17th Century Italian Vase with a Hystrivasum Shell on an Antique Metal Stand

17th century Italian vase with a chesapecten shell, crystal point, and fossil shells on a petrified wood base. This fragment is from a church in Florence. It was found and saved fro...

17th century Italian vase with a chesapecten shell & gold-plated crystal points. This fragment is from a church in Florence. It was found and saved from the historic flooding of t...

17th century Italian vase with a fossil coral head on a rock coral floret base. This fragment is from a church in Florence. It was found and saved from t...

17th century Italian vase with a calcite crystal cluster in matrix with sphalerite. This fragment is from a church in Florence. It was found and saved from the historic flooding of the Arno River in 1966. The calcite crystal cluster with sphalerite is from Elmwood Mine in Tennessee. It is an example of the world’s finest crystallized calcite. With the unusual formation of sphalerite, it is unequaled by those from any other part of the world (featured in American Mineral Treasures, pg. 337). These minerals are formed from the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate and zinc. The minerals are essentially deposited on the walls, floors, and ceiling of the geological caverns of the zinc mine. It is known for producing some of the most superb various examples of calcite, fluorite, and sphalerite with exceptionally large and sharp calcite clusters. The piece has been naturally distressed from the flood. It has been preserved and transformed by Jean O'Reilly Barlow, the creative director of Interi. The date of manufacture reflects when she created the piece and the period shows that the Italian fragment is originally 17th century. The story and history of this piece and Interi's collection of Florence fragments...

17th century Italian candlestick base decorated with a selenite blade cluster, fossil shells. This fragment is from a church in Florence. It was found and saved from the notorious fl...

18th century Italian "Florence fragment" with a fossil coral head on a rock coral base with miniature fossil shells. This fragment is from a church in Florence. It was found and sav...

A early 17th century French Gargoyle. Gargoyels were originally intented as waterspouts for churches and castles but soon were used as ornamentation. A...

Pair ofSeventeenth Century French carved putti on stands. Charming and beautifully detailed. Found in Provence. 13.25” h. x 8” w x 2” d. The stand base: 8 5/8 x 4 ¾

Cerberus Black painted stone Italy, 17th century Measures: 80 x 69 x 36cm (one head missing) Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange, Through his wide threefold throat barks as a dog Over the multitude immers'd beneath. His eyes glare crimson, black his unctuous beard, His belly large, and claw'd the hands, with which He tears the spirits, flays them, and their limbs Piecemeal disparts (Dante, Inferno, Canto VI). Cerberus figure seated, in his role of ferocious guardian of the underworld; he shows a nervous musculature, an adherent skin which reveals the ribs, long and robust limbs; his heads are broad and the eyes set well apart. Painted in black to amplify his menacing look, the infernal guardian is depicted with his famous attributes, writhing his heads, growling and barking furiously. Cerberus, in Greek mythology, was the monstrous watchdog of the underworld – also known as the “hound of Hades” – preventing the dead from leaving, and making sure that those who entered never left. A child of Typhon and Echidna, he was part of a monstrous family, which included Orthus, the Lernaean Hydra, and the Chimaera as well. Only on three occasions Cerberus was tricked by visitors of Hades: Heracles did it with his strength, Orpheus with his music. In "The Inferno", Dante places Cerberus as the guardian of the third circle of Hell. With his three mouths, Dante saw Cerberus as a beast that was synonymous with the sin of Gluttony. Virgil gets past the monster by throwing mud in his three mouths, temporarily choking him. Very rare are the representations of Cerberus in ancient statuary...

17th century wooden columns Beautiful 17th century columns carved in wood with a geometric drawing of 65 cm tall.

A stunning architectural element of a 17th century Putto - Angel from the Veneto region of, Italy. Beautifully carved from wood with an outstanding polychromed finish.

ITALIAN PROCESSIONAL CROSS 17th Century in cut brass and bronze. Mounted on a wooden back base. Usage signs. Dec. Height: (total) 50 cm; (Ch...