Neptune and Tritons

This ivory relief is made of three panels. In the middle the bearded figure of Neptune in fluttering drapery stands upon a turtle, his right hand rests upon his trident. To the left are two mermen with conch shells, and to the right, two cupids, one swimming, the other seated in a shell and blowing upon a conch; in the background a dolphin. Above to the right and left are two pairs of flying cupids. The fiugre of Neptune is elongated, and distantly reminiscent of the work of Antonio Leoni (active in Düsseldorf 1704-16), although the carving here is less subtle. An ivory triptych such as this is unusual, indeed possibly unique, and its clumsy composition, blunt figurative style and poor reading of anatomy all suggest that it is in fact a fake, made in imitation of German baroque prototypes. It was probably produced in the early twentieth century.