242 x 280 mm, paperback, 112 pages, 67 colour illus., 84 black and white
PRICE: £20.00
ISBN: 978 0 900785 78 8
The group of about one hundred French bronzes in the Wallace Collection is justly considered one of the finest such collections in the world. Fifty-one of the best are featured in this book, the first in-depth study of the subject in English. They range in date from about 1570 to about 1840. Among them are the two most valuable items in the collection of Louis XIV, fine bronzes made for his predecessor, Louis XIII, and an exceptional portrait of his ancestor, Charles IX.
Each sculpture is superbly reproduced in colour. Introductory essays provide a history of French bronze statuettes; an exploration of the taste of the Marquesses of Hertford for them; and an examination of their casting and finishing techniques.
This exhibition and catalogue celebrates the most gifted, inventive and eccentric amateurs of the 18th and early 19th centuries with a selection of drawings, engravings and portraits gathered from Soane's collection and other museums, archives and private houses around the country. More