Art by Medium: Marble

This amusing naturalistic sculpture in silver-plated pewter was probably made in the 17th century by Georg Schweigger. Inspired by a model created by another Nuremberg sculptor, Peter Flötner, it bears witness to the persistence during the baroque era of the naturalistic taste that emerged in the Renaissance. Intended as an ornament for some Kunstkammer, or cabinet of curiosities, this sculpture was a great success, as can be seen from the presence of similar works in many European museums. 1. Georg Schweigger Georg Schweigger was a baroque sculptor and medal founder from Nuremberg, known mainly for his small-scale works in stone, carved wood and cast metal. His only large-scale work, the Neptune Fountain, has been in the Petershof Palace, the summer residence of the Tsars near St. Petersburg, since 1797. This monumental sculpture demonstrates his taste for the representation of movement, which we find in this small piece, inspired, as we shall see, by earlier models. 2. The success of a naturalistic theme As is often the case in the history of art, the source of the Dog scratching his ear theme probably comes from an engraving, and more precisely from one made in Strasbourg in 1480 or in Aschaffenburg in 1481 by the Master of the Housebook, an anonymous engraver working in southern Germany at the end of the 15th century. This engraving seems to have been Peter Flötner’s (1490 - 1546) source of inspiration. Peter Flötner was a sculptor and engraver who settled in Nuremberg in 1522. The Louvre Museum also has a gilded lead statuette dated between 1500 and 1515 (on deposit at the Musée de L'Œuvre in Strasbourg), which in turn is thought to have served as a model for other known statuettes. This model was later taken up by the Frenchman Barthélemy Prieur...

Antique white marble statuary sculpture depicting Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), the Austrian archduchess who would become the wife of King Louis XVI and the last queen of France. Hi...

PORTRAIT HEAD OF A GIRL Rome, circa 2nd/3rd century A.D. Marble height 18.4 cm height 7 1/4 in Provenance: Sotheby's, London, May 23rd, 1988, no. 240,...

Capital with ox skull: "Bucranium". Carved marble. 16th - 17th century. Bucranium with garlands is a decorative element that dates back to the art of Ancient Rome, later taken up by...

Oak with marble top Height: 55 inches (86.25 cm) Width: 55 inches (140 cm) Provenance Château de Mareil Le Guyon This commode is available to view at our gallery on Cecil Court. J...

ITALIAN MEDIEVAL CAPITAL Italy, 12th/13th Century marble 19 x 23 x 23 cm 7 1/2 x 9 x 9 in total height 31 cm (12 1/4 in)

Lovely pair of heads of small cherubs carved in white Carrara marble. The chubby faces adorned with admirable hair with abundant tight and deep curls with a quiff on the forehead. Th...

18th Century Continental School Bronze Sculpture of Aphrodite, c. 18th Century 25-3/4 in. h. x 11 in. w. x 9 in. d., without Base 1-1/4...

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CAPITAL WITH MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES, 15th Century marble H 18 x Diam 33.5 cm H 7 x Diam 13 1/4 in

LARGE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MARBLE CAPITAL Florence, 15th/16th Century marble 38 x 47 x 47 cm 15 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in

PAIR OF ROMANESQUE MARBLE COLUMNS Italy, 13th/14th Century marble 86 x 16 x 13 cm 33 3/4 x 6 1/4 x 5 in

MARBLE PORTRAIT HEAD OF VENETIAN DOGE, Italy, 18th Century Carrare marble 60 x 46 x 34 cm 23 1/2 x 18 x 13 1/2 in

ITALIAN MARBLE HEAD OF A PHILOSOPHER Italy, Late 17th/early 18th Century Marble height 36 cm (14 1/4 in) height 51 cm (20 in) with base

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MARBLE RELIEF WITH GRIFFIN Central Italy, 16th Century marble 42 x 28.5 x 5.5 cm 16 1/2 x 11 1/4 x 2 1/4 in

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MARBLE RELIEF WITH COAT OF ARMS OF POPE SIXTUS IV DELLA ROVERE Italy, 15th Century marble 49.5 x 47.5 x 7.5 cm 19 1/2 x 18 3/4 x 3 in

PIETRA DURA TABLETOP WITH PARROTS AND CHECKERBOARD Rome, 18th Century Polychrome marbles, pietre dure and pietra paesina 117 x 73 x 5 cm 46 1/4 x ...

ANTIQUE ITALIAN PORPRHYRY MORTAR Rome, 16th/17th Century Porphyry 19 x 23 x 23 cm 7 1/2 x 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 in Provenance: Sotheby Parke Bernet Florence, 21 October 1976, page 36, lot 5...

18th Century Italian breccia circular vase probably carved in Rome ROUND BRECCIA TAZZA, 18th Century Breccia H 29 cm D 39 cm

PAIR OF PIETRA DURA MOUNTED URNS France, 18th and 19th Century Amethyst and breccia pavonazzetto height 24.5 cm height 9 3/4 in

A Roman, Carrara marble sculpture of the mythological Greek god Pan as a fountain. Italy.

A beautifully hand carved Roman marble bust of an Emperor or Senator. The richly draped robe features a relief of a face.

Encoignure desserte Louis XVI, estampillé de TOPINO, en acajou et placage d’acajou veiné à encadrement de bronzes. Elle ouvre par 1 tiroir en ceinture qui surmonte 2 étagères à galer...

An extraordinary 17th century, hand-carved, solid Carrara marble, life sized figure fragment on raised base of the same. The subject is swaddled in a luxurious, gathered robe and tun...

Substantial, hand carved, solid marble bust of Roman Emperor Vitellius (24-69 C.E.) on a custom, iron base. Likely a 16th century copy of a 2nd century o...

Rare, Late Roman Empire (3rd to 5th centuries, C.E.), solid marble bust of a young man. Beautiful patina. Mounted on a later, Carrara marble base.

Sensitively carved, solid marble bust of a young boy mounted on a custom, Lucite base. Carved fully in the round, though originally the figure was part of a larger group. Acquired di...

PAIR OF PIETRA DURA PLAQUES WITH LANDSCAPES Italy, Florence, 18th Century pietre dure in gilt bronze frame 28.5 x 39 cm (11 1/4 x 15 1/4 in) with frame 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 in) withou...

An 18th c. hand-carved, solid Carrara marble bust, likely of a holy Roman Emperor on a specimen marble base of the period. Inscribed "OTTONI".

Glorious, c. 1650, hand-carved, solid Carrara marble upper torso fragment of a Roman soldier. The piece featuring fish-scale armor atop a tunic. The rig...

A pair of rare, early 1700’s, Roman, beautifully hand–carved, solid Carrara marble cherubim singing in adoration. Each with feather embellished robe fragments. Both mounted on custo...

Wonderfully carved, circa 1750, marble bust representing North and South America. Initially part of a series of busts that depicted "The Four Continents". The smiling figure is draped in a toga pinned...

Hand carved, marble bust in three quarters, of a young man in a sensitively rendered, open-neck robe, with flowing hair held in a delicate circlet.

PAIR OF PIETRA DURA PLAQUES WITH BIRDS Florence, 18th Century pietre dure in gilt wood frame 9.5 x 12 cm (3 3/4 x 4 3/4 in) without frame 15 x 17.2 cm (6 x 6 3/4 in) with frame

PAIR OF FLORENTINE PIETRA DURA PLAQUES WITH BIRDS IN GILT BRONZE FRAME Florence, 18 Century Pietra dura, gilt bronze frame 7.5 x 11.5 cm (3 x 4 1/2 in) without frame 11.4 x 15.5 cm ...

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...

BRECCIA FRAGMENT PLINTH Italy, 18th Century Breccia medicea 55 x d 25 cm 21 3/4 x d 9 3/4 in

Large romanesque capital with water leaf in red Verona marble. This type of capital is typical of 12th century Cistercian abbeys and represents a tr...

Small marble head representing a bearded man in profile, an apostle or a prophet. This sculpture comes from the Joseph Altounian collection dispersed...

BUST In Marble Probably From Carrara Representing King Henry IV Late 18th Century" Marble BUST probably from Carrara representing King Henry IV with a laurel wreath. late 18th centur...

Roman marble altar fragment with cupid Provenance: Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910-1996), Paris and Geneva

"Sheath In Sea Green And Red Marble From Caunes-minervois Nineteenth" Marble green sea for the central part and surrounded by a red of Caunes-Minervois XIXè. Provenance:GalerieParisi...

"Louis 15th Console" Louis XV console in an eventful shape with 4 legs. It is in cream rechampi oak with carved decoration of split shells, scrolls, garlands of flowers. It rests on ...

PAIRE D’ENCOIGNURES RÉGENCE en placage de bois de violette à façade bombée. Elles ouvrent par 2 portes encadrées de montants décreusés de cannelures. Triple piètement. Dessus de marb...

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

Roman Marble Altar fragment from the 1st/2nd Century A.D. with the typical element of Roman rituals. Provenance: Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910-1996), Paris...

Finely carved male capital dated from the 16th Century. Created in Italy, this fine works features the faces of winged cherubs.

Typical of 18th Century Rome, this fascinating pink marble urn with lid is a wonderful example of Italian decorative arts. Embellished with bronze moun...

This muscular male torso probably comes from a larger relief, which would have decorated the front part of a sarcophagus. It likely represents the figure of a satyr, standing, with t...

A fine pair of Italian miniature jasper plinths

These four plaques represent either domestic (a horse, two rams) or exotic animals (a rhinoceros and an elephant). Made on slate slabs cut to shape (a rectangle with concave angles), they are all based on the same narrative scheme: in a frame of Egyptian porphyry, an animal in multicoloured marble is represented advancing on a green marble floor, standing out against a black slate background. These plates were made in Italy, probably in Florence or in Rome, during the 18th century. We think that their primary purpose was to decorate the drawers of a cabinet. Like many other compositions in hard stone, these plaques were inspired by engravings that were a widespread decorative repertoire in the workshops. Three of the plaques presented here were directly inspired by works by Antonio Tempesta (1555 - 1630): the Rhinoceros, the Polish Horse...

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...

Large roman carved marble fountain head representing a lion Rome, I-II Century AC Bonham's London, 22 September 1998, lot 485; formerly in the pr...

PROVENANCE Private J.E. Collection, Bavaria, 1960s

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...

THE ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPERDS Italy, 17th Century Painting on agate in an ebonised wood, gilt bronze and semi-precious stone frame 38 x 31 cm - 15 x 12 1/4 in with frame 14 x 8.5 cm - 5 1/2 x 3 1/4 in without frame Although quite rare, across the centuries the art of painting on stone...

Hand carved in the high prized Italian Carrara white marble quarried from Tuscany. This statue of a young nymph exudes elegance and beauty. From studying the figure we can see the sc...