Modelled and fired.

The nymph’s left arm is missing, also part of the drapery where her arm would have been.

…; first recorded in the museum in 1970

Object number: BK-18751

As woodland creatures and loyal followers of Bacchus, satyrs are known for their uninhibited disposition and concomitant sexual urges. And so, in many art works we see a satyr harassing or spying on a sleeping or bathing nymph. However, in the present case the young nymph is the one pulling the strings. She restrains the boy satyr with a firm grip. Consequently, the group forms a light-hearted representation of Virtue (conveyed by the nymph) triumphing over Vice (conveyed by the satyr).

The sturdy physique of the satyr and the nymph as well as their expressive faces, with slightly open mouths, are very reminiscent of the putti of Walter Pompe (1703-1777), to whom the ensemble can be attributed, with some reservation. For instance, the nymph’s head, including the traditional bun, are almost identical to that of the 1770 terracotta Clytemnestra, signed and dated by Pompe.¹¹Brussels, Art and History Museum, inv. no. 597, see C. Van Herck, ‘Walter Pompe en zijn werk’, Antwerpen’s Oudheidkundige Kring 11 (1935), pp. 145-86, esp. no. 152 and KIK-IRPA object no. 20059006. However, Clytemnestra, with her compact, plump babyish figure, is depicted at a somewhat younger age than the present satyr and nymph, who are portrayed in early childhood. Their physical types do coincide closely with the Pompe’s monogrammed reclining putti as Perseus and Mercury of 1761.²²Antwerp, Museum Mayer van den Bergh, inv. nos. 2334 and 2335, see KIK-IRPA object nos. 151705 and 151707.

Bieke van der Mark, 2025

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 419

B. van der Mark, 2025, 'attributed to Walter Pompe, Nymph Chastising a Satyr, Antwerp, c. 1760 - c. 1770', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20035858