19th C Armadillo Mount in sitting position on wooden base

Neapolitan nativity scenes are very different from those seen in churches due to the importance of secular settings. They are not limited to staging the child Jesus surrounded by the holy family. Still, they managed to reproduce the daily life of the Neapolitans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The elegance of the figuration and the fineness of the execution of these santons also reveals the quality of the know-how of the Neapolitan artisans. The markets, hotels, dances, itinerant vendors, beggars, taverns, various trades, guarding herds, the royal procession and all that was within reach of everyday life or fantasy had their place in the Neapolitan crèches...

Mechelen dolls are rare wooden devotional figurines (mainly walnut was used), which were made by some members of the Guild of Saint Luke. The figures, all individual saints, were made from reference models using highly regulated carving and polychrome techniques. They had to meet several requirements. The shape of the rug had to meet certain criteria and the letter M (from Mechelen) had to be visible in the shape. These devotional or saint figurines...

Saint Erasmus or Saint Elmo (Antioch, ca. 240 – Formia, 303) was an Italian bishop and patron saint of the sailors. His attribute was the capstan, a winch on which the anchor chains were rolled up. He died as a martyr for his faith, and his bones were transferred to Gaeta in the 9th century, where they are kept in the cathedral to this day. The electric phenomenon of Saint Elmus fire is named after Saint Erasmus and the 16th C humanist Desiderius Erasmus. Little is known with certainty about Saint Erasmus' life. However, many legends may have been passed on orally until the - no older writings are known with certainty. His birthplace was in present-day Syria. However, the persecution of Christians under Emperor Diocletian forced him to flee to Mount Lebanon...

Although the 18th century, the period of the Enlightenment in France, spawned thinkers who criticised the privileges of the clergy and the truthfulness of certain dogmas, the Roman Catholic faith was very much present in everyday life. Since king Louis XIV had issued the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685, Protestantism was banned. This Madonna with child illustrates the daily practice of faith. Like many 18th-century Madonna statues...

A French brass freestanding tea scale from the 19th century mounted on a wooden base. Born in France during the politically dynamic 19th century, this tea scale features a central sh...

Early 19th Century silver plated putti on a modern star shaped Lucite base.

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

19th century Mexican wooden hand-painted virgin with child in arms.