Lot 328
SIR ALFRED GILBERT (1854-1934)
‘AN OFFERING TO HYMEN’, 1900
Estimate: £1,000 - £1,500
Auction: Lots 1 to 336 | 16th October at 10am
Description
bronze, signed and dated in the bronze A. GILBERT 1900, composition plinth
Dimensions
Footnote
Literature: Dorment R Alfred Gilbert: Sculptor and Goldsmith, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1986, pls.25 and 32
Note: An Offering to Hymen of circa 1885 was Gilbert's first female nude and became one of his most popular figures. It depicts the upright figure of a young woman reverently making a presentation to Hymen, the Greek god of marriage and of the marriage song. There as several variations to this figure, the sculptor producing small changes and variations in the gifts which the girl presents to the god. In this example, the figure is holding a leafy frond and a statue of Anteros, the god of requited love and the avenger of the unrequited.
