Royal Buen Retiro Pietre Dure and Mosaic Laboratory (active 1759-1808) Spanish, Madrid, circa 1796

probably commissioned by Manuel Godoy y Álvarez de Faria (1767-1851), Prime Minister of Spain (1792-1797 and 1801-1808);
with Anticuario Abelardo Linares, Madrid

Overall, the condition of the sculpture is good, with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There are some very small specks of dirt to the gilt bronze. The bust backplate and socle are cast separately. There are a few very small nicks to the gilt bronze, including to Washington's forehead. The bust is a little loose, as are some of the gilt bronze appliques; one at the upper drum behind Washington is missing a pin. There is a missing applique at the back of the upper drum. There are few very small casting flaws to a few of the bronzes, including to the front lion. The base is composed in sections, and there are a few glue residues at some of the joints. There is a slightly visible restored break running through the red marble below the upper drum, and there is a small filled hole as well as a restored vein below. There are a few losses: two to the white marble moulding below the upper drum, and a small one to the brown marble base. There are minor chips and abrasions to the edges. There is veining to the marbles consistent with the materials, including some slightly open veins, including one in the upper drum at the front. There are small filled holes in the niches of the brown marble, possibly for missing gilt bronzes. There are remnants of old labels, respectively inscribed: "No 18 / ...b" and "A.LINARES / ANTIGUEDADES / PZA CORTES, 11 / No 4802D. / 65330 / 30.000 / pts."
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This exquisite gilt-bronze bust of George Washington is a rare lifetime portrait of America's first President. Its superlative quality and sumptuous hardstone socle of columnar form mark it out as an important lost work from the celebrated Real Laboratorio de Piedras y Mosaico, established by King Charles III of Spain at Madrid's Buen Retiro in 1759. Of virtuoso facture, the socle combines richly coloured marbles from across Spain, and compares with the finest centrepiece constructed by the Royal Laboratory. The bust appears to be based on a painting of Washington by Giuseppe Perovani, commissioned by the Spanish chargé d'affairs in Philadelphia, Josef de Jaudenes y Nebot (1764–before 1819), and gifted to Prime Minister Manuel Godoy in 1796. Dubbed the Príncipe de la Paz (Prince of Peace), Godoy was instrumental in signing the Treaty of San Lorenzo (Pinckney's Treaty) with the United States on 27 October 1795, which declared a state of mutual friendship between the two nations; it is probable that the present bust was commissioned to celebrate this important diplomatic milestone.

An American Icon: A Spanish Treasure

Charles III of Spain (1716-1788) transformed Madrid into one of Europe's grandest capitals and brought economic and social stability to Spain. Prior to his accession to the throne in 1759, he had resided in Naples as the King of the Two Sicilies, where he had gained an appreciation for the Italian art of pietre dure (hardstone inlay). On his arrival in Madrid, he established the Real Laboratorio de Piedras y Mosaico at the Buen Retiro Palace. The King brought craftsman from Italy, including Domenico and Luigi Poggetti, and Francesco Sabatini and Domenico Stecchi, both of whom were active at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Grand-ducal workshops in Florence. These Italian-born hardstone carvers trained a generation of Spanish artisans, and created some of the most superb pietre dure objects of the 18th century. The most celebrated early works produced by the Laboratory are the series of nine tables with extraordinary trompe-l'oeil devices and illusionistic scenes which were designed by Charles-Joseph Flipart (1721-1797) and completed by 1788.

With the emergence of Neoclassicism as the dominant international style by the last decades of the 18th century, the Laboratory's output came to be infused with a cool classicism, which recalls the designs of Luigi Valadier (1726-1785) in Rome. Its most famous work from this period is the magnificent Charles IV surtout de table, a magnificent centrepiece incorportating a temple and candelabra of polychromed marbles with fine gilt-bronze mounts by Giovanni Battista Ferroni (d. 1804). Originally commissioned in the 1790's by Charles IV and later given to Napoleon in 1808, the centrepiece is now housed in the château de Fontainebleau (inv. no. T264C.3). The design of the Charles IV surtout de table closely parallels the George Washington socle. Compare, in particular, the candelabra, constructed in multiple tiers of columns of polychromed marble, with gilt-bronze appliques and fictive creatures, including griffins, mermen and sphinxes, chased in an analogous way to the lions on the present socle. Comparable gilt-bronze scrolling vegetal forms and fictive garlands to those on the George Washington socle are seen also, for example, adorning the domed temple from the centrepiece. Moreover, a number of the same marbles appear to have been used, including the veined cream marble from the upper drum of the present socle; see the candelabra with vase, inv. no. T264C.3.7. The close parallels between the George Washington and the Charles IV surtout de table strongly indicate that the present bust was made in the 1790's; the closure of the laboratory in 1808 provides a terminus ante quem.

The Bust of George Washington itself is close in conception to Giuseppe Perovani's painted portrait of the President, which was commissioned by Josef de Jaudenes y Nebot, Spain's representative in the United States, and was subsequently given by Jaudenes to his mentor Prime Minister Godoy when he returned to Spain in 1796. Washington likewise appears as a statesman, his iconic wig concealing his hair, his elegant frockcoat open, exposing the unbuttoned waistcoat and chemise underneath. Beyond the clear compositional and stylistic affinities, the argument for Perovani's portrait having served as the model for the present bust is strengthened by the fact that such a bust from the Royal Laboratory can only have been commissioned by a high ranking member of the Spanish court. Aside from King Charles IV himself, Godoy, who owned the Perovani portrait, and who secured a coup in signing the Treaty of San Lorenzo with the United States, is the obvious candidate.

The modelling and execution of the bust is of the highest quality, the identity of the sitter unmistakable. Washington is Presidential in his demeanor, the sharpness of the bronze casting seemingly reflecting the Enlightenment values of this victorious democratic leader. The Royal Laboratory was famed for its superb gilt-bronzework, which was informed by French techniques brought to Madrid by Louis and Dionisio Leprince (Martin, op. cit.). The most celebrated bronzeworker in the Laboratory was arguably Ferroni, and the comparable quality of the bronzes from his Charles IV surtout de table, may indicate that he worked on the present object. However, a more likely candidate can be identified in Domingo de Urquiza (1729/30-1806), who worked for the Laboratory between 1793 to 1806, exactly at the time the George Washington would have been made. The quality of the casting of the bust, with its superb, sharply chased, and gilt surface, is wholly consistent with Urquiza's oeuvre. In terms of quality, the metalwork brings to mind the best French work from the period by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843).

A Monument to United States Diplomacy

The context leading up to the creation of the Bust of George Washington is rooted in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) in which Spain covertly supported the thirteen original colonies with funds and resources, and engaged Britain in open warfare, thereby increasing the strain on the British war effort. After the Treaty of Paris in 1763, Spain was ceded Louisiana, and, later, at the Peace of Paris of 1783, was given control of West Florida (incorporating the Southern parts of modern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama) and East Florida. The boundaries of West Florida had never been agreed, leading to tension with the United States in the years after the Peace of Paris. When, in 1794, Britain and America signed the so-called Jay Treaty, a declaration of amity, Godoy panicked, fearing the security of Spain's colonies in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1795, the Prime Minister invited the American Ambassador to Britain, Thomas Pinckney, to Madrid, where they struck up a firm friendship; the Treaty of San Lorenzo was signed at the El Escorial on 27 October 1795. By the terms of the agreement, Spain ceded to all of Pinckney's demands, settling the question of the border of West Florida to America's advantage, and giving American ships free navigation of the Mississippi river and the use of New Orleans as a port.

Whilst the terms of the Treaty of San Lorenzo were not advantageous to Spain, the agreement declared a new friendship between the two nations, and alleviated (though only temporarily) Godoy's concerns regarding the security of Spain's possessions in the Americas. Within a year Godoy would be out of office, Spain would face rebellion in its North American lands, and, in 1799, America would mourn the death of its first President. In light of the dating of the Bust of George Washington to the 1790's and its status as a prestige and expensive treasure from the Royal Laboratory, the bust was almost certainly commissioned to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of San Lorenzo, and Godoy's hope for a lasting friendship between Spain and the United States.

RELATED LITERATURE
J.J. Junquera, La decoración y el mobiliario de los palacios de Carlos IV, Madrid, 1979; C. Mañueco Santurtún (ed.), Manufactura del Buen Retiro 1760-1808, exh. cat. Museo Arqueologico Nacional, Madrid, 1999; A. González-Palacios, Las Colecciones reales Españolas de Mosaicos y Piedras Duras, exh. cat. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2001, pp. 157-168; G. Campbell, 'Buen Retiro Pietre Dure and Mosaic Workshop', The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts, London, 2006, p. 157; C. Kinder Carr and M. Águeda Villar (eds.), Legacy. Spain and the United States in the Age of Independence, exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 2007, pp. 4-5, 6-8, 31-40, 178-220, nos. 2, 24, 27-32; A. Giusti, 'Roman Inlay and Florentine Mosaics. The New Art of Pietre Dure,' W. Koeppe, Art of the Royal Court. Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New Haven and London, 2008, pp. 24-25;F. Martin and G. Leiva Martinez, 'Los Leprince: broncistas franceses al servicio de la Real Casa', Reales Sitios, 154, 2002, pp. 64-75

Sotheby's would like to thank Dr María Jesús Herrero Sanz, Conservator of Sculpture at the Royal Palace, Madrid, for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.