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Lot 48: ATTRIBUTED TO CASPAR GRAS (CIRCA 1585-1674), AUSTRIAN, INNSBRUCK, MID-17TH CENTURY

Est: £120,000 GBP - £150,000 GBP
Sotheby'sLondon, United KingdomJuly 08, 2010

Item Overview

Description

ATTRIBUTED TO CASPAR GRAS (CIRCA 1585-1674), AUSTRIAN, INNSBRUCK, MID-17TH CENTURY EQUESTRIAN PORTRAIT OF ARCHDUKE FERDINAND KARL OR ARCHDUKE SIGMUND FRANZ VON HABSBURG Published by Leithe-Jasper in 1986, this bronze forms part of a fascinating series of equestrian bronze statuettes of Habsburg rulers and royalty which is now attributed to Caspar Gras. Four groups in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna represent Ferdinand III as a young man and in later life, Leopold I and another which cannot be securely identified. Similarly the identity of the rider of the present bronze is ambiguous and could either be Archduke Ferdinand Carl (1628-1662) or Siegmund Franz (1630-1665). These five groups all show the horse in a curvetting stance. Other related bronzes are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen. Further related equestrian groups have horses either walking or in full gallop. The authorship of this group has variously been given to Caspar Gras (pupil of Hubert Gerhard and Imperial court sculptor in Innsbruck) and to Giovanni Francesco Susini. The attribution to Gras was proposed as early as 1742 by Roschmann. Baldinucci (1688) is the source for attribution to Susini – ' fece piu modelli di piccolo cavalli ... facendovi sopra le figure co' ritratti di coloro che gli domandavan, e di si fatte sue opera mano in quantita in Lombardia, in Germani, e in Francia a gran prezzi'. Most recent scholars have agreed with the attribution to Gras whose monumental equestrian statue of Archduke Leopold V in Innsbruck (1622-1631) is usually regarded as the inspiration for the statuettes. The present bronze is notable for the representation of the Golden Fleece on its riband and is the only example with a dark patina. As Leithe-Jasper has noted it is seems that these figures of horsemen were produced in quantity and kept in store; in all probability the heads were executed last, when it was known who was to be portrayed ... For the rider ...there were two basic models, one sitting straight and the other turned to the right, with minor variation is the accessories; the horse, on the other hand, is always cast from the same model. bronze, on an ebonised wood base bronze: 36.5cm., 14 3/8 in. base: 5cm., 2in.

Artist or Maker

Literature

M. Leithe-Jasper, Renaissance Master Bronzes from the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, London 1986, pp.246-253

Provenance

Formerly Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. 5995)

Auction Details

Old Master Sculpture and Works of Art

by
Sotheby's
July 08, 2010, 02:00 PM GMT

34-35 New Bond Street, London, LDN, W1A 2AA, UK