Benedetto Pistrucci

Sotheby's New York, 3 October 2007, lot 62

Overall the condition of the marble is good. There is dirt and some minor wear to the surface consistent with age. There are a few minor inclusions and veins visible on the surface consistent with materila, inculding a vein running along the proper right side of the torso and faint veins on either cheek.
"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."

Benedetto Pistrucci was the most celebrated gem engraver and medallist in Europe during the first half of the 19th century. Trained in Rome, he moved to London in 1815, where he was employed at the Royal Mint from 1816. He quickly gained a reputation as a virtuoso modeller and engraver, being appointed Chief Medallist in 1828. Pistrucci's reputation as a gem-cutter gained almost mythical status when he announced that he was the author of the prize gem in the collection of the prominent antiquarian collector, Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824), a supposedly antique cameo of Flora, which he had carved in Rome for the sum of £5. Payne Knight was outraged and rebuffed the claim, even after Pistrucci was able to identify his mark on the gem; the collector is said to have gone away 'like a drenched flea' (Jones, op. cit. p. 149). The Flora is today in the British Museum, there attributed to Pistrucci (inv. no. M&ME 1824).

Discussing Pistrucci's 1832 marble bust of the Duke of Wellington at Apsley House, Charles Avery observes that 'the gem-cutter's fascination with minute detail ... runs away with Pistrucci as he reaches the hair, which he stylizes obsessively into a linear pattern of swirling locks' (Avery, op. cit. p. 255). The same can be said of the present bust of a noblewoman, with its elaborate ringlets and sharply delineated strands of hair. The highly finished surface and almost jewel-like precision is undoubtedly a direct consequence of Pistrucci's training as a gem-engraver. The inscription reads that the present marble was the first bust sculpted by Pistrucci. Given the sitter's late Regency hairstyle (see for example Thorvaldsen's circa 1816 bust of Lady Louisa Bingham at Gosford House) and the terminus ante quem of 1832 (when Pistrucci sculpted his earliest recorded bust, the Wellington), it can be surmised that the present bust dates to the 1820's.

RELATED LITERATURE
C. Avery, 'Neo-Classical Portraits by Pistrucci and Rauch,' Studies in European Sculpture, London, 1981, pp. 253-9; M. Jones (ed.), Fake? The Art of Deception, exhib. cat. British Museum, London, 1990, p. 149, no. 152