An Extremely Imposing seated identical pair of chisel cast patinated Bronze Egyptian Sphynx, early Nineteenth Century, Possibly Regency period and of French origin.
Complete with extremely well figured Breche Violet marble rectangular heavy gauge bases.
Condition: Good condition with no losses to bronzes or marble. Wonderful untouched surface patination.
Width: (at base an impressive) 12.5" (32cm). Height: 6” (15.25cm). Depth: 6.25” (16cm).
Location: Dublin City, Ireland.
Affordable fixed charge Worldwide Store to door shipping offered.
NOTE: A sphinx (or sphynx) is a creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human, with some variations. It is a prominent mythological figure in Egyptian, Asian, and Greek mythology.
In ancient Egypt, the sphinx was a spiritual guardian and most often depicted as a male with a pharaoh headdress—as is the Great Sphinx—and figures of the creatures were often included in tomb and temple complexes. For instance, the so-called Sphinx Alley in Upper Egypt is a two-mile avenue that connects the temples of Luxor and Karnak and is lined with sphinx statues. Sphinxes with the likeness of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut also exist, such as the granite sphinx statue at the Metropolitain Museum of Art in New York and the large alabaster sphinx at the Ramessid Temple in Memphis, Egypt.
From Egypt, the sphinx imported to both Asia and Greece around 15th to 16th century B.C. Compared with the Egyptian model, the Asian sphinx had eagle wings, was frequently female, and often sat on its haunches with one paw raised in depictions.
Breche Violet is a very decorative Italian Marble quarried in Seravezza, Carrara Basin, located between Florence and Genoa, sometimes mistaken for Blue John Stone, which is found in Derbyshire, England. Breche violet is of a basic creamy white, clouded colour with delicate tones of redish browns, broken into irregular angular shapes by veins. The primary veins are blue violet in colour, the secondary veins a variety of colours. The quarries were exhausted prior to 1960 so it is no longer produced but can still be found in covering interior walls and fire surrounds etc. of ancient European castles, hotels and affluent homes.