Circle of Francis van Bossuit (1635 – 1692), South Netherlandish, second half of the 17th century
Triptych with Lot and his daughters, Venus and Adonis, and Venus and Paris
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
Circle of Francis van Bossuit (1635 – 1692)
South Netherlandish, second half of the 17th century
Triptych with Lot and his daughters, Venus and Adonis, and Venus and Paris
ivory reliefs; in an ebony and ebonised wood frame
two handwritten label: "Chr.23 June, 04 lot 1659-1560"; the other: "Three upright ivory plaques , carved in high relief, with Venus and Adonis, Loth and his daughters, and Paris and Venus in the style of Fiammingo - mounted in an ebony triptych frame of architectural design. - Chr.23.6.04. Lot 1689: 1560"
Loth and his daughters: 20.8 x 14.2cm.; 8¼ by 5⅝in.
Venus and Adonis: 11.8 x 7.3 cm.; 4⅝ by 2⅞in.
Venus and Paris: 11.8 x 7.5 cm.; 4⅝ by 3in.
Open panels: 37.5 x 46.5 cm.; 14 ¾ by 18 ¼in.
the architectural frame surmounted by a curved pediment; the doors decorated with two terms, one female and one male, and adorned with ivory foliage and fleurons ; the interior of the frame is entirely moulded, with a balustrade under of the two doors, featuring Loth and his daughters in the centre, Venus and Adonis on the left, and Venus and Paris on the right
Please note that this lot contains elephant ivory. Pursuant to the UK Ivory Act 2018, clients based in the United Kingdom are not able to bid on / purchase this lot.
Please note that this lot contains elephant ivory the export of which outside the EU is now prohibited pursuant to European regulation 2021/2280 of 16 December 2021. Sotheby's will be able to provide the buyer with the intra-community certificate attached to this item.
C.H.T. Hawkins (1820–1903) collection, London ;
His sale, Christie’s London, 23 June 1904, lot 1659 ;
Sotheby’s London, 5 July 2000, lot 86 ;
Kunstzalen A. Vecht, Amsterdam ;
Acquired from the above TEFAF, Maastricht, 2001, Belgian noble collection.
A native of Brussels, Francis van Bossuit is considered one of the greatest Flemish ivory sculptors of the 17th century. Trained in his hometown and then in Antwerp, he discovered ancient models in Rome, befriended Balthasar Permoser and studied the works of the first generation of Baroque sculptors, François Duquesnoy, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Algardi. Returning to the Netherlands shortly before 1685, he settled permanently in Amsterdam.
A book published in 1727, Cabinet de l'Art de Sculpture par le Fameux Sculpteur Francis van Bossuit, consisting of engravings by Mattijs Pool based on Barend Graat's drawings after Bossuit's models, offers interesting comparisons with the present reliefs. For example, Adonis's right arm, embracing Venus's waist, and the intertwined legs of the two lovers can be compared to a model of the same subject reproduced as plate XII. The theme of Lot and his daughters is also recurrent in van Bossuit's work. C. Theurkauff mentioned two versions, a relief with a very similar composition in the collection of Baroness van Utenhove van Heemstede, before 1880 (whereabout unknown; op. cit. p. 168, no. 3, and p.131, ill. 19), and another one in the sale of Robert Goff's collection in London, 7 June 1866 (ibid., p. 172, no. 17 and ill. 61). Lot's face can also be compared to that of Nicodemus in the Deposition at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and to that of one of the men in the relief of Susanna and the Elders at the J. Paul Getty Museum (inv. 2022.12). Van Bossuit is also the author of a pair of statuettes of Venus and Paris, figuring in the sale of the collection of the late Gerret Braamkamp in Amsterdam, 31 July 1771, under lots 22 and 25 (whereabout unknown; ibid., p. 179, nos. 47 and 49).
RELATED LITERATURE
C. Theurkauff, ‘Zu Francis van Bossuit (1635–1692), “Beeldsnyder in yvoor”,’ Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 37, 1975, pp.119-182.
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