Attributed to Claude Michel, called Clodion (French, 1738-1814): A sculpted terracotta figural group of Pan and two infant Satyrs,

circa 1770-1800

Saleroom notices

Please see below for lot footnote: Provenance Property of an Italian Gentleman Claude Michel called Clodion is perhaps one of the most celebrated European sculptors of the 18th century. Born in Nancy in north east France, he was a contemporary of Houdon and Fragonard and in his teenage years he travelled to Paris to enrol in the studio of his uncle Lambert-Sigisbert Adam's sculptural studio working on competitions pieces for the Academie. He subsequently enrolled as a pupil at the studio of Jean Baptiste Pigalle (French, 1714-1785) which fortuitously enabled him to win the prestigious Prix de Rome. Leaving Paris in 1762 to travel to Rome, Clodion spent nine years refining his craft and studying the works of the classical world and antiquity and was undoubtedly influenced by the works of his compatriot Poussin. He also importantly acquired several high-profile clients and patrons including Catherine the Great of Russia and the Duc de la Rochefoucauld. Clodion returned to Paris in 1771 upon the request of the Marquis de Marigny, Directeur des Batiments du Roi and established a studio in an area of the city where the Place de la Concorde is now located. He quickly achieved great success and was awarded several important, large-scale commissions. Despite interest in his larger works, it is however his intimate terracotta groups depicting nymphs, satyrs and cherubs which perhaps define Clodion's importance as one of the most famous sculptors of the 18th century. These innovative works, often executed in terracotta in a highly recognisable style were heavily influenced by antiquity and his Bacchanalian subjects were defined by incredibly fine modelling and a meticulous attention to detail. Many of Clodion's terracotta's are not dated and many were also left unsigned. The current lot depicts a muscular Pan or young satyr serenading two dancing infant satyrs on his pipe or thyrsus and is typical of the style of Clodion's Bacchanalian output. The main figure seated on a draped tree stump characteristically wears a wreath of finely modelled fruiting vines and sits beside a tambourine doubling as a basket holding grapes, the theme typically celebrating Bacchus, the god of wine and fertility. The subject, like much of Clodion's work in terracotta reveals the sculptors fundamental influences, that of classical and antique sculpture which he studied in Rome alongside the work of his fellow compatriot Poussin. Furthermore, the composition of the group is typically stylistically in the manner of the sculptor, showing every detail of the physiques of the figures including the detail to the fur to the haunches of the legs and the curls to the heads, together with individually tooled bunches of grapes.