Lot 30577 – THE FAMOUS BERLIN GAMES BRONZE STATUESAn impor

THE FAMOUS BERLIN GAMES BRONZE STATUES An important pair of German bronze groups of Olympic Athletes, cast from models by Eberhard Encke, each group including two running athletes, one with two women, the other two men, both running in relay and passing a gilt-metal laurel branch and gilt-metal laurel wreath respectively to the partner behind. The female athletes are signed and dated ENCKENCI NEUBABELSBERG B ’36 RG The male athletes are signed ENCK 1936 NEUBABELSBERG Each statue group is mounted on a yellow marble base with applied bronze inscription OLYMPIA-BERLIN-1936, circa 1930’s (82 x 77 cm) excluding the laurels Note: The present bronzes are casts of Eberhard Encke’s monumental marbles that stood at the entrance of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin (see photographs). They appear to be unique casts done by Encke either as a private commission resulting from popularity of the larger stone versions, or as presentation models executed for approval before undertaking the massive and costly task of carving the marble versions. Little is recorded about this powerful sculptor in the available literature, though he may be the son of the sculptor Erdmann Encke (1843-1896), who moved to Neubablesberg in 1892 (Ethos un Pathos. op. cit.), where these bronzes were designed or cast according to the inscription. The fine casting reveals with consummate success the force of the running athletes, adding a chromatic richness to the play of the muscles, which would have been partly lost in the translation into stone. This visual richness is further enhanced by the gilt laurels and the coloured marble bases, enlivening the forward motion and competitive tension of the sculpted athletes.