A Bacchic putto and infant satyr
possibly Austrian School
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1725 - 1775
Materials
Lead
Measurements
940 mm (Height)
Place of origin
Austria
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 515137
Summary
Lead, a Bacchic putto and infant satyr, possibly Austrian School, mid-18th century. A lead putto holding a bunch of grapes clasped by an infant satyr with his hoof on a wine jar. In a pair with NT 515138.
Full description
The character of the groups and physiognomies of the infants are reminiscent of German or Austrian garden sculpture; see, for example Johann Wolfgang von der Auwera's drawings of paired putti groups in the gardens of Schlosshof, Lower Austria, c. 1725-30, in the Martin von Wagner Museum, Würzburg (reproduced Husslein-Arco and von Plessen 2010, p. 247, nos. V.24-5), which Auwera went on to imitate in sculpture of his own. See also a putto-group in a design for the Würzburg Residenz (reproduced Sedlmaier and Pfister 1923, fig. 97). There was a vigorous tradition in Austria of sculpture in lead; Georg Raphael Donner (1693-1741) and Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736-83) are internationally known practitioners, but there were many others, such as Johann Martin Fischer (1740-1820), Johann Georg Dorfmeister (1736-86), and Johann Baptist Hagenauer (1732-1810). The present pair of groups, if they are Austrian, are at a lower level of sophistication, and, like all lead sculpture, have suffered distortion with the passage of time. Text adapted from a catalogue entry by Alastair Laing, former Curator of Pictures and Sculpture, National Trust.
Provenance
Bequeathed to the National Trust by Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) with the house and the rest of the contents.
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, The Fairhaven Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
possibly Austrian School, sculptor
References
Husslein-Arco and von Plessen 2010: Agnes Husslein-Arco and Marie-Louise von Plessen, Prince-Eugene. General-Philosopher and Art Lover, exh. cat. venue: Belvedere, Vienna 2010, p. 247, nos. V.24-25. Sedlmaier and Pfister 1923: Richard Sedlmaier and Rudolf Pfister, Die fürstbischöfliche Residenz zu Würzburg, Munich 1923, fig. 97. Christie, Manson & Woods 1971: The National Trust, Anglesey Abbey, Cambridge. Inventory: Furniture, Textiles, Porcelain, Bronzes, Sculpture and Garden Ornaments’, 1971, p. 163.