Lot 346
FRENCH TERRACOTTA FIGURE GROUP 'ATLAS AND HERCULES'
FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY
Auction: 28 September 2016 at 12:00 BST
Description
in unfired terracotta, robustly modelled with the figures supporting the globe, on a square plinth base moulded with acanthus
Dimensions
41cm high
Footnote
Note: The present group, worked in unfired terracotta, shows the mythological scene when Hercules, in his quest to retrieve the golden apples, convinces Atlas to collect them while he takes over the burden of supporting the world. The subject was a popular one in the 18th century and examples by different artists exist, including the large group by John Bacon surmounting the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford. This terracotta example is most likely the model for a bronze surmount to a clock. It is possible the finished bronze was never realised as no extant examples are known for this particular treatment of the subject.