on yellow marble socle

There are two small patches of silver (?) repairs, one on Mercury's right thigh and the other on the edge of Zephyr's mouth. The staff of the cadaceus is missing. There are some remains of the original gilding. There are some traces of a later black patina in the deeply modelled areas. There are casting joints on both shoulders and the right thigh, where there is also some wear to the patina. Otherwise the condition is very good.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

From 1598 until 1613 Hubert Gerhard (1540-1620) worked in Mergentheim and Innsbruck for the Habsburg Archduke Maximilian III, brother of the Emperor Rudolf II. During this period, his workshop was creating small-scale bronzes for Maximilian's court rather than the large-scale bronzes with which he had been previously engaged.  For this purpose he was employing goldsmiths to cast figures in silver and in bronze (Diemer 2001).

This small cabinet bronze is an adaptation of Giambologna's life-size Mercury of 1580 in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, executed for the Medici and sent to the Villa Medici in Rome.  The figure rises upwards from a puff of wind issuing from the head of Zephyr below.  Unlike the Medici example however, the right hand of this little figure is not pointing to the heavens but is bent over his circular winged petasus (helmet).  Indeed the position of the arms is closer to Giambologna's earliest version (1563-64) of the Mercury which is in the Universitario di Bologna and illustrated by Avery as well as to the Mercury of 1565 sent as a gift to the Emperor Maximilian in Prague and now believed to be that in a Swedish private collection (fig. 128). The gift was sent at a time when Cosimo I and Maximilian II of Austria were negotiating the marriage of Francesco I, heir to the Medici with Joanna of Austria, the emperor's sister.  The choice of Mercury was deliberate as it contained a personal reference for the Habsburg emperor: with the accession of Rudolf II and the move of the Habsburg court from Vienna to Prague, depictions of Mercury were popular as the emperor regarded Mercury the patron of the Visual Arts amongst the gods just as he was a patron of the Visual Arts on earth.

The alloy of the present bronze, with higher brass content, is consistent with northern rather than Italian practice.  The cast is solid and finely detailed for its size: the wings on both the feet and the circular petasus are intricately worked. The curls beneath the helmet, the treatment to the eyes, the fingers and the feet are testimony to a sculptor familiar with goldsmiths's work.  The balletic pose is in striking contraposto with every muscle on Mercury's back tensed and poised.  Indeed the facture of the bronze can be closely compared with the 29cm high group of Mercury and Psyche included in the Cyril Humphris sale in January 1995 where it was attributed to the school of Prague and dated to circa 1600.  This latter group has been recently reattributed to Carlo Pallago (1540-1598), Hubert Gerhard's assistant, in Diemer's recent monograph. Carlo Pallago otherwise known as Carlo di Cesare del Palagio, worked in the workshop of Giambologna in Florence before travelling to Augsburg to work for the Fugger family later and accompanying Gerhard to Munich. There he was to execute, when in the employ of William V of Bavaria (by 1587), a life size Mercury rising from the head of Zephyr based on the 1580 model by Giambologna. In his rendition of Mercury he again uses the rounded rather than the more pointed helmet which is more often found in Italian reductions. Although Pallago worked in Munich, Augsburg and Saxony, despite entreaties from Emperor Rudolf II he is however not known to have worked in Prague.

A further comparison with the present Mercury can also be made with the similarly sized Mercury included in the Beschwörung nach Kosmos exhibition catalogue where it is described as circle of Adrian de Vries.  Although the latter does not include the zephyr's head on which Mercury stands, the round petasus is again present together with a similar pose rather than that which reaches to the heavens.   

RELATED LITERATURE
C. Avery, Giambologna 1529-1608 (London 1987) pp.125-129; Die Beschwörung nach Kosmos, exh.cat. (Willem Lehmbruck Museum, Duisberg 1994) no.25; Cyril Humphris Collection, Sotheby's New York, 10.Jan. 1995, lot 51; D. Diemer, "Small bronzes by Hubert Gerhard: A review of recent Scholarship" in Small bronzes in the Renaissance, (Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts,  Washington 2001) p.197, 205; D. Diemer, Hubert Gerhard und Carlo di Cesare del Palagio, (Berlin 2004) vol I. fig. 201 and vol. II plates 260-261a, b cat. no. C.4; From Vulcan's Forge, Bronzes from the Rijskmuseum Amsterdam, exh.cat. (Daniel Katz Gallery, London 2004) no.34; B. Strozzi e D. Zikos, Giambologna, Gli Dei, Gli Eroi, exh.cat. (Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence 2 March-15 June 2006) cat. nos. 52-54; W. Seipel (ed.) Giambologna Triumph des Körpers, exh.cat. (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, June -Sept. 2006) pp. 248-261