Marble Figure by Emilio Fiaschi, 'Testing The Waters'

A magnificent 19th century Italian carved marble figure of the son of William Tell kneeling under a tree trunk with a punched apple above his head. Raised on a contemporary solid marble pedestal. By Pasquale Romanelli (1812-1887) This model is recorded as the first sculpture exhibited by Pasquale Romanelli, it met with such success that it was subsequently given a prize at the New York Exhibition of 1854 and also at the 1861 first Great Italian exhibition which followed the Unification of Italy in 1860. The statue was bought by Italian king S.M. Vittorio Emanuele II. Signed: Romanelli, circa 1860 Dimensions: Height with pedestal 70.5" (179 cm) Diameter with pedestal 24" (61 cm) Height of sculpture 41.5" (105 cm) Diameter of sculpture 22" (55 cm) Pasquale Romanelli was born in Florence on May 28 1812. When he was 15 years old he entered the studio runned by Master Sculptor Luigi Pampaloni and later moved to Lorenzo Bartolini’s studio in Borgo San Frediano. Lorenzo Bartolini was a teacher at Accademia in 1837 and suggested the young pupil to attend proper sculpture training at the Accademia of Belle Arti. Soon he learned to sculpt in marble at such a high level that Bartolini himself did not need to finish his pieces if they have been carved by Pasquale. In 1840 he got his studio at the San Barnaba Monastry (nearby San Lorenzo church) and in this years he already took part in the political life, sure enough his subjects were connected to his political IDEA of freedom and independence of Italy. In 1850 Lorenzo Bartolini died his heirs had to deal with several sculptures uncompleted and sort out how to finish them without distorting either the original project and the Master’s style. As Bartolini was very jealous of his “last touch”, the heirs chose Pasquale Romanelli to complete most of his works, as he was the only assistant that could match the ability of the master. Just to mention some of this works, according to the tradition, the famous sculpture ”La fiducia in Dio” now housed at Hermitage Museum was sculpted by Pasquale Romanelli from an original model by Bartolini, as well as the “Monumento Demidoff” placed in Piazza Demidoff in Florence. Till the end of his life he worked on several commissions, either public monuments as the sculpture Francesco Ferrucci (Portico degli Uffizi) and private ones, mostly sold abroad. He was a renown portraitist and according to the tradition, luxury carriage...

This enchanting museum quality Carrara marble group is the work of Edward Russell Thaxter (born Yarmouth, ME 1857-died Naples, Italy 1881). The sculpture depicts a young girl sternly scolds her cat, who has just attacked a bird's nest. She clutches the cat to her chest and looks at it disapprovingly, while waving her hand in discipline. Meanwhile, a dead bird lies at her feet and feathers hang limply from the cat’s mouth. This scene is a prelude to the responsibilities of motherhood: the young girl who is now reprimanding her cat will have to ensure that her own children are well behaved in the future. The sculpture rests on a dark green serpentine marble pedestal. Although Edward Thaxter's life was short, he excelled in creating detailed neoclassical sculpture. Signed: E. R. Thaxter Titled: Reproof Circa 1878-1880 Measures: Height with pedestal 76" (193 cm) Height of sculpture 40" (101 cm) Another example of this marble figure is in the Smithsonian National Museum in Washington DC. Artist biography: Edward Russell Thaxter was only twenty-four years old when he died, but in his brief career as a sculptor he garnered praise for his work and was deemed an artist with a promising future. Born in Yarmouth, Maine, he is believed to have chosen to study sculpture after seeing the work of John Rogers. At the age of sixteen, Thaxter moved to Boston and studied with the portrait sculptor John D. Perry. In 1878 Thaxter left for Florence, Italy, where he took a studio and began to create the neoclassical works that won him critical attention. In 1881 he contracted typhoid fever, which left him in a weakened condition, and within the year the young sculptor died in Naples. Thaxter's untimely death was noted with genuine regret in the American press. The critic James Jackson...

Young Michelangelo Carrara marble. Signed: P. Bazzanti, Florence (Italian, 1825-1895) Circa 1870 This magnificent 19th-century hand-carved marble sculpture depicts the young artist...

This magnificent Italian marble figure depicts a woman sitting atop a stone, The details on her dress show it flowing carelessly by her feet, as she rests on an intricately designed...

A very fine Italian 19th century Carrara marble sculpture depicting a young beauty going for a Swim standing on the steps of a dock, raised on its original carved green marble pedest...

A fine Italian late 19th century "Belle Époque" carved marble figure of a young bather. The seated young girl wearing a form-fitting one-piece tank suit, holding a hand fan, and seat...

A beautiful late 19th century French white Carrara marble of a woman and her Mandolin Signed Paul Fournier Paul Fournier (French, 1859–1926), made many full size and busts of women...

Pietro Bazzanti - Barzanti (Italian, 1825-1895) "After the Bath" - a very Fine and large carved white Carrara marble figure of a semi-nude young maiden standing by the sea-shore. The smiling and posing young beauty, with bare breasts and back, her right arm juxtaposed over her head, while holding a blanket over her waist with her left hand and standing barefoot by a rocky seawall and wavy shoreline. Signed 'P. Barzanti/Florence' (on reverse) and raised on a cylindrical swiveling carved verde antico solid marble pedestal. circa: Florence, 1880-1890. Pietro Bazzanti or Barzanti (Italian, 1825-1895) was a 19th Century Italian sculptor born in Florence. Together with his brother, Niccolò Bazzanti (Firenze, 1802-1869) who was also a sculptor, they both worked the sprawling Florentine studio 'Pietro Bazzanti e Figlio' a hugely successful sculpture studio, operated within the family at their gallery on Lungarno Corsini until the mid-twentieth century. The studio was a place where many talented professors and apprentice sculptors specialized in sculpting marble...