Lot n° 104
Estimation :
10000 - 15000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 31 000EUR
18th century Dieppe school - Lot 104
18th century Dieppe school
The Deploration of Christ after a model by Guglielmo della Porta (1515-1577)
Stoup carved in openwork bas-relief in ivory; gilded metal cup.
Dimensions : Total height : 23,5 cm ; Height of cup : 4,5 cm
Small probable lack below the cup
Related literature:
Tardy, Les Ivoires, Paris, 1979;
Pierre Ickowitz, La Vie du Christ, Les cahiers de l'ivoire du château de Dieppe, n°4, 2008, Bayeux, p.102 ;
Philippe Malgouyres, Ivories of the Renaissance and Modern Times. La collection du musée du Louvre, ed. Gourcuff Gradenigo / Louvre éditions, Paris, 2010;
Marjorie Trusted, Baroque and later ivories, V & A Publishing, 2013, pp.260-261.
Related works:
- Workshop of Jean-Antoine Belleteste, Devotional altar depicting The Descent from the Cross and the Entombment, c. 1760 90, ivory and metal leaf on a wooden base, H. total: 48.8 cm and H. of ivory plate 41 cm, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, no. A.31-1941 ;
- Dieppe, 1777 (?), Altarpiece, Passion, Descent from the Cross, after Charles le Brun, circa 1680, ivory carved in bas-relief on an openwork background, ebony base, H. 38.5 cm, Musée-Château de Dieppe, n°inv. 985.1.1.
- Dieppe, early 18th century after Pierre Dulin, stoup decorated with an Annunciation scene, ivory in openwork bas-relief, H. 21 cm, Musée-Château de Dieppe inv. 907.9.1;
This small ivory stoup representing a scene of the deploration of Christ was made in Dieppe in the 18th century, as its shape, composition and style show. Its very high quality of execution places it undeniably among the most beautiful works known from this famous ivory production.
This holy article was finely crafted from a convex plate, cut vertically from the base of the elephant's tusk. The backsplash has been cut to size, according to the local term "mosaic", to recall the fineness of a lace. The background is framed by an arch surmounted by clouds alternating with the ends of the light rays emerging from a central cloud decorated with five putti heads. The arch is supported by delicate columns with Corinthian capitals, entwined with ivy, on top of which rest two afflicted cherubs. The central scene shows the Virgin Mary holding on her knees her Son who has just come down from the Passion Cross. The group is seated on a rock under which are present the skull of Adam, symbol of Golgotha, and a snake with its head directed towards the arma christi. Three roses - a Marian symbol - adorn two foliate ribbons and close the frame in its lower part. The cup is also finely decorated: the smooth bowl inside is bordered by a gadrooned lip. The upper part of the cup is also "mosaic", while the front shows the Christ-like lamb stretched out on the cross, and the underside is decorated with large ribbed foliage.
The subject is derived from the model of the famous Italian artist Guglielmo della Porta (1515-1577) designed around 1570. The artist adapted his drawings of the same subject, inspired by Michelangelo's Pieta Bandini. This model was a resounding success and is considered "probably the most famous sacred image in Europe around 1600". Not only did it influence El Greco, but above all it spread to the edition of Peace Kisses, plates, and then, via engraving, to all other types of material. Its exploitation and adaptation in Dieppe still in the 18th century, among more classical French models (Le Brun, Audran, Mignard, Lemoyne etc.), testifies to its iconic role in the history of art. The model was certainly used several times, perhaps in limited series, as attested by another work, a devotional altar also from Dieppe in the 18th century featuring this central subject (cf. Marc Arthur Kohn sale of 31 March 2015, lot 72).
The work is of a rare quality, which invites us to wonder about its author. However, the actors of the art of Dieppe in the eighteenth century are still to be discovered, publications on their subject being, unfortunately, still limited. As Pierre Ickowicz explains in the Cahiers de l'Ivoire n°4, signed works are rare in the 18th century and iconographic sources from this period are almost non-existent. We can however compare stylistically the decoration, as well as the quality of the work, to works kept in the Musée-Château de Dieppe and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The latter is attributed to the best known (as far as we know) and most renowned workshop in the town: the workshop of Jean-Antoine Belleteste (1731-1811).
1 Domenico Theotokopoulos, known as "El Greco", Pieta, ca. 1577-80, New York, Hispanic Society of America; Jacob Cornelis Cobaert, after a model by Guglielmo della Porta, Pieta, bronze plaque, ca. 1569, Metrop
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