A pair of bronzes modelled after the 'Furietti Centaurs', modelled as the Old Centaur with bound hands and Eros riding behind and teasing him, the other, the Younger Centaur, again with Eros on his back. Both raised on oval section white Carrara marble plinth bases, height 47.5 cm. The Hellenistic-style Roman marble Furietti Centaurs were discovered during archaeological excavations in Italy in 1736, another single example was excavated in Rome in the 17th century and now stands in the Louvre. Their discovery was celebrated by means of castings, engravings and scale bronze replicas. Their theme has been variously considered, but 18th/19th century audiences apparently saw them as emblematic of the joy of young love and the contrasting bondage of maturity. These current examples appear to be mid-19th century.