A pair of patinated bronze figures of Atlas on ebonized and parcel-gilt stands second quarter 20th century

one supporting a globe and the other an orrery

Emilio Terry, Château de Rochecotte
Couturier Nicolay, Paris, June 17, 1994, lot 123
The Contents of Ven House, Somerset, sold Christie's London, June 21-22, 1999, lot 441

Overall in very good condition. Bases with rubbing to ebonized decoration and two panels with Latin with some rubbing and age cracks. Patinated bronzes with some light rubbing and surface scratches.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

José Emilio Terry y Sánchez, better known as Emilio Terry was a French architect and interior and landscape designer whose work was mostly influenced by French Baroque art. Born in Cuba in 1890 into a wealthy family of politicians and landowners, he was of Venezuelan, Cuban and Irish heritage. When only seven, his family moved to New York and later France, where his father had purchased Château de Chenonceaux, which greatly inspired Terry’s later activity as a designer. In France, Terry lived in his apartment at 2 place du Palais-Bourbon that he bought in 1914. In 1934 he purchased Château de Rochecotte from his brother-in-law and spent the next 35 years restoring the building to its original splendor. He died in 1969. His oeuvre as a designer was an amalgamation of the work of some of the most iconic architects such as Palladio and Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and was whimsically nicknamed style Louis XVII by Terry himself. Among his clients were Stavros Niarchos, the Monegasque princely family, Carlos de Beistegui and the Beauvau-Craons.

The present Atlas figures are probably Terry's interpretations of the basically identical Atlas figures delivered to Louis XVI's library at Versailles in 1777. The design of those derive from the so-called Albani Atlases, which supported a granite cistern from the Villa Albani and which were engraved by Piranesi in his Vasi, candelabri, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi disegnati ed incisi dal Cav. Batt. Piranesi.