Jan Claudius de Cock

Private collection, United Kingdom;

By descent to the present owner

The Brussels-born baroque sculptor, Jan Claudius de Cock, joined the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp between 1682 and 1683 and apprenticed in the workshops of Pieter I Verbruggen and Hendrik Frans Verbruggen. From 1692, he was commissioned by William III, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the Netherlands, to work on various projects, including an ensemble of sculptures for the Prinsenhof (Willem III's castle) in Breda.

Various examples of the present model are known, both in bronze and marble. Other versions can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. A18-1913) and a bronze cast is in the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore (inv. no 54.24). The medallion often shows different designs, which likely indicates the specific interests of the patron. The present medallion depicts a classical profile of a Roman emperor, like the example in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The model of the present bust echoes various works by De Cock. A comparable standing portrait of a Boy with Mural Crown (probably representing Africa from a series of the Continents), which is now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, signed and dated 1704 (inv. no. BK-1972-134), shows a similar carving of the face and medallion. Moreover, an allegorical terracotta figure of Fire, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 4 June 2009, lot 79, relates closely to the present model.

RELATED LITERATURE

J. Leeuwenberg and W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, cat. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Hague, 1973, no. 339