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A fine Italian carved chalcedony, labradorite, agate, rock-crystal and green jasper figural group depicting the birth of Venus, in original display case

BY LOUIS BOZZACCHI, MILAN, 1909

Details

A fine Italian carved chalcedony, labradorite, agate, rock-crystal and green jasper figural group depicting the birth of Venus, in original display case
By Louis Bozzacchi, Milan, 1909
The naked goddess with conch to her ear and resting against a dolphin at her side, standing atop a scallop shell balanced on the crest of a wave and supported by two tritons below, on chamfered plinth, the foot of the wave signed LOUIS BOZZACCHI, the underside of Venus and the dolphin with initials LB; in silvered-metal-mounted mahogany and glass display case, with velvet-lined interior and dolphin-cast corner clasps
The figural group: 15¾ in. (40 cm.) high; The display case: 23 in. (58.5 cm.) high (2)

Provenance

The artist's collection and remaining in his family until 1978.
Anonymous private collection.
Sold Maître Blouet, Hôtel des Ventes, Mayenne, France, 21 May 2000.

Exhibited

Paris, Salon, 1909, no. 3935, 'Vénus - groupe en pierres fines (pièce unique)'.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Born in Milan, Louis Bozzacchi was active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A member of the Société des Artistes Français, as a foreign artist he was awarded a prize for his red jasper bust of Molière after Houdon, shown in 1902 in the section Sculpteur en pierre fines (no. 2955). The present work, entitled Venus, was presented at the 1909 Salon (no. 3935) and was sculpted under the direction of maître Georges Henri Lemaire (d. 1914), by whom the Musée d'Orsay has a collection of many important carved stone cameos.

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