Attributed to Matthias Kolb (active 18th century) South German, Munich, mid-18th century

Sotheby's London, 22 April 1993, lot 187

Overall the condition of the group is good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. St. John's proper right arm detaches at the elbow. His proper left index finger is lost and there is a small loss to his proper right little finger. It is possible that St. John held a now lost attribute in his proper left hand. Consistent with the technique, both the ivory and the wood are carved in sections and joints are visible in some areas, including the elbows and shoulders. A few of the joints are slightly open, including at St. John's proper left shoulder. There is minor hairline splitting to the ivory consistent with the material, including to the center of St. John's chest. St. John's halo is lost and an old reattachment is visible here. Christ is slightly loose and there are glue residues beneath his proper right foot where he has previously been reattached. There are a few visible inserts to the wood. It is possible that a few sections of wood may have been reattached such as at the top of Christ's cloak. There are a few plugs. There are a few small holes, including to the backs of the figures for mounts (some of which survive). There are a few small chips to the drapery. There are a few areas of particular dirt, including to the back of Christ's drapery. There are a few spots of mould, including to the drapery between Christ's legs. There is a hole in the base in front of Christ's proper left knee. There are a few chips to the base. The underside of the base is numbered in pencil: 204.
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This fine combination group with the Baptism of Christ is close to the small ivory and fruitwood sculptures made by Simon Troger, an Austrian sculptor who was active in Munich. Such works mostly represent religious, mythological and bucolic subjects, and are characterised by the technique of combining ivory, fruitwood and glass. They were particularly sought after by members of the aristocracy, who enjoyed the irony of using expensive and exotic materials to represent often humble subjects. Troger's principal patron was Maximilian III Joseph, Prince Elector of Bavaria (1727-1777), who is believed to have commissioned many of the sculptor's works as lavish gifts.

Combination groups (Kombinationsgruppen) are believed to have originated in late 17th-century South Germany and Austria. There are a number of elaborate examples with religious subjects in the Museo degli Argenti in Florence, which appear to prefigure the present group in their use of rocky landscape settings carved from wood; see, for example, the extraordinary St. Michael fighting Lucifer (inv. no. A.s.e. 167). This art was developed with great success by Troger, and it is often to his hand that such works are ascribed.

The present group, however, can be attributed to Matthias Kolb, who was one of Troger's most talented students. The Rococo drapery, which sits on the figures' hips, is very close to that seen in his Beggar with a Book in the Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden (Syndram, op. cit., p. 80). Particularly interesting are the straps, which bind the drapes together. Such straps also appear on the Grünes Gewölbe Beggar, and can be seen on a figure of Zeus in the Reiner Winkler collection, which has been attributed to Kolb (Theuerkauff, op. cit., no. 30). In addition, whilst the naturalistic base would indicate that the present group was not produced by Troger himself (his bases are more abstract, with a grooved surface), the superb carving of the faces and the dextrous hands would strongly indicate that it was created by someone who worked closely with the master, and, given the comparisons noted above, that artist is likely to be Matthias Kolb.

RELATED LITERATURE
C. Theuerkauff, Elfenbein. Sammlung Reiner Winkler, Munich, 1984, pp. 66-7, no. 30; E. von Philippovich, 'Kombinationsfiguren aus Elfenbein und Holz', Kunst in Hessen und am Mittelrhein, vol. 17, 1997, pp. 27-35; D. Syndram, Die Barocke Schatzkammer Das Gruene Gewolbe zu Dresden, Dresden, 2006, p. 80; S. Defrin, 'Recognizing the Hand of Simon Troger (1683-1768)', R. Marth and M. Trusted (eds.), Sculpture Studies in Honour of Christian Theuerkauff, Munich, 2012, pp. 178-84