Lot 147: AN ALLEGORICAL POTTERY FIGURE OF "LA JOIE", KARL H. GRUPPE (AMERICAN 1893 - 1982)

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN, 2ND

h. 13 ½ in.

on a rouge griotte marble base, inscribed around base Karl H. Gruppe Sculptor 1925. Together with a patinated bronze and ivory figure of Dante, inscribed to base Montini and with the foundry mark for ROSENTHAL UND MAEDER

NOTE

Karl H. Gruppe began his career as Karl Bitter's principal assistant on the Pulitzer Fountain (1913-1916) on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th streets. He later served as the chief sculptor for the monument restoration project of the New York City Department of Parks (1934-1937)

The official version of "La Joie" was presented at the Nation Academy Of Design's Annual and Winter Exhibitions of 1926 and won the Helen Foster Barnett Sculpture Prize for that year.

A full size marble version of "La Joie" was acquired in 1948 by Milton and Anna Huntington for the permanent collection of Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina.