Giorgio Sommer Foundry, Pair of Grand Tour Glass Amphorae and Bronze Atheniennes

Lot Details & Additional Photographs

Italy, late 19th century, pair of Art Nouveau style cast bronze atheniennes with three monopodia lions with C-scroll openwork standing on a conforming stepped pedestal, to hold green-tinted Pompeiian style tapered glass amphorae, signed "Ditta G Sommer Napoli Italy" to base.

HOA of both approximately 12 x 6 x 6 in.

From the Collection of Gustave and Carol Ferri, New Jersey and North Carolina

Sommer was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1834. He was interested in photography from a young age, and decided to devote himself to the medium in 1853 after completing an apprenticeship with Andreas & Sons in Frankfurt. By the end of 1857, he relocated to Italy. Initially partnering with Edmond Behles (1841-1921), Sommer opened studios simultaneously in Rome and Naples, which allowed him to distribute his photographs more widely, profiting from the steady stream of tourists that flocked to those cities. Operating from their respective Naples and Rome studios, Sommer and Behles became one of the largest and most prolific photography concerns in Italy.

In addition to photography, Sommer produced bronze, marble, silver and terracotta replicas of items in Italian museums and the excavations. Some of these copies were used to replace the originals in Pompeii that had been taken to the museum or storage. Sommer's foundry also produced high quality bronzes and souvenirs, of classical subjects, to appeal to the wealthy Grand Tourists visiting the classical sites of Italy. The amphorae and atheniennes here, were contemporary artistic stylizations of ancient forms, likely offered as a souvenir to Grand Tourists.

Verdigris to bronze consistent with age; both amphorae have breaks to base with associated looseness to one vase on athenienne; one vase with chip to handle.