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Lot 121
SIR ALFRED GILBERT R.A. (1854-1934)COMEDY AND TRAGEDY: ‘SIC VITA’bronze, raised on a stepped ebonised wood plinth34cm high (bronze), 39cm high (with plinth)Provenance: The Fine Art Society, LondonNote: New English Sculpture was a dynamic movement at the end of the 19th century which injected energy and naturalism into English sculpture. The medium had been dominated by a neo-classical style seen as rigid and irrelevant to human experience, so much so that Baudelaire even wrote a critique of the Paris Salon in 1846 titled ‘Why Sculpture is Boring’. The term ‘New English Sculpture’ was coined in Edmund Gosse’s article ‘The New Sculpture’ which was published by Art Journal in 1894, where he defined the movement as ‘a close and reverent observation of nature’. Leading sculptors such as Lord Leighton, Alfred Gilbert and Hamo Thornycroft revived the Italian Renaissance art of ‘lost wax’ bronze casting in order to finely render surface details like musculature and facial expressions in a more naturalistic manner. This approach was introduced by Aimé-Jules Dalou, who disseminated the French method of direct modelling during the period he spent teaching at South Kensington School of Art from 1877 to 1880. This combination of traditional and modern continental influences prompted these artists to recast well-worn classical myths in a distinctly original and relatable style. The movement re-established the relevance of sculpture within society by embracing the statuette, which bridged the divide between high art and decorative art without compromising on the standard of craftsmanship. Until the 1860s sculpture was primarily limited to the marble portrait bust or large classical figure, but these smaller bronze casts created a new sculptural category which suited the scale and price desired by homeowners. The cult of the statuette was a popular feature in late Victorian and Edwardian architectural design and enabled the classical heroic figure to fulfil a new decorative role within a domestic setting.
Lot 509
THE COUNCIL OF ART UNION OF LONDON, ALBUMDESIGNED BY MISS M. LILLIAN SIMPSON, 1896Blank album in highly decorative electroplate embossed covers, over morocco or seal leather, showing an Art Nouveau fruit and floral pattern with central figures of angels to each cover, and four angels emerging from chrysalises on each cover, signed ‘Art Union of London 1896’ to covers [see Marianne Tidcombe, 'Women Bookbinders', p.89]25 x 20cmLiterature: Greensted, Mary and Carruthers, Annette 'Simplicity or Splendour', 1999, item 183, for the copy in the Cheltenham Collections.Note: An example of one of the 'prizes' distributed by the Art Union of London to its members. The nineteenth century European Art Unions would typically offer paintings and proof engravings on the basis of a lottery to their subscribers. However, The Art Union of London often chose to offer more utilitarian pieces of decorative art, such as Lilian Simpson's album. Other prizes included an illustrated copy of Tennyson's 'Idylls of the King' in 1863, an alabaster bust of Apollo in 1861 and a cast iron tazza depicting classical figures. Several copies of Simpson's album seem to have been awarded to subscribers, each album being predominantly blank inside with the title-page reading:"The cover which encloses these pages was designed and modelled by Miss M. Lilian Simpson, on a commission from the Council of Art in London, and gained…a gold medal…It was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1896."The idea embodied in the design is that of the growth of life (represented by the flowering fruit) watched over by Spirits…whilst Love kisses the buds into bloom, and, as shown on the clasp, binds together the pages of the Book of Life."
Lot 166
A China War 1900 Long Service group of six medals awarded to 341550 Thomas Edward Dusting RN, comprising: China 1900 Medal (T E Dusting SSA HMS Pique), Naval General Service Medal with Persian Gulf 1909-1914 clasp (341550 T E Dusting SH STD HMS Fox), Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, GVR Admiral bust (341550 T E Dusting SH STWD HMS Fox), 1914-15 Star (341550 T E Dusting SS RN), British War and Victory medals (341550T E Dusting VCPO RN), together with certificate of service, nine Paymaster to Ship's Steward certificates and other ephemera.
Lot 758
A Charles I silver gilt Royalist badge, by Thomas Rawlins: bust of Charles I right with falling lace collar and close buttoned doublet, CAROLUS DG MAG BRI FR ET HIB RX, rev inscribed to the plain back 'King Charles dy'd. I Feare my god. I love my King. I abhore a reble, January 30, 1648. 45 x 37mm (MI 360/231; Elmer 167).
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