A faun

Details

AFTER THE ANTIQUE, ITALIAN, CIRCA 1722
A faun
bronze; on an integrally cast oval base; depicted standing and playing a flute, now lacking; with a lion's pelt draped around his shoulders and kneeling on a tree stump
18 in. (45.7 cm.) high

Provenance

One of the 13 bronzes purchased by Thomas, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, 15 July 1723 for a total of £300.
Thence by descent at Shirburn Castle, until sold,
Important European Furniture, Sculpture and Carpets Including The Macclesfield Sculpture; Christie's London, 1 December 2005, lot 62 (price realised £36,000).

Literature

T. P. Connor, 'The fruits of a Grand Tour - Edward Wright and Lord Parker in Italy, 1720-22', in Apollo, July 1998, pp. 23-30.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
F. Perrier, Segmenta nobilium signorum et statuarum que temporis denteminvidium evase, 1638, no. 48.
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique - The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, 1981, no. 39.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Lucy Speelman Junior Specialist, Head of Part II

lspeelman@christies.com +44 207 752 3074

Lot Essay

The marble Faun with Pipes, upon which the present exceptional bronze is based was certainly recorded in the Villa Borghese, Rome, by 1638. It remained there until 1807 when it was purchased, along with much of the Borghese collection, by Napoleon Bonaparte - brother-in-law to Prince Camillo Borghese. In 1815 it was installed in the Louvre, where it now resides.

Its popularity was evidently significant since it featured in Francois Perrier's 1638 anthology of the most admired statues in Rome (loc. cit.). It was copied extensively in the 17th and 18th centuries being reproduced in engravings, plaster casts, Wedgwood and bronzes such as the present lot.

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