157 - After Alfred Gilbert

After Alfred Gilbert (British, 1854-1934) Eros aluminum on bronze scroll inscribed FAS George Mancini, numbered 9/10, and stamped with foundry mark (to planted foot) height: 96 in. (243.8 cm) Property from a Private Collection This lot is located in Chicago. Total weight (figure and plinth) approx. 1102.3 lb (299.7 cm, 500 kg). Height of figure 96 x width overall 72 inches. Height of plinth only 21 1/2 x width overall 22 inches. Please contact Fineart@freemansauction.com for a detailed condition report. Cast by Morris Singer Art Founders. Provenance: Robert Bowman Ltd., London. Note: The present lot is one of ten total life-size replicas of Alfred Gilbert's Eros sculpture (1893) issued by The Fine Art Society, London in the late 1980s. One of London's best-known sculptures, Gilbert's Eros stands atop a fountain in Piccadilly Circus and was constructed from cast aluminum, the first use of that metal on a public statue. In 1983, the Greater London Council initiated the restoration of the statue and during the restoration, a set of plaster casts for the work was found in the basement of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Upon the resurfacing of the Erosplasters, The Fine Art Society—which represented Gilbert during his career and held both a retrospective and memorial exhibition for the artist in the 1930s—was inspired to produce 10 cast aluminum copies of the work. The production of the series was advised by George Mancini, who worked with Sir Alfred Gilbert in the 1920s.