Circle of Johann Wolfgang von der Auwera (1708-1756) German, Franconia, 18th century

Overall the group is in very good condition with some dirt and wear consistent with age. Time's proper left arm has been broken and reattached above and below the elbow. There are some restored breaks to Time's proper right lower arm. There appear to be some restorations to Time's proper right fingers and Cupid's proper left fingers. There is a restored break at Time's proper left ankle. His proper right wing has been reattached (it is possible that the other is also reattached). Cupid's proper left wing has been reattached. There is veining to the alabaster consistent with the material, including two prominent veins running through Time's proper left wing and a vein running across Time's head.
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Johann Wolgang von der Auwera was the pupil of his father Jakob von der Auwera (1672-1760) and Claude Curé (d. 1745), both of whom were court sculptors in the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg. Johann took over his father’s workshop in 1736 upon his return from studies in Vienna, and, in 1738, became court sculptor to Prince-Bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn. Auwera shared his Princely patron with Balthasar Neuman, the foremost German architect of the eighteenth century, and collaborated with him on several architectural projects. The two artists were friends and spent some months travelling in the Netherlands together in 1740.

The depiction of the elderly but vigorous figure of Chronos clipping the wings of Cupid was seen in the 18th century as allegorical of time destroying youth and beauty. A precedent for this small-scale work in alabaster is found in the group of Gladiators by Auwera made for Schönborn in 1736-8 in the Würzburg Residenz. Another comparable figure of Time carved in fruitwood and attributed to Auwera is illustrated in the Blumka Gallery and Julius Böhler 2004 exhibition catalogue Collecting Treasures of the Past IV, no. 50.

One possibility for the authorship of the present group is that it could be the work of Auwera's pupil, the important Rococo sculptor Johann Peter Wagner (1730-1809). Chronos' frowning expression and slightly stooped pose compare with those of St. John the Baptist in an alabaster relief signed by Wagner, which was sold in these rooms on 14 July 1977, lot 329. Wagner in fact produced a monumental fountain, which was dominated by a figure of Chronos for Hofstraße in Würzburg in the 1770's (replaced in the 19th century).

RELATED LITERATURE
Collecting Treasures of the Past IV, exh. cat. Blumka Gallery, New York, and Julius Böhler, Munich, 2004, Munich, 2004, no. 50; H. Hägele. "Auwera." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed September 1, 2013, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T005241pg2.