Benin King Oba bronze standing figure, African, Nigeria, 20th Century
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Benin King Oba bronze standing figure, African, Nigeria, 20th Century
Benin King Oba bronze standing figure, Nigeria, 20th Century
Lost wax cast bronze with a verdigris patina and a desert sand surface highlighting a rich brown patina.
H: 15″ x D: 4 1/2″ x W: 4 1/2″
The art of Benin is the product of an urban royal court, and is meant to symbolize and to extol the power, mystique, grandeur, continuity, and endurance of the ruling dynasty and its governing institutions. From the 14th century until its fall in 1897, Benin was ruled by the Oba, a divine ruler at the head of the political system of titled chiefs. Under royal support, a number of craftsman’s guilds produced bronze, brass, and wood sculptures and embroidered cloth, all of which have become prized by museums and collectors.
Gustav Gurschner, Secessionist / Byzantine Revival bronze vase c. 1905
GUSTAV GURSCHNER (1873-1970) Austria
Vase c. 1905
Cast bronze ovoid shaped vase with decorative Celtic motif, lightly gilded, the body of the vase simulating leather with a rich brown patina
Signed: GURSCHNER, M180 (stamped in the bronze)
Related works illustrated: The Studio, Special Summer Number 1906: The Art Revival in Austria, ill. no. D6; Studio Yearbook (London, 1909), pp. 139-140; Vienna Turn of the Century: Art and Design, Fischer Fine Art, exhib. cat. (London 1979), p. 23, illus. 1; Bronzes, sculptors & Founders, H. Berman, (Atglen 1994 III) p. 781, cat. nos. 2893, 2894; Decorative Art 1880-1980, Dan Klein & Margaret Bishop (Oxford, England: Phaidon and Christie’s Limited, 1986) p. 84, illus. 1
H: 7 1/4″ x D: 7″ x D: 4″
Price: $14,500
Gustav Gurschner was born in Tirol, Austria. He attended the Fachschule für Holzindustrie in Bozen from 1885-1888. After three years, his instructors encouraged him to attend the Austrian Museum for Applied Arts’ Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna. After finishing his formal training, Gurschner pursued a career as a sculptor of monumental works. It was while he was in Paris in 1897, that he first turned his energies from the application of small-scale, sculptural works to the aesthetic design of household objects. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Vienna to join the Secessionists whose ideals he shared. By the turn-of-the-century, Gurschner was not only one of the better known artists working in Vienna but enjoyed a reputation that extended into other European countries as well.
Scandinavian Art Nouveau “Wisteria” bronze photo frame c.1910
SCANDINAVIAN ART NOUVEAU
“Wisteria” bronze photo frame c.1910
Elaborately detailed, acid etched and multi-patinated bronze table top photo frame with gilt details of a cascade of wisteria blossoms, leaves and vines.
Overall Frame: H: 12” x W: 7 ½”
Oval photo window opening H: 5 ½” x W: 4”
Marcello Fantoni Torched bronze and white plaster painted mirror 1950’s
MARCELLO FANTONI (1915-2011) Italy
Starburst mirror 1950’s
Torched bronze and original white plaster painted finish.
Marks: Fantoni, Firenze, Italy (hand script)
***This mirror has great style and character.
Overall dimension: H: 26″ x L: 33″ x D: 4″
Mirror dimension: H: 12″ x L: 17″
Price: $17,500
Born in Florence on October 1, 1915, Marcello Fantoni registered at the Institute of Art at Porta Romana in 1927 to attend the course The Art of Ceramics, which at that time was taught by the ceramist Carlo Guerrini, artistic director of the Cantagalli factory. Other teachers also contributed to his artistic formation including Libero Andreotti and Bruno Innocenti in sculpture and Gianni Vagnetti in the figure. He graduated in ’34 as a ‘maestro’ of art, and began working as a ceramist. In 1936, after having worked for a few months as the artistic director of a factory in Perugia, he established himself at Villa Fabbricotti in Florence and founded the Fantoni Ceramic studio. It’s production of serial and unique pieces had remarkable success at the Florentine Arts and Crafts Exhibit in ’37, revealing itself in line with the most recent tendencies, so much so that at the beginning of hostilities his production had already received notable artistic and commercial attention in Italy and abroad. After the war years, when Fantoni was involved in the resistance, in ’46 he began the creative and productive fervor that will allow him to enlarge his company, reaching at the beginning of the next decade the impressive size of over fifty collaborators. Among his employees were many students who, in ceramics and other fields, would become excellent artisans and even famous artists. In the following decades, especially between 1950 and the 70’s, the success of his work continued to increase, his unique pieces of sculpture and sculptural work, characterized by a design in step with the contemporary artistic currents, like archaic stylization inspired by Etruscan models, rendered modern because of their modern handling of materials, glazes and colors. For this original spirit of modernity, his works are in many private collections and in some of the most important museums of the world: in the United States his works can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Fine Art of Boston, the Currier Gallery, the Syracuse Museum. In Britain they are in the Victoria and Albert Museum of London, the City Art Gallery of Manchester, at Royal Scottish Museum of Edinburg. In Japan they are present at the Museum of Modern Art of Tokyo and Kyoto. In Italy they are represented at the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, the National Bargello Museum and at the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe of the Uffizi. In his long and versatile career, Fantoni has completed works for churches, public and private buildings, schools, cinemas, theaters and ships cementing himself in both figurative and abstract ceramics and various metals, and qualifying himself also in the field of medalism. In 1970 he founded the International School of Ceramic Arts at his laboratory in via Bolognese in Florence. Fantoni died at the age of 95 in 2011.
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