Figurative Sculptures

A late 17th-century Spanish wood sculpture of a penitent Saint Jerome, possibly Seville, circa 1680.

18th Century Meissen Porcelain Figurines, Pair of Lovers. Model 571. Sitting lovers, designed by Johann Joachim Kaendler, above a base covered with plastic flowers and leaves, shep...

A large and powerful portrait mask depicting an important Olmec ruler, with a broad face, furrowed brow, rectangular ear flanges, full lips, and a large nose, carved from a variegate...

The very expressive Virgin, in a strictly upright posture, carries the child Jesus on her (damaged) left arm. In her right hand, she holds the shaft of a scepter. She looks at the ob...

A terracotta bust "Ecce Homo" Florence, 15th century 53 x 44 x 31 cm

This standing effigy was crafted in 500 A.D. - 1000 A.D. Mesoamerica using the gray clay paste that characterizes La Tolita-Tumaco ceramics of early Colombia-Ecuador. The art of La Tolita-Tumaco civilization is considered one of the most developed of the pre-Columbian period as metalwork and ceramics were the most popular form of cultural expression. The ceramic creations of this culture were often based on the human figure to create portraits of people and realistic daily scenes of life cycles and the human condition. This figure appears to be wearing a loincloth and is adorned with a beaded necklace and an elaborate coiffure or headdress. There are holes lining each ear indicating the potential use of ear spools...

Callipygian Venus 19th Century Italian (Naples or Rome) White marble After the Antique: Naples Archaeological Museum (IT) Roman version of a Hellenistic 3rd Century B.C. model Height: 62 cm Width: 22 cm H 24 1/2 x W 8 2/3 inch The Callipygian Venus, also known as the Aphrodite Kallipygos or the Callipygian Venus, all literally meaning “Venus of the beautiful buttocks”, is an Ancient Roman marble statue...

Handcarved polychrome wooden sculpture with glass eyes, Santos cage doll, capipota, dressing Saint Colonial school, possibly school of Quito Ecuador, ...

A fine quality French mythological terracotta sculpture, after Clodion (Claude Michel Clodion 1738 - 1814), depicting a young female faun/satyr playing with two Bacchante cherubs, on...

In the heart of ancient China, within the resplendent Ming dynasty, a masterpiece was cast in bronze, a testament to a culture steeped in mysticism and spirituality. This Taoist bron...

ABOUT Contact us for more shipping options. Free Bay Area delivery. S16 Home San Francisco. Exceptional large Memento Mori sculpture in polychrome depicting a half flayed Monk. German 17th century. The sculpture presents half of the skeletal face, hand and foot. Shown with life size model...

A Pair of Late 15th or Early 16th Century Oak Saints carved in high relief and raised on polygonal bases. The female depicted standing in contrapose with low...

Pair of mid-1600s Italian Sculptures, lacquered and gilded carved candleholder angels, two cherubs with cornucopia in carved, gilded and polychrome lacquered wood, mid-17th century. ...

A finely modelled pale turquoise glazed Ushabti, Circa 26th Dynasty 664-525BC Provenance: Sotheby’s London Lot 76 14/12/1981 for 725.00 Pounds sterling as part of a group lot.

A chinese porcelain table screen from the Ming period, 16/17th century. Decorated in High Relief With Shoulou on his crane and the Eight Immorta...

Auction. Carved and gilded wood. Spanish school, 17th century. Carved and gilded piece of wood probably coming from a Spanish school altarpiece decorated with deep carvings of archi...

Italian 18th century hand-carved Corpus Christi, in original paint, or in some small areas early paint. Note: Original/early finish on antique a...

A late 19th Century Art Nouveau patinated bronze sculpture of a young boy with instrument. Artist signed Auguste Morea, with the French bronze hallmark on base. 24 inches tall

This is beautiful antique French Art Nouveau alabaster shoulder length bust of a beautiful maiden, Circa 1890 in date. The stylized Art Nouveau face and body has been sensitively modelled in alabaster on a shaped floral base. There is no mistaking its unique design and superb quality, which is certain to attract attention and make it a talking point in any room of your home. Condition: In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 64 x Width 38 x Depth 22 Dimensions in inches: Height 2 feet, 1 inch x Width 1 foot, 3 inches x Depth 9 inches Alabaster - is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite also known as onyx-marble, Egyptian alabaster or Oriental alabaster. In general, but not always, ancient Alabaster...

French marble sculpture, France, end 19th C. Monkey smoking a pipe. Marble and glass. Glass eyes. Measures: height : 9.8"(25cm), width : 6.7"(17cm), depth : 4.4"(11.2cm). Some slight...

Most likely Ming 15th/16th Century, carved chicken bone jade figure of a standing Guanyin (Quanyin) holding a scroll in one hand, prayer beads in the other. Affixed to carved wood ba...

A Bow Porcelain Figure of Winter, c1765 Have named this version of winter "Dave" in tribute to the great and sorely missed observational Irish comedian Dave Allen. Additional information: Date : c1765 Period : George III Marks : None Origin : New Canton factory...

Antica scultura lignea Raffigurazione di Monaco Cinese Antica scultura presepe napoletano lignea Descrizione Antica scultura policroma lignea ...

This stunning Chinese porcelain sculpture of the deity Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, was crafted in China in the 1880s. Featuring intricate details and fine-tuned craftsmanship, thi...

Incredible A.Falguiere large france bronze "Diana" with perfect patina circa 1890 Art Nouveau.

18th century continental eglomise painting of St John the Baptist preaching. Eglomise is a method of reverse painting on glass. In a go...

Pair of Art Nouveau bronze busts of a young woman Mignon and Esmeralda by Emmanuel Villanis. Both with beautiful patina and foundry mark. France 1896. Mignon: E. Villanis, initial...

"Ho Ho boy" Chinese porcelain. Period Kang-Hsi Second half of the 17th century.  

RENAISSANCE COAT OF ARMS in White Carrara Marble Italy 17th Century finely carved with roccaille inside reserve crowned heraldic coat of arms Ital...

Rare antique italan wood sculpture, 18th century. Finely carved wooden work depicting a religious subject, a saint, identifiable with the figure of John the Baptist prophet, of great...

Antique French sculpture from the 18th century. Work of exceptional size in wood and plaster, sculpted, lacquered and gilded depicting a life-size Saint, Saint Francis de Sales, of e...

Exquisite product is a polychromed, hand painted terracotta figure that beautifully depicts Baby Jesus. The attention to detail is evident in the figure's glass eyes, which add a lif...

Rare antique italan wood sculpture, 17th century. Finely carved wooden work depicting a religious subject, a saint, identifiable with the figure of Saint Francis, of great size. The ...

A Bow Porcelain Figure of a Turkish Dancer, c1765 Additional information: Date : c1765 Period : George III Marks : Unmarked. Label for Albert Amo...

Fix-Masseau set up his workshop in Paris where he attracted the admiration of Rodin. The latter was unable to convince him to join his studio. The quality of his sculptures was notic...

A Bow Porcelain Figure of a Female Turkish Dancer, c1765 Additional information: Date : c1765 Period : George III Marks : Unmarked Origin : Bow, ...

Molded of earthenware, this petite sculpture is a type of centuries-old burial figurine known as míngqì. Such model figures were placed in tombs of individuals with high status to en...

Extremely Fine and large Teotihuacan sculpture of a standing Lord wearing a layered tunic, and having strong and beautifully sculpted facial features. Teotihuacan Culture, Teotihuaca...

Wooden sculpture depicting a female figure, 17th century. Dimensions: 14x18x72 cm

A rare and very fine bronze corpus of Christ after a model by Michelangelo, cast ca. 1597-1600 by Juan Bautista Franconio and painted in 1600 by Francisco Pacheco in Seville, Spain. The present corpus reproduces a model attributed to Michelangelo. The best known example, lesser in quality, is one on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). The association of this corpus with Michelangelo was first brought to light by Manuel Gomez-Moreno (1930-33) who studied the wider circulated casts identified throughout Spain. The attribution to Michelangelo was subsequently followed by John Goldsmith-Phillips (1937) of the MET and again by Michelangelo expert, Charles de Tolnay (1960). While Michelangelo is best known for his monumental works, there are four documented crucifixes he made. The best known example is the large-scale wooden crucifix for the Church of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito in Florence, made in 1492 as a gift for the Prior, Giovanni di Lap Bicchiellini, for allowing him to study the anatomy of corpses at the hospital there. In 1562, Michelangelo wrote two letters to his nephew, Lionardo, indicating his intention to carve a wooden crucifix for him. In 1563 a letter between Lionardo and the Italian sculptor Tiberio Calcagni, mentions this same crucifix (a sketch of a corpus on the verso of a sheet depicting Michelangelo’s designs for St. Peter’s Basillica [Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille] may reproduce this). That Michelangelo was working on small corpora in the last years of his life is further evidenced by the small (26.5 cm) unfinished wooden crucifix located at the Casa Buonarroti, considered his last known sculptural undertaking. Michelangelo’s contemporary biographer, Giorgio Vasari additionally cites that Michelangelo, in his later years, made a small crucifix for his friend, Menighella, as a gift. Surviving sketches also indicate Michelangelo’s study of this subject throughout his career, most notably during the end of his life but also during the 1530s-40s as he deepened his spiritual roots. The occasional cameo of crucified Christ’s throughout his sketched oeuvre have made it challenging for scholars to link such sketches to any documented commissions of importance. All the while, in consideration that such objects were made as gifts, it is unlikely they should be linked with commissions. Nonetheless, a number of theories concerning Michelangelo’s sketches of Christ crucified have been proposed and some may regard the origin of the present sculpture. It has been suggested that the corpus could have its impetus with Michelangelo’s work on the Medici Chapel, whose exclusive design was given to the master. It is sensible smaller details, like an altar cross, could have fallen under his responsibility (see for example British Museum, Inv. 1859,0625.552). Others have noted the possibility of an unrealized large marble Crucifixion group which never came to fruition but whose marble blocks had been measured according to a sheet at the Casa Buonarroti. A unique suggestion is that Michelangelo could have made the crucifix for Vittoria Colonna, of whom he was exceedingly fond and with whom he exchanged gifts along with mutual spiritual proclivities. In particular, Vittoria had an interest in the life of St. Bridget, whose vision of Christ closely resembles our sculpture, most notably with Christ’s proper-left leg and foot crossed over his right, an iconography that is incredibly scarce for crucifixes. The suggestion could add sense to Benedetto Varchi’s comment that Michelangelo made a sculpted “nude Christ…he gave to the most divine Marchesa of Pescara (Vittoria Colonna).” Of that same period, two sketches can be visually linked to our sculpture. Tolnay relates it to a sketch of a Crucified Christ at the Teylers Museum (Inv. A034) of which Paul Joannides comments on its quality as suggestive of preparations for a sculptural work. Joannides also calls attention to a related drawing attributed to Raffaello da Montelupo copying what is believed to be a lost sketch by Michelangelo. Its relationship with our sculpture is apparent. Montelupo, a pupil of Michelangelo’s, returned to Rome to serve him in 1541, assisting with the continued work on the tomb of Pope Julius II, suggesting again an origin for the corpus ca. 1540. The earliest firm date that can be given to the present corpus is 1574 where it appears as a rather crudely conceived Crucifixion panel, flanked by two mourners in low-relief and integrally cast for use as the bronze tabernacle door to a ciborium now located at the Church of San Lorenzo in Padula. Etched in wax residue on the back of the door is the date, 27 January 1574, indicating the corpus would have at least been available as a model by late 1573. The Padula tabernacle was completed by Michelangelo’s assistant, Jacopo del Duca and likely has its origins with Michelangelo’s uncompleted tabernacle for the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Rome. The impetus for the Padula tabernacle’s Crucifixion panel begins with a series of late Crucifixion sketches by Michelangelo, depicting a scene of Christ crucified and flanked by two mourners (see British Museum Inv. 1895.0915.510; Ashmolean Museum Inv. 1846.89, KP II 343 recto; Windsor Castle RCIN 912761 recto; and Louvre Inv. 700). A faintly traced block possibly intended for sculpting the sketch of the crucified Christ on its recto was discovered by Tolnay on a version of the composition at Windsor Castle. The Windsor sketch and those related to it appear to have served as preparatory designs for what was probably intended to become the Basilica of St. Mary’s tabernacle door. Vasari documents that the project was to be designed by Michelangelo and cast by his assistant, Jacopo del Duca. Michelangelo died before the commission was complete, though on 15 March 1565, Jacopo writes to Michelangelo’s nephew stating, “I have started making the bronze tabernacle, depending on the model of his that was in Rome, already almost half complete.” Various circumstances interrupted the completion of the tabernacle, though its concept is later revitalized by Jacopo during preparations to sell a tabernacle, after Michelangelo’s designs, to Spain for Madrid’s El Escorial almost a decade later. The El Escorial tabernacle likewise encountered problems and was aborted but Jacopo successfully sold it shortly thereafter to the Carthusians of Padula. An etched date, 30 May 1572, along the base of the Padula tabernacle indicates its framework was already cast by then. A 1573 summary of the tabernacle also describes the original format for the door and relief panels, intended to be square in dimension. However, a last minute decision to heighten them was abruptly made during Jacopo’s negotiations to sell the tabernacle to King Phillip II of Spain. Shortly thereafter the commission was aborted. Philippe Malgouyres notes that the Padula tabernacle’s final state is a mixed product of the original design intended for Spain’s El Escorial, recycling various parts that had already been cast and adding new quickly finished elements for its sale to Padula, explaining its unusually discordant quality, particularly as concerns the crudeness of the door and relief panels which were clearly made later (by January 1574). Apart from his own admission in letters to Spain, it is apparent, however, that Jacopo relied upon his deceased master’s designs while hastily realizing the Padula panels. If Michelangelo had already earlier conceived a crucifix model, and Jacopo had access to that model, its logical he could have hastily employed it for incorporation on the door panel to the tabernacle. It is worth noting some modifications he made to the model, extending Christ’s arms further up in order to fit them into the scale of the panel and further lowering his chin to his chest in order to instill physiognomic congruence. A crude panel of the Deposition also follows after Michelangelo’s late sketches and is likewise known by examples thought to be modifications by Jacopo based upon Michelangelo’s initial sculptural conception (see Malgouyres: La Deposition du Christ de Jacopo del Duca, chef-d’oeuvre posthume de Michel-Ange). Jacopo’s appropriation of an original model by Michelangelo for more than one relief on the Padula tabernacle adds further indication that the crucifix was not an object unique to Jacopo’s hand, as few scholars have posited, but rather belongs to Michelangelo’s original...

18th Century Neapolitan Crib Figure Collection A rare collection of five museum quality late 18th / early 19th Century hand carved Neapolitan crib figures...

Italian Baroque Winged Putto Sculpture 17th Century Lombard School Carved Giltwood and Silvered Angel Figure Winged Putto Lombard Italian Figure from 1600 Angel in Gilded and Silvere...

Deftly carved in what appears to be butternut with remnants of peg joinery, and exhibiting a fine mellow, old patina overall. The reverse showing an old eye screw previously used for...

Life size stucco hand, study.

A Roman marble trapezophorus in the Form of a Barbarian Dacian young figure. Circa 1st-2nd century A.D. Measure: height 24 1/4 inches (62 cm). Property from Mr. Radu Moldovan, Skokie, Illinois Provenance: B.C. Holland Gallery...

18th century wooden Madonna with child (South-Europe). Exceptionally well-preserved, given the age.

Molded of earthenware, this petite sculpture is a type of centuries-old burial figurine known as míngqì. Such model figures were placed in tombs of individuals with high status to en...

Hand carved playing children, original painted white. There is missing a part, a tree of life or something similar (see picture 6).

SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA ORIGIN : SWABIA, ULM REGION PERIOD : ca. 1510-1520 Height : 118 cm Length : 39 cm Depth : 17 cm Limewood...

This cherub figurine was modelled by Louis Carrier-Belleuse (1848-1913) for the Choisy du Roi factory. The cherub is seated cross-legged on a dome, and holds a swag of flowers while ...

A nicely carved Spanish Colonial carved wooden santos of San Miguel, Guatemalan in origin, dating to the 18th century. This wooden sculpture is mo...

CARVED POLYCHROME WOOD DEPICTING SAINT FLORIAN ORIGIN : SWABIA, SOUTHERN GERMANY PERIOD : LATE 15th CENTURY Height : 98 cm Length : 29 cm Depth : 24 cm Polychrome limewood Very fi...

IMPORTANT POLYCHROME LOW-RELIEF DEPICTING CHRIST IN THE MOUNT OF OLIVES ORIGIN: SOUTH GERMANY or ALSACE PERIOD: ca. 1500-1510 Height : 78 cm Length : 57 cm Depth : 8 cm Limewood ...

IMPORTANT WOOD SCULPTURE REPRESENTING SAINT BARBARA ORIGIN : NORTHERN FRANCE OR FLANDERS PERIOD : 16th CENTURY Height: 103 cm Length: 40 cm Depth: 30 cm Oak wood Good condition Saint Barbara was the daughter of Dioscorus who imprisonned her in a tower to prevent her from being corrupted by Christianity. Despite this, she was taught and baptisted by a local priest. According to legend, she proved her faith by carving a third window into the tower, symbolic of the Trinity. Once her father learned this, he threatened her with his sword. She managed to escape and hide, not before being revealed by a sheperd. She was thrown in jail and tortured, refusing to denounce her faith. Her father forced her up to the mountain’s summit and decapitated her, afterwhich God struck him down by lightning. Saint Barbara`s following was popularized in the Occident in the 13th century because of the Golden Legend...

IMPORTANT WOOD SCULPTURE, GOTHIC DEPICTION OF SAINT WENCESLAUS ORIGIN : CENTRAL EUROPE PERIOD : MID-15th CENTURY Height : 83 cm Length : 30 cm Depth : 20 cm Basswood Good condit...

17th Century German hand-carved oak religious sculpture. Possibly a saint or a bishop. The bearded man is cloaked in draped fabric with only left ...

SMALL SCULPTURE FIGURING AN ANGEL ORIGIN : GERMANY PERIOD : 15TH CENTURY Height: 48,5 cm Width : 20 cm Depth : 12 cm

SAINT JOHN OF CALVARY ORIGIN : SOUTH GERMANY PERIOD : 16th CENTURY Height: 104 cm Width: 42 cm Depth: 29 cm This Saint John belonged to a Crucifixion group depicting three figur...