Lot 136: Alexander Trippel, Swiss (1744-1793) A pair of marble busts depicting a shepherd and a gypsy girl possibly Paris and Zingara, dated 1783

possibly Paris and Zingara, dated 1783
Zingara wearing a head dress and looking to dexter, Paris looking to sinister and wearing a shepherd's hat, both raised on waisted socles, Paris signed to the reverse Alx Trippel. Ex Romma 1783, inscription to the reverse of Zingara worn away, weathered, both lacking noses, 62cm high (2)

Although Swiss, Trippel studied in London under Christian Ludwig von Lücke after his father relocated the family there in 1754. At the age of fifteen he moved to Copenhagen where he was admitted to the Danish Royal Academy, winning a gold medal for his relief of Joseph Revealing himself to his Brothers. By 1771 he was working in Paris and produced works in marble and terracotta including a bust of Christ. He travelled to Rome in 1776, where apart from a brief trip to Switzerland, he stayed for the rest of his life. By the 1780's, during the period he produced the present pair of busts, he was widely regarded as one of the most important sculptors in Rome. Arguably his best known work from this period was his bust of Goethe, which was widely reproduced in plaster; as well as an over life-size marble bust of Frederick the Great. He is now regarded by scholars as a forerunner of Canova and Thorvaldsen.
Many of his works are untraced, and it may well be that these busts are studies for larger full size figures that are now lost or were never brought to fruition.

Related Literature: The Grove Dictionary of Art, London, 1996, Vol 31, page 342.