Precious Stone Figurative Sculptures

19th Century Grand Tour after the Antique Figure of Sophocles Bronze with green patination Signed F. Barbidienne, Fondeur 25 x 8.5 x 6.5 inches Standing figure of the Greek poet, we...

Bacchic revelry. A sexy and nude curvaceous young Nymph/Bacchante makes amorous advances to a Herm - whose facial expression reflects her erotic touch. The Herm is stylized where his...

A sensitively carved, solid alabaster, antique sculpture of famed Italian poet and philospher, Dante Aligheri (1265-1321). The figure in a rich, flowing robe, holding a book and wear...

Antichità Castelbarco SRLS is proud to present: Flemish sculptor of the 17th century Pair of bas-relief panels depicting the Allegory of Spring and the Allegory of Autumn Oak wood ...

William Mozart McVey (American, 1905-1995) Rumination Cast bronze with brown patina Signed on back foot 8 x 4 x 3 inches William McVey (12 July 1905-31 May 1995) became Cleveland's ...

Pair of bookend sculptures. Venice, 17th century. 15 x 15 x h 29 cm. Entirely in finely carved wood. - This item is sold with a certificate of authenticity with legal validity. -...

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...

Beautifully proportioned and handsome nude male bronze with Roman classically refined features after the Antique . It looks best with a key lighting th...

Pair of carved and gilded mirror cabinets 'in the manner of Sansovino' Venetian (or Tuscan) carver active in the 18th century Carved and gilded wood Total frame measurements: 86 x 6...

Beautifully carved, Grand Tour period architectural model featuring fluted columns surmounted by Corinthian capitals and a relief carved pediment above a raised base inset with a fl...

High relief panel depicting 'Saint Barbara' Southern France, 16th-17th century Polychrome carved wood with traces of gilding 64 x 32 cm. (good condition, with minor missing and cra...

Antique sculpture of a female Moor with flowering cornucopia Venice, 19th century Carved, lacquered and gilded/silvered wood Total height 202 cm (column base 82 cm, figure 120 cm) ...