Lot 0010
Russian Ormolu and Malachite Pastoral Cabinet Bronze
Estimate: 2500-3000€
Russian Ormolu and Malachite Pastoral Scene inkstand.
St Petersburg, mid-19th century.
Bronze, malachite; casting, chasing, gilding, carved and veneered malachite base. Dimensions: 15 x 17 cm.
A refined cabinet bronze depicting a pastoral genre scene with a young boy standing beside a fruiting tree, set upon an oval malachite plinth. The composition unites the narrative charm of small-scale sculpture with the decorative richness of Russian hardstone work: the warm surface of gilded bronze is set in striking contrast to the deep green malachite base.
Such combined works in gilt bronze and malachite became especially honoured in St Petersburg workshops in the mid-19th century. In the early years of the factory directed by Carl Woerfell, production focused largely on objects made in bronze and malachite, and it was quickly understood that sculptural groups mounted on stone bases possessed a greater appeal than plain bronze alone. Animalier and genre subjects, when enriched by malachite plinths or other ornamental stones, acquired a more luxurious and distinctly Russian character. The present model belongs to this important tradition of cabinet sculpture, in which bronze was consciously paired with precious ornamental materials to heighten both its artistic presence and commercial desirability.
Starting price: 2000€
Estimate: 2500-3000€
Hammer Price: €
Related Lots
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Lot 0011
Russian Ormolu and Malachite Model of a Muzhik and Boy Sledding Paperweight
Estimate: 1500-2000€
Lot 0011
Russian Ormolu and Malachite Model of a Muzhik and Boy Sledding Paperweight
Estimate: 1500-2000€Russian Ormolu and Malachite Model of a Muzhik and Boy Sledding
Paperweight
Russia, 1830s-1840s. Dimensions: 10 x 15 cm
Bronze, malachite; casting, chasing, gilding, malachite mosaic.
A finely modeled Russian paperweight in the form of a peasant and a boy seated on a small sled, arranged as a compact genre group upon a rectangular malachite base. The elderly muzhik, with pronounced beard and traditional cap, braces himself behind the child, who raises one hand to his hat in a lively, almost theatrical gesture.
Folk themes entered artistic bronze of St. Petersburg in the late 1840s, in the context of a broader democratization of Russian art and culture. Bronze figures of vendors, peddlers, coachmen, and other popular urban types began to appear, echoing the imagery of genre painting and literary sketches devoted to everyday life. A landmark moment came at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, where two large Demidov compositions of dancing peasants and street figures on malachite bases introduced European audiences to the distinctive combination of Russian bronze, malachite, and national genre subjects. By the 1850s, some of these multi-figure models were also reproduced as small individual bronzes, often made for use as paperweights.Starting price: 1000€
Estimate: 1500-2000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0012
Evgeny Lanceray. Bronze and Marble Composition “Young Shepherd”
Estimate: 400-600€
Lot 0012
Evgeny Lanceray. Bronze and Marble Composition “Young Shepherd”
Estimate: 400-600€Evgeny Lanceray. Young Shepherd
Bronze and marble, Dimensions: 7.5 × 16 × 12 cmRussia, late 19th century
This small bronze composition depicts a shepherd boy lying on the ground, resting his head in his hands in a relaxed, contemplative pose. The figure is mounted on a polished marble base.
Evgeny Lanceray (1848–1886), one of the most prominent Russian sculptors of the 19th century, was celebrated for his finely detailed genre scenes and portrayals of everyday rural life.
Starting price: 350€
Estimate: 400-600€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0009
Rare Russian Bronze and Malachite Tea-Drinking Inkstand
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Lot 0009
Rare Russian Bronze and Malachite Tea-Drinking Inkstand
Estimate: 6000-8000€A Rare Russian Inkstand with Tea-Drinking Scene Moscow (?), 1850s. Bronze, malachite, glass; casting, gilding, malachite mosaic. Dimensions: 19 x 16 cm.
This rare inkstand is conceived as a compact genre scene centered on the ritual of Russian tea-drinking. A bearded seated figure, shown in quiet concentration with a teacup in hand, is placed beside a table covered with a cloth and set with a samovar, cup with saucer, and small vessels. The writing implements are ingeniously absorbed into the composition, so that the object unites narrative detail with practical function in the manner characteristic of mid-19th-century Russian cabinet bronzes.
Such objects belong to the important development of Russian genre bronze in the pre-Reform decade, when the amusing peasant types of earlier decades gradually gave way to more varied and observant scenes drawn from everyday national life. In works of this kind, functional desk accessories were transformed into miniature sculptural tableaux, combining ornamental purpose with storytelling.
Comparable item in Russian State Historical museum: https://catalog.shm.ru/entity/OBJECT/2870625?query=чаепитие&index=42Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0008
Russian Gilt Bronze Troika on Malachite Base, after Grachev
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Lot 0008
Russian Gilt Bronze Troika on Malachite Base, after Grachev
Estimate: 6000-8000€After Vasily Yakovlevich Grachev (1831-1905) Troika on a Malachite Base. St Petersburg, second half of the 19th century. Gilt bronze, malachite; casting, chasing, gilding, mounted on a polished malachite plinth. Dimensions: 24 x 8 cm.
A dynamic cabinet sculpture representing a Russian troika in full motion, with two drivers seated in a sleigh drawn by a team of three horses. The composition is conceived with pronounced forward thrust: the horses are shown at different angles and in varied strides, while the taut reins and diagonally arranged harnesses heighten the sense of speed and tension.
The model relates to the work of Vasily Yakovlevich Grachev, one of the notable sculptors of realist orientation active in the field of Russian cabinet bronze. Largely self-taught, Grachev became famous for his small-scale sculptural models in the Russian manner, especially scenes drawn from national life. Complex multi-figure groups of this kind were beyond the technical scope of his own workshop after its establishment in 1885 and are therefore closely associated with casts produced at the St Petersburg foundry of Carl Woerfell, where a number of Grachev’s models were cast.Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Hammer Price: €