Balthasar Permoser (1651 - 1732) attributed, white-grey etched marble, carved in the round in the naturalistic form of a Bacchanal comprising a childlike Bacchus, a maenad and a Satyr ("Faun"), on a round plinth in convex form with ornamental volute-scroll and flower garlands, height ca. 175 cm, height of plinth ca. 68 cm, total height: ca. 243 cm, some chips, cracks and breakages, later converted with fountain feature, for which no warranty. (DOC)

Please pay attention to the supplementary conditions for collection and storage.

Provenance: 1876 Palais Monthiers (rue du Faubourg Saint- Honoré in Paris),
Galerie Charpentier (Paris),
Château de la Briche, Langeais,
Sotheby’s Monaco 1986

The Group is arranged around a central axis and depicts a boy holding up a wineskin in both hands; he is being lifted by a woman who is in turn supported by a bearded man seated on a rock. The wineskin held aloft by the boy and the nakedness of the figures indicate that these are Bacchanalian reveller: the arrangement does not seem to correlate with any known event from classical mythology. Yet Ovid relates (Metamorphoses III, 314 - 315) that Bacchus was raised by the Nymphs of Nysa and a separate source counts satyrs and maenads as his earliest companions. From these sources, we can assume that the small figure in this group is a depiction of a young Bacchus, playing with a nymph or maenad and satyr. See also: Apotheose des Prinzen Eugen von Savoyen, von Balthasar Permoser, Vienna, now in the Upper Belvedere.