MANNER OF FRANCOIS DUQUESNOY, 18TH OR EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Although the composition of this Sleeping Cupid is usually given to the 17th century sculptor François Duquesnoy, examples have also been attributed to Giovacchino Fortini (1670-1736), and there is an example in the Sinebrychoff Museum, Helsinki, which is attributed to the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. Interestingly, the marble offered here originally entered the collection of the present owner's family when it was acquired as a wedding gift by the MP and diplomat Sir Henry Williams-Wynn (1783-1856) for his daughter Katherine. Williams-Wynn was an Envoy to the Danish court in Copenhagen from 1824 to 1853.