Two ivory statuettes of Autumn and Winter signed by Balthasar Permoser (1651- 1732), dating from 1695.

In our opinion these sculptures satisfy the second and third Waverley criteria, and we are therefore objecting to their export.

Provenance

These sculptures formed part of a set of four Seasons first documented in the possession of August Wilhelm, Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1662-1731) on 9 October, 1722, when they were taken to Salzdahlum Castle at Braunschweig. They are likely to have been originally acquired by Anton-Ulrich, Duke of Braunschweig- Wolfenbüttel (1633-1714), probably via his son Ludwig Rudolph (1671-1735), who visited in 1695. In 1798 they were recorded in the inventory of the Kunst- und Naturalienkabinett at Braunschweig. They were confiscated in 1806 by Dominique Vivant-Denon, acting under the orders of Napoleon, during the Napoleonic wars. When restitution of the looted works of art to Braunschweig took place in 1815, the present two statuettes were missing. Their whereabouts were unknown until they were published as being at Harewood House by Eric Maclagan in 1931. They may have been acquired in Paris between 1806 and 1815 by Edward, Viscount Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood (1767-1814), but this is uncertain, since no archival records survive giving their provenance. They certainly remained within the collections of the Lascelles family at Harewood House, Yorkshire from 1931.

Description of the Sculptures and other Versions

Autumn (24 x 9 x 5 cm.) and Winter (22 x 9.5 x 5 cm.) are personified by allegorical depictions of the classical gods Bacchus and Vulcan. The drunken Bacchus, nude save for a garland of vine around his hips, joyfully holds a bunch of grapes aloft in his left hand, resting his right hand on an infant satyr at his feet, who is seated munching another bunch of grapes. Bacchus’s left foot rests on a wine gourd. On the back is the artist’s signature: ‘BAT:P:INV.’ The group is inspired by Jacopo Sansovino’s full- size marble Bacchus, now in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence.

Winter is portrayed in the form of an aged Vulcan, bent slightly forward, his right hand across his chest, as if shielding himself from the bitter cold. His windswept beard and drapery likewise imply a howling wind. He too is nude, apart from the meagre swathe of drapery at his back and blowing round his left hip. His wrinkled flesh is an old man’s, while his facial expression suggests the struggles of age. At his side is a small smoking bonfire, illusionistically carved, at which he seems to be attempting to warm his left hand. This piece is signed simply on the reverse ‘B.P.v’.

Both ivories are set on octagonal wood bases, which could have been made when they entered the collection at Harewood House. The carving is of the highest quality, reflecting the artist’s virtuoso skills as an ivory sculptor.

As stated above, these figures belong with the pendant Seasons, Spring and Summer, which are still at Braunschweig. The four together present a harmonious group whose rhythms and compositions echo each other, the two female figures complementing the

1 two male ones. The figure of Spring is inscribed on the back, ‘BALThAsAR. PERMOsER.IN.V.F’, while Summer is signed in monogram and dated 1695: ‘B.P.IN.V.1695’. There is every reason to believe that all four figures were made in the same year, 1695.

Another group of the four Seasons by Permoser, represented by closely similar ivory statuettes, is at the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden. Although they are undated, Eike Schmidt has convincingly proposed that those four figures were made in 1714/15, at around the same time Permoser executed the full-size stone figures of Ceres and Vulcan for the pavilion at Dresden. Another group of four ivory Seasons by Permoser, recorded in 1730, once belonged to the marchese Carlo Ginori in Florence. These are now lost, but in 1757 porcelain versions of Permoser’s Seasons were made at Ginori’s Doccia factory, undoubtedly based on his ivory figures.

Balthasar Permoser

Permoser is one of the greatest sculptors of the German era. Exceptionally he was a master of small-scale ivory carving, as well as monumental pieces in stone. Born in Cammer on the borders of Prussia in 1651, he trained initially in Salzburg, and went to Vienna in 1671, where he probably studied ivory carving. In 1674-5 he visited Rome, and in about 1677 entered the service of the Medici Grand Dukes in Florence, assisting in the sculpture workshops of Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652- 1725). In 1690 he moved to Dresden to work at the court of the Elector of Saxony, and he remained there for the rest of his life, apart from a spell in , where he collaborated with Andreas Schlüter (c.1659-1714) on the Berliner Schloss. The present figures were made therefore while he was at Dresden, and may well have been intended as diplomatic gifts from the Elector of Saxony to the Duke of Braunschweig- Wolfenbüttel, probably via the Duke’s son, Ludwig Rudolph, as stated above.

The relief and the first of the Waverley criteria: Are the objects so closely connected with our history and national life that their departure would be a misfortune?

The provenance of these figures between 1806 and 1931 is uncertain. They may well have entered the collections at Harewood House during the nineteenth century, but since this cannot be proved it could be misleading to argue they are closely connected with our history or national life. We would therefore not object to their export on those grounds.

The statuettes and the second of the Waverley criteria: Are the objects of outstanding aesthetic importance?

The virtuoso quality of ivory carving seen in these sculptures is remarkable, and illustrates Permoser’s genius as a sculptor at its best. German artists of the baroque period executed some of the finest small-scale sculptures in Europe, and these epitomise the flourishing of the works produced during that great artistic era.

2

The statuettes and the third of the Waverley criteria: Are the objects of outstanding significance for the study of some particular branch of art, learning or history?

Only one other work by Permoser is known in this country: the ivory Entombment at the Victoria and Albert Museum. That relief, though a splendid example of his carving, differs radically from the present freestanding figures of secular subjects in both form and subject. For that reason retaining these figures would enable students of his work to glean a far better understanding of his skills and achievements.

Bibliography

S. Asche, Balthasar Permoser. Leben und Werk, Berlin, 1978.

E.Schmidt and M. Sframeli (eds.), Diafane passioni. Avori barocchi dale corti europee (exh. cat.), Museo degli Argenti di Palazzo Pitti, Florence, 2013, especially pp. 326-9, with further literature.

M. Trusted, Baroque and Later Ivories, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2013, especially pp. 42-4.

3