Research
Of polychrome painted wood. Each modeled as the head of an African elephant with white painted wood tusks and raised trunks supporting a circular shelf with carved gadrooned molding. Old repair to one plateau. Minor repairs to carving.
Provenance:
An Old Hudson Valley Estate.
Exhibited:
TEFAF Maastricht 2018
These monumental wall brackets of carved and painted wood, each taking the form of an elephant’s head with uplifted trunk supporting a plateau, seem to be without precedent in scale, subject matter, and medium. They appear to portray African elephants, distinguished from the Asian elephant by a number of features, mainly in the form of its head, trunk and back.
The brackets belong to a tradition of portraying the elephant in art, architecture and decorative objects, extending as far back as the first introduction of the animal to the West. This body of work was made predominantly for, or in the context of, the nobility, and include the following notable instances. The sensitive modeling and noble countenance of the present elephant heads have lead to the view by sculpture experts that they are the work of a possibly French hand between 1680-1720.
Full research report available on request.