Saint Catherine in carved, polychromed, silver... Lot 297

Saint Catherine in carved, polychromed, silver and gold linden wood, hollow back. Sitting in a curved position, the saint rests her left hand on her chest and holds the sword of the other, the wheel of her martyrdom appearing behind her dress; she wears a veil at the back of her head and a cape on her shoulders, her waist tightened by a corset. Bavaria, attributed to Ignaz Günther (Altmannstein, 1725 - 1775, Munich), mid-18th century Height: 71 cm - Width: 33 cm - Depth: 17 cm (small accidents) Work consulted: Munich Exhibition 1985, Bayerische Rokokoplastik - Vom Entwuef zur Ausführung, Bavarian National Museum, cat.48, pp 59-60. This St. Catherine seems to be a bozzetto made for a more important sculpture intended to adorn a high altar or a pulpit to be preached, following the example of the liturgical furnishings of the Baroque churches of Central Europe. With a hollow back and only one leg, it was intended to cling to the decoration and thus appear, with graceful elegance, as sitting in a position on the verge of balance. It is likely that she served as a model for a 155 cm high Holy Woman in the Städtisches Haimatmuseum in Starnberg, which is signed and dated F. j. Gindter / fecit.1755. (Fig.). The attitude and the drapes are indeed similar in all respects. It would thus be a work to be placed in the first part of Ignaz Günther's activity shortly after the establishment of his studio in the Bavarian capital. The catalogue of the 1985 Munich exhibition mentions the existence of a bozzetto of this sculpture, whose location was unknown at the time, which was formerly in the Richard von Kühlmann collection and which could correspond to this Saint Catherine. Unfortunately, it was not possible to cross-check this information...