Süddeutsche Skulptur (Tirol?)

Hercules fighting the Nemean lion. Ivory on boxwood base, on later fruitwood plinth. (Early 18th century). Height 12,7 cm (with base). The muscular Hercules strikes his huge club across the skull of the lion leaping at him. With his left front paw the beast leans on a tree stump covered with oak leaves, the roots of which grow into the base cut from boxwood. The simultaneous use of wood and ivory points to a carver who came from the same artistic milieu as Simon Troger (1693-1768). However, the group of figures still shows classical-baroque features in the modelling of the body and the facial features, so that it must be assumed that they were created around 1700. - A crack in the wooden base, otherwise in good condition. Provenance: Private collection, France; Julius Böhler Kunsthandel, Munich; Private property, Southern Germany. Taxation: Differentially taxed (VAT: Margin Scheme).