365-85; A. Radcliffe, ""The Robert H. Smith Collection: Bronzes 1500-1600"", London 1994; R. Seelig-Teeuwen, ""Prieur"", in The Dictionary of Art, London, 1996, vol. 25, pp. 576-77; A. Radcliffe and N. Penny, ""Art of the Renaissance Bronze 1500-1650"", The Robert H. Smith Collection, London, 2004: R. Seelig-Teeuwen, ""Prieur"", in The Encyclopedia of Sculpture, New York / London 2004, pp. 1362-65; R. Seelig-Teeuwen, '""Barthélémy Prieur"", in G. Bresc-Bautier & G. Scherf [ed.], Bronzes francais de la Renaissance au Siècle des lumières, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, 2009, pp. 102-47, pp. 136 -38; R. Seelig-Teeuwen, D. Bougarit and F. G. Bewer, '""Barthélémy Prieur fondeur, son atelier, ses methods-de travail"", French Bronze Sculpture: Materials andTechniques 161h -18th century, London 2014, pp. 18-38. Barthélémy Prieur was a French sculptor working in stone and marble who - especially towards the end of his life - specialized in casting bronze statuettes in series that were aimed to attract retail commerce (slightly preceding the efforts of the Fiorentine sculptor-foundryman Antonio Susini with his statuettes after models by Giambologna). Between 1564 and 1567 he worked at the court of Duke Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia at Turin and, while he was in Italy, he may have visited Florence, Milan and Rome. He is recorded in Paris in 1571, where, for a cousin of his first patron, Madeleine de Savoie, he executed two bronze Virtues for the monument to the heart of the Connestabile Anne de Montmorency, her late husband. An inventory drawn up after the death of Prieur's first wife in 1583 reveals his affluence, and the range of the models that he was producing in bronze. On account of being a Protestant, he fled to Sedan, where in 1591 he was named sculptor to the king by Henri IV. Returning to Paris with that monarch in 1594, he became involved in the architectural decoration of the Palais du Louvre, as well as preparing statues for the monument of Henri IV and of his queen, Marie de' Medici. A quarter of a century later another inventory, drawn up after Prieur's own death in 1611, reveals a still wider range of models of small bronzes in the process of production - plaster moulds, wax casting models, and bronzes, some only partly finished, standing in rows in the foundry, etc. These included images of the king and queen, most famous of which is a group of King Henri IV on horseback defeating his enemies, animals, and classical or genre figures of humans. PRIEUR'S NUDE LADIES: Characteristic of Prieur's many statuettes and busts of young women, which - like the present example - are nearly always secular, indeed pagan, classical nymphs or goddesses - and children -often Cupid, or ordinary, naughty little boys - is the profile of the face such as is used here: a high forehead sloping back in an almost 'Grecian ' continuous line from a small nose, with a reced ing hairline, while small pursed lips appear above a daintily receding chin. Several of Prieur's statuettes depict nude women attending to their toilet. When cataloguing an excellent example of the present type, Radcliffe wrote in 1994 and repeated it (with N. Penny) in 2004: ""lt is not identifiable with any item in the inventory of André le Notre of 1700. However, it correspond roughly in height with the standing statuettes in the inventory after death of Barthélémy Prieur of 1611, described as being 8 pouces high. Support for its adherence to the statuettes by Prieur of seated women at their toilet is provided by its pairing in the former Pourtalès collection, Paris, with the statuette of a woman braiding her hair from that group.' Radcliffe concluded, '""[...] the present model, which is less sophisticated in its composition, is rare"", citing items B and C in the list of 'Other examples' given above. However, he missed a brilliantly perceptive passage by Bode in the Introduction to his catalogue of the Pierpont Morgan Collection, 1910: ""There is an artist whose name is not known to us, but who closely follows Gian Bologna's manner and period. Eight or ten different bronze statuettes, all of entirely similar character, may be ascribed to him. Like Gian Bologna, this artist seems to me to be a native of the Netherlands or of the North of France who studied in Italy, perhaps under his famous countryman. His figures are small and purely genre-like in character, youthful women bathing, or at their toilet, as well as costume figures. In build his figures are still more slender than those of Gian Bologna; their height being more than nine times the length of the head; the limbs are firm, but less individual and naturalistic than in the work of the Fiorentine master, but they are almost more elegant in appearance, and are executed and finished with -if possible - still greater care.No collection is so rich in the works of this anonymous master as that of Mr Piepont Morgan; it contains excellent examples of five characteristic specimens, one of them being twice repeated: the Woman Bathing and about to dry her feet (No. 167); the Woman Bathing who plaits her hair (No. 168); the Woman Bathing who half turns round and touches her right foot (No. 160); the Woman Bathing who combs her hair (Nos. 170-171) -all of them of course are nude and seated on the stump of a tree or on a drapery. Mr. Morgan acquired these charming little figures with the Mannheim Collection and, together with them, the bronze statuette of a youthful woman with a market-basket on her arm (No. 172), the entire type, the small head, slender form, elegant carriage and shape of the hands, as well as the powerful chiselling and brilliant patina have so many points in common with the figures of women bathing, that this statue is undoubtedly the work of the same artist. On one of the women bathing we even find the same peculiar head-gear. The costume of this woman with the market basket, at the same time gives us a clue as to the period and origin of the creator of all these little figures. The dress is pronouncedly Northern in character and in 1600 was worn in the Southern parts of the Netherlands and in Northern France. The same evidence is afforded by the companion piece to this little figure, a young man in 'modern' dress, holding his gloves in one hand -a bronze statuette of similar size, of which, among other places, there is a good specimen in the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam. The form, the slender build and the small head are characteristic of the art of this part of the country, particularly of the North of France, at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century. We may therefore, with great probability, assume that the artist was a fellow countryman and younger contemporary of Gian Bologna, who, as we know, came from Douai, at that time in the Netherlands."" Thus Wilhelm von Bode, with absolutely no documents at his disposal, built up a hundred years ago - purely on the basis of observation and comparison of Morellian details and circumstantial characteristics - a group of bronzes that still constitutes the core of the oeuvre of the artist whom we now know was Barthélémy Prieur. Four of the statuettes are now in the Huntington Art Collection, San Marino, California. Prieur was in fact seven to ten years younger than Giambologna (1525 /-29 - 1608) and died only three years after him. It is interesting that Bode was able to perceive from their styles and practices that they were - more or less - fellow-countrymen, from northern France and French-speaking Flanders (Wallonia) respectively. The present, well finished and patinated cast of Prieur's fascinating composition, of which only some half dozen examples are known, dates perhaps from quite early in his production of statuettes, in the 1580s and 1590s. It stands comparison with the one in the Smith Collection in the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) and enjoys the prestige of a provenance from the collection of Baron Boissel de Monville, one of the most perceptive and selective connoisseurs of bronzes who has ever lived. THE COLLECTOR, BARON DE MONVILLE: Baron Hippolyte Boissel de Monville (1794-1873) is a figure whose name crops up frequently in sales reports and art market gossip in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Monville was the last in the line of an old aristocratic family from Normandy. He married the daughter of Napoleon's general Lannes, who became the marquis de Montebello; their daughter in 1843 married the marquis de la Roche-Aymon. There were no male heirs and the barony became extinct with Monville's death in 1873. Monville was a marchand-amateur who, in the course of his lifetime, created at least three collections, which he then sold at auction. The best-known of these sales is that held in Paris on 24-25 January 1861, consisting of a large collection of Renaissance plaquettes, as well as bronze statuettes and utensils. For this sale it was decided to mark every item with a ""B.M."" stamp, the matrix being destroyed after the sale. The significance of the B.M. initials has been recognised only in recent decades. Thanks to them, exceptionally, a large number of the items sold in the 1861 sale may be traced today. Monville started building his collections again, lending a number of items to the Musée Rétrospectif in 1865. The Baron de Monville is recorded in a number of Parisian trade directories in the 1860's and early 1870's, presumably maintaining a Paris office for his business, which very largely consisted in his work as a principal buying agent for the Rothschilds. He constantly travelled for them and was often in Florence, where he was a close associate and rivai of the dealer Alessandro Foresi. In an article for the satirical journal ""Il Piovano Arlotto"" in 1858, Foresi castigated the leading Fiorentine dealers whose greed led them to try to make fortunes out of ""the Foulds, the Rothschilds, the Aguados, the Monvilles, the Selliers and ali those collectors hungry for Italian crockery and other knick-knacks from the sixteenth century"". Foresi elsewhere noted that Monville had at his disposition the purses of Jarnes de Rothschild, his wife and three sons, Gustave, Adolphe and Salomon, and two of their wives; he ""travelled often in Italy and emptied those purses more in Florence than anywhere else, acquiring for these seven Croesus the most important and graceful spoils of the Renaissance"". Monville is therefore likely to have been responsible for helping to acquire many of the treasures of sculpture and decorative arts assembled in the nineteenth century by the French Rothschilds.. Cm 9,00 x 19,70 x 6,00.
Barthélémy Prieur (1536-1611), circa 1600 Henri IV and Marie de' Medici a small pair of bronze busts, brown patina; on later wooden bases with brass inlays H. (overall) 35 & 37 cm, 13¾ & 14½ in. (2) ___________________________________________ Barthélémy Prieur (1536-1611), vers 1600 Henri IV et Marie de Médicis paire de bustes petite nature en bronze à patine brune ; sur des socles en bois postérieur à filets de laiton H. (totale) 35 et 37 cm, 13¾ et 14½ in. (2) Bid on Sotheby's
Attributed to Barthélémy Prieur (1536-1611), French, circa 1600 Little dog scratching its ear bronze, dark brown patina; on a white plinth H. (overall) 7 cm, 2¾ in.; (bronze) 5 cm, 2 in. ___________________________________________ Attribué à Barthélémy Prieur (1536-1611), France, circa 1600 Petit chien se grattant l'oreille bronze à patine brun foncé ; sur une plinthe en marbre blanc H. (totale) 7 cm, 2¾ in. ; (bronze) 5 cm, 2 in. Bid on Sotheby's
Barthelémy Prieur (1536-1611) French, circa 1600 Bathing Woman bronze, brown patina; on a polychrome marble plinth H. 18 cm, 7 in. ___________________________________________ Barthélemy Prieur (1536-1611) France, vers 1600 Jeune fille à son bain bronze à patine brune ; sur une plinthe en marbre polychrome H. 18 cm, 7 in. Bid on Sotheby's
LA BAIGNEUSE Höhe inkl. Sockel: 24 cm. Höhe ohne Sockel: 15,5 cm. Frankreich, 18. Jahrhundert. Über rot-weiß geädertem gestuften Marmorsockel die in Bronze gegossene und patinierte Figur einer jungen Frau in der Figura serpentinata, die sich mit einer Hand im Begriff ist, die Brust zu bedecken, mit der anderen Hand an einem Architekturfragment bzw. einem Brunnensegment Stützung sucht. (1261068) (1) (13)
Atelier de Barthélémy PRIEUR (1536-1611) Narcisse ou Ephèbe Statuette en bronze à patine brune et socle en bois noirci. H. 25 cm LITTERATURE EN RAPPORT : Robert Wenley, French Bronzes in the Wallace Collection, The Trustees of the Wallace Collection, 2002, pp.26-27. Cette œuvre réalisée par l’atelier de Barthélémy Prieur est directement inspirée de l’Esclave mourant de Michelangelo (1475-1564) (conservé au musée du Louvre, n°inv. MR 1589) apporté en France et présenté au roi François 1er en 1546. Après un début de carrière en Italie, à Rome et à Turin, Barthélémy Prieur, de retour en France, devient le sculpteur officiel du roi Henri IV, pour lequel il réalise un grand nombre de statuettes en bronze inspirées à la fois des modèles antiques et des travaux de l’École de Fontainebleau de la seconde moitié du XVIe siècle. Une vingtaine de bronzes de Narcisse est répertoriée, dont l’un conservé à la Wallace Collection à Londres (n°inv. S74).
altezza cm 21. Allievo di Germain Pilon, Prieur è stato un dei maggiori scultori del rinascimento francese. Lavorò per Emanuele Filiberto duca di Savoia e, a partire dal 1591 fu scultore ufficiale del re Enrico IV. Gran parte delle sue sculture monumentali, tra cui quelle realizzate per il connestabile Anne de Montmorency (m.1567), sono esposte al Louvre. Fu dopo un suo probabile viaggio in Italia che Prieur si specializzò in bronzi di piccolo formato, tra cui il "Busto allegorico della Francia” destinato a figurare in coppia con l'“Allegoria della Dordogna”. La Francia è cinta dalla corona chiusa e decorata con fiordalisi, indossa una tunica elaborata con corpetto ingemmato in stile manierista e porta sulle spalle un mantello regale, trattenuto da fibbie quadrilobate ingioiellate. Nonostante i tratti idealizzati c’è chi ha voluto riconoscere nel volto del nostro bronzo le fattezze di Margherita di Valois, Louise di Lorraine e di Maria Stuarda, regina di Francia (1559-1560). Esemplari di questo modello si trovano a Parigi, Museo del Louvre, e a Edimburgo, Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
9 CHRIST À LA COLONNE Attribué à Barthélémy PRIEUR (1536-1611) Paris, fin du XVIe siècle, début du XVIIe siècle Bronze patiné Socle à piédouche circulaire en loupe moulurée Sujet: H. 18 cm - H. totale: 24,5 cm Cette statuette en bronze finement ciselé et patiné représente le Christ debout dans un léger déhanchement, la tête penchée dans un profond recueillement. Il porte un perizonium noué sur ses hanches. À l’arrière, ses mains se rejoignent, retenues par des liens invisibles. Le thème de la Passion, et en l’espèce l’épisode de la Flagellation, fut largement développé par les artistes à partir de la Renaissance, notamment pour répondre à la dévotion privée des collectionneurs et des amateurs. La posture de Jésus tout en retenue et en introspection est très proche d’un autre bronze attribué à Barthélémy Prieur (fig. 1). Traitant le même thème, avec quelques variantes dans le jeu de la musculature, on retrouve ce travail précis et détaillé de la chevelure et de la barbe tout en ondulations et en boucles épaisses. Technique qui se retrouve également dans l’unique œuvre signée par l’artiste connue à ce jour, Henri IV en Jupiter, statuette en bronze patiné aujourd’hui conservée au Musée du Louvre. À noter que deux inventaires de l’atelier de Barthélémy Prieur, datant de 1583 et 1611, mentionnent la présence d’un grand nombre de statuettes aux sujets les plus divers. 12 000 – 18 000€
HERCULE Entourage de Barthélémy PRIEUR (vers 1536-1611) France, début du XVIIe siècle Matériau Bronze à patine brun nuancé H. 13,5 cm Socle : 4,5 cm 8 000 - 10 000 Hercule, dénudé, se tient debout, sa massue posée sur lépaule. Il porte de lautre côté la peau du Lion de Némée, symbole de lun de ses plus célèbres Travaux. Notre oeuvre fait partie de cette catégorie dite des « petits bronzes » qui connut un formidable succès en Italie du Nord au XVIe siècle et en France dans les premières années du XVIIe siècle. Les dieux, déesses et héros de la mythologie constituaient alors un répertoire inépuisable pour les bronziers de lépoque, imprégnés du style maniériste qui essaimait également en peinture. Notre personnage reprend les canons esthétiques de ce style au regard de ses membres exagérément allongés, de son déhanché improbable alors quil semble en train de marcher. La finesse des modelés et la qualité de la fonte renvoie au travail de Barthélémy Prieur (vers 1536-1611), qui travailla notamment pour le Roi de France Henri IV et qui développa un important travail autour de ces petites figurines antiques.
ATELIER DE BARTHELEMY PRIEUR (1540-1611) Représentant Bacchus debout tenant en main des grappes, un animal reposant à ses pieds. Bronze à patine foncée sur base carrée en marbre vert. France, XVIIème siècle Dimensions: h. sans socle : 22 cm
ATTRIBUTED TO BARTHÉLEMY PRIEUR (CIRCA 1536-1611), FRENCH, LATE 16TH/ EARLY 17TH CENTURY MERCURY PLAYING A FLUTE bronze, on an ebonised wood socle bronze: 21cm., 8¼in. socle: 8cm., 3 1/8 in.
A BRONZE GROUP OF A BOY OBSERVING CUPID SLEEPING WORKSHOP OF BARTHELEMY PRIEUR (1536-1611) , EARLY 17TH CENTURY On an associated ormolu-mounted, ebony-veneered square base; dark reddish brown patina with light brown high points 7½ in. (19 cm.) high, the boy; 11¼ in. (28.6 cm.) overall
A BRONZE GROUP OF TWO WRESTLING WOMEN WORKSHOP OF BARTHELEMY PRIEUR (1536-1611), EARLY 17TH CENTURY On a later oval marble base; very dark brown patina with lighter high points and traces of a translucent reddish brown lacquer 7¾ in. (19.8 cm.) high; 10 in. (25.4 cm.) overall
A BRONZE MODEL OF A HARVESTER WORKSHOP OF BARTHELEMY PRIEUR (1536-1611), EARLY 17TH CENTURY On a later rectangular marble base; dark reddish brown patina with medium brown high points 5 3/8 in. (13.8 cm.) high; 7 in. (18 cm.) high, overall
probably 19th century the figure of Jupiter with a flaming torch in his hand and the eagle at his feet, Abundance with a cornucopia, each raised on a Verde Antico marble plinth, traces of old gilding beneath dark lacquer, each figure 14.5cm high, 21cm high overall (2)
STATUETTE REPRESENTANT VENUS AU BAIN D'APRES BARTHELEMY PRIEUR (1536-1611), FIN DU XVIIEME OU DEBUT DU XVIIIEME SIECLE En bronze, représentée nue, debout essuyant son pied droit; sur un socle entièrement moulé, et une base moderne de forme cylindrique en porphyre; patine marron foncé à rehauts verdâtres; petits éclats à la base Hauteur: 20 cm. (7 in.), Hauteur totale: 29.8 cm. (11 1/3 in.)
représenté dans l'attitude du contraposto , les épaules recouvertes d'une draperie fluide, la tête légèrement inclinée et coiffée d'un casque ailé, les pieds chaussés de sandales à la romaine. Il tient dans ses deux mains une flûte; (flûte courbée et manque) bronze à belle patine brune avec traces de vernis noir; sur un socle en bois noirci et filets de laiton
the boy turning and shooting with a bow and arrow (missing), a cylindrical quiver slung at his right hip by a strap running over his left shoulder, wearing a fig leaf, stamped on his inner calf with the 'C' couronné poinçon, French mark (1745-49), brown patination, raised on a later turned red griotte marble socle, 11.2cm high
[A FRENCH, CIRCA 1600, BRONZE STATUETTE OF AN ELDERLY PEASANT, ATTRIBUTED TO BARTHÉLÉMY PRIEUR (1536-1611), ON A LATER EBONIZED WOODEN BASE] measurements haut. (bronze) 14 cm; haut. totale 19,5 cm alternate measurements height 5 1/2 in; overall 7 3/4 in moustachu et coiffé d'un chapeau, le veillard porte un panier dans sa main droite, et s'appuie sur son bâton; sur un socle en bois noirci bronze à patine couleur médaille LITERATURE Références bibliographiques: - J. Leeuwenberg, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1973, no. 216, pl. 177. - R. Seelig - Teuwen, 'Kavalier und Magd', dans Weltkunst 15, décembre 1991, p. 16 - 20. NOTE On trouve ce bronze de paysan souvent en paire avec son pendant féminin, une femme portant un seau sur sa tête et tenant un poisson à la main. Jadis considérées par Weihrauch comme oeuvres franco- flamandes du Maître des Figures de genre, ces statuettes sont aujourd'hui attribuées à Barthélémy Prieur. Les oeuvres de Prieur sont connues pour la finesse des fontes et la précison dans les détails, représentant avec prédilection des petites personnages dans des activités de la vie quotidienne.
seated on a tree stump covered with her robe, combing out the long tresses of her hair to make a plait 5 1/2 in. high (14 cm.); on a porphyry base. Comparative LITERATURE Y. Hackenbroch, "A Group of Italo-Dutch Bronzes" Connoisseur, September 1963, pp. 16-20 B. Jestaz, "Travaux recents sur les Bronzes, II, Renaissance Septentrionale et Baroque" in Revue de l'art, 9, 1970, pp. 78-79 A. Radcliffe, European Bronzes from the Collection of Willi Cotton and Charles Rogers, exibition catalogue, Sotheby's, London, 1979, no. 3 R.R. Wark, Sculpture in the Huntingdon Collection, Los Angeles, 1974, pp. 66-67, pl. XVI "Kavalier und Magd", Weltkunst, 15th December 1991 Anthony Radcliffe. The Robert H. Smith Collection. Bronzes 1500-1650, London. 1994, cat. no. 28, pp. 150-153 The present model belongs to a number of works which were formerly described as Italo-Flemish and ascribed to the Master of the Genre Figures but which are now generally regarded as French and the work of Barthelemy Prieur. From his inventory after his death, Prieur is known to have been a producer of bronze statuettes, listing little bronzes of both men and women standing and sitting of 5 or 8 pouces high, (the present bronze corresponds to 5 pouces) none of which are specified. However, in the inventory after death of Andre Le Nostre of 1700, there appear three of the series of women at her toilet associable to Prieur, Radcliffe, (op.cit.p. 150). These comprise of the woman braiding her hair, the woman combing her hair, and, combined with the latter in a single item, the woman pulling a thorn from her foot. Barthelemy Prieur was born in 1536 in Berzieux in Champagne, little is known of his youth but between 1564 and 1568 he is recorded as working for the court of the Archduke Emmanuel Filibert of Savoy in Turin. In 1571 he appears in Paris where he worked on the funerary monuments for both the heart and body of the High Constable of France, Anne of Montmorency. As a Hugenot he was forced into exile and he spent the years 1585-1594 in the North West town of Sedan when it has been suggested he started sculpting his genre figures. On Henri IV's accession to the throne in 1594 he became court sculptor.
facing towards each other, both on original ebony bases 9 3/4 in. and 8 in. high (25 cm. and 20.3 cm.) (2) Comparative LITERATURE Exhibition catalogue, Masterpieces from the Louvre, Queensland Art Gallery, 1988, p. 48, pl. 20. Ursel Berger and Volker Krahn, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig, Bronzen und der Barock, Brunswick, 1994, p. 309, fig. 250 Compare with the bronze stag sold in these rooms on 8th December 1983 from the Paul Wallraf Collection, lot 227, there attributed to the French sculptor Barthelemy Prieur (1536-1611). Note also the bronze figures of seated hounds on the Fountain of Diana of 1602 at Fontainbleau, ascribed to Prieur and Pierre Biard.
