French 19th Century Terracotta Bust of Madame Récamier, After Jean-Antoine Houdo

An Austrian 19th-20th century Orientalist terracotta bust of a young girl in Middle-Eastern Garb. The young smiling beauty wearing a head scaft and shawl tied with a broche-pin brooch pin and jewlry around her neck, raised on a circular ebonized wood stand. Probably by Friedrich Goldscheider (Goldscheider'sche Porzellan-Manufactur und Majolica-Fabrik) - The backside stamped: "T - No. 258". circa 1900. The Goldscheider Manufactory and Majolica Factory (German: Goldscheider'sche Porzellan-Manufactur und Majolica-Fabrik, (now) Goldscheider Keramik) is an Austrian ceramic manufactory. In 1885, Friedrich Goldscheider came from the small Bohemian city of Pilsen to Vienna and founded the Goldscheider Manufactory and Majolica Factory. It became one of the most influential ceramic manufactories of terracotta, faience and bronze objects in Austria with subsidiaries in Paris, Leipzig and Florence. For over half a century Goldscheider created masterpieces of historical revivalism, Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) and Art Deco. Famous artists such as Josef Lorenzl, Stefan Dakon, Ida Meisinger and the two perhaps best known Austrian ceramic artists Michael Powolny and Vally Wieselthier worked for Goldscheider. Several of the artists who worked for Goldscheider also worked for other Viennese studios, such as Augarten, Keramos or for the German brands Rosenthal and Meissen. The Goldscheider family emigrated in 1938 to United Kingdom and USA. Walter Goldscheider startet a new factory in Trenton, New Jersey and returned to Vienna in 1950. Marcel Goldscheider went to Stoke-on-Trent and produced figurative ceramics for Myott and opened his own studio in the 1950s in Hanley. Both brothers died in the early 1960s. More than 10,000 different models were created over a period of three generations. Since the very beginning many of these won first prizes and gold medals at innumerable world fairs, exhibitions and trade fairs. Goldscheider figures...

A French 19th century bronze and marble bust of Marianne in full armor. The nicely cast Baroque Revival brown patinated bronze and carved white marble figure of Marianne, the allegorical personification of the French Republic, presented in her militaristic guise, reminiscent of Minerva, wearing a Phrygian helmet and armored breastplate centered by winged male mask and with lion shoulder armor pads, all raised on a conforming black marble base. Circa: 1890-1900. Marianne has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed in many places in France and holds a place of honor in town halls and law courts. She is depicted in the Triumph of the Republic, a bronze sculpture overlooking the Place de la Nation in Paris, as well as represented with another Parisian statue on the Place de la République. Her profile stands out on the official government logo of the country, appears on French euro coins and on French postage stamps. She was also featured on the former franc currency and is officially used on most government documents. Marianne is a significant republican symbol; her French monarchist equivalent is often Joan of Arc. As a national icon Marianne represents opposition to monarchy and the championship of freedom and democracy against all forms of oppression. Other national symbols of Republican France include the tricolor flag, the national motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, the national anthem "La Marseillaise", the coat of arms, and the official Great Seal of France. Marianne also wore a Cockade and a red Phrygian cap symbolizing Liberty. Minerva and its pendant bust of Mars evoke the classicizing subjects, bust-length formats, and style that originated in France during the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715) and that concurrently was popularized across Europe. The busts' simple forms, stiff poses, and solemn facial types are consistent with the late Baroque sculptures that were carved in Flanders during this period. In Flanders, especially in Antwerp and Brussels, sculpture and architectural decoration traditionally was carved using combinations of native black marble (noir belge), mottled red marble (rouge belge), and white marble or alabaster. The use of these stones in colorful counterpoint speaks most strongly to the busts’ Flemish origins. The veneration of ideal heroes and heroines in ancient costume and arms took on extravagant form in the 17th century, with countless variations. Within this imaginative tradition, the identification of the pair as Minerva and Mars cannot be certain. The female bust, for example, could be identified as Bellona, Roman goddess of war, who is depicted in 17th and 18th century French paintings wearing flamboyantly plumed helmets and low-cut cuirasses that expose her breasts. Whatever their identities, the female and male warriors are portrayed as calm rather than bellicose beings. The sovereign pair does...

Stunning neoclassical bust of an aristocratic woman, Albert- Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French 1824-1887), Signed A. CARRIERto the reverse, mounted on an ebonized wooden base, an exqui...

Sculpture of the bust of Madame Récamier, patinated bronze, 19th century, Napoleon III. Sculpture representing the bust of Madame Récamier in patinated bronze, Napoleon III period,...