Gogotte Formation (Natural Sandstone Concretion)

Misunderstanding

Oligocene Period, (30 million BC)

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...

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...

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...

Provenance: Collection of Emily Johnston De Forest and Robert Weeks De Forest, New York, by 1911-until 1942; thence by descent until 2018. Literature: ...

Eva Ennist, a mixed media and fiber artist, travels extensively through the Far East, gathering materials and techniques for her practice. The sculpture "NESTING LOTUS #3" is a prime...

Eva Ennist, a mixed media and fiber artist, travels extensively through the Far East, gathering materials and techniques for her practice. The sculpture "NE...

Eva Ennist, a mixed media and fiber artist, travels extensively through the Far East, gathering materials and techniques for her practice. The sculpture "NE...

Tan colored stone sculpture of a female figure with hands covering the sides of her head. The sculpture is signed by the artist and dated. Milton Goldin is known for producing abstra...