PROBABLY CAST FOR ANTONIO CANOVA (1757-1822) BY VINCENZO MALPIERIITALIAN, CIRCA 1812 | Bust of Calliope

with a partially legible inscription to the truncation at the back: [...] CANOVA F. A.  1812 musa

There is dirt and wear to the surface of the plaster bust consistent with age. The plaster bust has either been outdoors or has been in a damp environment such as a plant hot house for a period of its life. The surface is consequently been slightly roughened throughout and the plaster has a developed greyish colour which is varies in tone in different areas. There is particular wear to the shoulders and to the high points of the head and to the top of the head. There are a few little areas of restoration including to the central roundel at her forehead. A few locks of hair are lost or have small chips, including a lost lock at the proper right side of the forehead. There are various little chips around the edges of the sculpture. The bust is darker at the top of the head. There are original lines running through the sculpture from the plaster casting process.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This evocative bust is likely to be an original plaster commissioned by Antonio Canova from Vincenzo Malpieri (a trusted associate and plaster caster). Such plasters are rare. The basis for the Malpieri attribution is the hand modelled appearance of the bust, particularly at the reverse, with its open back with wood support. The open back is comparable with the autograph plaster Bust of Caroline Murat recently with Robilant and Voena, which had an unbroken provenance from Murat. Moreover, the inscription to the reverse of the present bust is near-identical to that on a Bust of Paris with Tomasso Brothers Fine Art in 2017, which has been catalogued as by Antonio Canova and cast by Vincenzo Malpieri (Tomasso, op. cit., no. 8). The Bust of Paris is inscribed: ANT . CANOVA . F . A . 1812 (Paris). The inscription strongly indicates that the present bust and the Paris were cast by the same hand, possibly at the same time. The Paris is paired with a Helen and the two may be in the casts mentioned in Canova's ledger in October 1813 documenting payment to Malpieri for a number of plasters including a Paris and Helen. The present bust was probably cast from a mould taken directly from Canova's 1812 marble Bust of Calliope in the Palazzo Pitti, which is inscribed: ANT. CANOVA F. A. 1812 (46cm). The original pointed plaster version of the bust, used in the process of carving the marble, is at Possagno. Consistent with Canova's studio practice, the present plaster would have been cast from the finished marble. The Calliope was commissioned by Canova's biographer Giovanni Rosini in 1808. It is a variant of the earlier bust of Clio gifted by the artist to the countess of Albany in 1811, and now in the musée Fabre in Montpellier. 

RELATED LITERATURE
M. Praz and G. Pavanello, L'opera completa del Canova, Milan, pp. 121-122, nos. 235, 237-8; K. Eustace, Canova: Ideal Heads, exh. cat. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1997, p. 77