Lot 2216 D‡α

Master of the Furies, studio of

A carved ivory figure of an old woman (Personification of Envy?), by the workshop of the Master of the Furies (presumably active in Salzburg around 1600 - 1625)

ivory, carved, boxwood. A small, finely carved ivory and boxwood figure of an old woman lying her back with her limbs contorted in pain and her mouth opened in a scream; the figure may represent the Personification of Envy. The back of the separately worked carved wood piece of rocky ground upon which she lies has a small hollow which presumably originally held a small object that has since been lost. The style of this small-scale work, and especially the expressive depiction of the woman's pain, links this piece to the anonymous “Master of the Furies”, to whom around 25 small ivory sculptures have been attributed and whose notname derives from a depiction of a Fury in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. no. KK 3727). The workshop of this exceptional artist has not yet been localised, but they are presumed to have been active in Salzburg or Northern Italy in the first quarter of the 17th century.
The ivory with some hairline cracks, otherwise in perfect condition. A diagonal crack to the boxwood. Mounted on an ivory plinth. 7.5 x 14.5 x 7 cm (with plinth)..