18th Century and Earlier Sculptures

16th Century Madonna and child wood carving, retaining some original polychrome decoration sizes 67 cms high, 30cms wide and 25 cms deep

SCHORL TOURMALINE WITH AQUAMARINE Shengus, Roundu District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan 19.2 cm tall x 6.2 cm wide Gilgit-Baltistan (formerly known as the Northern Areas) is home to m...

Excellent walnut carving of a Carlo Boccomico c1600 Visible old dead worm holes, but great condition 72 cms high 30 cms wide

Introducing our exquisite collection: Capipota Sanctuaries - XVII-XIX Century Devotional Statuettes. Originating from the Catalan expression "cap i pota" (head and feet), Capipota V...

A large scale natural amethyst specimen originating from Brazil. Crystals from Brazil are most often found as radiating masses, with individual crystals appearing as pyramids. This e...

Beautifully carved and painted. Nice patina. From a beautiful house in Santa Barbara. They do hold candles on a spike.

From a beautiful home in Santa Barbara. Slight chipping in silver leaf on back side. Beautifully detailed.

Hand carved marble shield with a rampant Baroque style lion in custom, later, iron 2" wide banded frame.

Pair of 18th century Italian carved wood figures. Originally polychromed and now aged to a shabby chic look.

An Early 16th Century Stone Carving with polychrome : 'The Death of a Prelate'. The enthroned figure of a Bishop surrounded by attendants and surmounted by celestial angels.

A striking Italian 18th century giltwood and polychrome statue of two eagles. The statue is raised by a most decorative polychrome ground and branch like designed base. Above are two...

18th century French carved-wood panel of a scene of Cherubs burying their pet, expressing that God cares about all of creation, and since pets are part of that creation, they are included in His care and attention. The piece is mounted on a Lucite panel framed with a double walnut molding...

A Very Fine and Rare Pair of 17th c. Italian Allegorical Figures carved in Limewood. The Large Italian Marble Pillars are 19th c. The height of the Pillar only is 57.5 inches and it...

Elegant Standing Court Dignitary with joined hands in blue robes and a bird headdress. Polychrome Traces. When China was unified again, first briefly ...

A Roman bronze and gilt-bronze figure of a Bacchante, circa 1780.

Very rare, carved Limewood Mythological Reclining Lions, probably Italian. Mounted on base.

A Rare Pair of Italian Popes made of Carved Wood and Papier Mache.

A Large European Carved Limestone Celtic Votive Head of a Male Warrior Wearing a Typical Flowing Moustache Small Beard and Curling Locks of Hair Stiffened with Lime Wash the Slit Mou...

Christ in Boxwood, France, late 16th-early 17th century Beautiful corpse of Christ with missing arms. He must have been on the Cross, arms in a horizontal position. Great expressiv...

An Italian 18th century sculpture of St. Peter of Verona. A magnificent sculpture of St Peter martyr of Verona, created by a member of the Lombard art school in Verona Italy, in the...

It features a depiction of Tripurantaka Murti, as a manifestation of Lord Shiva. This relief was carved from red sandstone, most likely in Central India, circa the 10th or 11th Cent...

Discover the timeless beauty of this exquisite French Faience Bust of Madame Recamier, a tribute to the renowned sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Made of ...

One of a kind Baroque Spanish St Michel sculpture. A museum piece !! The artistic imprint shows the typical Castilian traces in the conception and interpretation of the subject. This allows us to frame the attribution to a close circle of the stela left by Gregorio Fernández (1576-1636) in the very recognized Castilian circle. The artist responsible for the creation of this magnificent carving has undoubtedly been trained in the footsteps of Fernández in the Castilian Baroque context. He powerfully remembers the Archangel San Miguel preserved in the reliquary of the Church of San Miguel de Valladolid; belonging to the first third of the seventeenth century. Both carvings show great parallels in the spatial conception, in the configuration of the cloths...

Beautiful late 18th century marble stoup Copy of the stoup located in the Romanesque church of the first century AD. of San Clemente in Rome. Body wit...

Ancient pre-Columbian, Nayarit, Mexican, circa 100 BCE to 250 CE, hand-built ceramic pottery redware sculpture of a seated male figure with arms crossed and wearing a headdress and m...

A pair of monumental limestone sphinxes of Pharaoh Nectanebo I, from the processional avenue of the Serapeum of Memphis, 30th Dynasty, circa 379 - 360 BC. The sphinxes of the Serapeum have captivated travellers since Roman times. However, despite their significance, they are conspicuously absent from the collections of most major museums. Indeed, their existence in private hands is so improbable, and their imitations so numerous, that the present sphinxes were assumed to be modern copies throughout their recent ownership history. Finally recognised and conserved after an extraordinary chance discovery at a garden furniture sale...

A wonderful 16th century draped female torso in classical style. Made in France under Italian Renaissance influence this female torso is finely sculpted with great detail to the stol...

An exquisite black amethyst druze cluster with polished stalactite. Rare and notoriously difficult to find, this stunning and unique black amethyst druz...

This antique cherub figure was crafted in Italy, circa 1780. The hand-painted putti carving features its original polychrome and gold leaf finish for a luxurious result. The hand carved cherub is expressive in it's movement and features a wonderful facial expression. The colorful wall hanging...

Weight: 207.32 Gram Dimension: 8.2 x 6.7 x 3.2 Cm Origin: Afghanistan Aquamarine is a pale-blue to light-green variety of beryl. The color of aquamarine can be changed by heat. Aqu...

An impressive skull of an Edmontosaurus, a large herbivorous dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, 68-66 million years ago. The three rows of sixty or more teeth on either side of the jaw, known as the ‘dental battery’, mark the Edmontosaurus as part of the Hadrosauridae, or duckbill family of dinosaurs. It belongs to the flat-skulled, or solid-crested, Hadrosaurinae, which replaced the older hollow-crested hadrosaurs. Edmontosaurus was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs to ever exist, living shortly before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. The Edmontosaurus was named in 1917 by Lawrence Lambe, after a partial specimen from Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. The existence of large Edmontosaur bone beds...

Corinthian helmet with Bull Horns and Lotus Flower Decoration. Archaic Period, c.550-500 BC. Cast, hammered and incised bronze. An exceptionally well preserved example of one of the most iconic ancient Greek...

Tyrannosaurus Rex Tooth in Fossil Matrix. Late Cretaceous, circa 65 Million years before present. Lance Formation, Marchant Ranch Quarry, Niobrara County, Wy...

Wonderful small Hand carved winged angelhead with its original gilding. Italy, circa 1750 Weathered. Measurement here below inclusive the wooden base. H:14cm W:11,5cm D:7cm

Important bas-relief in carved wood with traces of gilt, in an architectural frame with two angels in the corners, representing Saint Rocco. Considered, among other things, the Patro...

An Unusual and Rare English ‘Memento Mori’ Carved Shrine with Two Human Skulls to the underside, a carved ‘Dragonfly’ Marble 16th / 17th Century England Size: 36cm high, 28cm w...

A complete prehistoric polished jigsaw ammonite fossil, originating from Madagascar, presented on an exclusive museum-quality painted plaster base. A natural historical artefact, pre...

A collection of 6 natural, native copper specimens, each presented on an exclusive small wooden display base. Ex. private British collection, this group includes a range of superb s...

An unusual blacknite quartz cluster specimen with covelline and bornite from Ambositra, Madagascar, presented on one of our museum-quality painted plaster bases. This striking and un...

A large pyrite cluster specimen originating from Peru, displayed on one of our exclusive museum-quality painted plaster bases. Naturally formed over millions of years, this huge pyr...

An 18th century Italian carved wood and gilded, sitting robed saint with glass eyes. One hand missing otherwise and very good condition, no shrinking cracks or losses to lacquer. Can...

Splendid sculpture in white Carrara marble depicting a young Hercules holding the world. Originally, the work was conceived to be used as a caryatid at the beginning of a sumptuous m...

Wood carving of a saint (Peter)with a lot of original paint and gilding size 70cms high 27 wide and 20deep

Beautiful weathered giltwood angelhead. France, circa 1700-1750 Weathered, several losses on the gilding and old repairs which suits its high age. Measurement here below inclusive th...

Beautiful Baroque angel-wing. Rare and very decorative item placed on a wooden base, Italy, circa 1750. Weathered. Measurement is inclusive the wooden base. H:32,5cm W:22cm D:5,5cm

Beautiful weathered oak panel depicting a baroque angel on an acanthus curl. Weathered and small losses, most likely it was once part of a larger panel. France circa 1750. treated ag...

South Arabian Alabaster Inscription Calcite Alabaster circa 1st century A.D. ‘’Consequently, neither white marble of Paros nor any other stone which men admire can be compared with the precious stones of Arabia, since their whiteness is most brilliant, their weight the heaviest, and their smoothness leaves no room for other stones to surpass them.’’ - Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Book II, 52.9 This inscription, finely worked on an alabaster tablet, is a remarkably well preserved example of Ancient South Arabian script, with its distinct bold, angular forms, written in the Qatabanic dialect - that is, the dialect spoken by the people of the kingdom of Qataban, which ruled much of modern day Yemen from the 7th Century B.C. to the 2nd Century A.D. The text, which reads: ‘[... ...]sa?d and Ma?add?i- / (of the lineage) of Hawfa- / She entrusted Anb- / against any malfeasance (which would remove it) from its place’ - indicates that it likely served to commemorate a temple offering. The quality of the script, incised so neatly into the surface of the alabaster, tells us that this piece was commissioned by somebody of considerable wealth and prestige, employing a scribe of equally considerable expertise. South Arabia was known throughout the ancient world for its incredible wealth - so much so that the Romans termed the region ‘Arabia Felix’ - literally, ‘Happy, or Fortunate, Arabia.’ That wealth was built largely on the trade of spices and incense, in which the Kingdom of Qataban played a major part. According to Pliny the Elder, this was the sole country through which frankincense could be exported, first being collected in the city of Shabwa, on the South Arabian coast, and from there travelling by camel up to Gaza, to be shipped all across the Mediterranean - not only that, but all growers of myrrh across Arabia were required to give a quarter of their yield to the king of the Qatabanians. As such, the kingdom became exceedingly rich and powerful, and Pliny goes on to tell us that ‘The nations of the Larendani and the Catabani, and the Gebanitæ [...] occupy a great number of towns, the largest of which are Nagia, and Thomna (the capital of Qataban) with sixty-five temples, a number which fully bespeaks its size.’ Because of the nature of its exports, frankincense in particular - the ‘sweat of of the gods’ according to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and perhaps most famous as one of the three gifts brought to the newborn Christ - being closely associated with the divine, South Arabia’s reputation in antiquity was as a mysterious, almost sacred, and - crucially - extraordinarily wealthy region, at the very edge of the known world; in the words of Herodotus: ‘’Enough of marvels, and yet the land of Arabia gives off a scent as sweet as if divine.’’ This inscription invokes the protection of god Anbay, the judge-oracle of the chief god ‘Amm, who he served as an attendant. Much of what we know of the religious life of the ancient South Arabians comes to us from early Islamic texts, describing what is known in Islamic scholarship as ‘Jahiliyyah’ - the age before the advent of Islam in Arabia. What comes across in much of these texts is that these religious practices placed a great deal of emphasis on sacred stones, perhaps linked to the brilliance of the alabaster which is local to the region, and which a great many of the cult-objects produced in this time are made from. Hisham ibn-Al-Kalbi’s Book of Idols records: ‘’The Arabs were passionately fond of worshipping idols [...] Whenever a traveller stopped at a place or station in order to rest or spend the night, he would select for himself four stones, pick out the finest among them and adopt it as his god, and use the remaining three as supports for his cooking-pot.’’ This inscription was once in the collection of the intrepid British-Australian travel...

Beautiful Baroque angel-wing. Rare and very decorative item placed on a wooden base, Italy, circa 1750. Weathered. Measurement is inclusive the wooden base. H:27,5cm W:23cm D:5,5cm

Stunning period piece. Baroque angel with candleholder. Beautiful weathered old gilding France, circa 1750. Weathered, old repairs and losses. H:41cm W:29cm D:11cm

A rare example of Memento Mori from Wunderkammer depicting a skull caged in a forged iron structure, with a chain for hanging. The sculpture is made of scagliola plaster with a high ...

A Pair of Chinese famille verte laughing twins 'HeHe Erxian' biscuit group, Kangxi (1662-1722), the two boys with jovial expressions and seated upon an openwork rock-base studded wit...

Head of a Satyr Roman, circa 2nd - 3rd century AD Carved and highly polished marble An extremely fine marble head of a satyr, depicted with ivy wreath, curly hair and pointed goat’...

A varied and colourful collection of 7 natural mineral specimens, each presented on an exclusive small wooden display base. Ex. private British collection, this group contains a ran...

A Captive Soldier Gilt Bronze, Lost Wax Italie (Rome), 17th century H 17 x Dia 10 cm H 6 2/3 x Dia 4 inch The 17th century witnessed a flourishing of artistic expression across Eur...

Splendid bronze sculptural group depicting the rape of the Sabine women, made with the ancient lost wax technique. The drama of the scene is rendered with great mastery: in the cente...

Beautiful terracotta bust of a young charioteer, chariot driver during ancient games and tournaments. The work reflects a clear eighteenth-century style, with particular attention to...

The electric intensity of this piece's coloration makes it both stunning and unique. The sparkling color and natural wave-like form makes for a hypnotic sculpture evoking a sense of ...

Collection of 5 Pre Columbian pottery heads. Largest is 2.5" x 2", much wear and chipping, although they are pretty tough for pottery.