Pair Verdigris Bronze Sculptures of Roman & Greek Gods After Louis Simon Boizot
Included here are two complimentary group sculptures in bronze with verdigris patination, after the original models by Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809). Each measures approximately 22" tall and 10" wide/deep. The sculpture on left depicts the Abduction of Orithyia by Boreas, the Greek god of the North Wind (winter). The sculpture on right depicts the Rape of the goddess Proserpina (or Proserpine) by Pluto, Roman god of the underworld. Both were sculpted by Boizot in 1786 and cast in bronze circa 1810-1830. Our sculptures date from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century and are in good condition. There is obvious oxidation to the surfaces, and some minor patination losses, consistent with age. We have not found any signatures, and the marking on the underside of one sculpture simply indicates the patination style ("verdigris"). There are remnants of green felt on the underside of each. The wooden pedestal shown is not included and not for sale.
Orithyia was the daughter of the King Erechtheus of Athens. The north wind, Boreas, fell in love with her, but after a failed attempt to woo her he took her by force. Affected by Cupid's arrow, Pluto abducted Proserpine at Pergusa Lake on Sicily where she was playing with nymphs and collecting flowers, and brought her back to the underworld to live. Her story is the basis of the myth of springtime. Boizot was a prizewinning pupil of Michel-Angle Slodtz who suceeded Falconet as director of the sculpture studio at the Sèvres porcelain factory. He held the post from 1773 until1800, and was responsible for some of its most characteristic and prestigious designs. These include the famous toilet set for the ‘Comtesse du Nord’(St Petersburg, Hermitage) and the so-called ‘large Medici vases’ (Paris, Louvre). His soft, graceful, and backward-looking style was admirably suited to this kind of object, but less so to full-scale sculpture at a time when neoclassicism was becoming the fashion. Nevertheless, he was regularly employed on portrait busts (including Napoleonic generals) and made a marble statue of S. John (1785) for S. Sulpice, Paris, and a statue of Racine (1785–7 now in the Louvre. (Source: Benezit Dictionnair de peintures, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs.)
