Lot number 3255 - Auction 160
'LA NYMPHE SALMACIS'

FRANÇOIS JOSEPH BOSIO 1768 Monaco - 1845 Paris (after) 'LA NYMPHE SALMACIS' Bronze with brown patina, on an oval marble base (H. 5 cm). Total H. 61, W. 66, D. 40 cm. Unsigned; based on the design by Bosio held in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. A fully modeled depiction of the nymph Salmacis in a reclining pose, reaching for her foot with her right hand while propping herself up on her left arm. Her hair is styled upwards in the antique manner and adorned with a wreath of blossoms. A later cast based on the famous model 'La Nymphe Salmacis' by the French sculptor François-Joseph Bosio. Bosio first presented the model in plaster at the Paris Salon of 1819. The marble version, commissioned by King Charles X in 1826, was exhibited at the Salon in 1837 and is now housed in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. Shows signs of rubbing and minor impact marks; losses to the patina; stress cracks in the base. Provenance: Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia.