Purchased by John Elliott in 1860;
Palazzo Wagnière-Fontana-Elliott, Florence, from 1904;
Thence by descent;
Pandolfini auction, Florence, 28 October 2014, lot 23

Florence, Catalogo dei prodotti greggi e lavoratio Della Toscana presentati alla esposizione fatta nell'anno 1850....., no 16; 
New York, The Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, Crystal Palace, Bryant Park,  1853-1854

Rapporto generale della pubblica esposizione del prodotti naturali e industrali dell Toscana fatta in Firenze nel Novembre 1850, nell' I.E.R. Palazzo Della Crocetta, Florence, 1851, p. 389;
A Day in New York Crystal Palace and how to make the most of it..., New York, 1853, p. 19;
B. Silliman, Jr. and C. R. Goodrich, Esq. (eds.), The World of Science, Art and Industry Illustrated Examples in the New York Exhibition 1853-54 The Industry of All Nations, p. 92 (illus.), 1854;
The Photographic and Fine Arts Journal; vol. 7, March 1854, nos. 11 and 111;
Sandro Bellesi, 'Scultura e scultori all"Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze in eta lorenese: normative, insegnamenti, collezioni d'arte. concorsi, commissioni, restauri e altro' in Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze Scultura 1784-1915, Pisa, 2016, pp. 50, 55, 57, n. 188

 

Minor surface abrasions and wear. Very minor chipping. Losses and chipping to wood base. Otherwise excellent condition.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Lodovico Caselli and Giovanni Dupré (1817-1882) were young emerging sculptors in Florence when in 1840 they won the triennial competition (concorso triennale del 1840) for their work. In 1842, the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence staged an exhibition, for which the Dupré submitted a gesso model of Abel Dying. Confident in his skill with the chisel, the Sienese sculptor Caselli entered a marble group of Hagar and Ishmael (now lost), perhaps in response to his rival's submission. The work must have been hailed as a success because Caselli carved the present signed and dated marble group, an 1850 composition of the same theme, and included it in the 1850 exhibition of “prodotti greggi e lavorati…” at the Palazzo Della Crocetta, Florence where it was highly praised in the 1851 report of the exhibition: “Fu molto per la bella composizione, e per molta verità di sentiment, massime nella figura d’ Ismaele…”.
Following that exhibition, the Hagar and Ishmael was sent across the Atlantic to represent Italy in the New York Exhibition of Science and Industry at the Crystal Palace in Bryant Park from 1853-54 (fig. 1). Formally known as the Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, the first world’s fair held in the United States in 1853 was based on the London Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851 and was similarly housed in an impressive cast iron, steel, and glass structure on the current site of Bryant Park. It showcased consumer goods and technological marvels of the age. With 4,400 exhibitors, this sculpture was one of only two photographed by the known Boston photographer J. A. Whipple. A printed sign, visible in the daguerreotype, was placed on the base of the marble instructing: “visitors are not to touch the articles”. . A line drawing of the sculpture and a description was included in the illustrated catalogue of the exhibition (Sillman and Goodrich (eds.), op. cit., p. 92), fig. 1. The sculpture was situated in the west nave of the Crystal Palace next to a marble group of Ganymede and the eagle by Bertel Thorwaldsen, fig. 2.
The marble returned to Florence and by 1860, it was purchased by one of the Chief Engineers for the Italian railways, the Englishman John Elliott (1822-1906). Elliott had established himself as an engineer in the British railway system and was sent to Florence in 1845 to supervise the building of 12 locomotives and to run the Florence and Pisa railway. Elliott was awarded increasingly important posts while in Italy and in 1877, he was made Cavalier of the Order of the Crown of Italy by the late King Victor Emmanuel II. In 1904, two years before his death, Elliott purchased Palazzo Wagnière, later known as Palazzo Wagnière-Fontana-Elliott after the family changed its name. Originally built in 1336, the Palazzo is located on Borgo San Frediano 8 in the Santo Spirito area of Florence. Hagar and Ishmael was given pride of place in the entryway to the Palazzo but its whereabouts remained unknown until its rediscovery in 2014.
This superb marble group depicts the Old Testament story of Hagar and Ishmael.  Hagar is introduced in Genesis 16 as the Egyptian maidservant to Abraham’s wife, Sarah.  Aged and barren, Sarah gives Hagar to her husband in hopes that the couple will have a child by their maid.  When Hagar becomes pregnant her continued presence in their household becomes intolerable to Sarah, who begins to mistreat the mother and child.  More than ten years later, Sarah finally gives birth to her own son, Isaac, and the tension in Abraham’s home worsens.  Distrustful and cynical, Sarah appeals to her husband, demanding that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away.  So the two are cast off into the wilderness alone, Abraham providing only the bare provisions when he sees them off.   Wandering the desert of Beersheba, they run out of water.  In desperation, Hagar lays her son’s dehydrated body under a bush and walks away, reasoning, “I cannot watch the boy die” (Genesis 21:15, NIV).  God hears the cries of the child and sends an angel to call to the sobbing, hopeless Hagar, telling her to return to her son.  God provides a well of water and their lives are spared. In this sophisticated composition, Caselli presents Hagar touchingly lifting the head of her collapsed son as she reaches blindly with her opposite hand for the water that will restore his life.
It is a heart-wrenching scene that clearly recalls Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica.  Inspiring generations of artists and patrons, it is not surprising that 350 years after Michelangelo carved his tour-de-force, Caselli would look to the Pietà when exploring themes of distressed motherhood and religious abandonment. With Hagar and Ishmael Caselli captures these universal themes in marble. Caselli must have also known Nanni di Baccio’s copy of the Pietà which is preserved in Santo Spirito, Florence, steps from what would later be Elliott’s home. Working with and against the Neoclassical backdrop that dominated the 19th century, Caselli’s sculpture reveals cold severity alongside the heightened drama of Romanticism.  The lightness and grace of his modeling recalls the blend of naturalism and classicism of the Renaissance. Embracing the Quattrocento love of detail, Caselli demonstrates mastery of his medium with finely incised details.  The way Hagar’s fingers entwine with her son’s deep curls is particularly beautiful.
Caselli was a pupil of Louis Pampaloni and Aristodemus Costoli at the Academy of Florence where in 1840, he shared a prize for sculpture with his rival Giovanni Dupré. He was subsequently chosen by the City Fathers of Florence to create an overlifesize full-length portrait in marble of Paul Mascagni (1852), now prominently displayed in the piazzale of the Uffizi, the celebrated physician who had taught anatomical painting at the Accademia. That commission was part of a larger program for a series of sculptures of famous men intended for the piazzale of the Uffizi.
Apart from Caselli’s monumental portrait of Mascagni, a marble bust of a nobleman (previously on the London art market), his bust of Michelangelo (circa 1872) placed above the entrance to the Casa Buonarotti and this remarkable group of Hagar and Ishmael, no other known works by the sculptor exist. The New York Crystal Palace exhibition epitomized the achievements of the entire world at a time when progress was racing forward at a speed never before known to mankind. Perhaps Elliott’s attraction to the sculpture lay not only in its extreme beauty and quality but also in its importance as an example of Italian industry, technical skill and imagination which were central in his own professional achievements.

RELATED LITERATURE
Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, vol. 169, London, 1907;
Alfonso Panzetta, Nuovo Dizionario Sculturi Italiani dell ‘Ottocento e del primo Novocento, 2003, p. 206