Lot 57: Ignis Fatuus (Misleading light)

HENRY ALFRED PEGRAM, R.A. (1862-1937)
Ignis Fatuus (Misleading light)
Unsigned
bronze, rich dark-brown patina
21 in. (53.3 cm.) diameter

A. Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts. A Complete Dictionary of Contributors, 1970, vol. III, p. 97. No. 2156.
M. H. Spielmann, British Sculpture and Sculptors of Today, London, 1901, pp. 96-98
B. Read, Victorian Sculpture, Yale, 1982, p. 321 & p. 323, pl. 384, another cast illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, British Sculpture 1850-1914, London, The Fine Art Society, 1968, p. 29, pl. 120, another cast illustrated.

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.
The Latin title means 'foolish fire' and refers to the phosphorescent light sometimes seen hovering over marshy ground. It is foolhardy to follow it into the marshes and therefore 'Ignis Fatuus' is associated with foolish or deluded ventures. Pegram's relief shows a woman sitting on a throne who, like the broken bow, has been cast aside by the warrior who reaches up in pursuit of his vain desires, which are represented by the bat and insect-winged human heads above.

Indebted to Alfred Gilbert's relief roundel Post Equitem Sedet Atra Cura (Behind the Horseman Sits Dark Care) c.1883-7, which also warns of the danger and vanity of human aspiration, Ignis Fatuus is representative of a tendency towards spiritualism in 'New Sculpture'. This aesthetic reached its height during the closing decades of the nineteenth century under Lord Leighton's presidency of the Royal Academy and is epitomised by works such as Gilbert's Perseus Arming (c. 1881-1882) and Icarus (1884).

When first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1889 (no. 2156), Ignis Fatuus attracted much attention and was subsequently purchased for the Chantrey Bequest for the not inconsiderable sum of £105 and presented by their trustees to the Tate (inv. no. N01756). Another cast was presented to the National Museum of Wales by the sculptor William Goscombe John (1860-1952).