Italian, Venice, 17th century

These elegant models exist in a number of casts which have traditionally been given a Venetian origin. A very similar pair, whose female figure varies from the present bronze in the inclusion of a sun emblazoned on her chest and the absence of a book, was sold at Christie's London on 5 July 1988 (lot 85) with a tentative attribution to Nicolò Roccatagliata (circa 1560-1629). More recently the models were attributed to Tiziano Aspetti (1559-1606), when a pair of andirons surmounted by near-identical figures, formerly in the Rothschild collection, was sold at Christie's New York on 29 October 2019 (lot 1012). The female figure in the Rothschild bronzes shows the same iconography as the 1988 cast with the addition of a club in her right hand, which has led to an identification as Omphale. Standing on a tortoise in all versions, the woman may represent an allegory of Virtue, but her varying iconography across casts could allow for several identifications.

On stylistic grounds, an origin in the Roccatagliata workshop should not be excluded for the present models, as their heavy eyelids and thick curls of hair are hallmarks of the sculptor's style. The male figure's armour, too, finds comparisons in works by Roccatagliata, notably his model of Saint George and the Dragon. However, since the present casts exhibit some stylistic discrepancies with works by Roccatagliata and Aspetti from around 1600, for example in their broader facial features, they are likely to have been cast in a Venetian foundry in the later 17th century. The activity of Roccatagliata's workshop continued under his son, Sebastiano Nicolini (active from 1614), and possibly beyond his death.