A German early 18th century carved alabaster figural group possibly by Paul Heerman (1673-1732)
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A German early 18th century carved alabaster erotic figural group
possibly by Paul Heerman (1673-1732)
depicting a monk and a prelate with a young woman, the monk pulling off her stocking while the prelate looks on, on a stippled oval base, 43cm high, 50cm wide (17" high, 19.75" wide)
Sold for £13,750 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • This group resembles the work of Paul Heerman in both its playful treatment of a taboo subject and stylistically in the treatment of the facial characteristics. For example his Education through Severity: Corporal Punishment depicts two putti, one thrashing the other with a rope scourge. It comes from a series of Virtues and Vices, which also includes the group of Winged Female Genius Crowning a Putto with a Laurel Wreath, 1712, which is now in the Los Angeles County Museum (Inv. No. M.79.15).

    The use of contemporary costume may also point to an attribution to Theophil Wilhelm Freese (Bremen, 1696-1763), whose group of The Four Seasons compares stylistically to the present group.

Category: Furniture / European Furniture and Works of Art

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