Vanitas Sculpture, Italy Beginning of 19th Century

Fruit wood sculpture, Folk Art, depicting a man standing with his hands in his pockets. United States, second half of the 19th century.

Over the carved wooden painted base depicting a rock, is set a Vanitas, plaster cast sculpture of a human skull, with femoral bones. Italy last part of 18th century.

A Memento Mori in wood with Chrismon, monogram of Christ. Valuable sculpture in fruit wood in almost true-to-life measurements, sculpted with art and finished with a wealth of details. The wood was covered with a thin layer of pellet and finished in color. Immediately above the forehead, in correspondence with the anterior neonatal fontanel, the CHRISMON is painted in purple red. The monogram of Christ or Chi Rho (or CHRISMON) is a combination of letters from the Greek alphabet, which form an abbreviation of the name of Christ. Solar in nature, often inscribed in a circle with multiple rays reminiscent of the cosmic wheel deriving from the ancient solar emblems of Egypt. The symbol consists of two large overlapping letters, the 'X' and the 'P'. They correspond, respectively, to the Greek letter '?' ('chi', which reads kh, aspirated) and '?' ('rho', which reads r). These two letters are the initials of the word '???st??' (Khristòs ), the name of Jesus, which in Greek means "anointed" and translates the Hebrew "messiah". On the sides of these two letters, there are very often two others: one 'a' and one '?', alpha and omega...

An articulated mannequin of a medium-sized painter, with the face to life. The mannequin is sculpted and made of fruit wood. The height-adjustable stand (40” – 55”, diameter 8”), is ...

Two terracotta sculptures depicting the neck and head, the ox and the donkey, of a nativity scene. The two sculptures are made of terracotta entirely by hand, finished in stick and c...

Erotic cast pewter plaque: A good surprise. In the bedroom with a bourgeois interior, the master of the house surprises the maid asleep, feather duster in hand and petticoat up. By Etienne Alexandre...

Unique, whimsical and original sculpture made from antique gilded carvings and vintage Murano glass. This particular fish is shown with a heavy eyebrow and murano teeth! One of two r...

Beautiful carved wood sculpture of a lady.

You don't see these everyday! Rare and exceptional architectural elements consisting of parcel gilt metal and wood with beading and ball feet attributed as late 19th Century or early...

3-532 detailed marble sculpture of a robed boy holding 2 fishes.

An antique Italian mask of Socrates, the Classical Greek philosopher 470-399 BC. Hand carved in white Carrara marble and mounted on a Rosso Verona marble base, in good condition. Wea...

A carved and painted wood 'TURKOMANIA' sculpture of an ottoman soldier French or Dutch Turkomania, early 19th century Depicted in standing position, with a sword in one hand and a club in the raised other, with a fur hat, long moustache and long coat, on a square base. Measures: H. 58 cm Note: During the Dutch War of Independence from 1568 till 1648, the Dutch and Turks were allies against Roman Catholic Spain and the slogan of the Dutch was “liever Turks dan Paaps” (rather Muslim than Roman Catholic). In 1612 the first Dutch ambassador arrived in Istanbul. Nevertheless, in Holland, there was also the image of the cruel and heretic Turk stemming from the frequent violent clashes between Dutch ships and the pirates from Algiers, usually called the “Turkish pirates”. When the Ottoman armies advanced against Vienna, in the eyes of many Europeans the Islam bent on destroying Christianity. Later in the early 19th century, although the Turkish threat to Europe was long gone, the image of the Turks deteriorated again because of the Greek uprising. The Sultan Mahmud II understood that Turkey had to modernize along West European lines and among other things in 1808 he replaced the “picturesque” oriental clothing...