Hand-Painted Figurative Sculptures

Sergio Bustamante Monumental Carved Sun Sculpture, Mexico, Circa 1980s A large and compelling hand-carved and hand-painted sculptural sun figure attributed to the celebrated Mexican...

An exceptional and highly decorative large-scale wall relief depicting a mythological mermaid, executed in the 1940s to 1950s with remarkable artistic presence and craftsmanship. Thi...

Classic late 1890s Vienna bronze figurine, expertly crafted and beautifully detailed in the tradition of Austrian cold-painted bronzes. This charming polychromed bronze sculpture sho...

An impressive and large glazed ceramic sculpture titled “Havtyren” (Sea Bull) by Jean René Gauguin, created at Bing & Grøndahl, Denmark, in the 1930s. This iconic work is executed in...

Beautiful hand carved Baroque angel. Unique period piece with traces of its old paint . Spain, circa 1750 Weathered. Several small losses and old repair. Measurement here below in...

Amazing 18th century carved wooden Baroque arm of a Saint figure. This piece was once part of a procession Saint figure. The arm is now placed at a wooden base and as visible on the ...

C-3PO, the legendary Star Wars protocol droid, handcrafted in porcelain. C-3PO first appeared in 1977 with the release of Star Wars: A New Hope, becoming one of the saga’s most reco...

A gorgeous character ceramic figural gnome statue - attributed to Griebel in Germany, a well known manufacturer of this kind of figures. This character statue has been made in German...

Monumental wall-mounted sculpture executed in painted papier-mâché by Mexican artist Sergio Bustamante (b. 1949). Titled "Sol Eclipse" (Solar Eclipse), this large-scale composition f...

An incredible mid-century modern sculpture by listed Mexican artist Manuel Felguérez depicting two children on a seesaw. The sculpture, depicting a boy and girl on a seesaw, or teete...

Antique A wonderful late 19th century Staffordshire porcelain and gilt mantel figure depicting Scottish highland hunter dressed in kilts and traditional hunting dress with a deer dra...

Pair of 20th-Century Atlas Globe Bookends Bronze & Wood Sculpture Set A striking and sculptural pair of 20th-century Atlas bookends, masterfully crafted in a rich bronze-tone fi...

Entitled "Columpio Feliz" which translates to "See-Saw", this lovely porcelain sculpture was a limited edition; hand painted and hand made porcelain issued in 1974 and retired in 199...

Hand carved wood antique statue of Mother Mary wearing a Gothic crown. This original and all hand carved sculpture of the mother of all mothers is anothe...

Art Deco Figurine of 'Mata Hari' by Capodimonte / Naples Porcelain Company Italy, circa 1925 An exceptional work, displaying grace and movement, subtly hand- painted. The seductive turban and gold earring wearing dancer draped in a White and Iron-Red Moon and Star motif garment, on a tasseled pillow. Hence our Mata Hari, attribution/suggestion. The name Mata Hari, is a Malay expression for the sun. Literally meaning “eye of the day"/ dawn of the day' This exquisite figure, depicts the The dancer (Mata Hari ?) as the sun-wearing the moon and stars. Marked with the variation Blue underglaze Crown & N. In remarkable well cared for condition, some minor wear to the gilt. The figurine stands...

This image displays a Huge set of vintage Chinese porcelain statues known as the Sanxing, or the Three Star Gods, representing Fu, Lu, and Shou. These figures are central to Chinese ...

Wonderful hand carved winged angel head with its original color and gilding. France, circa 1750 Weathered and small losses and old repair. Treated against woodworm. Measurement here...

A 19th Century Sitzendorf Meissen-Style Seated Chinoiserie Nodder—Hand-Painted Porcelain—Articulated Head & Hands This exquisite 19th-century Sitzendorf Meissen-style Chinoiserie no...

Pleasant Company- A pair of Folk Art Friends A serene tall antique handmade and hand painted pair (2) of hand bag carrying women named EMA - a fri...

Presenting a stunning pair of mid to late 19th century French Limoges Bisque porcelain figurines from circa 1870. One is of a lady in period dress/attire cradling a Dove. All hand-painted and decorated to the finest quality. The base is marked with the makers initials “C.H.”. She is made of fine bisque porcelain in the Old Paris porcelain style. The other is of a gentleman set...

Beautiful Baroque angel. Unique period piece made out of wood . Hand-carved and painted. Several old layers of paint visible Italy, circa 1700-1750 Weathered. Small losses Measureme...

19th Century Meissen Birdcage Grouping Germany Circa 1880 This enchanting 19th-century Meissen birdcage grouping, made in Germany circa 1880, is a re...

Art Deco tall Italian animal Figurine Ceramic Parrot Macaw on a tree trunk Material: porcelain, ceramic, tin glazed Design: Cacciapuoti style...

Santa Claus limited edition porcelain figurine with a sweet little girl in his arms kissing him decorated with red enamels on Santa's costume.

Guido Cacciapuoti Italian Art Deco large ceramic animal figurine Depiction: Two parrots on a tree trunk Hand crafted and hand painted in strong ...

Art Deco mid Century Italian porcelain 2 roosters on a tree trunk Material: Porcelain, Ceramic, Tin glazed Design: In the manner of Cacciapuoti Origin: Italy, first half 20th century...

Striking mid-century porcelain cardinal figurine by Hutschenreuther Kunstabteilung, produced in West Germany circa 1960s–1970s. Featuring a vivid crimson red glaze with black facial ...

Sculpture Blue Wading with base structure in solid brass and porcelain and with bird' structure in hand-painted porcelain with brass details.

Born in 1992 in Macerata in the Marche region, the Italian artist carried out a path that between studies of Surveyor and Architecture led him to a long collaboration with a craft co...

Porcelain sculpture inspired by Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, tactics, and good counsel. The daughter of Zeus and Metis, Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, tactics and go...

Unique panel depicting a saint figure and Angels. Wonderful layers of its original color, France, circa 1650-1750 . Weathered, small losses. Treated against woodworm. Measurements in...

Elegant and increasingly scarce, this pair of vintage Lladró horse head sculptures designed by noted Spanish sculptor Salvador Furió embodies the refined ...

A quite wonderful Mexican Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos festival held throughout Mexico) La Catrina symbolic skeleton figure. La Catrina is the festival’s most recognizable image/figure. She is the model of a high-society woman who has met Death, her maker. She represents something between the fear induced by her skeletal form and the revelry exhibited by the comical way she is typically portrayed, making her a perfect symbol of the Mexican holiday. She often appears in paintings, window displays, and costumes all around Mexico during the Day of the Dead festivities. La Catrina was originally conceived in the early 1900s by newspaper illustrator and printmaker José Guadalupe Posada...

Book Ends Wooden style acrylic Sculptures A Set Of 2 Decorative Figurines of Human Book Holder Beautifully stylized a set of figurines with a great ba...

Hand painted porcelain collectible Fitz and Floyd resting Nubian camel figurine. Beautifully detailed Arabian camel, the camel is kneeling in rest and ...

Gardener couple consisting of two large single figures. The female gardener wears rural rococo clothing: a dress with elaborate decorations and pinned-up apron, corset and borders, a...

Striking British studio stoneware pottery sculptural vessel by Marylyn Hyde, dating from the late 1970s to early 1980s. This monumental stoneware jardiniere is formed as a fragmented...

Cat and mouse handmade in porcelain, one glazed and the other matte. This beautiful cat, made in glazed porcelain, is accompanied by a very special friend, its toy mouse. The former ...

A noble Baroque-style porcelain figurine in a baby blue motif, designed by Alpinien Margaine and produced by Gibus et Cie in Limoges, France. Signed “4 M,” from the titled series “...

American Country style painted iron eagle figure with spread wings perched on gray painted wood base (with date 1912)

This is a Goebel porcelain figurine of a Pied Wagtail bird. It depicts a very well done hand painted black, brown, gray blue and white, Wagtail bird. It has the Goebel hallmark plus ...

A gorgeous character ceramic figural gnome statue - attributed to Griebel in Germany, a well known manufacturer of this kind of figures. This character statue has been made in German...

A large pair of Chinese turquoise glazed porcelain roosters with purple combs, circa 1920.

One of the best known gods from Olympus, made in white matte porcelain with touches of golden luster. Hermes was cunning and clever and had the gift of oratory, which is why the gods...

Antique Staffordshire Pearlware Bocage Object Ca. 1820 depicting a seating deer on the greens.

Very nice saint figure. Hand carved wood with glass eyes Italy, circa 1800-1850. Weathered, small losses.

A creation in matte black porcelain inspired by the ancient shōgun of feudal Japan, decorated with gold luster engravings and copper accents that stand out against the dark backgroun...

1930s Torino glazed porcelain sculpture of seated Venus on shell over dolphins, manufactured by Lenci, Italy By: Lenci Material: ceramic, porcelain, enamel, paint, clay Technique: c...

For your consideration, a Japanese porcelain Satsuma style elephant plant stand or figurine. It features elaborate, colorful decoration with extensive gilt accents. The side panels ...

Antique Staffordshire Pearlware Bocage Figure Group Ca. 1820 depicting a lady carrying her child and riding on a goat and its little goat. The goat also carries some baskets and fill...

A large pair of French polychrome and gilt painted biscuit figurines of a mandolin player and a singer. The woman is wearing a green sack-back gown with white flowery etched inner dr...

A set of Italian hand‑painted porcelain figures by Porcelain d’Arte, circa mid-20th century, Bassano, Italy. Set are hand‑painted porcelain figures by Porcelain d’Arte, the Bassano...

A stunning polychrome figure of a Saint from the late 18th century or early 19th century, from France. This is one of the most beautifully carved Saints we have ever featured, with t...

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...

Statue of Liberty — Limited Edition 250 Luxury Porcelain Sculpture, 250th Anniversary of American Independence Few symbols in human history carry the universal weight of Lady Libert...

Exceptional rare Meissen porcelain group: A group of three figures in elaborate Rococo attire: the young, pretty lady in a bodice dress with a low neckline, a long skirt, a bustle an...

A gorgeous character ceramic figural gnome statue - made by Hertwig & Endert in Germany, a well known manufacturer of this kind of figures. This character statue has been made in Germany, in the 1930s probably to 1940s. Absolutely gorgeous item with lots of character and still in great condition. Made of hand colored glazed earthenware. A nice addition to any Lawn, Yard, Garden or Patio, but can also be a nice addition to a room. A German garden gnome...

Fabulous and large Maria H. Rahmer (1911-1998) figural sculpture of a boy holding fruit circa 1930s from Hungary. Great ceramic condition with signature H. Rahmer on the side of the ...

A porcelain figurine inspired by La Catrina, the famous Mexican image of death, this time represented in the guise of a cat. Catrina, the popular icon with ...

Set of Six Mid Century Italian Porcelain Harlequin Figurines , circa 1960, diamond-patterned costumes in multiple colours (red, blue, yellow, green,...