Lot 340: A German Ivory Group of Bacchus and a Child, From The Workshop of Ignaz Elhafen (1658-1715), Circa 1700

measurements note height overall 15 3/8 in.; 39 cm.

PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK STATE COLLECTION
RELATED LITERATURE R. Berliner, Die Bildwerke des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums, vol. IV, Augsburg, 1924, nos. 423 & 427.
C. Theuerkauff, Elfenbein. Sammlung Reiner Winkler, Munich, 1984, no. 13, p. 8 and 39-40.
Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, 2007 The present group is a variant of the ivory statuettes of Bacchus and Bacchus with a child by Elhafen in the Bayerischesnational Museum, Munich (see Berliner,op.cit.,nos.423 and 427). The details of the face (including the teeth and wrinkles around the eyes) as well as the child and the grapevines are comparable. The circular ivory relief on the front of the base is also a combination of different vignettes from several of Elhafen's reliefs. In fact, he often reused motifs in his work. The satyr carrying a vase appears in a relief in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, the Louvre, Paris and in Munich (Berliner,op.cit., o.420). The satyr gazing at the viewer and holding a flute is also found in Munich (see Berliner, op.cit.,no.449. Both of these elements are in reverse on the present relief. Ignaz Elhafen apprenticed in Innsbruck, travelled to Rome and moved to Vienna and then to Düsseldorf to the court of John William, Elector Palatine, between 1703 and 1704. His work was widely known as he was a prolific artist and the themes he favored, like the present bacchanalian scene, were popular. His style was based on graphic material such as illustrated bibles, history books and the work of Matthaus Merian. Although his reliefs are best known, his ivory statuettes were well executed and known in few examples.