A striking late 19th century earthenware mask on plinth of good proportions depicting the great Ludvig Van Beethoven by Friedrich Goldschieder (1845-1897). This life mask was originally taken by the Austrian sculptor Franz Klein (1779-1840) in 1812.Franz Klein was commissioned by the German piano makers Nannette (1769-1833) and Johann Andreas Streicher (1761-1833) to produce a bust of Beethoven. The 42-year-old composer gave the sculptor permission to mould his face in plaster, and the result was the only life mask ever made of the composer. It became the iconic portrait from which all renderings of the musician were derived, the plaster is preserved by Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Germany. It remains to this day the only completely faithful rendering of Beethoven’s features known, and the standard by which all portraits of him are judged.It is understood that as the session with the sculptor drew to a close, an impatient Beethoven, feeling as though he were suffocating, took the ma...