$1,845
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, 1848-1907) Wax Bust of Louise Adele Dickerson Gould Inscribed "St. Gaudens" on the interior. Wax with applied pigment, 14 1/2 x 17 x 9 in. (36.8 x 43.1 x 22.8 cm), without base. Condition: Discoloration, dust to interstices. Provenance: From the estate of Nathan Horowicz, New York, through to the current owner. Literature: Catherine Gaich, Anne Dopffer, Alain Daguerre de Hureaux, and John Dryfhout Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1848-1907: A Master of American Sculpture (Toulouse: Musée des Augustins, 1999), pp. 189-90. N.B. This bust of Louise Adele Dickerson Gould was commissioned by her husband, Charles W. Gould, a well-known New York lawyer, after Louise died tragically in 1883 after only two years of marriage. In fact, this wax sculpture is the last in a series of portraits that Mr. Gould had asked Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create. The first was a bas-relief depicting Mrs. Gould in her wedding gown (Metropolitan Museum of Art 15.105.1), the second was a bust cut in marble by Piccirilli Brothers in 1895 (MET 15.105.2), and the third, another bust, was completed in 1904 (MET 32.62.1). Gould believed this likeness of his late wife was "the most beautiful of the three designs," and he ordered wax replicas of the third bust. The pigment was added by Herbert Samuel Adams (American, 1858-1945), who was known for his polychromatic busts of women.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2017-05-19
