Lot 74: †Erdmann Theodor Kalide: A rare Geiss

†Erdmann Theodor Kalide: A rare Geiss foundry zinc model of the Boy with swan
mid 19th century
on Portland stone base, swan neck plumbed for water
130cm.; 51ins high by 137cm.; 54ins wide
Erdmann Theodor Kalide (1801-1863) was a German sculptor who studied under Johann Gottfried Schadow and Christian Daniel Rauch. Kalide's first independent work; Boy with Swan was commissioned by Frederick William III in bronze for the Charlottenburg Palace garden and exhibited at the Berlin Academy in 1834. The use of zinc in casting statuary was championed by Moritz Geiss (1805-1875) at his manufactory in Berlin. This model was exhibited by Geiss at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and an example was acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, where it still resides today.
This antique example would have been purchased by Crowthers in the early 20th century and used as the original mould for the boy and swan, which was one of the most elaborate and complicated of all the lead models produced by Crowthers. A detailed account of the casting in lead of this group in the Crowthers workshops is illustrated on pages 316-320 in John Davis's seminal book Antique Garden Ornament, published in 1991 by the Antique Collectors Club.