Cherub Carved from Wood with Polychrome & Gilt

This exceptionally life-like antique sculpture is carved from linden wood and once decorated a French church or cathedral. The figure stands authoritatively, with right arm raised and index finger extended toward heaven. It probably stood on a base in a side chapel. According to Christian iconography of the period, this gesture signifies that salvation comes only through baptism. The figure wears a girdle of animal fir, probably from a bear, making symbolic reference to St. John the Baptist's life in the wilderness of Judea, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The elegantly carved robe is a baroque element that adds a sense of motion and energy to the artwork. Originally, the sculpture was polychromed, but the original pigments have weathered away and been replaced with whitewash. Repairs, losses, and insect damage are minor and expected due to great age. many vintage and antique religious sculptures...

Newly carved from reclaimed teakwood, this bust takes the form of an apsara. With origins in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology, Apsaras are female spirits of the clouds and waters. T...

A lacquered wood sculpture of a sitting Cherub hand carved and painted in Italy in the early 18th century. The cherub has been mounted on late 19th century on a wood base. It's in or...

This large hand-carved wooden cherub is unsigned, but presumed to have originated from Germany and dating to approximately 1750 and done in the period Rococo style. The sculpture is ...