Witness Bonjesi Art

Szymon Oltarzewski was born in 1977 in Poland. Graduated in Environmental Engineering from the University of Opole, in 2003 he moved to Pietrasanta where he enrolled at the Academy o...

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,...

Head of apostle or Christ in carved limestone. Elongated face with a large forehead and long hair with thick wavy locks on the sides. The almond-shaped eyes are underlined by the hem...

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...

Large crowned queen's head with trace of polychromy in half-bump. The crown features a fleur-de-lis and cabochons. The almond-shaped eyes are framed by well-marked eyelids with incis...

LARGE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MARBLE CAPITAL Florence, 15th/16th Century marble 38 x 47 x 47 cm 15 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in

MARBLE PORTRAIT HEAD OF VENETIAN DOGE, Italy, 18th Century Carrare marble 60 x 46 x 34 cm 23 1/2 x 18 x 13 1/2 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...

Bust of Gothic Virgin. Lorraine 14th century. Important bust of Saint or Virgin of the Annunciation. Life size veiled woman. Full-featured face with almond-shaped eyes and large locks of curly wawy hair...

Large roman carved marble fountain head representing a lion Rome, I-II Century AC Bonham's London, 22 September 1998, lot 485; formerly in the pr...

Relief with saint Georges France, 15th Century limestone 26 x 20 cm (10 1/4 x 7 3/4 in) without base

Woman With Bowl Francisco Franklin Sculpture carved in Arizona Alabaster 1987 Hand signed "Francisco" 9.25 inches H. X 7 inches W. x 4.13 inches D. This wonderful stone sculpture perfectly captures the naive style represented by the body of the artist's work. This piece is in excellent original condition. Frank Francisco Franklin is an American artist whose roots are strongly linked with those of the Mexican people...