French, 18th century

This charming relief with frolicking putti recalls several typical 17^th century compositions of putti and lions. The central putto riding a lion is comparable with a terracotta group by Clodion which was in the collection of Pierre Nicolas, and sold at Regnault-Delalande, François-Léandre, Paris, 3 November 1806, as lot 194 (Poulet, op. cit., p. 423, fig. 248)

The uppermost putto holding a crown has affinities with a similar putto in a small marble relief by Louis-Félix Delarue in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon (de La Vaissière, op. cit., p. 281). Both putti stand at the top of their respective compositions in similar poses with Herculean musculature holding foliated wreaths.

RELATED LITERATURE

A. Poulet, G. Scherf, Clodion 1738-1814, exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1992; P. de La Vaissière, ‘L’antique en liberté de Louis-Félix Delarue: ses intuitions et sa relecture des Anciens, vers 1755-1760’, in Clodion et la sculpture de la fin du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1992, pp. 253-84