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A PAIR OF NORTH ITALIAN BLACKAMOORS Venice, early 19th century Each depicted with wavy b...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:60,000.00 - 80,000.00 USD
A PAIR OF NORTH ITALIAN BLACKAMOORS Venice, early 19th century Each depicted with wavy b...
A PAIR OF NORTH ITALIAN BLACKAMOORS

Venice, early 19th century Each depicted with wavy black hair and bead earrings, wearing a gilt-trimmed red jacket over a pleated-front shirt with stand-up collar, and fastened at the waist with a bow-tied gilt sash, also wearing blue-green breeches and light-green tasseled boots, each gesturing with one hand raised and pointing upwards and the other hand gripping an ecclesiastical stave, standing on an ebonized plinth base 721/2 X 20 IN. (184 x 51 CM)

$60,000-80,000

Provenance Baroness d'Erlanger, Villa Foscari (Villa Malcontenta), Italy; Dr. Scott Schubach (sold Butterfield & Butterfield, Los Angeles, September 24, 1997, lot 4528, $74,000).

THE BARON AND BARONESS D'ERLANGER Baroness Marguerite Mathilde Slidell d'Erlanger, daughter of John Slidell, an ambassador to Louis Napoleon and Empress Eugenie, and Mathilde Deslonde, a member of an old French Louisiana family, was a prominent and vibrant figure in society and the arts during the latter half of 19th century. A renowned beauty, she and her three sisters attracted considerable attention upon their arrival in Paris, drawing eligible suitors from the diplomatic and social circles attached to Louis Napoleon. Mathilde met and fell in love with the young Parisian financier Baron Frederic Emil d'Erlanger, son of Raphael Von Erlanger, a Frankfurt banker and ambassador ennobled by the Emperor of Austria and the King of Portugal, and a Lutheran lady from Hamburg called von Albert. Mathilde and Emil married on October 3, 1864, and were soon blessed with four sons: Raphael, Emile Beaumont, Freddy and Rodolphe. Raphael became a professor and Emile a poet, but it was the Baroness' two youngest children who appear to have inherited her passion for art and music; Rodolphe composed operas such as Tess of the d'Urbevilles and Freddy gained fame as an Orientalist musicologist and painter.

The Baron and Baroness d'Erlanger made numerous notable contributions to modern industry and the arts. The Baron financed the first transatlantic telephone cable, and it was Mathilde who had the honor of placing the first phone call. Like many financiers of his generation, he invested in the railroads and mines in Africa and North and South America. On an 1891 visit to inspect his railroad investments in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he revealed a proclivity for philanthropy by making a surprise $5,000 donation for the establishment of a local hospital. The Erlanger Medical Center exists today and, on March 9, 2002, the main facility was renamed the "Baroness Campus" in honor of the Baron's beautiful wife; a bronze bust of the Baroness showcasing her long neck and elaborate coiffure was commissioned to commemorate the occasion. Counted among the couple's many contributions to the arts, was their introduction of Wagner's Tannhauser to the Paris Opera after the Franco-Prussian War and their presentation of the Duke of Alba's 17th-century allegorical tapestries, now hanging in Hampton Court Palace, to the British crown.

THE VILLA FOSCARI (VILLA MALCONTENTA) Situated along the banks of the Breta River near the town of Malcontenta, the Villa Foscari, or "La Malcontenta," boasts a magnificent and imposing Greek temple-front and exemplifies the harmony and balanced variety of Palladian design. The brothers Nicolo and Alvise Foscari commissioned Andrea Palladio to design "La Malcontenta" in 1549 and the villa was completed in 1563, three years after the death of Nicolo. It is not known when the Baron and Baroness d'Erlanger rented or owned the Villa, but its ownership has now returned to the Foscari family, who have overseen a careful renovation.
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