Miniature Ivory bust of Oliver Cromwell
Inscribed JD FC
Jacob Dobberman.
Sold by Christie's, London Lot 112 - 9 July 2009.
5¾ in. (14.6 cm.) high; 9 in. (22.8 cm.) high, overall
Provenance:
Mary Morrison by whom bequeathed to Catharine
Dent-Brocklehurst and by descent.
For what its worth - I think the JD inscription is probably spurious - added sometime after its production perhaps to increase its value.
Catalogue entry and photographs lifted directly from Christies's Website
Jacob Dobbermann was a virtuoso carver of both ivory and
amber who spent much of his life working in Germany in the first half of the
18th century. He was certainly in London in 1711 but returned to Germany no
later than 1716 where assumed the role of court sculptor to Charles, Landgrave
of Hesse-Kassel and, later, his son William VIII.
Dobbermann was well versed in
the art of carving in relief and in three dimensions as his highly accomplished
plaque of Neptune and Amphitrite in the Reiner Winkler collection, Germany, and
his figure of Henry VI in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, testify
(Theuerkauff, loc. cit., and V and A website;
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O89318 respectively). In both instances Dobberman demonstrates his great skill in carving the minute details of the
hair and beard while also showing great dexterity in rendering the multiple
textures of drapery.
With the bust of Oliver Cromwell offered here, Dobbermann
demonstrates this same skill while also showing great sensitivity in the
rendering of the Lord Protector's facial features. Despite the fact that he
would have been working from an engraving or a miniature, he managed to achieve
great naturalism in the carving of the furrowed brow, the broad jaw and cleft
chin as well as in the delicacy of the hair, moustache and collar - one small
corner of which has lifted as if caught by a gust of wind.
While it is not clear exactly how long Dobbermann spent in
London, he is known to have been in Godfrey Kneller's academy in 1711 and to
have also been a member of the Rose and Crown Club in the same year. It is
therefore highly likely that Dobbermann carved the bust of Cromwell during this
period. This dating is further corroborated by the fact that the bust is unlike
other known work by Dobbermann and is, in fact, much more closely related to
the works of his French contemporary David Le Marchand (1674-1726), who was
working in London in precisely the same years (see Avery, op. cit., nos. 38 and
69, for example). The connection between the two may be through the painter
Godfrey Kneller; le Marchand knew the former from having carved his portrait in
circa 1710 (now in the Thomson collection, Toronto, see Avery, op. cit., p. 74,
no. 39) and Dobbermann would have known Kneller through the Academy. It is
therefore highly likely that the latter introduced his young German compatriot
to the well-connected Frenchman. The importance of this bust must, therefore,
be appreciated on multiple levels: it is a very rare sculptural portrait of
this sitter, it represents the artist's virtuosity in his craft, it is
emblematic of his development and influences and, most interestingly, embodies
the creative atmosphere of London in the early 18th century.
Literature.
C. Theuerkauff, Elfenbein - Sammlung Reiner Winkler, Munich,
1984, II, no. 3, pp. 26-8. Edinburgh, London and Leeds,
National Gallery of Scotland,
British Museum and Leeds City Art Gallery, David le Marchand 1674-1726 'An
Ingenious Man for Carving in Ivory', 7 Mar.- 6 May 1996, 23 May - 15 Sept. 1996
and 2 Oct. 1996 - 5 Jan. 1997.
_______________________
Oliver Cromwell
van der Hagen
after Rysbrack.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
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