Carl Milles
Covered by droit de suite
Image rights
The artworks in this database are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the rights holders. The artworks are reproduced in this database with a license from Bildupphovsrätt.
For condition report contact specialist
Wild boars, a pair
Both signed Carl Milles and with foundry mark Herman Bergman Fud. The motif conceived 1929. Bronze, green patina. Height 138 cm, length 170 cm each.
Provenance
Olle Engkvists collection, Charlottendal Estate, Gröndal, Sweden.
Literature
Henrik Cornell, "Carl Milles - hans verk", SAK, 1957, compare the pair ill. at p. 89 (an identical pair that belonged to Lord Melchett. Today they are placed at Ulriksdal Estate). Listed in the list of works at p. 254.
Erik Näslund, "Carl Milles - en biografi", 1991. The motif described at p. 222-223 and listed in the list of works at p. 336.
More information
Two wild boars
Carl Milles great international breakthrough as a sculptor was the significant exhibition where a selection of his works of art was displayed at the Tate Gallery in London in early 1927. The exhibition was an immediate success and suddenly Milles was a name “on everyone’s lips” among the society in London. He became acquainted with the world-famous author George Bernard Shaw who became enormously fond of Milles artwork and declared when he saw the exhibition "That's the real stuff". Shaw offered to help Milles by joining the committee for the Swedenborg Monument, which was to be built in London, thereby creating increased public interest.
The attention also led to a series of invitations and soon several orders for his artwork. One of the delighted visitors of the exhibition was the wealthy Lord Melchett who soon invited the artist to his home Melchet Court in Hampshire. Lord Melchett, who was just renovating his estate, had two large wild boars in bronze ordered for the stairs at the garden of Melchet Court. The magnificent pair of wild boars was completed in 1929 and Milles had been inspired by the famous fountain sculpture Il Porcellino from the early 17th century in Florence.
The order of this artwork could hardly have suited Milles better as he was very interested in sculpting large heavy animals such as bears, elephants and wild boars. His sculptures where also often inspired by Ancient Antique mythology and the wild boar is an animal that often appears in the Greek antique stories.
Lord Melchett's pair of wild boars were later bought by the Crown Prince of Sweden, later King Gustav VI Adolf, and since 1937 they have been placed in the royal park at Ulriksdal castle outside of Stockholm. In a letter to Milles the same year, the Crown Prince wrote: “The two wild boar in bronze, which You made for Lord Melchett, came on the market in connection with the sale of Melchet Court. They were offered to me and I have now acquired them and placed them in the park of Ulriksdal, where they, I think, look really great. ”
If you look a little closer at the wild boars, you discover playfully placed details such as the small beetle on one wild boar's leg and a lizard on the other.
The couple in this auction have belonged to the builder Olle Engkvist and previously been placed in the park at Charlottendal Estate in Gröndal just outside of Stockholm.
Artist
Carl Milles was a Swedish sculptor born in Lägga. He studied at the Technical School in Stockholm, at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Auguste Rodin and on study trips to Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. In Paris he came to stay for many years and made a living as an ornament carver. He studied the animals in the Jardin des Plantes (the Zoological Garden) and was strongly influenced by Auguste Rodin. Milles made a breakthrough with a monument to Sten Sture in Uppsala. He exhibited at the World's Fair in 1900 and was later given a solo exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London. Milles was professor of modeling at the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm. Well-known sculptures in public places signed by Carl Milles are the "Gustav Vasa" statue at the Nordic Museum, "Orfeusgruppen" outside the concert hall in Stockholm and the "Poseidonfontänen" in Gothenburg.
Read more