A general on Horseback - Hubert Le Sueur - with Tomasso Brothers

An  Equestrian Bronze Statuette of  a General on Horseback - 

Hubert Le Sueur - 

with The Tomasso Brothers 2009.

21.5 cms

This unpublished statuette is an interesting addition to the growing catalogue of work byHubert Le Sueur, court sculptor – as he himself boasted – to two kings, Louis XIII of France and Charles I of England and Scotland. Unfortunately, it has no meaningful provenance and the identity of the armoured rider is unknown.

The horse, the saddle and the armoured body are identical to those of two other casts which have the heads of King Louis XIII as a youth and of King Philip of Spain, both now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, nos. A.1–1994 and A.108-1956. Of these, the former has Le Sueur’s name stamped on the girth, and this was crucial for establishing his authorship not just of these small equestrian figures, but of a much larger pair also in the Victoria andAlbert Museum (inv. nos. A. 47 and A 49–1951). One of the latter shows Louis XIII on a virtually identical mount, though the larger scale has permitted more modelling of detail.There is also a bronze of Charles I on a steed leaping above a crouching, defeated foe,which has come to light more recently (inv. no. A.1–1992; see Bresc-Bautier and Scherf 2009,pp. 176–77, no. 44, with earlier literature).

Exhibitions : SCULTURA II - 15 - 24 OCTOBER 2009, Catalogue no. 12, Williams Moretti & Irving, 24 East 80th Street, New York, 10075.

Literature:

C. Avery, ‘Hubert le Sueur’s Portraits of King Charles I in Bronze: At Stourhead, Ickworth and Elsewhere’, National Trust Studies, 1979, p. 143; reprinted in C. Avery, Studies in European Sculpture, vol. I, London 1981, pp. 201–o2

C. Avery, ‘Hubert Le Sueur, “The Unworthy Praxiteles” of King Charles I’, The Walpole Society, 1982,pp. 135–209; reprinted in C. Avery, Studies in European Sculpture, vol. II, London 1988, pp. 145–235

G. Bresc-Bautier and G. Scherf, eds., Cast in Bronze, French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution (French edn Bronzes Français de la Renaissance au Siècle les Lumières), exh. cat., Musée du Louvre, Paris; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The J.P. Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2009, pp. 178–79, no. 45

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Photograph and text above from -

http://www.tomassobrothers.co.uk/PrintObjectPDF.aspx?objectid=229191&dealerid=12486

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For a brief account of the life of Le Sueur see - http://www.speel.me.uk/sculpt/lesueur.htm

Whilst mostly devoted to 19th century sculpture - this is an excellent website and should be visited by anyone with an interest in English sculpture.