A plaster portrait bust of a man - image-1
A plaster portrait bust of a man - image-2
A plaster portrait bust of a man - image-1A plaster portrait bust of a man - image-2

Lot 1012 Dα

A plaster portrait bust of a man

Auction 1152 - overview Cologne
29.05.2020, 14:00 - Decorative Arts
Estimate: 10.000 € - 15.000 €
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A plaster portrait bust of a man

Life-sized polychrome bust of a man facing slightly towards the left in a powdered wig, open shirt and “robe de chambre”. On a round, moulded plinth painted to resemble marble. With fine original polychromy. A breakage to the bow, some vertical cracks to the neck. H 62.5, W c. 35.5, cm.
Attributed to Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain, mid-18th C.

This bust is traditionally thought to be a self-portrait. Little is known about the life of the artist Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain who lived in France from 1710 to 1795. His brother in law, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714 - 1785), was much more well-known. Some of his sculptures are housed in the palace gardens of Sanssouci, gifted to Prussia by Louis XV. We know what Allegrain looked like from the portrait of him painted by Joseph Duplessis in around 1775 in the Louvre (inv. no. 4305). However, the portrait shows him as a considerably older man. It is thus difficult to determine with certainty whether this bust, which can be dated quite some time earlier, to around the mid-18th century, truly depicts the artist as a young man.

Provenance

Belgian private collection.