After Jean-Baptiste PIGALLE (1714-1785) - Lot 158

After Jean-Baptiste PIGALLE (1714-1785) Child with bird and Child with nest Pair of brown patina bronzes, 19th century Height of the bronzes 79 and 81 cm On fluted stucco columns painted in imitation of marble. Height of saddles: 110 cm Provenance : Gaston Levy Collection Bibliography : Alistair Laing, A bird in the hand, in Antologia di Bella Arti, La Scultura II, no. 52-55, 1996, p. 154-165. Jean René Gaborit, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714-1785), Sculptures du Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1985, p. 26, fig. 1-2. J. Niclausse, Thomire: Fondeur-Ciseleur (1751-1843), Sa vie, son oeuvre, Paris, 1947, pp. 51, 107 and 165. Notes : One pair, signed 'Pigalle fecit 1768, bronze par Thomire', is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo (see Cat. Musée Nissim de Camondo, no. 325) and a second pair is in the Heckscher Museum in Huntington, New York (see op. cit., p. 157, figs. 6 and 7). The origin of the model of these bronzes has not been determined. According to Alistair Laing's latest research, they were made from marbles by the sculptor Jean-Pierre Pigalle, not his uncle Jean-Baptiste, during his stay in Italy in 1768 (formerly Duc de Clermont-Tonnerre collection, chateau de Glisolles, and now in the Arthur Veil-Picard collection). Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) won a gold medal for casting these bronzes at the 1823 Salon. We know of a slightly different, more naturalistic version by Charles-Antoine Bridan (1730-1805), of which a pair of terracottas are in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres. It is assumed that Bridan drew inspiration for these sculptures from antique models in the Villa Borghese. In addition, Francesco Righetti (1749-1819) mentions bronze reductions of these antiques in his catalog, and several castings signed by him have appeared on the art market (Christie's London sale June 25, 1980, lot 48; ibid. Dec. 9, 1980, lot 199), see also the article by Alvar Gonzales-Palacios, Ristrudiando Rghetti in Antalogia di Belli Arte n° 39-42, 1991-1992, p. 21-22, n° 6.