Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Decorative Objects

Carrara marble sculpture by Antonio Frilli, Firenze, circa 1890.

From the 1912 Vanderbilt Hotel in New York City, Manhattan, located on Park Ave. In the 20th century, the hotel business declined, and the Vanderbilt Hotel suffered foreclosure in 1935 during the Great Depression. In 1966, an investment group purchased the 54-year old structure with intentions of renovating it into a dual function office and apartment building. The top 18 floors would become studio and one-bedroom apartments while the lower floors would be offices and commercial space. “New aluminum-and-glass curtain walls are being erected to sheath the office floors, while the masonry façade of the hotel will be retained on the upper stories,” said one article. But that was just the beginning of the brutality. Penthouse apartments were being constructed on the roof, but the view was obstructed by the terracotta parapet and its massive sculptures. In June 1966 eighteen of the heads were removed, resulting in a gash in the roofline. “The heavy pieces were removed over a period of several days by a 10-man crew of the Drachman Demolition Company,” said The New York Times, “which used jack...

Bronze “Dachshund” dog sculpture with brown patina and marble base, made by Oskar Pflug (1858 - 1937). Signed O PFLUG. Fec Germany, CIRCA 1910.

This is a Girl with Wheat bronze sculpture by Hippolyte F. Moreau. He is famous for his bronze statues of young women. He is also the son of another renown French sculptor named Jean Baptiste Moreau. It depicts a young lady with long curly hair who is dressed with a see-through robe. She is holding a basket of wheat with one arm and some branches of them with the other one. She appears to be in the countryside and is observing a pair of doves that are on the ground. The bronze sculpture is standing over two...

'Hibou' is a rosewood sculpture by François Galoyer of an owl. The tittle Hibou is French for owl. The sculpture captures the animals realistic appearance with some animated features...

Sculpture created by the renowned Austrian sculptor Carl Kauba in the early 1900s, depicting a female figure in bronze with articulated arms that can delicately reveal or conceal her...

A monumental bronze lady sculpture. A fine monumental of 19th century Spanish lady sculpture with mahogany base. Attributed to "Fundicion Barbediene" lost wax.

Huge Female bronze nude by John DeStefano. Signed lower left. Gorgeous detail to this beautiful bust including life-like size and a realist design . Incredible detail in her flowing...

An unusual porcelain figurine displaying a putto being deloused by a monkey. This figurine was created by the German designer Ferdinand Liebermann in 1910 and manufactured Rosenthal ...

Patinated Bronze Sculpture "Le Torrent" by Jean-Baptiste Germain Patinated bronze sculpture titled "Le Torrent" by French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Germain (1841-1910). The piece depict...

Leda and the Swan Bronze sculpture by Ferd Otratovsky. Signed and dated "FERD. OTRADOVSKY 1926" within the cast on the base. Black patinated bronze, mounte...

Sculpture "Dying Galata" by the author Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1899), made of bronze, patinated in green with a Belgian black marble base. Made by the Barbedienne foundation (183...