Lot 91 D α

An alabaster relief of the Three Fates

Auction 1242 - overview Berlin
20.04.2024, 11:00 - The Berlin Sale
Estimate: 4.000 € - 6.000 €
Result: 10.710 € (incl. premium)
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An alabaster relief of the Three Fates

High relief figures in white alabaster against a mottled pale brown marble background. H 25.6, W 34.7 cm. In a giltwood surround with rosettes at the angles and laurel festoons in the recesses, H without the defective surmount H 30, W 39.5 cm.
Attributed to Potsdam, late 18th C.

A fine strand of thread has been worked into the relief, running from the seated Klotho, who is holding a distaff with both hands, to Lachesis standing in the centre, who is measuring the thread of life. On the left is the sleeping Atropos, holding a pair of scissors in her lap to cut the thread.

An identical copy, also in its original gilded wooden frame, is housed in the collection of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg. The design of the figures is reminiscent of the reliefs created by the plasterer Johann Peter Echtler (1741 - 1810) for the tea room of the palace on Peacock Island. The Wohler brothers, Johann Christoph (1748 - 1799) and Michael Christoph (1754 - 1802), who worked in Potsdam, also created similar reliefs.

Provenance

Auctioned by Gallery Gerda Bassenge Berlin on 10 June 1991, lot 6027,1.

Berlin private collection