Lot 148: Carl Dorn , German b. 1831 Leda and the Swan bronze, light brown patina

signed C. Dorn .1891 and inscribed AKTIEN - GESELLSCHAFT / vorm. H. GLADENBECK & SOHN. / BILDGIESSEREI. , raised on a later marble pedestal. bronze, light brown patina

measurements bronze height 6 ft. 3 in.; pedestal height 22 in., width 4 ft., depth 34 in. alternate measurements 190.5 cm; 56 cm, 122 cm, 86.5 cm

Carl Dorn (born Berlin, January 31, 1831), was a student of the sculptor Gustav Bläser (Düsseldorf 1813-Cannstadt 1874) at the Berlin Academy between 1856 and 1888. He was involved in several important Berlin expositions, and he participated in the "Große Berliner Kunstausstellung" between 1891 and 1897. He was known for portrait busts and figures on horseback, and a bust by him of Duke Wilhelm can be seen in the museum in Brunswick. The present lot is most probably Mädchen mit Schwan (Girl with Swan, from 1883), which Thieme & Becker list as a free creation; this example was cast by the well-known Berlin foundry Aktien-Gesellschaft/ vorm. H. Gladenbeck & Sohn / Bildgiesserei. The present subject comes from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan, seducing her the same night as her husband Tyndareus, King of Sparta. This resulted in the birth of Helen and Plydeuces, children of Zeus, and at the same time Castor and Clytemnestra were born from her husband.