Lot 439: A CARVED LIMEWOOD URN AND COVER, ATTRIBUTED TO AUBERT H. J. PARENT (1753-1835), RESTAURATION, CIRCA 1820

A CARVED LIMEWOOD URN AND COVER, ATTRIBUTED TO AUBERT H. J. PARENT (1753-1835), RESTAURATION, CIRCA 1820 the lid carved with a flower, the body with fruiting vines and foliage on a waisted socle 25cm. high; 9¾in.

Parent is often remembered as a virtuoso carver, particularly of neo-classical bas-reliefs with naturalistic rendering of outstanding skill and subtlety. He was also an architect, an antiquary who published Roman ruins he examined in Switzerland and near his native Valenciennes, and a designer who issued engravings for ironwork, clock cases, etc. Taken up as a youth by northern French nobles at the court of Louis XVI, he came to the King's attention with a complimentary allegorical bas-relief in 1777. He studied in Italy, exhibited at Paris salons, fled to Switzerland during the Revolution, and returned to France in 1813.

The Royal bas-relief that propelled Parent to fame in 1777 is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes, France. Other Parent bas-reliefs can be seen at the J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

This carved limewood urn and cover can be closely compared to a carved urn surmounted on a neo-classical stand signed by Aubert Parent which descended in his family until sold at Christie's New York, 17/18th May 2005, lot 536