Renaissance bronze perfume burner from the Wernher Collection

Acquisition of a c. 1530-40 bronze perfume burner, formerly part of the Wernher Collection. Thought to be one of the few known works by Desiderio da Firenze (active 1532-45) and shows Renaissance bronze-casting technique at its most sophisticated. It is also a rare survivor of the kind of decorative functional bronze object that would have been found in grand Italian houses of the time. When objects from the Wernher Collection were auctioned in 2000, the perfume burner was acquired by a dealer and sold to an overseas buyer. It became the subject of an export stop.