CAST AFTER THE MODEL ATTRIBUTED TO ARTUS QUELLINUS THE ELDER (ANTWERP 1609 - 1668 ANTWERP)NETHERLANDISH, CIRCA 1700 | Bellowing bull

With David Peel, 1965;
Paul Wallraf Collection;
His sale Sotheby's, 8 December 1983, lot 213;
Sotheby's London, 9 December 2005, lot 123

From Riccio to Clodion, exhibition catalogue, David Peel & Co. Ltd., London 1965, no. 20

Standard surface abrasions. Reddish gold patina beneath dark greenish brown lacquer. Minor chipping to base.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This vigorous model of a bull standing with head raised and bellowing is known in several versions. The example in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (inv. R 3232), cast with integral footplates and with traces of gilding, is likely the primary version. An almost equally fine example deaccessioned by the same museum in 1923, also with footplates and traces of gilding, is now in the Rijksmuseum (inv. BK-16944). Frits Scholten (op. cit., 2005) agrees with Weihrauch (op. cit., 1967) in placing the model within the circle of Peter Paul Rubens and, building on a supposition by Theuerkauff (Krahn, op. cit.), ventures further to attribute it to the Antwerp sculptor Artus Quellinus the Elder circa 1640. A gilt example of the model, paired with a facing gilt model of a walking horse, appears on the table in the center background in the Antwerp kunstkammer painting known as “The Studio of Rubens,” owned by Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and attributed to Cornelis van Baellieur, now in the in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. The paired gilt model of the horse in this painting closely resembles the autograph terracotta model by Quellinus, signed and dated 1638 (sold Christie’s New York, January 10, 1990, lot 196).

A cast similar to the present example, also referenced by Weihrauch (op. cit., 1956) and formerly in the Camillo Castiglioni collection, Vienna, was bequeathed to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, acc. no. M.3-1997 (dated to 1650 by thermoluminescence test on its core). Another similar cast was formerly in the collection of Nelson Rockefeller, New York.

RELATED LITERATURE
Hans R. Weihrauch, Die Bildwerke in Bronze und in anderen Metallen. Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München, 1956, p.169, no.208;
Hans R. Weihrauch, Europäische Bronzestatuetten, 15. -18. Jahrhundert, Braunschweig, 1967, p.374, fig.457;
Christian Theuerkauff, La Sculpture au siècle de Rubens, exhibition catalogue, Musée d'art ancien, Brussels, 1977, no. 116, p. 154;
Volker Krahn, Von allen seiten schön. Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, exhibition catalogue, Bode Museum, Berlin, 1995, p.532-3, no.197;
Victoria Avery and Jo Dillon, Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, exhibition catalogue, Daniel Katz Gallery, London, 2002, pp. 218-221 and pp. 296-298