Pair of Firedog Bases
Léopold Goldschmidt (1830-1904), Paris; Durlacher Brothers, London; from whom purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan in 1904 (as Sansovino).
Fire dogs surmounted by limbless female torsos whose shoulders and bodies terminate in acanthus foliage. A shield, from which the arms have been effaced is suspended from a ribbon around the neck of each. Each one sits on marble base. The base has a hole where the back of the object fits in.
These Sphinx-like female figures, appear to be the work of an Italian sculptor active in Venice or Padua during the 1530s. It is unlikely that the figures were originally intended to function as andirons. The lower supports with their projecting volutes and bars extending behind the figures were probably added later. The figures bear some similarities with those found on tombs from the period, but a more precise understanding of their original context and function remains elusive and is the focus of ongoing research.