Rare bust-length wax portrait of Mozart in relief. 18th or early 19th century

The composer is depicted facing right and wears a collared jacket, his hair gathered at the back by a ribbon. Yellow patina. Mounted to purple velvet.

3 x 2.25 inches (74 x 57 mm); frame 6.9 x 5.9 inches (177 x150 mm).

Provenance
André Meyer (1884-1974). The present portrait sold at Sotheby's Paris sale of the Meyer collection, 16 and 17 October 2012, lot 208, for 27,150 euros inclusive of buyer's commission.

Some surface soiling. Apparently unrecorded

This rare profile of Mozart is somewhat similar to the anonymous wax profile of ca. 1778 formerly in the André Meyer Collection. Deutsch: Mozart und seine (truncated) Welt in zeitgenössischen Bildern, no. 605, pp. 287 and 369. Bory: The Life and Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Pictures, p. 103.

Possibly influenced by the Leonhard Posch wax profile of 1788 and the subsequent engravings based on that work.

The Meyer collection, formed over a period of some 75 years, was one of the most important 20th century collections of printed music, books on music, and musical autographs. (Inventory #: 40235)