Lot 421
  • 421

Pointer Dog Resting: A bronze figure, after the model by Lieberich, cast by Woerffel Foundry, St Petersburg, late 19th century

Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Pointer Dog Resting
  • bronze
  • length 36.5cm, 14 3/4 in.
dark brown patina, the collar inscribed in Cyrillic 'N. Lieberich', the underside inscribed 'Fabr. C. F. Woerffel/ St Petersbourg'

Condition

Excellent condition.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Nikolai Lieberich (1828-1883) began to draw as part of his training in the Imperial Life Guard Hussars. The legendary regiment, which acted as the military face of the Empire, required its members to perform reconnaissance missions and comprised an important part of Lieberich’s aesthetic education. Some of his biographers speculate that at no other time and in no other place were officers encouraged to such a degree to partake in the arts. Emperor Nicholas I took an active interest in the Hussars’ artistic pursuits and personally encouraged Lieberich. This culture trickled down, as officers proved supportive of each other’s work even after leaving their regiments.

Until the age of thirty, Lieberich enjoyed a successful military career. He graduated from the Nikolayev Cavalry School and reached the rank of Colonel in the Imperial Life Guard Hussars, participating in two military campaigns along the way: the Hungarian uprising of 1849 and the Crimean War of 1853-1856. Although he had little official training or academic instruction in the arts, his sculptures quickly achieved success with critics, academics and the public, inspiring him to pursue his craft alone. After retiring from the army, Lieberich kept close relationships with his men: they commissioned his works and enabled him to establish the military gift as a genre of sculpture.

Like Troubetzkoy, Lieberich believed in sculpting from nature, “for only she can instruct the artist”. An avid fisherman, the flora and fauna of Russia permeates much of his work. He was, to borrow the words of poet and fellow Hussar Mikhail Lermontov, “a citizen of feasts and battles”; and in the act of hunting he had married the two.

In 1861 Lieberich met Emperor Alexander II and began to participate in the Imperial hunting trips. He would eventually lose favour with the court, taking a principled artistic stand instead of succumbing to the politics of appeasement. When Count P.K. Fersen insisted that he be sculpted alongside the Emperor in the 1865 bear-hunting composition, Lieberich refused, since Fersen was in fact far away when the real events depicted in the sculpture took place. Though Fersen would have his revenge, using his influence to sideline Lieberich, there is little doubt that these Imperial hunts made an impact on the sculptor’s art.

As a rule, Lieberich’s sculptures embody strength, confidence and tension. They are simple, true to nature, and attentive to detail, especially with regard to furry textures, giving rural themes representative of the national spirit a serious treatment. The sculptor’s relationship to animals appears to be practical, unsentimental, utilitarian. More often than not, his horses come equipped with a saddle and are ready to be ridden.

Tension in Lieberich’s work manifests itself in manifold ways. Between the troika galloping ferociously and the riders controlling the reins; between the reindeer frothing at the mouth and their calm, composed owner; between the bear-hunter and his prey—tensions materialise. Even the bust of Alexander II, with his gaze directed towards the heavens, suggests the tension ever-present between a monarch and the higher power he submits to.

Pointer Dog Resting was modelled in preparation for the International Exposition of 1867 in Paris, and was also exhibited in London, in 1872. It was cast by the Woerffel foundry, which was established in 1842 and acquired by Carl Fabergé in 1914. The pointer dog is emblematic of hunting. Its particular tension is in its posture: resting but alert; its body slumped comfortably to the side whilst its neck is upright. Its gaze is directed forward into the distance, as if it were calmly patrolling the area, like a soldier or a guard. Its collar is not incidental: this pointer dog has a home and an owner.