Gilt Fountains

A Spanish abstract sculptural planter or fountain from the mid 20th century. This vintage garden art piece from Spain has been created of cast-stone and features a large, playful open-shaped center design which supports the rounded basin...

This colourful porcelain table fountain, fashioned in the German Meissen style, was crafted in the 19th Century by the French porcelain company Samson et Cie. The table fountain co...

A Whimsical English 19th-20th century white marble figural fountain with dogs fountain. The Baroque Revival six-sided tripod marble base surmounted with three upright seated Yorkshire Terriers resting on a leaf and acanthus center stem, topped with a semi-circular scalloped carved basin...

A very fine and exceptionally carved Italian 19th-20th century Baroque Revival style whimsical white Carrara marble wishing wellhead, raised on an octagonal two-step marble base. The intricately carved marble relief circular wellhead depicting carved figures of dancing and cheerful children (Putti) among vines, flowers and fruits, dancing and playing musical instruments with a backdrop of castles, landscapes, forests and wreaths, Florence, circa, 1900. Literature: A similar wellhead was sold by Jan's & Co. Fine French Antiques, Inc. in 1999, provenance the Atkinson/Kirkeby Estate and it is illustrated in "The Estates of Beverly Hills" by Charles Lockwood and Jeff-Hyland, page 150. Another similar is currently on display at the gardens of "The Elms" mansion a public museum part of the Newport Mansions by The Preservation Society of Newport County in Newport, Rhode Island. Yet another similar wellhead carved with frolicking putti with musical instruments and a dentil molded rim is located at Cranbrook House, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and is illustrated in B. Israel, Antique Garden Ornament...

A very good quality Italian porcelain illuminated water fountain or bird bath comes in a scale that is perfect for any interior or exterior space. The lovely handcrafted porcelain is...

19th century French marble and bronze fountain. Seated satyr on marble column with marble shell basin. Later cast stone plinth. Wonderful garden ele...

The seamed body of bellied form encircled by two bands of raised mouldings, rising to a flaring rim and retaining its original swing handle, the underside showing casting / foundry m...

A very fine Italian 19th century carved Carrara marble figural fountain "Jardinière" modelled as a standing Putto and a Satyr supporting a sea-sh...

Pair of 19th Century Hand-Painted Continental Vases, Four Original Paintings on Each Side

Sea monster Carrara marble mouth fountain Italy, late 16th century It measures 13.8 x 31.5 x 18.9 in (35 x 80 x 48 cm) State of conservation: some small evident gaps and widespread signs of wear due to outdoor exposure. The gray marks crossing it do not come from restoration, but are rather the natural veins of the marble. This work has some morphological characteristics typically associated with the iconography of the sea monster: an elongated muzzle, sharp teeth, protruding eyes, elongated ears, and a coiled serpent's tail. An in-depth series of studies on artistic depictions of the sea monster attempted to verify how this symbol evolved in antiquity in the European and Mediterranean contexts and how it gradually changed its image and function over time. The iconography itself is mutable and imaginative and its history is rich with cultural and artistic exchange, as well as the overlapping of ideas. This occurred so much that it is difficult to accurately pinpoint the "types" that satisfactorily represent its various developments. However, we can try to summarize the main figures, starting from the biblical Leviathan and the marine creature that swallowed Jonah (in the Christian version, this figure was to become a whale or a "big fish", the “ketos mega”, translation of the Hebrew “dag gadol”). Other specimens ranged from the dragons mentioned in the Iliad (which were winged and had legs) to "ketos” (also from Greek mythology), the terrifying being from whose Latinized name (“cetus”) derives the word "cetacean". See J. Boardman, “Very Like a Whale” - Classical Sea Monsters, in Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, in Papers presented in Honor of Edith Porada, Mainz am Rhein 1987, pp. 73-84). In Italy the monster underwent yet further variations: it can be found in Etruscan art on the front of some sarcophagi representing the companion of souls, while among the Romans we find the “Pistrice” (cited by Plinio in Naturalis Historia PLIN., Nat., II 9, 8 and by Virgilio in Eneide: VERG., Aen., III, 427), which appeared in the shape of a stylized hippocampus or a very large monstrous cetacean and evolved into a hideous being with a dragon's head and long webbed fins. During the Middle Ages, the sea monster was the object of new transformations: at this time, it is often winged, the head is stretched like a crocodile, the front legs are often very sharp fins - sometimes real paws - until the image merges with dragons, the typical figures of medieval visionary spirituality widely found throughout Europe (on this topic and much more, see: Baltrušaitis, J., Il Medioevo fantastico. Antichità ed esotismi nell’arte gotica, Gli Adelphi 1997). In Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries, the revival of classicism - representative of the humanistic and Renaissance periods - led to a different reading of these "creatures". Indeed, the sea monster was also to find widespread use as an isolated decorative motif, especially in numerous fountains and sculptures where dolphins or sea monsters were used as a characterizing element linked to water (on this theme see: Chet Van Duzer, Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps, London, The British library, 2013). From the morphological point of view, the "sea monsters" of this period are mostly depicted as hybrid figures, in which the body of a mythological or real being (a hippocampus, a sea snake, a dolphin), is joined to a head with a rather indistinct appearance. It was usually characterized by large upright ears, an elongated snout, sharp teeth and globular, protruding eyes; a complex and indefinite figure, both from the symbolic point of view and from that of its genesis. The work we are examining is placed as a cross between the medieval sea serpent and the Renaissance dolphin, with stylistic features which recall the snake as often used in heraldry (such as the "snake" depicted in the coat of arms of the Visconti - the lords and then dukes of Milan between 1277 and 1447 - and which, for some, may be derived from the representations of the “Pistrice” that swallowed Jonah). In the search for sources, Renaissance cartography and in particular woodcuts should not be neglected. See for example the monsters of Olaus Magnus, from the editions of the “Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus” (“History of the peoples of the north”) and the natural histories of Conrad Gesner, Ulisse...

A Fine and Large French 19th Century Cast-Iron Fountain Figure Modeled as a Nude Maiden Seated on a Rocky Outcrop Holding a Cornucopia in Her Raised Right Hand, by J.J Ducel. Cast-Signed "J.J. DUCEL Me de FORGES, PARIS". Circa: Paris, 1880. A retailer of fine cast-iron ornaments, J. J. Ducel was recorded as supplying cast-iron works through Paris as early as 1810 in the Pas-de-Calais. The factory was sold in 1878 to the Fonderie de la Haute-Marne and all of the firm's models were subsequently bought by the Val d'Osne foundry. However, prior to the firm's sale, critics at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle proclaimed that "Ducel is the great manufacturer of works in cast-iron, to whom Paris is so largely indebted for the grace and elegance that supply so many of the adornments of its streets". Ducel, Val d'Osne and other associated foundries produced both bronze and cast-iron statuary. Cast-iron is corrosive, whereas non-ferrous bronze does not suffer the same detrimental effects of weathering and is therefore a superior and more expensive material. Height: 51 1/2 inches (130.8 cm) Width: 22 inches (55.9 cm) Depth: 30 inches (76.2 cm) The foundry of Val d'Osne became highly regarded for the varied nature and quality of its castings in the second half of the 19th century. Commonly known after 1870 as simply Val D'Osne, the company was originally founded by J.P.V. André in Val d'Osne 1835 and developed rapidly, absorbing smaller foundries in the Haute-Marne area east of Paris. The foundry contributed to the London International Exhibition of 1851, where a bronze fountain cast with classical figures attracted much attention. André also specialised in fancy castings and architectural fittings. His Paris adress was at 14 Rue Neuve, Menilmontant. In 1855 the Barbezat & Cie Foundry was born out of the André workshop. In 1867 Barbezat & Cie changed its name to Houille & Cie. Then, in 1870, it changed its name to Société Anonyme du Val d'Osne. With the change of name came the change of casting mark and adress: Fonderies d'Art du Val d'Osne, 58 Bd Voltaire, Paris or simply Val d'Osne. Cast-iron had been in production during the 18th century but its inferior status to the more fashionable and delicate wrought-iron had generally confined its use to architectural work. By the early 19th century, however, rapid developments of the Industrial Revolution combined with the simultaneous burgeoning of a new middle class provided the impetus for a dramatic expansion in its application and in a short space of time a proliferation of iron foundries across Europe and America thrived on the production of everything from inkstands to railway stations. The use of cast-iron for garden ornament became particularly widespread at this time, as the possibilities for its mass-production at a fraction of the cost of bronze made it the material of choice for indoor/outdoor statuary...

A rare and special late 19th century gilt bronze mounted Sèvres style Napoleon vase with matching pedestal The vase pictured with the Coronation of the Empress Josephine by Napole...