A Pair of English White Marble Putti Torchères attributed to Michael Rysbrack (1694-1770) second quarter 18th century

The Duke of Roxburghe, formerly at 2 Carlton House Terrace, London S.W.1., sold Christie's May 31st, 1956, lot 13 (catalogued as French school, 18th century)
Sotheby's London, July 8th, 1998, lot 85

RELATED LITERATURE
K. Eustace, Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor, 1694-1770, Bristol, 1982
M.I. Webb, Michael Rysbrack Sculptor, London, 1954

Owing their inspiration to the earlier work of the Fleming François Duquesnoy, such putti are often found in the decorative sculpture attributed to Michael Rysbrack and his workshop.  Rysbrack's posthumous sales included several models of 'boys' and 'genii' (Langford's sales on 25 January 1766 and 18 April 1767), Webb (op. cit. p. 127). Note also the use of putti on Rysbrack's tomb monuments and the sketches for them (see K. Eustace op. cit. figs. 28, 35, 36, 37, 41) and the boys over the door in the Stone Hall, Houghton Hall, Norfolk, illustrated Webb (op. cit. fig. 57).  For a marble relief with two similar putti supporting an architrave now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see Sotheby's, December 7, 1989, lot 169.