A pair of Eagles, South Netherlandish late 17th Century

South Netherlandish
Baroque Late 17th Century

Oak Carved in full round With original polychrome On later metal base
H. 61 cm. Base 16,5 cm.

PROVENANCE
Private collection | United Kingdom
Anonymous sale | Sotheby’s | London | 4 December 2013 | Lot 8o | With ill.
Private collection | Oud-Turnhout | Belgium

CATALOGUE NOTE
These impressive eagles would have once comprised a rare pair of lecterns on the choir of a church. These eagles – the symbol of Saint John the Evangelist – with outspread wings and standing on a globe, originally formed the top of a lectern or bookrest which was used for reading from the Gospels. A comparable lectern dating to the 17th century can be found in the Sint-Petrus church in Gijverinkhove (Kik/Irpa nr. 34975). An early 18th century example is kept in the Sint-Pieterskerk in Turnhout, Belgium (Kik/Irpa nr. 49184). The thick claws and the heavily feathered wings are very close to those on a Netherlandish late 17th or early 18th-century walnut lectern which was offered at Sotheby's London on 31 October 2007, as lot 235. It is very rare to find a pair of eagle lecterns.