Lot 163: A PAIR OF BRONZE FIGURES OF AMPHITRITE AND BACCHUS

A PAIR OF BRONZE FIGURES OF AMPHITRITE AND BACCHUS
AFTER THE MODELS BY MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686) AND LOUIS GARNIER (1635-1715), LATE 18TH OR EARLY 19TH CENTURY
Amphitrite depicted facing to sinister, standing on a dolphin and holding a lobster in her left hand, Bacchus depicted facing to dexter and holding a tazza in his right hand and bunch of grapes in his left; each on an integrally cast naturalistic plinth and an associated rectangular panelled verde antico, siena marble and lapis lazuli pedestal; medium brown patina with lighter high points
14½ in. (37 cm.) high; 22¼ in. (56.5 cm.) high, overall (2)

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, The French Bronze 1500 to 1800, 1968, nos. 19a and 19b.
F. Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries - The reign of Louis XIV, II, Oxford, 1981, pp. 3-4, no. 5.
A. Gibbon, Bronzes Français du Grand Siècle, 1985, figs. 17, 21.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Although the two bronze offered here were originally from different sources, the Bacchus having been invented by Louis Garnier in the second half of the 17th century and the Amphitrite by Michel Anguier in circa 1652, they were often placed together in the 18th and 19th centuries as a 'false pair.' They were presumably considered a suitable match as a result of the mirroring poses of the figures, facial expressions and similar size. The pairing was made after 1699 when Baron Raymond Leplat, a Parisian agent working for Augustus the Strong, bought two bronze figures of Bacchus and Amphitrite for the Elector of Saxony's royal palace in Warsaw. However, due to the ongoing Nordic War the bronzes, along with a consigment of furniture and Chinese porcelain, were instead taken to Dresden, where they still reside today in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen (Souchal, loc. cit.).