Italian School Figurative Sculptures

Antique bronze sculpture of male nude reading a letter or proclamation. Marble base, 19th century. Unsigned.

A very fine museum quality Italian 19th-20th century life-size marble sculpture titled "Searching for Love" by Vito Pardo (Italian, born in Venice in 1872) Depicting a semi-nude life...

Wearing a chiton with a himation draped at the left shoulder, and a modius on the crown of his head, the god's characteristic luxuriant wavy hair falling in ri...

A very fine Italian 19th century Carrara marble sculpture depicting a young beauty going for a Swim standing on the steps of a dock, raised on its original carved green marble pedest...

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...

Limited edition bronze sculpture by Polish artist Olga Prokop-Misniakiewicz. Artist signes her artworks by hand, using engraving tool. Edition of 5. Olga Prokop-Misniakiewicz likes t...

French Mid 20th Century ceramic figure of a man in Sang de Boeuf, oxblood red, glaze presented on a metal 'tige' and marble base. The sculpture is not signed but was purchased from ...

Aquila Bronze Sculpture on pedestal of marble Hight bronze 57 cm with pedestal of marble (included) 68 cm Wim van der Kant's sculptures are in bronze...

Wonderful Italian sculpture representing a seated maiden. The artwork rests on a square marble base Signed on the base “Gaetano Martinez Roma” According a written opinion by Prof. Al...

Bronze, glass & marble Irakli Tsuladze is a Georgian sculptor born in 1973 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. His sculptures present a peculiar unity of substance and emotions...

Numbered and limited to 8 copies Artwork signed Authenticity: Sold with certificate of Authenticity Invoice from the gallery Sculpture: bronze, metal, bronze patina Display: The sc...

"Musidora" by Odoardo FANTACCHIOTTI (1809-1877) Sculpture made in white Carrara marble signed on the side on the base " O. Fantacchiotti " Italy around 1862 height 110 cm diameter ...