Figurative Sculptures

French Art Deco terracotta sculpture by Demetre Chiparus (1886-1947), France, 1920s. Young lady and a lamb. Measures: Height : 15.75"(40cm), width : 23.2"(59cm), depth : 6.7"(17cm). ...

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...

This highly rare bronze of a nude male athlete preparing to left a heavy kettlebell weight was sculpted by an Austrian artist, Franz Seifert, in 1922. Although Seifert is known for his nude figures straining to accomplish physical tasks -- such as carrying a large bucket or splitting a stone -- this sculpture is the only example known to exist. A decade after this sculpture was cast, Seifert carved a marble portrait of Siegfried Marcus, inventor of the gasoline-powered car, for a monument in Vienna, which includes a nude male figure in bas relief racing forward on the upper edge of an automobile wheel. He also created a large sculpture grouping honoring Empress Elizabeth...

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

French Art Deco sculpture, France, 1920s. Young girl & partridge. Spelter, onyx and marble. Width : 22.8"(58cm), Height : 8.3"(21cm), Depth : 4.7"(12cm). Slight traces of age on pati...

Large French Art Deco sculpture, France, 1920s. "Allez Hop" (Let's go). Young teenager with two setters. Polychrome plaster. Height : 19.3"(49cm), Width : 23.2"(59cm), Depth : 11.4"(...

Incredible A.Wagner v.d. Muhl france Art Deco 1920 bronze musician.

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...

Bronze Art Deco Veil Dancer mounted on marble by Armand Lemo. This sculpture depicts a dancing woman in the Art Deco style, with a veil-like element inco...

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...

Art Deco bronze sculpture woman with panthers signed by Michel Decoux. Patinated bronze on a Belgian Black and green marble base. France 1920. A similar model is illustrated on page ...

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...

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

Beautiful porcelain group. The very fragile porcelain coming from the evaporated lace dipped in porcelain slip is perfect. Signed White blue and Pink color.

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

'The Big Duck,' a captivating bronze sculpture by Edith Barretto Parsons, is a masterpiece of artistry and emotion. Created in 1920, this sculpture beautifully captures the innocence and unbridled joy of childhood. In this enchanting piece, a toddler cradles a large duck against their chest, the bird's wings outstretched in a playful dance while its feet kick with exuberance. The child's expression is a priceless reflection of pure delight. Parsons, a talented American sculptor born in 1878, studied at the Art Students League of New York under renowned sculptors like Daniel Chester French...

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

Monumental sculpture by Danish artist Kai Nielsen made in 1922 at "Kähler" workshop ("HAK"). The sculpture depicts a scene from the Ancient Greek legend of "Zeus & Io". It is made fr...

Refined low relief sculpture from the Art Nouveau period in walnut wood. A woman elegantly dressed in the fashion of the Art Nouveau era lighting a cigarette.  

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...

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

Large patinated copper sculpture of a naked dancing satyr in dynamic posture balancing on a small landscape base. He holds a vine over his face with both outstretched fists and bends...

Antique Egyptian Brass Sphinx on Onyx Base.

Exceptional Goldscheider Figurine of the 1920s after an Art Nouveau Design: Representation of a thoughtfully walking harlequin in an elaborate costume decorated with a large floral ...

Vintage Cubitt car mascot in the form of brass Cupid with bow & arrow,stamped Cubitts Cupid, R/D LE JEUNE Cast Brass original car mascot 1920s Dimensions: Cupid Figure H 13.5cm x ...

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...

Dancer in an oriental costume with traditional Korean looking headdress, with raised, bent legs and arms performing a dance pose, a Chinese pagoda leaning against her leg. The figure...

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...

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...

Very exceptional decorated Goldscheider Art Deco ceramic figure of the 1920's: Depiction of a standing lady proudly looking to the side in oriental garb, wrapped in a large blue-gree...

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...

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 ...

Car mascot "Coq Houdan" (Rooster) made in clear glass by René Lalique in 1929. Engraved signature. Perfect condition. Some very light amethyst reflects.  height: 20 cm Félix Marci...

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 ...

Art Deco His studio was located in Schaerbeek (Belgium), where he worked as a sculptor for a company called "Carli et Fréres". Modeled and cast as two Two Geese with a Child Beautif...

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...

Gorgeous pair small late 18th century neoclassical mythical figures. france circa 1780. Weathered and old repair Measurements are individual and include the wooden base.

ABOUT An original 18th century Italian armorer's model with glass eyes and articulating arms. Used to fit different types of battle armor. Shows signs of light wear and paint loss...

Napoleone Martinuzzi for Venini Murano Art Glass Green Apple Sculpture, Italy, c. 1926. acid-etched signature; Murano green cased glass with app...

A wonderful original piece of the Renaissance Period - a carved wooden polychromed figure / statue of Saint Francis. This piece was found in France but most probably originated in 1...