Statuette of a Seated Od Woman, carved pearwood with traces of polychromy, Southern Germany (Augsburg or Nuremberg), ca. 1520-25

An elderly naked woman is seated on a bench made up of four rectangular columns resting on a base, her head slightly inclined to her left. Her arms are crossed beneath her breasts. The naturalism of the carving is notable: the veined skin, the clearly visible bones and ribs, the sagging breasts, and folds of skin in the abdominal area. The lined face with its sunken chin and prominent forehead wears a sad and pensive expression. The figure is carved in the round from three pieces of wood. A joint above the knees indicates that both legs were made separately. The surface of the body and the hair is stained brown. The base consists of one piece to which a semi-circular element is attached at the front. The seat and the four columns are carved separately and joined together. The decorative elements, the flying putti at the front of the bench, and the base with dentils are clumsily carved, and indicate that the seat is a later addition. A paper label with the Spanish inscription "Asiento dela Viexa" (Chair of the old woman) is attached to the underside of the base.

Probably formerly in a Spanish collection (see label at the base of the statuette); Pourtalès-Gorgier collection, St Petersburg, (sale Paris, 6 February 1865, lot 1549, bought for £4 1s. 8d).

Historical significance: On acquisition the present figure was classified as German, early sixteenth century, although in the sale catalogue of the Pourtalès collection it was described as Italian. Planiscig (1927 pp. 90-1) suggested an origin in Padua, and published another version in pearwood in the Paul Gerngross collection in Vienna (ibid., fig. 80), and two other versions in bronze, one formerly in the Wittmann collection (present location unknown, ibid., fig. 79), the other in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (h. 15.7 cm; ibid., fig. 81); a third bronze (h. 15.3cm) formerly in Berlin was published by Bode in 1930 (no. 96, pl. 27), but this was lost in 1945 (I am grateful to Lothar Lambacher, Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin, for this information). Gertrud Otto (1954, p. 251-52) ascribed the present figure to Gregor Erhart, and suggested that the Spanish inscription on the base indicated a provenance from the Hapsburg collection, while Hannelore Müller (1955, p. 78, no. 433) tentatively attributed it to the circle of Stephan Schwarz (about 1470-1535). Both of these sculptors were active in Augsburg. Michael Baxandall (1967, pp. 6-7, no. 2, figs. 4-5) rejected these attributions as "too specific", and pointed out that "the character of the Paris bronze points rather to Nuremberg". A further version in bronze (h. 15.7cm), formerly in the Boscawen collection in Geneva (Exh. Geneva 1978, no. 219), is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (fig. * Boscawen collection 1997, p. ii, no. 21, fig. VII), and in 1979 the version in pearwood (h. 15cm) from the Gerngross collection was auctioned in London (Sotheby's, 13 December 1979, lot 161) and described as South German, about 1525; it is now in a private collection in Canada (I am grateful to Marjorie Trusted for this information). Müller (1955, p. 78, no. 433) tentatively attributed it to the circle of Stephan Schwarz (about 1470-1535). Both of these sculptors were active in Augsburg. Michael Baxandall (1967, pp. 6-7, no. 2, figs. 4-5) rejected these attributions as "too specific", and pointed out that "the character of the Paris bronze points rather to Nuremberg". A further version in bronze (h. 15.7cm), formerly in the Boscawen collection in Geneva (Exh. Geneva 1978, no. 219), is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (fig. * Boscawen collection 1997, p. ii, no. 21, fig. VII), and in 1979 the version in pearwood (h. 15cm) from the Gerngross collection was auctioned in London (Sotheby's, 13 December 1979, lot 161) and described as South German, about 1525; it is now in a private collection in Canada (I am grateful to Marjorie Trusted for this information). The present figure is more finely carved than the example in the former Gerngross collection, which lacks, for instance, the deep lines on the forehead. Of the bronzes, the one in the Fitzwilliam Museum, which is a solid cast, appears to be closest to the present piece, although it is two millimetres smaller, and the position of the fingers of the right hand differ slightly. According to Bode the lost example in Berlin was a hollow cast, and the Old Woman was seated on a cushioned chair, like the one in the former Wittmann collection; the piece in the Bibliothèque Nationale, which is also a hollow cast seems to lack the crispness of the other examples (I am grateful to Mathilde Bouvier of the Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque Nationale, for this information). The existence of four examples of the figure in bronze and two in pearwood of the same subject with approximately similar dimensions is unusual for an early sixteenth-century German sculpture, and may imply that this particular subject, probably symbolising Vanity, was in demand by connoisseur-collectors (for depictions of nude women at that time, see Hinz 1993, pp. 199-230). However, some of the bronzes may be aftercasts or replicas of the nineteenth century. The present wood example could have served as a model for versions in bronze, but this cannot be established without further close examination of all the surviving pieces. Although the exact place of origin in South Germany, whether Nuremberg or Augsburg, remains unresolved, another example of the genre is the Standing Old Woman in the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt, recently attributed to Daniel Mauch (Wagini 1995, p. 184, no. 136, fig. 61), and suggesting a date at the end of the first quarter of the sixteenth century for the present figure.

Throughout the ages artists and craftsmen have made virtuoso carvings as a display of their skill and ingenuity. Although ivory, wood and stone are relatively easy to carve, other materials such as gemstones are much more demanding. Most of these carvings were made for wealthy patrons and collectors, who delighted in the rarity of the material and quality of the carving. The seated figure was probably made as a model for reproduction in bronze. Four examples in bronze and two others in pearwood are known. This suggests that the subject, which probably symbolises Vanity,was popular with collectors in southern Germany.

62-1865