Monkey fountain figure
Possibly Caspar Gras Austrian
These two monkeys, intended to be fountain spouts, were modeled after close observation of captive macaques brought to Europe from North Africa or Gibraltar for display in a princely menagerie. The bronze monkeys were originally part of a scheme for a larger fountain that has since been lost but may have resembled glorious fountain designs recorded in Innsbruck, Danish Kronborg, and Prague. The sculptor, possibly Gras (whose mortar is on view across the gallery), made a single terracotta piece from which two wax intermediary models were cast. Each was subtly individualized—for example through facial features—and cast in bronze.
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