18th Century and Earlier Sculptures

Mother Goddess Figurine Early Indus Valley Civilization (circa 3500 - 2800 BC) Handmade pottery, 140 mm x 45 mm, 60 g Provenance: Prince Collection, 1990s-2014; Pierre Bergé Colle...

Unknown Artist (Italy, early 17th century) Seated Faun Bronze on a marble base (later), 32 cm in height Provenance: Private collection This bronze depicts a faun, a mythological figure from ancient Rome often associated with nature and fertility, embodying both human and animal attributes. The faun is portrayed here in a dynamic posture, seated on a marble base, which, though added later, enhances the sculptural dimension of the piece. His muscular and tense body seems to capture a moment of jubilation or exuberant pleasure, as evidenced by his upturned face and open mouth in an ecstatic smile. This expressive gesture, along with the casual positioning of his raised arm behind his head, evokes the freedom and hedonism traditionally associated with these mythological creatures. The quality of the bronze craftsmanship is remarkable, particularly in the muscular details and the expressiveness of the face, signs of technical mastery typical of late Renaissance and early Baroque Italian sculpture. The faun's legs are muscular but also marked by hooves, emphasizing his hybrid nature, half-human and half-animal. This hybridity reflects an iconographic tradition in which fauns are often associated with debauchery and wild living, removed from human society. Seventeenth-century Italy, particularly Rome and Florence, was a hub of prolific artistic production, with artists such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Algardi...

Silver was the material of choice for both ecclesiastical and domestic vessels in the New World, not only for its status as a precious metal, but also because of its abundance and du...

An 18th century, hand carved porphyry head of “Marcus Aurelius” mounted on a Carrara marble base.

GALLO - ROMAN Limestone 1./2. Century after Christ Height 74 cm, without base 65 cm This high-quality torso is a depiction of a goddess. The standing goddess is shown in contrappos...

Sculpted in limewood We'd like to thank dr. Michael Rief for his advice. This sculpture represents Saint Matthias, one of the apostles chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. Crafted wit...

Provenance: Private Collection, Spain. Known as Peruvian alabaster for its translucency and workability, Piedra de Huamanga is a highly prized material from the province of Ayacucho in Peru. In the 17th and 18th centuries, local craftsman in the town of Huamanga began to specialize in the production of small-scale, polychrome religious sculptures made from this distinctive stone. Huamanga sculptures are among the most accomplished examples of carving from the Spanish Americas, where polychrome wood sculpture was a far more common sculptural medium. These works, which were created as independent sculptures or as sculptural groups—such as our three Magi—were intended for ecclesiastical as well as domestics settings. Our three figures likely formed part of a larger Nativity group—a New World variant of the tradition of the Neapolitan Crèche...

Nok culture Sitting 500 B.C. - 200 A.D. Terracotta Height 60 cm TL expert opinion of the University of Vienna Prof. Dr. Rudolf Erlach Provenance: Private collection Nice

LATE GOTIC RELIEF “Adoration of the Magi Lower Rhine Around 1500 Oak wood, plastically carved Original, polychrome version Height 51 cm, widt...

MUSEUM CORPUS CHRISTI Spain/Catalonia or Asturias Around 1250 Corpus hardwood, arms softwood Remains of the original polychrome setting Height 109.5...

Provenance: Manuel Ortíz de Zevallos y García, Peru; and by descent in the family to: Private Collection, New York. This impressive baptismal dish is an example of eighteenth-cent...

Volpato or Cialli manufacture, molded by Lorenzo Weber, Pio VI blessing on horseback during the Cavalcata for the Possession English white terracotta of 45 x 29 x 17 cm, datable to...

Provenance: Sables de Fontainbleau, Seine-et-Marne, France “Gogottes” are natural creations formed out of sands deposited in Northern France during the Oligocene Period, approximately 30 million years ago. Much later, in a process that has only recently become understood, groundwater rich in silica flowed through the sands...

Provenance: Sables de Fontainbleau, Seine-et-Marne, France “Gogottes” are natural creations formed out of sands deposited in Northern France during the Oligocene Period, approximately 30 million years ago. Much later, in a process that has only recently become understood, groundwater rich in silica flowed through the sands...

Provenance: Sables de Fontainbleau, Seine-et-Marne, France “Gogottes” are natural creations formed out of sands deposited in Northern France during the Oligocene Period, approximately 30 million years ago. Much later, in a process that has only recently become understood, groundwater rich in silica flowed through the sands...

A gray sandstone head of Avalokiteshvara, Khmer, Cambodia, Bayon Style from the 13th century. The artwork is unsigned. Provenance: Charles Craig, Privat...

Provenance: James Byrnes, Los Angeles (1917-2011) Giusto Le Court was born Josse or Justus de Corte in the Flemish city of Ypres. His father Jean was a sculptor and presumably his earliest training was with him before he entered the studio of Cornelis van Mildert. The young artist was clearly influenced by the dominant Flemish sculptor of the time, Artus Quellinus the Elder, with whom he may have worked on the decoration of the Amsterdam City Hall. Following the lead of many northern artists he travelled to Rome, perhaps more than once, before settling in Venice around 1655. It was there, as one of a colony of expatriate artists, that he made his name as a sculptor. One of his first Venetian commissions was for the monument to Alvise Mocenigo in the Church of San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, where Le Court sculpted the marble figures of Strength and Justice. He also collaborated with the celebrated architect Baldassare Longhena, most famously for the high altar of Santa Maria della Salute, where he carved the multi-figured altarpiece depicting the Queen of Heaven Expelling the Plague. The present marble sculpture depicts the infant Saint John the Baptist, reclining, wearing his traditional hair-shirt, embracing a lamb, and holding the bottom of his attribute, a reed cross. Attached to his shirt is a baptismal cup, with which he would become associated later in his life. Veneration of the infant Saint John the Baptist was prevalent throughout Italy and images of the saint in childhood—often called “Giovannino,” or little John...

Sitting Madonna Central Italy/Tuscany or Marche Around 1420 Poplar wood carved Original version Height 31 cm Charming Madonna sculpture from the heyday of the Soft or International...

Signed and dated: ‘F. Harwood Fecit 1764’ Collections: Probably commissioned by Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon (1743-1827); Probably by descent at Gordon Castle, Banffshire to c.1948; Possibly acquired by Bert Crowther of Syon Lodge, Middlesex; Jacques Hollander (1940-2004); Christie’s, 5 December 2013, lot 101; Private collection; Sotheby’s, 2 July 2019, lot 106 Literature: John Preston Neale, Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales and Scotland, London, 1822, vol.I, unpaginated. This marble copy of an ancient bust in the Musei Capitolini usually identified as Faustina the Younger, the daughter of Antoninus Pius and future wife of Marcus Aurelius, was made in Florence by Francis Harwood in 1764. Harwood was one of the most prolific suppliers of decorative marbles for the Grand Tour market and this finely worked example demonstrates the quality of luxury goods available to travellers to Italy. So often anonymous, this unusually signed and dated example, raises questions about the status of marble copies in the period and of sculptors such as Harwood who are known principally for ornamental work. Harwood’s origins remain obscure. He is documented living in Palazzo Zuccari with Joshua Reynolds and the Irish sculptor Simon Vierpyl at Easter 1752, he had certainly settled permanently in Florence by the following year, when he is recorded working with Joseph Wilton. He was admitted to the Florentine Academy on 12 January 1755 (as pittore Inglese, although he was described as scultore in the matriculation account). After Wilson returned to England in 1755 Harwood appears to have worked in a studio near SS. Annunziata with Giovanni Battista Piamontini who had made life-size copies of The Wrestlers and The Listening Slave for Joseph Leeson in 1754. In 1758 both sculptors were contracted to make a statue and a trophy to complete the decoration of the Porta San Gallo, Harwood completing a statue of Equality, installed the following year. By 1760 Harwood was on the brink of his most productive period as a sculptor, producing copies of celebrated antiquities for the ever-increasing audience of Grand Tour travellers and for the domestic market in London. In 1761 Harwood met the young architect James Adam who was in Italy specifically to make contact with suppliers for Robert Adam’s burgeoning practice back in Britain. The Adams offered a remarkably cohesive design package to their clients, encompassing not just architecture, but fixtures, fittings and furniture as well. Harwood was able to supply the brothers with marbles for their new interiors. At Syon, for example, Harwood produced a full-size copy of Michelangelo’s Bacchus for the new dining room the Adams had designed for Hugh Smythson, 1st Duke of Northumberland. Harwood seems to have also specialised in producing sets of library busts. In 1758 Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton, a distinguished traveller commissioned a set of busts which remain in situ at Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire. It is perhaps no coincidence that the Adam brothers were producing designs for new interiors at Castle Ashby at this date. The set included representations of: Cicero, Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Faustina the Younger, Sappho, Seneca and Homer. Each of these busts Harwood seems to have replicated for multiple patrons, another Adam patron, Thomas Dundas...

This remarkably fluid terracotta bozetto was made in preparation for Pietro Pacilli’s most important public commission, a large-scale marble statue of San Camillo de Lellis for the nave of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Expressively modelled, this terracotta sculpture is a rare and significant work made by a major Roman sculptor at a transformative moment of European sculpture. Pacilli began his working life on the great Baroque decorative projects initiated in the seventeenth century, but he found success as a restorer of ancient sculpture working to finish antiquities for a tourist market, becoming an important figure in the emergence of an archaeologically minded Neoclassicism. Pacilli trained Vincenzo Pacetti and provided important decorative work for the Museo Pio-Clementino, at the same time he is recorded restoring some of the most celebrated antiquities excavated and exported during the period. Pacilli was born into a family of Roman craftsmen, his father Carlo was a wood carver, and Pacilli is recorded working with him on the Corsini Chapel in San Giovanni Laternao as early as 1735. In 1738 his terracotta model of Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife won the first prize in the second class of the sculpture concorso at the Accademia di San Luca, this is particularly notable as Bartolomeo Cavaceppi came third. He worked as a carver and stuccoist completing works for the churches of San Marco and SS. Trinita dei Domeniciani Spagnoli. Pacilli operated as a sculptor and restorer of antiquities from his studio at the top of the Spanish Steps, close to Santa Trinita dei Monti, where he is listed as a potential vendor to the Museo Pio-Clementino in 1770. In 1763 Pacilli completed a silver figure of San Venanzio for the treasury of San Venanzio. He is recorded as Pacetti’s first master and it was evidently through Pacilli that he began to acquire his facility as a restorer of ancient sculpture. Pacilli, at his studio ‘poco prima dell’Arco della Regina alla Trinita dei Monti,’ exercised, what the nineteenth-century scholar, Adolf Michaelis called ‘rejuvenating arts’ on several important pieces of classical sculpture, including in 1760 the group of a Satyr with a Flute for the natural brother of George III, General Wallmoden, Hanovarian minister at Vienna. In 1765, Dallaway and Michaelis record that Pacilli was responsible for the restorations, including the addition of a new head, to the Barberini Venus which he had acquired from Gavin Hamilton. The Venus was then sold to Thomas Jenkins, who in turn passed it on to William Weddell at Newby Hall. In 1767 Pacilli exported a series of ancient busts ‘al naturale’ including portraits of Antinous, Julius Ceaser and Marus Aurelius, also a statue of a Muse and a Venus. As early as 1756 Pacilli seems to have been operating as an antiquarian, helping to disperse the collection of the Villa Borrioni. Pacilli supplied sculpture to notable British collectors, including Charles Townley, who on his first trip to Italy purchased the Palazzo Giustiniani statue of Hecate from Pacilli. Pacilli was involved with the Museo Pio Clementino from its conception, supplying busts of Julius Ceaser and a Roman Woman as well as completing stucco putti surmounting the arms of Pope Bendedict XIV to signal the entrance to the new Museo Critiano. In 1750 Il Diario Ordinario del Chracas announced that Pacilli had begun work on a sculpture of San Camillo de Lellis for St Peter’s. Camillo de Lellis founded his congregation, the Camillians, with their distinctive red felt crosses stitched on black habits in 1591. Having served as a soldier in the Venetian army, Camillo de Lellis became a novitiate of the Capuchin friars, he moved to Rome and established a religious community for the purpose of caring for the sick. In 1586 Pope Sixtus V formerly recognised the Camillians and assigned them to the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Rome. Camillo de Lellis died in 1614 and was entombed at Santa Maria Maddalena, he was canonised by Benedict XIV on June 26, 1746. It was an occasion that prompted the Camillians to make a number of significant artistic commissions, including two canvases by Pierre Subleyras showing episodes from San Camillo’s life which they presented to Benedict XIV. In 1750 Pacilli was commissioned to fill one of the large niches on the north wall of the nave with a sculpture of San Camillo. The present terracotta bozetto presumably had two important functions, to enable Pacilli to work out his ideas for the finished sculpture and at the same time to show his design to the various commissioning bodies. In this case it would have been Cardinal Alessandro Albani and Monsignor Giovan Francesco Olivieri, the ‘economo’ or treasurer of the fabric of St Peter’s. Previously unrecorded, this terracotta relates to a smaller, less finished model which has recently been identified as being Pacilli’s first idea for his statue of San Camillo. Preserved in Palazzo Venezia, in Rome, the terracotta shows San Camillo with his left hand clutching his vestments to his breast; the pose and action more deliberate and contained than the finished sculpture. In producing the present terracotta Pacilli has expanded and energised the figure. San Camillo is shown with his left hand extended, his head turned to the right, apparently in an attempt to look east down the nave of St Peter’s. The model shows Pacilli experimenting with San Camillo’s costume; prominently on his breast is the red cross of his order, whilst a sense of animation is injected into the figure through the billowing cloak which is pulled across the saint’s projecting right leg. The power of the restrained, axial contrapposto of bent right leg and outstretched left arm, is diminished in the final sculpture where a baroque fussiness is introduced to the drapery. What Pacilli’s terracotta demonstrates, is that he conceived the figure of San Camillo very much in line with the immediate tradition of depicting single figures in St Peter’s; the rhetorical gesture of dynamic saint, arm outstretched, book in hand, head pointed upwards was perhaps borrowed from Camillo Rusconi’s 1733 sculpture of St. Ignatius...

Corpus Christi around 1150/70 Southern France or Catalonia carved oak wood

 height 109 cm, width 96 cm Remains of polychromy

ROMAN MADONNA “Sedes Sapientiae” Auvergne Around 1175/80 Pine wood Polychrome remains Height 40 cm This depiction of the Madonna is a masterfully carved, extremely early figure made...

This monumental bust is a museum-quality example of Roman Baroque sculpture. Crafted by the legendary Domenico Guidi and carved from Carrara marble, the impressive portrait captures the visage of Pope Innocent XI, Benedetto Odescalchi (1611-1689). It presents a larger-than-life example of Guidi’s remarkable skill as a sculptor, which ultimately made his workshop one of the most important in Rome during his age. Today, his works are rarely found on the market, particularly his extraordinary works in marble. Pope Innocent XI was born Benedetto Odescalchi into an Italian noble family of prominent bankers. Spending his early years in banking, he eventually turned to the law, earning his doctorate in 1639. His background would serve him well in his service to the papacy, and he became known as a frugal and devout member of the Church. In 1676, he was unanimously elected Pop after the death of Clement X. During his nearly 13-year reign, he instilled his own personal ideals of austerity and frugality onto the Church, with a deep commitment to reform and piety. He is captured here by Guidi in his traditional Pope’s mozzetta and camauro cap. A wide stole is draped over his shoulders, ornamented by acanthus leaves and the coat of arms of the Odescalchi family. It displays Guidi’s mastery over the chiaroscuro effect, particularly in the high level of contrast in his cheeks and his eyes, which Guidi achieved through various methods of high polish. A very similar portrait sculpture of Pope Innocent XI by Guidi can be found in the collection of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The Warsaw bust belongs to a series of portraits of popes which the Odescalchi family commissioned from Domenico Guidi in the 1690s. Compared to that example, the present bust is far more dramatic, with deeper cut lines and a more precise expression. It is likely that the present piece was seen by the Odescalchi family, who ordered a similar one to be made. The piece was almost certainly intended to be displayed in a niche, given its dramatic cutting and its roughly carved back. Others of Guidi’s busts can be found in important collections throughout Italy, England and the United States, though many of these are lesser bronze repetitions. A bronze bust of the Pope Alexander VIII by Guidi is currently in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), while a terracotta version of the same is in the Los Angeles County Museum. A bronze of Pope Alexander VIII can be found in the Princely Collection of Lichtenstein, and his impressive marble papal bust of Clement IX graces the pope’s tomb in Santa Maria Maggiore. The present bust of Pope...

This Pre-Columbian bowl featuers red marks on a light orange ground. It is 9" in diameter and has been previously repaired.

White Carrara marble medallion depicting the profile of the Roman emperor Tiberius, Roman workshop, 18th century. Objects prized during the Grand Tour, they enriched the curio cabine...

Bust of a Lady, thought to be Elisabeth Petrowna, also known as Elisabeth of Russia Depicted before she was crowned Terracotta Bust Elizabeth Petrovna (Russian: Елизаве́та (29 Decem...

This Chinesco bowl was from a pre-Columbian society from around 300 BCE. It features abstract, geometric designs in red and black. The diameter is 8".

Head of apostle or Christ in carved limestone. Elongated face with a large forehead and long hair with thick wavy locks on the sides. The almond-shaped eyes are underlined by the hem...

Gypsum cast-medieval tile, inspired from Central Europe. Adjusted in a frame, ready to hang or install.

White Carrara marble medallion depicting the profile of the Roman emperor Galba, Roman workshop, 18th century.  Objects prized during the Grand Tour, they enriched the "cabinet de cu...

Bellissima e imponente testa neoclassica in marmo di Alessandro Magno, Italia, Roma, XVII secolo. Alessandro Magno (356-323 aC), che gode di grande posterità nel corso della storia,...

Large terracotta group depicting interior scene, northern France, second half of the 17th century. The fine execution of this delightful family interior takes us back to the product...

"The Rape of the Sabine Women," veined alabaster, large sculptural group with classical subject, Volterra manufacture, 18th century. The so-called Rape of the Sabine Women is a scu...

Carved and painted wooden sculpture - Figure of a saint - Italy, 17th-18th century. 36 x 25 x h 74 cm. Entirely in carved, lacquered and painted wood. Some missing parts and colour...

Carved and painted wooden sculpture - Madonna praying - Italy, 17th-18th century. 35 x 20 x h 65 cm. Entirely in carved, lacquered and painted wood. Some missing parts and color lo...

Rare anatomical head made of stucco and wax, of 18th-century German workmanship. Fascinating study model used in academia at the time, a fascinating piece of scientific art. The piec...

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NINSEI NONOMURA, active in the second part of the 17th century Kyo-Yaki ceramic paperweight, Paperweight Kyo-Yaki, 1646. Polychrome pottery with ball and gold leaf decoration, impr...

Gypsum cast - medieval tile, from Central Europe. Adjusted in a frame, ready to hang or install.

Unusual 14th Century Italian marble mortar with animals depicted on the sides

Melanie Sherman Vintage Peacock III (Wall Piece/Dish (handpainted) Porcelain, Glaze, Overglaze, Chinapaints, 24k German Gold Luster, Brass Wire (for hanging, can be removed) Year: 2023 (and following years) Size: 5.5x4x0.25in Signed by hand COA provided Ref.: 924802-1333 *Made to Order | Every piece is unique, design might differ slightly | Customization possible **Lead time approx. 2 weeks for qty 1-3 ------------------------ My ceramics are handmade and painted with the finest overglazes from Europe. The gold luster used is 24k liquid Gold from Germany. Every piece is unique. My imagery is inspired by vintage Meissen dinnerware, William Morris wallpaper and other historical sources. Porcelain, Ceramics, Pottery, Ornament Vintage Moth Wall Piece Ornament Small Dish Candy Sugar Tea handpainted handmade butterfly peacock 24k German gold luster ceramics porcelain charm, jewelry, personalized, family, tree, retro, heart, mother, moon, baby, feet, gemstone, flower, mom, birth, year, art, chinapaint, luster, lustre, contemporary ceramics, futility of pleasure, herend, meissen, sevre, pattern, arita, arita ware, imari, imari ware, dresden, germany, japan, jingdezhen, china, photography, momento mori, flowers, flower motif, drawing, illustration, peacock, cherry blossom, chrysanthemum, kiku, 菊, kikka, 菊花, Ōka, 黄花, Kiku no hana...

"The Rape of Sabina," large bronze group with brown patina, Roman workshop of the second half of the 18th century, circle of Francesco Righetti (Rome 1749-1819). The exceptional qu...

A fine antique bronze figural group of Bacchantes by Claude Michel (Clodion) ( 1738– 1814). The bronze depicts a pair of bacchantes, the female followers of Bacchus the Roman god of ...

Carved and painted wooden sculpture - Pietà - Italy, 18th century. 13 x 7 x h 22.5 cm. Entirely made of carved and polychrome painted wood. Condition report: Good state of conserv...

ANCIENT ROMAN MARBLE RELIEF FRAGMENT Rome, 1st Century b.C. marble 23 x 15 x 5 cm without base 9 x 6 x 2 in

The legendary Greek god Perseus is the subject of this elegant half-bust by Ubaldo Gandolfi, a major painter and sculptor from Bologna. The son of Zeus and Danaë, Perseus was the le...

PORTRAIT HEAD OF BEARDED MAN Central Italy, 16th/17th Century marble with traces of polychromy height 39 cm height 15 1/4 in

ITALIAN MARBLE BUST OF MELPOMEN, MUSE OF TRAGEDY Late 18th Century inscribed to base Melpomen marble height 66 cm height 26 in

ARCHITECTURAL RELIEFS WITH CHIMERAS Central Italy, 16th Century green marble 26 x 25 cm 10 1/4 x 9 3/4 in

BRONZE FIGURE OF MARS, 18th Century gilt bronze on marble base 35.6 x 8.9 x 7.6 cm 14 x 3 1/2 x 3 in

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Four carved wooden sculptures - Four Seasons - Venice, 18th century 10 x 8 x h 20 cm. Entirely in carved wood. Condition report: Good state of conservation of the sculptural work,...

This young saint or angel has suffered over the centuries, but his spirit has not been broken - and miraculously, his beautiful face has remained intact. With a gentle face and an al...

FRONTON double face en bois doré et sculpté finement ajouré d’animaux fantastiques ailés au milieu de feuillages et d’éléments fleuris. Au centre, un portrait de moine. Travail grec ...

GROTESQUE MASK Italy, 15h Century stone 30 x 31 x 20 cm 11 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 7 3/4 in

Four carved and painted wooden table sculptures - Musicians' concert - Venice, 18th century. 9 x 7 x h 20 cm each. Entirely in carved and painted wood. - This item is sold with a...

(MADE TO ORDER) (Sabbath, Kiddush, Unique, Gold Luster) *Lead Time may vary between 1-3 weeks Melanie Sherman "Just A Little Tipsy" Year: 2021 Porcelai...

Madonna and Child, polychrome stucco relief, workshop of Luca della Robbia. Second half of the 15th century. Modeled as half-length, the Child holds his mother's veil in one hand, th...