Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks - 11th August 2020
Lot 263
A ROCK CRYSTAL
Estimate £1,000 - £1,500 | Hammer £3800
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Description
A ROCK CRYSTAL, SILVER AND ENAMEL MODEL OF BACCHUS
IN RENAISSANCE STYLE, GERMAN OR AUSTRIAN, LATE 19TH CENTURY
depicting a youthful Bacchus astride a barrel, with a grapevine in his hair, holding a ruby coloured goblet in his right hand, the barrel with a tap and decorated with green enamel, unmarked, mounted on a lapis lazuli base
10.7cm high
PROVENANCE
Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942)
Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009)
The Trustees of Exbury House
CATALOGUE NOTE
This present lot bears an interesting resemblance to the wonderful late 16th century silver-gilt and green turban shell Bacchus collected by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898) and later bequeathed to the British Museum as part of the Waddesdon Bequest. It is interesting to speculate that Alfred coveted his cousin's Bacchus and acquired a similar one for his own collection. For a similar model of Bacchus but riding a sea monster, see the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1975.1.1494.