Newly discovered sculpture attributed to Johan Tobias Sergel up for auction

For this year’s final Fine Art & Antiques auction, Stockholms Auktionsverk presents a multifaceted and well-curated catalog that includes everything from art and sculpture to dressers and beautiful chandeliers – accompanied by plenty of small details that hold big stories.

One of the rare highlights of the auction, and a personal favorite of specialist Markus Anderzon, is the newly discovered sculpture of a river god attributed to Johan Tobias Sergel. This newly discovered sculpture is probably the same original work listed in Sergel’s estate inventory in 1814 but has been in unknown hands for a long time – while other terracotta sculptures from the same collection are on display at the National Museum of Fine Art in Stockholm.

“This particular type of terracotta sculpture is considered the ultimate artistic expression, as Sergel kneaded it with his hands. When he died, the Swedish state bought 31 of the terracotta sculptures that stood at Spånga manor, but for some reason, the River God was left behind. We cannot know why, but now it seems to have reappeared with the characteristic Sergel style “S” under its foot. And with the same type of firing defects as the other 31, caused by the difficulties of controlling the heat in the large wood-fired kilns needed for these sculptures in the 19th century,” says Markus Anderzon, specialist in antique furniture and works of art.

Another common feature of Sergel’s terracotta sculptures is their specific material. Sergel himself stated in his correspondence that he always worked with fine-grained Roman clay, which he had become accustomed to during his fellowship in Italy. Some of the preserved terracottas at the National Museum are personally signed by Sergel in the clay, such as the Faun and Hercules Farnese, whose picture is reminiscent of the River God’s inscribed S in pencil.

The source of inspiration for the River God is the Flemish-Italian sculptor Giambologna’s Euphrates River God, executed in terracotta around 1575, as a model for the monumental Fountain of the Sea in the Boboli Gardens, Florence. In his book “Sergel’s Youth and Time in Rome”, art historian Oscar Antonsson notes that Sergel was strongly influenced by Giambologna’s Mannerist sculptures.

“It is also a known fact that Sergel sold several terracotta works of this kind when he needed money during his studies in Italy and France, where it has now been established that pieces of his work have been circulating for many years – only wrongly attributed to French artists. But in recent years, it has been possible to identify a number of these, which, of course, makes it even more exciting that there are still works by Johan Tobias Sergel left to rediscover.”

The Fine Art & Antiques auction is now published online and will be held on December 10–11. The viewing opens on December 4 at Nybrogatan 32 in Stockholm.