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Lot Essay
With their distinctive tritons supporting shells and ovoid tapering shape, these vases relate closely to a small group executed in St. Petersburg circa 1800-1805 and thought to be the work product of the most celebrated of Russian bronziers Friedrich Bergenfeldt. The latter group includes a vase featuring virtually identical putti tritons holding shells and centred by a mask of Neptune, formerly in the Stroganoff collection, St. Petersburg (ill. in I. Sychev, Russian Bronze, Moscow, 2003, p.97). These vases derive from a design executed circa 1802 which Sychev - curator for Russian bronzes décoratifs at the Hermitage Museum - relates to the celebrated architect Andrei Voronikhin (1749-1814), perhaps most chiefly remembered for having recreated the interiors of Pavlovsk in 1803-1804. Like Bergenfeldt, Voronikhin was highly influenced by the work of Claude Galle and it is no surprise that the above-mentioned drawing attributed by the Russian architect closely resembles a vase executed by Galle for Schloss Ludwigsburg in 1800 (ill. in Ottomeyer & Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Vol 1. Munich, 1986, p.365, fig.5.12.11). The drawing is now in the Russian State Historical Archives, St. Petersburg (ill. Sychev, op. cit, p.97 and reproduced here).
Amongst the related examples sold at auction, a pair attributed to Bergenfeldt was sold, Christie's, London, 'Un Hôtel Particulier du Boulevard Saint-Germain: The Collection of the Marquis and Marquise de Ravenel', 21-22 November 2007, lot 102 (£144,500 with premium).
Another feature of note is the presence of a coat-of-arms which has been identified as that of the Lodzia clan. The latter clan comprised several families of Polish descent among which the Poninski, Bninski, Kurnatowski, Szoldrski and Brodzki (S. Konarski, 'Armoriales de la noblesse polonaise titrée', Paris, 1958, p. 111 [Prince Poninski], p. 150 [Count Bninski], p. 226 [Count Kurnatowski], p. 327 [Baron Szoldrski] and p. 407 [Baron Brodzki, later knighted by Napoleon I].
We are grateful to Monsieur Philippe Palasi for his assistance with the identification of the coat-of-arms.
Amongst the related examples sold at auction, a pair attributed to Bergenfeldt was sold, Christie's, London, 'Un Hôtel Particulier du Boulevard Saint-Germain: The Collection of the Marquis and Marquise de Ravenel', 21-22 November 2007, lot 102 (£144,500 with premium).
Another feature of note is the presence of a coat-of-arms which has been identified as that of the Lodzia clan. The latter clan comprised several families of Polish descent among which the Poninski, Bninski, Kurnatowski, Szoldrski and Brodzki (S. Konarski, 'Armoriales de la noblesse polonaise titrée', Paris, 1958, p. 111 [Prince Poninski], p. 150 [Count Bninski], p. 226 [Count Kurnatowski], p. 327 [Baron Szoldrski] and p. 407 [Baron Brodzki, later knighted by Napoleon I].
We are grateful to Monsieur Philippe Palasi for his assistance with the identification of the coat-of-arms.