Unknown

Antique white marble statuary sculpture depicting bust of noblewoman.

Orologio Napoleone III Francese in bronzo dorato e bronzo patinato appartenente alla seconda metà del XIX secolo. La base in marmo bianco statuario è adornata con delle applicazioni in bronzo dorato a motivo floreale e poggia su piedi circolari sempre in bronzo. Una grande scultura raffigurante Sulla parte alta vi è la figura di Cerere, divinità materna della terra e della fertilità, nume tutelare dei raccolti, ma anche dea della nascita, poiché tutti i fiori, la frutta e gli esseri viventi erano ritenuti suoi doni; simbolo in particolare dell'estate, stagione per antonomasia dei raccolti. Nella composizione, molto armoniosa pur nella ricchezza di elementi, essa è tradizionalmente rappresentata come una donna giovane e bella, che tiene in mano un falcetto e porta sul capo una corona di spighe, che si trovano anche ai suoi piedi. La doratura è di tipo galvanica. Doratura Galvanica: La scoperta della tecnica galvanica inizia nel 1791 quando Luigi Galvani...

Antique white marble statuary clock belonging to the Napoleon III period of the second half of the 19th century. A woman holding a book rests on a column with a porcelain dial in th...

White statuary marble sculpture depicting a young woman who is shown in a pose derived from ancient classicism, of touching her hair and holding a flower she has in her hair. The ...

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...

Antique fountain in Vicenza stone 19th century period The sculpture is in the round, and dominating the scene is a large putto riding a dolphin. The faucet is inserted inside the d...

Antique alabaster sculpture French Napoleon III belonging to the second half of the 19th century. The woman is depicted in period clothing and hat while holding a bouquet of flowers...

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

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...

Italian 19th Century marble bust depicting the young Emperor Octavian. The sculpture, carved in white Carrara marble, is an exquisite example of neoclassical works and shows a fascin...

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,...

RARE PAIR OF ITALIAN PIETRA PAESINA COLUMNS, Italy, 19th Century Pietra Paesina H 70 x Diam 9.5 cm H 27 1/2 x Diam 3 3/4 in