Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
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Lot 120*
A Nymphenburg white figure of Donna Martina, circa 1760
7 – 8 July 2022, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£15,000 - £20,000
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Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
A Nymphenburg white figure of Donna Martina, circa 1760
Modelled by F.A. Bustelli, wearing a fur-lined cape over her laced chemise, holding up her skirt with her right hand, a bottle in a wicker basket in her left hand, her hair pinned up in a plait, the tip of her toe pointing out from under the elaborate skirt, standing on a flat rococo scrollwork base, 19.5cm high, impressed shield mark to the front of the base, (restored)
Footnotes
Provenance:
European Private collection since the 1980s
The Nymphenburg Commedia dell'Arte is formed of 16 figures, eight male, eight female, that represent the height of sculptural artistry of Franz Anton Bustelli. He is thought to have created the series in 1759-60, because the figures are listed in the Formenverzeichnis or model books of the manufactory for the first time in 1760, listed there as 16 Stukh Pantomin Figuren.(Hofmann III, p. 396 as quoted by Hantschmann and Ziffer (2004), p. 254). In the printed Preiscourant or sales-pamphlet of the factory from 1767, the figures are listed individually and by name. The figures were, intended to function as pairs, Donna Martina together with the Dottore. In the traditional theatre of the Commedia dell'Arte, the Dottore and Donna Martina are the parents of Capitano Spavento. But the dottore and indeed the Donna Martina do not seem of an older age.
For a comprehensive discussion of Bustelli and the Italian Comedy figures, see Katharina Hantschmann/ Alfred Ziffer, Franz Anton Bustelli. Nymphenburger Porzellanfiguren des Rokoko (2004).
Another white figure of Donna Martina from the collection of Patricia Hart was sold in Christie's London, 5 July 2012, lot 23. It was also published in the catalogue of Mrs Hart's collection: Birte Abraham, Commedia dell'Arte, The Patricia & Rodes Hart Collection of European Porcelain and Faience (2010) pp. 142-143.
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