19th Century Sculptures

"I am a true Roman Emperor; I am of the best race of the Caesars—those who are founders." –Napoleon Bonaparte, 1812 Among the most iconic and celebrated figures in history, Napoleon...

Wrestlers. Patinated bronze, h 39 cm + 4 cm pedestal, w 46 cm l 27 cm Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810–1892)

Plaster reproduction of the frieze 'The Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon', executed in Rome between 1818 and 1828 by Bertel Thorvaldsen. Signature incised to be identified o...

Jan Jozef Jaquet (1822 Antwerp - 1898 Brussels), Psyche, 1847. Black-brown and brown patinated bronze on a cast base. 30 cm (height) x 22 cm (width) x 12 cm (depth), weight 5 kg. Ver...

Jules Moigniez (1835 Senlis - 1894 St-Martin-du-Tertre), Hunting dog on the prowl, around 1880. Bronze patinated metal casting on naturalistic terrain plinth and cast base, 16 cm (he...

Bronze Sculpture of a young boy playing a lute with a lamb by his side

Mathurin Moreau 1822-1912, was an important French sculptor who won many prizes in the Salons and World fair during the 19th Century. This bronze of Mary, Queen of Scots is a first s...

Sporting Sculpture with Elk and Panther Wildlife bronze

LION HEAD, Italy, 19th Century marble 40 x 26 x 20 cm 15 3/4 x 10 1/4 x 7 3/4 in

Late 19th Century Chinese Decorated Metal Covered Ginger Jar in the Japanese Style Labeled on bottom Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York 9 x 7.5 x 7.5 inches Ginger jars were used...

"Saddled Horse Playing with a Dog"  Pierre Lenordez (1815-1892)  Bronze with green marble base, circa 1860 11 x 7 inches Painter and sculptor, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts ...

Antique Horse Bronze  "Horse  in the Stable Playing with a Dog (The Good Companions)" Jument à l'écurie jouant avec un chien Pierre-Jules Mene (French, 1810-1879) Bronze 19 x 10 inc...

Urbano Lucchesi 1844 - 1906 Italian La Casta Susanna (The Chaste Susanna) Marble This elegant statue entitled La Casta Susanna depicts the virtuous biblical figure Susanna, exper...

Wilhelm Albermann (1835 Werden an der Ruhr - 1913 Cologne), The Blacksmith of Solingen, after 1895. Bronze-color patinated zinc cast on plinth, 47 cm (height) x 20 cm (width) x 16 cm (depth), weight 5.5 kg. Signed “Albermann.” on the plinth and identified as a cast by “AKT.[TIEN] GES.[ELLSCHAFT] GLADENBECK BERLIN”. Dedication on the front: “Mr. Ing. F. Kuhlmann to the wedding. Management and officials of the Hannoversche Waggonfabrik. Aircraft construction department". - The zinc showing through in spots, the patina somewhat stained, the right upper arm under the sleeve retouched in black. - The Double-edged Sword - The figure is a reduction of Wilhelm Albermann's 1895 fountain figure of the armourer of Solingen, who has always been identified with the historical blacksmith Peter Hahn. In 1839, Karl Simrock wrote the poem “The Blacksmith of Solingen" and thus coined the legendary figure. The first and penultimate verses read: A blacksmith spoke to Solingen With every bayonet, That came to his diligence: "Oh, that Fritz had it!" The war took its course, Many battles were fought, Which often made him fearful and anxious In his soul. The blacksmith had given up his trade to fight for Frederick the Great. Not least because of his strength and will to fight, the battles were won. With his fountain sculpture, Albermann has given the legendary blacksmith a figurative form and at the same time created a landmark for the city of Solingen, which was once famous for the art of sword forging and today still stands for the production of high-quality knives. During the bombing raid in November 1944, the fountain was destroyed along with the entire old town of Solingen. Only the head remained. The broad-shouldered blacksmith stands securely behind his anvil, his leather apron tied around him, and has just finished a sword blade with his own "weapon" - the blacksmith's hammer. His entire body shows the strength with which he wields the hammer, but also the strain of this activity, as evidenced by the wide open shirt, the somewhat 'untidy' apron, and especially the furrowed face. However, the blacksmith does not look at the finished work, but resolutely and at the same time thoughtfully into the distance, in line with the quoted verse from Simrock's poem that the battles "often made him fearful and anxious in his soul". There is certainly something melancholy in his gaze, fed by the knowledge of the necessity of forging swords and taking up arms and their deadly use - experiences Albermann had to make during his own war missions. The flowing full beard gives his gaze into the distance an almost prophetic character. In keeping with the craft of the perfectly formed art of blacksmithing, the detailed casting reproduces the respective materials depicted in perfect form: the leather apron convincingly conveys the impression of leather and lies - also in the back view - like a second formed layer over the body, while the shirt and trousers illustrate their own textile qualities. Due to its masterful execution and profound content, the “Blacksmith of Solingen”, which has survived in its cast reproductions, remains Albermann's most famous work to this day. About the artist The son of a carpenter, Wilhelm Albermann began an apprenticeship as a joiner, but then followed his artistic calling and trained as a sculptor in Elberfeld. In 1855, at the age of twenty, he was drafted into the army in Berlin, where he served until 1857. Albermann attended the Berlin Art Academy on the side and began regular studies after his service. While still a student, he completed commissioned works for his teachers August Fischer and Hugo Hagen. His first independent commissions followed, enabling him to establish a flourishing sculpture studio in Cologne in 1865. His artistic activities were repeatedly interrupted by military service, and he took part in the German-Danish War in 1864, the war against Austria in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/71. After his last war service, Albermann, already a respected artist, founded a commercial drawing school at the request of the city government, where he taught the modeling class and served as director until 1896. In 1890 he also worked for the "Society for the Promotion of Sculpture in the Rhineland and Westphalia". Albermann was one of the most prolific sculptors in Cologne in the second half of the 19th century. He created numerous monuments, fountains, tomb sculptures, architectural ornaments, and domestic statues. At its peak, his workshop employed up to thirty sculptors and stonemasons at a time. GERMAN VERSION Wilhelm Albermann (1835 Werden an der Ruhr - 1913 Köln), Der Schmied von Solingen, nach 1895. Bronzefarben patinierter Zinkguss auf gegossener Plinthe, 47 cm (Höhe) x 20 cm (Breite) x 16 cm (Tiefe), Gewicht 5,5 kg. Auf der Plinthe mit „Albermann.“ signiert und als Guss der „AKT.[TIEN] GES.[ELLSCHAFT] GLADENBECK BERLIN“ ausgewiesen. Schauseitige Widmung: „Herrn Ing. F. Kuhlmann zur Vermählung. Direktion und Beamte der Hannoverschen Waggonfabrik. Abt. Flugzeugbau“. - Punktuelles Durchscheinen des Zinks, Patina etwas fleckig, der rechte Oberarm unter dem Ärmel schwarz retuschiert. - Die Zweischneidigkeit des Schwertes - Die Figur ist eine Reduktion von Wilhelm Albermanns 1895 geschaffener Brunnenfigur des Waffenschmieds von Solingen, der seit jeher mit dem historischen Schmied Peter Hahn identifiziert wurde. 1839 hatte Karl Simrock das Gedicht „Der Schmied von Solingen“ verfasst und damit die legendäre Figur geprägt. Die erste und die vorletzte Strophe lauten: Zu Solingen sprach ein Schmied Bei jedem Bajonette, Das seinem Fleiß geriet: »Ach, daß der Fritz es hätte!« Der Krieg ging seinen Gang, Man schlug noch viele Schlachten, Die oft ihm angst und bang' In seiner Seele machten. Der Schmied hatte sein Handwerk ruhen lassen, um selbst für Friedrich den Großen zu kämpfen. Nicht zuletzt durch seine Kraft und seinen Kampfeswillen verliefen die Schlachten siegreich. Dem legendären Schmied verlieht Albermann mit seiner Brunnenskulptur eine bildliche Gestalt und schuf damit zugleich ein Wahrzeichen der Stadt Solingen, die einst für die Kunst des Schwerterschmiedens berühmt war und bis heute für die Herstellung qualitätvoller Messer einsteht. Beim Bombenangriff im November 1944 wurde mit der gesamten Solinger Altstadt auch der Brunnen zerstört. Einzig der Kopf blieb erhalten. Mit sicherem Stand und umgebundener Lederschürze steht der breitschultrige Schmied hinter seinem Amboss und hat gerade mit seiner eigenen ‚Waffe‘ – dem Schmiedehammer – eine Schwertklinge fertiggestellt. Seinem gesamten Körper ist die Kraft abzulesen, mit der er den Hammer führt, aber auch die Anstrengung dieser Tätigkeit, wovon das weit geöffnete Hemd, die etwas ‚unordentlich‘ arrangierte Schürze und vor allem das zerfurchte Gesicht zeugen. Der Schmied schaut aber nicht auf das vollendete Werk, sondern entschlossen und zugleich sinnierend in die Ferne, entsprechend der zitierten Zeile von Simrocks Gedicht, dass die Schlachten „oft ihm angst und bang‘ in seiner Seele machten“. Der Blick hat durchaus etwas Melancholisches, dass sich aus dem Wissen um die Notwendigkeit, Schwerter zu schmieden und zu den Waffen zu greifen und deren tödlichem Einsatz speist – Erfahrungen, die Albermann bei seinen eigenen Kriegseinsätze machen musste. Der wallende Vollbart verleiht dem in die Ferne schauenden Blick einen beinahe prophetischen Charakter. Dem Handwerk der formvollendenden Schmiedekunst entsprechend, gibt der detaillierte Guss die jeweils dargestellten Materialien in vollendeter Ausformung wieder: Die Lederschürze vermittelt überzeugend den Eindruck des Leders und liegt – auch in der Rückenansicht – wie eine zweite ausgeformte Schicht über dem Körper, während das Hemd und die Hose...

This Mercury by Montagne has lovely patina and surface and is a pleasingly different depiction of Winged speed as he is seated! It is an arresting pose and elegant and covers all fa...

Carved profile bust of Leonardo Da Vinci. Mounted on velvet covered wood plaque. 19th century.

French sculpture from the late 19th century. Work finely sculpted in alabaster depicting a young gleaner, a girl with a scythe and ears of wheat of excellent quality. Sculpture finis...

Italian grand tour portrait bust of a roman legionnaire . Carved variegated sienna marble mounted on white marble plaque. Early 19th century.

August Kiss (1802 Paprotzan - 1865 Berlin), Fighting Amazon, around 1880, bronzed zinc cast on a naturalistic plinth, 41 cm (height), 45 cm (length), 30 cm (depth), weight 8.6 kg. - Tail newly fixed, spearhead somewhat bent, isolated rubbed areas where the zinc shimmers through. Overall in excellent condition for its age. - In the name of freedom - Without having received a commission for it, August Kiss began modeling the artistic idea for his masterpiece in clay in 1837. By 1839 he had found the final form, the presentation of which aroused such enthusiasm that an appeal for funds, supported by Frederick William IV, provided the means to have the sculpture cast in a monumental form by Christoph Heinrich Fischer in 1842 and placed prominently on the left side of the staircase of the Altes Museum in 1843. Shortly before, Kiss had executed the group in marble for King Ludwig I of Bavaria. In 1865, he created another version in marble, which is now in the Antwerp Art Museum. A full-size electroformed cast, made by the Geiss foundry in Berlin in 1851, won the Grand Prize at the London World's Fair that year and was exhibited at the Crystal Palace in New York in 1853, making August Kiss an internationally sought-after artist. The bare-breasted Amazon is attacked by a mighty panther, which bites into the horse's neck and inflicts deep wounds with its claws. The predator is possessed by the hunting instinct, while the horse, its eyes wide with terror, tries to rear up to shake off the aggressor, to which it would have succumbed completely if the Amazon had not fearlessly fought off the attacker with her spear. Even gripped by the fury of an uncontainable determination, she strikes a powerful death blow with her hair flowing and defeats the beast. The entire group of sculptures proclaims the physical and physical forces at work. The panther's tail is curled up with energy, while the horse's tail is erect. Even the Amazon's big toe is splayed out, testifying to her almost superhuman tension. From every angle, the sculpture reveals a different aspect of the battle for life and death, with a level of detail and precision that makes the large-scale zinc casting before our eyes a technical masterpiece. The Fighting Amazon is a transposition of St. George fighting the dragon into the iconography of antiquity. The fact that St. George fighting on horseback was also an important theme for Kiss is illustrated by his monumental St. George, created in 1855 for the castle courtyard, which today stands in the Nikolai quarter. The transfer to ancient iconography makes the Christian metaphysical of good against evil much more political. Accordingly, the Amazon wears a Phrygian cap, which has become a universal symbol of freedom since the French Revolution, on the assumption that it was the headgear of freed slaves. The attack of the black panther, which - in contrast to the lion or tiger - stands for the dark forces, is therefore also an attack on the liberal Prussian state, in which the palace as the monarch's residence and the museum as a civic temple form a synthesis. Kiss's work was therefore financed by a fund-raising campaign by the citizens of Berlin, supported by Frederick William IV. With its expressiveness overcoming the dignity of Christian Daniel Rauch's classicism, The Fighting Amazon had such a stylistic impact that Albert Wolff's Lion Fighter on Horseback was erected on the opposite side of the staircase in 1861-also made possible by donations from citizens. The sculptural pair was copied in bronze in 1929 for the staircase of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where it also flanks the entrance to the museum. About the artist August Kiss, the son of an ironworks inspector, was familiar with the art of metal casting from the very beginning. After an apprenticeship at the ironworks in Paprotzan and at the model workshop of the Royal Iron Foundry in Gliwice, he worked from 1822 at the Royal Iron Foundry in Berlin, which met the increasing demand for artistic iron casting that arose with the Napoleonic Wars. Even the finest jewelry was made of iron, whose black patina gave the metal an elegant appearance Parallel to his work for the foundry, Kiss studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and, from 1825, became a student and then a collaborator of the most important bronze sculptor of his time and co-founder of the Berlin School of Sculpture, Christian Daniel Rauch, whose major work was the monumental equestrian statue of Frederick the Great erected on Unter den Linden in 1851. He also worked for Christian Friedrich Tieck, another protagonist of the Berlin School. Kiss played...

Equestrian Joan of Arc by Emmanuel FREMIET (1824-1910) This version with dual patina is much scarcer on the art market. A very fine bronze equestrian group with a dual nuanced dark ...

French alabaster Napoleon III sculpture depicting a woman with flowers. The female figure is presented in a very light dress with both hands supporting cascades of flowers. With he...

L'édition autorisée de cette sculpture comprend 29 bronzes. Ces bronzes sont estampillés individuellement de la lettre A à la lettre T (20 bronzes) ainsi que 9 estampillés en chiffre...

L'édition autorisée de cette sculpture comprend 29 bronzes. Ces bronzes sont estampillés individuellement de la lettre A à la lettre T (20 bronzes) ainsi que 9 estampillés en chiffre...

French, 1899 SALUT AU SOLEIL, art medal, in bronze by Georges Dupré, in fine condition, (Dark oxidation spot to right of larger figure, slight surface vertical scratch verso); edge ...

Large French Neoclassical sculpture of Androcles and the Lion. Exceptional quality casting and patina. Mid 19th century. The runaway slave ...

Adolphe Jean Lavergne (1863-1928), Pecheur, c. 1900. Brown patinated bronze with rectangular cast plinth on a green marble base (3 cm high), total height with hinge 37 cm, width 9 cm, depth 8 cm, weight 2.9 kg, signed “Lavergne” on the plinth. - Base with old drilling and a few oxidized areas, patina occasionally rubbed, somewhat stained in the folds. - Full of anticipation - This bronze is the larger, highly detailed version of the fisherman that made Parisian artist Adolphe Jean Lavergne famous. In preparation for fishing, the boy prepares his rod before heading out to sea. The attachment of the iron ring and the rope behind him suggest a quay wall and a boat moored there. However, the depiction is entirely focused on the actual action of the young fisherman: With equal skill and concentration, he bends a hook to connect it to the fishing line. The contrast with his casual clothing, the loose-fitting trousers, the open shirt with its "wild" folds, and, last but not least, the sun hat boldly perched on his neck, reinforces the impression of the attentive care with which he goes about his work. His gaze makes him appear absorbed, as if he has forgotten the world around him and yet he is visibly filled with anticipation of fishing. GERMAN VERSION Adolphe Jean Lavergne (1863-1928), Pecheur, um 1890. Braun patinierte Bronze mit rechteckiger gegossener Plinthe auf grünem Marmorsockel (3 cm Höhe), Gesamthöhe mit Angel 37 cm, Breite 9 cm, Tiefe 8 cm, Gewicht 2,9 kg, auf der Plinthe mit „Lavergne“ signiert. - Sockel mit alter Bohrung und wenigen oxidierten Stellen, Patina mitunter berieben, in den Falten vereinzelt etwas fleckig. - Voller Vorfreude - Die Bronzefigur ist die größere äußerst detaillierte Ausführung des Fischers, mit dem der Pariser Künstler Adolphe Jean Lavergne bekannt geworden ist. In Vorbereitung auf das Fischen präpariert der Junge die Angel...

Paul Dubois (1829 Nogent-sur-Seine - 1905 Paris), Florentine singer, 1865. Light brown patinated bronze with cast round plinth mounted on a square marble base (3.5 cm high). Total height 53 cm. Bronze dimensions: 49.5 cm (height) x 20 cm (length) x 10 cm (width), weight 5.6 kg. Inscribed on the plinth "P.[aul] DUBOIS", dated "1865", with the foundry's mark "F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR" and the signet "REDUCTION MECANIQUE A. COLLAS". - Patina very occasionally darkened, lute with loss of one tuning peg, otherwise in excellent condition. - The renaissance of the Renaissance - The bronze is a precisely executed and masterfully cast contemporary reduction of Paul Dubois 155 cm tall masterpiece "Florentine Singer", which is exhibited in the Musée d'Orsay and for which the artist was awarded the Medal of Honor at the Paris Salon in 1865. The work acted as a beacon, and was followed by a plethora of depictions of juveniles. Inspired by Donatello and Luca della Robbia, but also by painters such as Piero della Francesca, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Pinturicchio, the "Florentine Singer" is not an epigonal work that pays homage to a vanished era, but a successful attempt to draw vitality from the art of the past and thus give it new life. The effect of vitality is the core of Italian Renaissance art theory. In order to fulfill itself as art, art had to appear like nature. This naturalism also characterizes the "Florentine Singer". The young man appears to have been taken from life, which is reinforced by the momentary nature of his action. He has just struck a now fading chord. In addition, the natural appearance is enhanced by the detailed shaping of the figurative details, such as the laces with the slightly curved leather of the shoes, the belt buckle, or the ornamentation on the body of the lute. Even the fingernails are clearly defined. Unlike the Renaissance, however, the effect of liveliness here is not based on the "discovery" of nature and the human body, but primarily on the rediscovery of the art of the Quattrocento. The liveliness of the artwork is therefore at the same time a revitalization of this art, so that we can speak of a Renaissance of the Renaissance, just as the Pre-Raphaelites in England at the same time transferred the Quattrocento to contemporary art. Dubois takes on the most difficult of all subjects, the depiction of singing through silent sculpture. He was preceded in this by Luca della Robbia and Donatello with their pulpits of singers created in the 1430s in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence. Compared to these works, the physiognomy of Dubois singer is far less animated, yet he also depicts singing in a convincing manner. He uses the whole body. He takes the ancient contrapposto, which was essential to Renaissance sculpture, and transforms the standing leg-playing posture into a late medieval S-swing, giving the body an elegant beauty and at the same time setting it in melodic motion. In the equally elegant finger position, the music is expressed in a much more literal way with the beating of the lute. Finally, the musicality of the sculpture culminates in the face with the mouth open to sing. Through the act of singing, which is a great challenge to the artistic will to depict perfect beauty, the gracefulness of the classical face is not diminished, but enhanced. Starting from the face with the singing mouth and the gaze absorbed by the sounds, the inner vitality spreads, giving the bronze sculpture an intense aura, enhanced by the music. Dubois transfers the beauty of the Renaissance to the musical, sublimating the visible sculpture to the invisible of music. He took up the challenge of transcending the Renaissance with the Renaissance, thus responding to the Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes, which arose at the end of the 17th century around the French Academy and remained virulent into the 19th century, in which antiquity was regarded either as an unattainable ideal or as a standard to be surpassed. With his work, Dubois proved that the Renaissance, which had championed the art of the ancients, could lead to a new renaissance of art. About the artist Paul Dubois' great-uncle was the famous French Baroque sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, in whose footsteps the talented great-nephew followed. When he debuted at the Paris Salon in 1858, he signed his work "Dubois-Pigalle". At his father's request, however, he first studied law before devoting himself to sculpture under the tutelage of François Christophe Armand Toussaint in 1856 and entering the École des Beaux-Arts in 1858. From 1859 to 1863, he lived in Rome and traveled to Naples and Florence. Inspired by Florentine art of the quattrocento, Dubois initiated a school-forming neo-Florentine style that combined the elegantly simple forms of youthful grace with a precise wealth of detail.Two purchases by the French state (“envois de Rome”) were made during his stay in Rome, which brought him recognition in Paris. After his return there, he quickly became an internationally sought-after artist. Dubois was also active as a creator of monuments. His most famous work is the equestrian statue of Joan of Arc (1896) on the forecourt of Reims Cathedral. He was also a sought-after portraitist who produced around 50 busts and - Dubois was also a passionate painter - around 100 portraits in oil. From 1873 to 1878 he was curator of the Museum du Luxembourg, in 1876 he became a member of the Institut de France and from 1878 to 1905 he was director of the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1865, Dubois was awarded the Paris Salon Medal of Honor for his “Florentine Singer”. In 1867 he became Chevalier, in 1874 Officier, in 1886 Commandeur of the Légion d'honneur, which awarded Dubois the Grande Croix in 1896. Selected Bibliography Stole, Elmar: Paul Dubois. In: Saur. Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, vol. 30, Munich - Leipzig 2001, pp. 677-678. GERMAN VERSION Paul Dubois (1829 Nogent-sur-Seine - 1905 Paris), Florentinischer Sänger, 1865. Hellbraun patinierte Bronze mit gegossener runder Plinthe auf quadratischem Marmorsockel montiert (3,5 cm Höhe). Gesamthöhe 53 cm. Maße der Bronze: 49,5 cm (Höhe) x 20 cm (Länge) x 10 cm (Breite), Gewicht 5,6 kg. Auf der Plinthe mit „P.[aul] DUBOIS“ bezeichnet, auf „1865“ datiert, mit dem Gießereistempel „F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR“ und dem Signet „REDUCTION MECANIQUE A. COLLAS“ versehen. - Patina sehr vereinzelt nachgedunkelt, Laute mit Verlust eines Stimmwirbels, ansonsten ausgezeichnet erhalten. - Die Renaissance...

Bust of a woman by Pilade Olivari (19th-20th c.) Bust in white Carrara marble Signed on the side of the left shoulder "Pilade O." Dated "1888" Italy height 66 cm width 32 cm depth ...

Fritz Heinemann (1864 Altena - 1932 Berlin), Young Roman, 1892. Brownish patinated bronze on a cast round plinth, mounted on a red marble base (8.5 cm high), total height 36 cm, dime...

Jef (Joseph Marie Thomas) Lambeaux (1852 Antwerp - 1908 Brussels), Weeping boy with laughing mask, around 1890. Alabaster on a round base (8 cm high), total height 37 cm, width 22 cm, depth 18 cm, weight 9 kg. With incised signature “JeF.LAMBEAUX” on the reverse. - Slightly dented in places, the cord of the cap with a small loss in one place, otherwise in very good condition. - The tragicomedy - During the Baroque era, artists such as Peter Paul Rubens and Gian Lorenzo Bernini explored human passions. The emotions depicted also included humor, which could easily erupt into uproarious laughter. In his work, Jef Lambeaux takes these Baroque pictorial forces and transposes them into his own time. The boy's crying has intensified to the point of screaming. Tears roll from his eyes and trickle down his cheeks, his mouth is open, and his entire face, especially his forehead, is contorted with emotion. As Gotthold Ephraim Lessing points out in his essay "Laokoon or on the Limits of Painting and Poetry" (1766), it is absolutely impossible to make an emotion the main subject of representation, because the extraordinary emotional state fades away in reality, while it remains permanently present in the painting, which has a highly unpleasant effect on the viewer. And yet Lambeaux succeeds in this balancing act. He masterfully models the expression of pain from the child's physiognomy, while at the same time giving the boy a putto-like quality that removes him from reality. In the Baroque period, putti were used to illustrate emotions and the senses. Lambeaux draws on this, giving the boy an allegorical dimension. However, the bust does not only illustrate grief heightened to pain; beneath the childlike putto is a laughing mask with an oversized nose. It seems to be laughing at the top of its lungs and represents the physiognomic counterpart to the boy's face. As a mask, it refers to theater and comedy, and thus to life itself, as the master of realism, Honoré de Balzac, called his monumental 137-volume work "The Human Comedy". Taken together, the laughing mask and the crying boy represent the tragicomedy of humanity, with the mask seeming to laugh maliciously at the boy's real pain, as if it knows that crying does not change the tragedy. About the artist Jef Lambeaux entered the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts at the age of ten. He initially studied under Nicaise de Keyser...

MORTAR WITH FLORAL DECORATIONS AFTER THE ANTIQUE, Northern Italy, 19th Century 'Pietra d'Istria' stone 25 x 36 x 36 cm 9 3/4 x 14 1/4 x 14 1/4 in

Equestrian Louis of Orleans by Emmanuel FREMIET (1824-1910) A very fine bronze equestrian group with an gilded patina signed "E. Fremiet" on the base cast by "F. Barbedienne Fondeu...

Benzoni is one of the great Italians who was celebrated for marble carving in the 19th century. His work is in major museums throughout the world and has a work on the floor at the ...

Pair of rare , 19' century finely carved mythological subjects in limestone of Goddness and Putto figures. Very good original condition from a Venetian palace lush garden . Mea...

This fabulous figural bronze statue of Psyche by the Barbedienne Foundry is simply exquisite. Remnants of a lovely green oxidation, nestled within the corners, curves and crevices of...

Equestrian Joan of Arc by Emmanuel FREMIET (1824-1910) A very fine bronze equestrian group with an "old gold" patina signed "E. Fremiet" on the base cast by "F. Barbedienne Fondeur...

a very interesting sculpture, a studio of the Belvedere Torso made in french in the 19th Century. Standing on a double order circular wood base, the sculpture present an harmonic and...

A portrait of a Silenus, ( also know as satyr) carved in white marble probably in central Italy in the 19th Century. The head despite a man with long hears in equine style with also ...

A very interesting Italian white marble statuary sculpture of Saint Jospeh with Jesus Christ as child, Italian school of the 19th Century. Saint Joseph portrayed in full, with the li...

The Sculpture Torso with well highlighted muscles would seem in line with the figures of the athletes, It is a naked figure who rests his weight on his left leg with a slight inclina...

Wonderful historic boultos by New Mexico artist Jose Aragon (1796-1850) Titled: “Jesus de Nazarino.” Painted wood, gesso and polychrome. Measures: 20 3/4"h x 9 ½”w x 5"d. In wonde...

An important and impressive sculpture portrait of Giulia Domna after the bust at the Vatican Museum, carved in a rare and specimen marble named Marmor Taenarium, an ornamental stone used by Roman and characterized by a bright red background, with tones varying from pink to purple, sometimes associated in the same find. There are often black veins a few millimeters wide and with a sub-parallel trend, or greyish-white spots of millimeter to centimeter size, or more rarely greyish-white stripes a few centimeters wide and sub-parallel. Julia Domna was Roman empress from 193 to 211 as the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. She was the first empress of the Severan dynasty. Domna was born in Emesa (present-day Homs) in Roman Syria to an Arab family[2] of priests of the deity Elagabalus. In 187, she married Severus, who at the time was governor of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. They had two sons, Caracalla and Geta. A civil war over the Roman throne...

The skull carved in specimen and rare Rosso antico marble, is an important example of work of Vanitas artwork that become very common in the XVII century. The concept express the tra...

Spaniel n°1 (second version) by Antoine-Louis Barye (1796-1875) Bronze sculpture with a nuanced dark brown patina signed "Barye" on the base old edition cast – probably from the Bar...

The sculpture carved in Polychrome Marbles depicts a very interesting portrait of Scipio Africanus; the head carved in statuary marble stand on the marble bust carved in an ancient M...

A Rare Terracotta Bust of George Washington by Delaplanche C. 1850 Presenting a rare and historically significant terracotta bust of George Washington, expertly crafted by the renow...

A Monumental Museum Quality Pair of French 19th Century Figural Gilt and Patinated Bronze Rosso Granite Marble Flambeaux Urns, each depicting a pair of standing allegorical and whims...

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...

A late 19th century bronze of a hound, seated on a naturalistic base, after Prince Paul Troubetzkoy. Incised to base 'Paolo Troubetzkoy 1893', with a dark brown patina. Born in 1866...

Alain LOVATO (born in 1943) Preparatory sculpture for the monumental “Signal oblique” project (Lyon, Parc de la Cerisaie), circa 1980 White, red and ochre lacquered polychrome steel ...

This is a fine Italian white marble statue from the 19th century, depicting a young boy holding a bird's nest. The sculpture is hand crafted, capturing the innocence and natural char...

A charming allegory for Dawn Date: 19th Century  Origin: Italian Material: Carrara Marble  Signed F. Vichi , Firenze. Dimensions: 41" H x 10" Diameter  A spellbinding female figural...

Statuary white marble sculpture French Napoleon III belonging to the second half of the 19th century. The female figure is presented in a plastic attitude dressed in very light clot...

Capturing a climactic moment from Shakespeare’s famed tragedy, this exquisite marble sculpture was created by acclaimed Italian sculptor Fausto Biggi in t...

Antique French Napoleon III alabaster sculpture belonging to the second half of the 19th century. The woman in a romantic attitude is depicted sitting on a rock with her hands cross...

Triptych of antique French Napoleon III clock in skillfully chiseled gilt bronze. The clock features a large circular dial with Roman numerals surrounded by festoons senpre in bronz...

Portrait of the Maréchal of France Sylvain Charles Valée Marble Height 69 cm, width 61 cm Signed and dated 1827 on the right shoulder, on the reverse Jacques Augustin Dieudonné, an ...

Rudolf And Stephanie Pair of Miniature Terracotta Sculptues Rare Late 19th Century European terra-cotta sculptures, one signed illegibly in pencil, realistic details. Princess Stéphanie...