Sandstone models of an elegant couple dancing
Two figures on scrolling plinths, carved in the round. The lady wears a cloak, a large bow, and a gown with a finely engraved border. The gentleman wears an elegant justaucorps, a frilled shirt, and knee breeches. Restorations, her extended hand and forearm replaced. Minor losses to both plinths, that of the gentleman with numerous cracks. The lady H 124 cm, H with base 205.5, W 56, D 42 cm.
The gentleman H 120 cm, H with base 201.5, W 54, D 40 cm.
Attributed to Adam Ferdinand Tietz (1708 - 77).
The city of Trier purchased four similar figures in 2018, which are currently housed in the Palais Walderdorff. It is thought that the sculptures were removed from the grounds of the electoral palace in Napoleonic times.
Adam Ferdiand Tietz worked for Franz Georg von Schönborn in Trier as of 1754 and continued working for his successor Philipp von Walderdorff. Prior to this he worked for the Prince Bishopric residences in Bamberg under Johann Philipp Anton von und zu Frankenstein and Würzburg under Carl Philipp von Greiffenclau zu Vollraths. Like many sculptors of the era, his first commissions were for altarpieces, but garden sculptures soon began to occupy a significant portion of his oeuvre. He was recommended from court to court, worked for three bishops of the Schönborn family alone and thus exerted a significant influence on the garden sculpture of the era.
Provenance
From the collection of a Rhenish industrialist family.