View attachment 172687 View attachment 172688 View attachment 172687 View attachment 172688 Ok - we have this very dirty "bronze" sculpture of cherubs playing on a goat. We are not sure who the sculptor is as there are no markings! It came from the family farmhouse in England. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
'Clodion', the name used by the artist Claude Michel, did numerous versions of putti playing with a goat & little goat-footed baby satyrs playing with a goat, some original compositions, some copied from earlier masters, while he, in turn, was emulated by others. Master Flemish 17th century ivory workers, like Duquesnoy (also Du Quesnoy), did multiple versions of these infant bacchanales, which inspired artists working in other media. I have seen work by Clodion go unrecognized as having been copied form another artist. Clodion signed his pieces conspicuously, so if this does not reproduce his name, it may have to be considered 'after Clodion'.
I searched earlier and could not find this configuration (putto crushed by goat and 2 putto). Now seeing it on my computer, it does look like softer material than bronze. @Bronwen - can you comment on the scene? the armbands? putto-goat theme?
those armbands are often found in alpine costumes. probably to find people or children faster in the snow. today only used on animals to find them faster or on traditional costumes. https://www.google.ch/search?biw=11.......1..gws-wiz-img.......0j0i5i30.Pra13jIsyK4
I did a bit of rubbing (cleaned up his bottom) and it looks very coppery! Not what you would expect from a bronze (IMHO ). Is this brass maybe?
hard to say if "bronzed" spelter or régule. I'd exclude brass because the coloring would be more uniform also inside the figure. I see three fixing points for bolts that hint towards a marble or metal base.
It’s looking more like you have a copper alloy. Here’s a 20th century swan cast in copper alloy. Bronze is a mixture of copper and tin and sometimes silicon and other ingredients depending on the foundries recipe, yours may be mainly a copper mix, it’s hard to tell. You will need to repair the patination you have cleaned off. There’s stuff you can buy you can look up, coin people use it. I have used liver of sulphur but it’s unpleasant to use. ~
No, someone doing similar subjects in a similar style. As I mentioned, Clodion himself did not originate the style. See, for example: http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/22256/balthasar-griessmann-german-1620-1706/
I have never seen this work by Clodion: correctly recognized as copied from this, which is about 200 years earlier: