A pair silvered copper repoussé circular bas relief portrait roundels

A pair silvered copper repoussé circular bas relief portrait roundels depicting Demosthenes and Homer by Julius Troschel (1806–1863) set within octagonal patinated bronze frames
German. Mid-Nineteenth Century.
Measurements
Frame: Height: 22" (55.8 cm); Width: 22" (55.8 cm). Relief Diameter: 15 3/4" (40 cm).
Research:
Of silvered copper. Each roundel with a bas relief profile portrait, one depicting Demosthenes, the other Homer, and inscribed with their names in Greek lettering. Set within bronze clad octagonal frames of a later date.

Marks:
The portrait of Homer signed: Troschel

Provenance:
Sold Sotheby’s, New York, 22 March 1996, Lot 91

These portrait medallions, representing the classical Greek authors Demosthenes and Homer, are the work of German sculptor Julius Troschel (1806–1863).

Born in Berlin, Troschel was a student of Christian Daniel Rauch (1777-1857), the pre-eminent German sculptor of the nineteenth century. In 1833 he was awarded the grand prize for sculpture at the Berlin Academy for his bas relief Telemach und Odysseys, composed “in the spirit of Homeric poetry.” The prize included a travel scholarship to Rome; he arrived in the Italian city in 1834 and remained there for the rest of his life where he “established his reputation as one of the most distinguished artists in his field.” His work mainly features portraiture, as well as statues and reliefs of mythological subject matter.

As noted, each roundel represents an important figure in classical Greek history—the statesman and orator Demosthenes, and the poet Homer. Each bears the name of the figure in Greek lettering; the portrait of Homer also contains Troschel’s signaure. They are executed using a repoussé technique, whereby ornametnal patterns are “pushed out” from a sheet of metal, hammered into the required shape. The details of the design are punched, engraved and chased to achieve the desired repoussé decoration.

Full research report available on request.