18th Century Polychromed Architectural Niche Façade from Italy

At over four feet wide, this winged angel carving has an impressive span. Hand-carved in walnut in France during the 1600’s, the sculpture depicts the i...

This large and attractive architectural piece is known as a pulpit canopy. Before the advent of microphones and speakers, orators would often address assemblies from elevated platforms known as “wine glass pulpits”. These podiums featured domed roofs called abat-voix, sometimes known as sounding boards, that would project sound outwards. Our walnut wood pulpit canopy is a fine example of such a device. Hand-carved and hand-painted in Italy in the 1700’s, our abat-voix is roughly octagonal in shape. Each of the sides have edges with luxuriously thick step molding, alternating between stained and gilded wood. Each of the corner cornices are adorned with gilded flower carvings, although some are missing. The interior of the canopy features a gilded open sun with sinuous rays emanating all around. Each of the sides are adorned with foliate margents surrounded by scrolls, again with some losses. All the edges are bordered with a thin layer of gilding. Although our fascinating 18th century Italian walnut pulpit canopy was designed for a church pulpit...

A stemma is a written record of a family tree that can be traced back to ancient Rome when they recorded such genealogical information on scrolls. In the Middle Ages, coat of arms be...

This rare fragment was salvaged from an entryway on a building in Fontvieille, near the city ancient Arles, France. There is a worn and carved center cartouche depicting a very small...

18th century Italian hand-carved gold leaf architectural element with a pair of hand-cast plaster angels, a plaster rosette, and a detail plaster cornic...

18th century spanish polychromed tabernacle, niche for the display of Santos. Original finish in somber tones of ochre and siena.

Stunning late 18th-early 19th century Italian painted and parcel carved giltwood architectural over door, architectural element or fragment. A ...

Pair of 17th century Italian carved fruit swag architectural elements. Stunning large pair of 17th century Italian Baroque carved giltwood fruit swag archit...