Matt Smith Sculptures

Terracotta sculpture - Memento mori. Italy, 18th-19th century. 16 x 25 x h 18 cm. Entirely in terracotta. - This item is sold with a certificate of authenticity with legal validi...

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...

This figurative sculpture titled "Siamese Horse Cat with Foal Kitten" is an original artwork by Debra Broz made of secondhand ceramics and mixed media. The ...

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 ...

Carved and painted wooden sculpture - Pietà - Italy, 18th century. 13 x 7 x h 22.5 cm. Entirely made of carved and polychrome painted wood. Condition report: Good state of conserv...

Based in Chicago, IL, contemporary artist Michael Thompson creates unique kites, collages and mixed media works assembled from material fragments of past and present collected in his travels. In his ongoing series of memory jugs, Thompson adorns stoneware vessels with a kaleidoscope of ceramic shards, found objects, and pocket-sized trinkets he collected over the course of his life. Also known as forget-me-not jugs or spirit jars, memory jugs are African American folk art objects that honor a loved one who has recently passed. Small tokens and mementos of the deceased are gathered and affixed to the exterior of a jug or vase, an abundance of memories that celebrates a life lived to the fullest. Michael Thompson applies this tradition to his own practice, creating tactile assemblages of this and that. Formed in the manner of collage, each jug honors the lost memories of generations past and his own memories of personally discovering each item. With varied sources for materials including Kyoto, Turkey, and Mexico, a great number of the found shards are 18th and 19th century ceramics...

St. Barbara Church Baernbach by Friedensreich Hundertwasser Ceramic miniature in the scale 1:140 size 12 x 9 x 12 cm Each ceramic object is individually handmade, hand-painted and b...

Pair of scagliola sculptures - Roman figures. Italy, 19th century. 51 x 26 x h 118 cm (left) - 41 x 28 x h 118 cm (right). Entirely in scagliola. Condition report: In good general...

The material of choice for Neil Tetkowski's abstract sculptural work comes directly from the Earth. Most often he uses clay, which he believes is the perfect medium to express his re...

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...

Bio: Ceramicist Lauren Nauman graduated from the Royal College of Art with a Masters in Ceramics & Glass. The traditional technique of slip casting is c...

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...