France, vers 1700, d'après l'Antique Le Dieu fleuve du Nil

Vente à Paris, Hôtel Georges V, Collection d'un grand amateur, le 15 novembre 1983, lot 25; vente Christie's à Londres, le 12 juin 1987, lot 20; anciennement galerie Daniel Katz, Londres; collection privée française.

A. Gibbon, Bronzes français du Grand Siècle, Paris, 1985, p. 72, fig. 93; J. M. Humbert, L'Egyptomanie dans l'art occidental, Paris, 1989, p. 193 (ill.).

REFERENCE(S) BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE(S)
J. Warren, Beauty and Power. Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Peter Marino collection, Londres, 2010, pp. 166-177, n° 15; R. Wenley, French Bronzes in the Wallace Collection, Londres, 2002, pp. 38-41.

Very good condition overall with minor wear to the surface and surface dirt, particularly in the crevices, consistent with age and handling. Few minor dents and casting plugs are visible at several places. An old patch is visible on the River God's proper right hand and a hairline fissure to his proper left ankle. Few very minor scratches and oxidation to the gilt bronze mounts of the base. Very fine cast precise in all details.
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Le marbre antique figurant le Dieu fleuve du Nil est mentionné pour la première fois avec certitude en 1523 (musées du Vatican). Il est probablement une copie romaine du modèle d'origine hellénistique. Dès 1684, dans un courrier adressé par Louvois, alors surintendant des bâtiments, à La Teulière, directeur de l'Académie de France à Rome, la production de petits bronzes d'après les plus célèbres modèles antiques est fortement encouragée. Certaines variantes ont permis d'adapter la composition monumentale du marbre antique à ses réductions en bronze de plus modestes dimensions. Ainsi, les seize putti s'affairant autour du Dieu fleuve ne figurent plus sur les réductions en bronze. Le Nil fait généralement pendant au Tibre. Nous pouvons mentionner quatre paires de dieux fleuves dont l'une est conservée à la Wallace Collection (probablement par Corneille van Clève); une autre à Dresde (Skulpturensammung); une troisième à San Marino en Californie (Huntington Library); une dernière à New York, dans la collection de Peter Marino (cf. J. Warren, op.cit., n° 15).

Un exemplaire du même modèle et de dimensions comparables, fonte française vers 1700, appartenait à la collection Dillée; sa vente par Sotheby's Paris, le 19 mars 2015, lot 17 (vendu 147 000 €).

An antique marble of the God of the River Nile was first mentioned in 1523 (Vatican Museums) andwas likely to have been a Roman copy of a Greek model. As early as 1684, La Teulière, Director of the French Academy in Rome, wrote to Louvois, Superintendent of Buildings, in order to promote the production of bronze reproductions after the most famous Antique models. Some alterations to the composition made it possible to translate the monumental marble into much smaller dimensions in bronze. Thus the sixteen putti bustling around the reclining God have been removed in the bronze reproductions. The Nile makes usually pendant with the God River of the Tiber. We can draw comparisons with four other pairs of Gods of the Rivers Nile and the Tiber: one in the Wallace Collection (probably by Corneille van Clève); another in Dresden (Skulpturensammung); a third at San Marino, California (Huntington Library); a fourth in the Peter Marino collection, New York (cf. J. Warren, op.cit., no. 15).

Another French cast of the same model and of similar dimensions, circa 1700, belonged to the Dillée collection; sold by Sotheby’s Paris, 19th March 2015, lot 17 (sold 147 000 €).