Two Peasants Dancing
Statuette
ca. 1750 (made)
ca. 1750 (made)
| Place of origin |
On acquisition the group was called Neapolitan, but it seems more likely to be South German. In style it prefigures the work of the Munich sculptor Simon Troger, whose ivory and wood figures became popular in South Germany and elsewhere in the mid-eighteenth century. The present subjects are also reminiscent of commedia dell'arte groups. Similar figures are to be seen in Dresden, Munich, and Nuremberg, as noted by Longhurst. A series of wood and ivory groups associated with the Passion now in the Museo degli Argenti in Florence are closely analogous. These were brought to Florence by Ferdinand III de' Medici from Würzburg in 1814, and are thought to date from the early eighteenth century (Aschengreen Piacenti 2011).
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 5 parts.
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| Title | Two Peasants Dancing (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Ivory and walnut wood, glass eyes |
| Brief description | Group, ivory and wood, showing two dancing peasants, South Germany, middle of 18th century |
| Physical description | Group of two peasants dancing wearing their constume. The two ragged figures wearing large hats are dancing and carousing. One has a pierrot-style ruff, and the other a large flapping cape. Their mouths are open, and their tongues and teeth visible. A sword and cloak carved of wood are lying on the rectangular wood base. One of the figures has a wood sword in his belt, which is separately added. The other holds a goblet of wood in his left hand, which is also separate. The faces and hands are of ivory, and ivory pieces are ingeniously set into the wood folds of the drapery, imitating portions of revealed flesh, as if their clothes were in rags. The pupils of the glass eyes are black. They are mounted on a base. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Bought for £6 10s. in 1859 (vendor unrecorded). |
| Historical context | There are numerous similar figures in the larger German museums. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | On acquisition the group was called Neapolitan, but it seems more likely to be South German. In style it prefigures the work of the Munich sculptor Simon Troger, whose ivory and wood figures became popular in South Germany and elsewhere in the mid-eighteenth century. The present subjects are also reminiscent of commedia dell'arte groups. Similar figures are to be seen in Dresden, Munich, and Nuremberg, as noted by Longhurst. A series of wood and ivory groups associated with the Passion now in the Museo degli Argenti in Florence are closely analogous. These were brought to Florence by Ferdinand III de' Medici from Würzburg in 1814, and are thought to date from the early eighteenth century (Aschengreen Piacenti 2011). |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 4902: to 5-1859 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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