Lot 12: A BRONZE GROUP OF A GIRL RIDING A DOLPHIN

A BRONZE GROUP OF A GIRL RIDING A DOLPHIN
CIRCLE OF ADRIAEN DE VRIES (1545-1626), EARLY 17TH CENTURY
Extensive traces of silvering overall and traces of a dark brown patina; the reins possibly later
7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm.) long

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Edinburgh, London and Vienna, The Royal Scottish Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Giambologna 1529-1608 - Ein Wendepunkt der Europäischen Plastik, 19 Aug. 1978 - 28 Jan. 1979, pp. 310-311, nos. 250-252.
M. Leithe-Jasper, Renaissance Master Bronzes from the Collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Washington, 1986, pp. 229-231, no. 59.
N. Penny, Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum - 1540 to the Present Day, Oxford, 1992, I, pp. 296-297, no. 232.
A. Radcliffe, M. Baker and M. Maek-Gérard, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection - Renaissance and later Sculpture with Works of Art in Bronze, London, 1992, pp. 248-251. nos. 45-46.

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
(LOTS 12-13)
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In his entry on two salt cellars in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Nicholas Penny makes a previously unrecognised connection between the cellars - of which numerous casts exist - and a group of 'fanciful sketchy inkstands' of which three were included in the German version of the Giambologna exhibition catalogue of 1978 (locs. cit.). These inkstands each depict either a putto or a triton seated in varying positions on a dolphin and holding a seashell.

The present inkwell, along with another version formerly in the Capel Cure collection (Sotheby's, London, 10 December 1987, lot 35), can be added to the group of putti riding dolphins, as the style and compositions are almost identical to those mentioned above in the collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Vaduz, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

These inkwells - whether they depict putti or tritons riding dolphins - have been variously ascribed to Francesco Fanelli and, more recently, to the enigmatic Master of the Duplicated Dolphins (for a discussion see The Beit Collection of Early Italian Bronzes, Christie's, London, 7 December 2006, lot 185). On the basis of style, however, it seems likely that this unknown master worked close to Adriaen de Vries (circa 1545-1626). Leithe-Jasper first made the observation in 1973, correctly pointing out that the Vaduz, Vienna, London, ex-Capel Cure and, by extension, the present bronze, could be connected to de Vries on account of the similar 'high forehead, firmly retracted stomach, and fine curly hair' (Washington, loc. cit., 1986) - stylistic traits which can all be seen on the putti on the bases of the 1596-1602 Hercules Fountain in the Maximilian Museum, Augsburg, and on the 1615-1618 Neptune Fountain in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.

By 1987, however, when the Capel Cure bronze was published in the Sotheby's London sale catalogue (10 December 1987, lot 35) Radcliffe was cited as having made a connection between this series and the small figures to the base of the fountain in the Piazza della Madonna, Loreto, designed by Carlo Maderno and Giovanni Fontana with bronzes executed by Tarquino and Pietro Paolo Jacometti between 1619-20. The dolphins are, indeed, closely comparable, as are the male figures seated on their backs. However, while the comparison is worthwhile, it probably further highlights the indomitable influence of Giambologna's monumental works - in particular the Neptune Fountain in Bologna - upon which the dolphins and putti are all, ultimately, based.