Charles-André Van Loo, Sculpture of a Nude Venus, 1700s, Porcelain

Details

Description

A magnificent sculpture in the finest white "blanch de chine" vitrified hard-paste porcelain, with a deep sèvres blue base and … Read more A magnificent sculpture in the finest white "blanch de chine" vitrified hard-paste porcelain, with a deep sèvres blue base and a pure gold finish, depicting a semi-nude venus with a veil and a basket of flowers on the back. The base is signed "van loo," incised into the ceramic with a metal nib. Made in france by charles-andré van loo around the mid-18th century. The signature on the sculpture matches exactly the handwriting of the signature we found on an auction site, as you can see in the last photo.

useful information for appraising this item:
sculptures by this artist are extremely rare, as he was primarily a painter rather than a sculptor. His rare sculptures depicted classical subjects taken from his numerous paintings. In the last photos, we have included another of his rare sculptures, also in the neoclassical style, a bronze bacchanalian putto. Unfortunately, as we do not have a subscription to the auction site, the price is not shown. Our venus is one of his famous sculptures, most likely based on one of his paintings. Many re-enactments and copies were made in the 19th and 20th centuries by various artists, but they bear no resemblance to this truly ancient and exquisitely high-quality work. To give you an idea of the value of charles-andré van loo's works, we did a quick online search and found that the four highest auction results for his oil paintings range from approximately €170,000 to €250,000, plus a 25-30% premium.

final considerations on the object:
the porcelain used is certainly 18th-century, rich in kaolin, milky white and full-bodied, very heavy, with various firing streaks due to the wood-fired kilns of the time. It also features several holes on the back, made by inserting a long, pointed iron rod into the mixture before firing. These holes were specifically designed to allow heat to escape, preventing the object from cracking during firing. This technique was used primarily in the 18th century, when sculptures were made of solid, not hollow, porcelain, which also explains its considerable weight. The artistic quality is of the highest standard, and the vitrification is excellent, thanks to a porcelain mixture rich in feldspar. The beautiful base, in solid sévrès blue, finished in pure gold, is a testament to the artist's commission for the sculpture.

artist and/or manufacturer information:
charles-andré van loo (1705–1765), still young, followed his older brother on a journey to turin and in 1712 moved to rome, where he studied in the school of the italian painter benedetto luti, also meeting the french sculptor pierre legros. In 1723, he left italy for paris, where in 1727 he won a prize for a historical painting, beating his future rival françois boucher. After returning to turin, he was summoned by victor amadeus ii of savoy, king of sardinia, for whom charles-andré painted a series of illustrations depicting scenes from the poems of torquato tasso, as well as working on several frescoes for the stupinigi hunting lodge. In 1733, he married the singer cristina antonia somis. The following year he returned to paris and in 1735 became a member of the académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, a role that cemented his fame as a painter. During the same period, he painted exquisite overdoors for the hôtel de soubise in paris, the residence of the rohan-soubise princes. In 1762, he was appointed official painter to the court of louis xv and decorated with the insignia of the order of saint michael. His son, jules césar denis van loo, was his pupil, specializing in landscapes. Charles-andré van loo died in paris in 1765. This piece has an attribution mark,
i am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution See less