An Italian carved white marble bust of a fauness
probably Roman, late 18th / early 19th century, the model after the antique and in the manner of Luigi Valadier (Italian, 1726-1785)
the young bare shouldered nymph looking to dexter with smiling open mouth and blank eyes, her hair arranged in a wavy chignon, with rusticated back, above a vacant tablet, on a waisted circular socle, 42cm high
Footnotes:
The offered lot is a marble copy, after the antique, taken from a little known group of 'Nymph and Satyr' now in the Vatican reserve collection. The subject, paired with a pendant of the 'Albani Faun' (now in the Munich Glyptothek) is known to have likely been cast in bronze by the Italian bronze goldsmith bronze work, Luigi Valadier in the third quarter of the 18th century.

The original antique figure of the 'Fauness' seems to have become known after Clement XIV purchased it from the English dealer Thomas Jenkins. However whilst the 'Faun' became widely reproduced in many sizes, the 'Fauness' appears to have been less popular.

The Valadier workshop is known to have listed numerous busts of 'Fauns' in its workshop Registro as late as 1810, including some which were specifically listed as 'Fauno di Villa Albani' although none can be clearly identified as the Vatican derived 'Fauness'. However, examples of other known Valadier bronze busts utilising near identical variegated marble socles as the ones used for a pair of bronze busts of the Albani Faun and his Vatican Fauness certainly suggest that Valadier may well have produced this particular pair of bronze busts. This suggestion is similarly enforced with the composition as the 'Fauness' is purposefully modelled to looks upwards towards the 'Faun'.

Luigi Valadier is known to have restored and reworked ancient Roman art and architecture and antique sculptures, cameos, architectural details whilst the ruins of ancient monuments also served as inspiration for his own works which included candelabra, tableware, altars and centrepieces in both silver, bronze, marbles and semi-precious stones. Uncommonly for the time he produced works of all sizes from large altar pieces to intricate pieces of small jewellery

For a comparable pair of attributable bronze busts after the antique and in the manner of Luigi Valadier depicting a Fauness and her male companion, after the Albani Faun, see Trinity Fine Art, Exhibition of European Sculpture & Works of Art, catalogue, 2004, p. 46.