Pair of 19thC Bronze Dogs/Greyhounds or Whippets
after Joseph Gott, each dog lying facing the other on a red Griotte marble base with their front legs crossed and their heads raised and wearing a bronze collar with bell and having a lovely original dark brown patina.
A similarly posed pair of recumbent greyhounds, though less refined, were catalogued as Regency period and possibly by Thomas Weeks sold at Christie’s New York in 2015. $7,500 (see image). A signed Weeks inkstand with a similar hound was sold at Sotheby’s London, 5 July 1991 where the same model with gilt-collars was also sold.
Thomas Weeks (d. 1834) opened the ‘Weeks’ Mechanical Museum’ or ‘Royal Mechanical Museum’ in 1788 in Tichbourne Street, London. The exhibits included a variety of animated animals and insects, clocks and a range of oddities that appealed to visitors at the time. The collection was auctioned in 1834.