Vintage Coastal Ombré Wooden Pelican Sculpture

Details Details Close Description Finely sculpted and modelled late 19th-century Italian ‘Grand Tour’ souvenir terracotta figurine painted black of The Venus de Milo by Sommer This looks to have been painted black either at the time of manufacture or shortly after looking at the wear. It is full of character, and personally, I love it! A beautifully detailed terracotta study of an incredibly famous lady by a wonderful manufacturer of the 19th century Impressed stamp ‘SOMMER NAPLES’ to the top of the base. Sommer was born in Frankfurt, where he studied business, but it was as a photographer that he made his career, becoming one of Europe’s leading pioneers in the commercial use of the new art form. It was after his move to Naples in 1856 that his success took flight, providing tourists visiting the city with impressive views of the city of Naples, its monuments, the bay and the excavations in Pompeii. Sommer also started a workshop producing statues in bronze and terracotta. Where those in bronze can be found more often, the ones in terracotta like ours are rarer given the fragility of the material. Like most of his statues, Sommer used a famous statue from antiquity as a model. The original Venus de Milo is a 204 cm (6.69 ft) tall Parian marble statue of a Greek goddess, most likely Aphrodite, depicted half-clothed with a bare torso. The statue originally would have had two arms, two feet, both earlobes intact and a plinth; early sketches following the statue’s rediscovery show part of the left arm and the plinth, though not the missing left foot, intact; these were subsequently lost after the statue’s rediscovery. Italy , Naples, circa 1880 Dimensions Height = 37 cm (14.6″) Width = 12 cm (4.7″) less DIMENSIONS 4.7ʺW × 4.7ʺD × 14.6ʺH STYLES Grand Tour ART SUBJECTS Figure PERIOD Mid 19th Century COUNTRY OF ORIGIN Italy ITEM TYPE Vintage, Antique or Pre-owned MATERIALS Stoneware CONDITION Good Condition, Original Condition Unaltered, Some Imperfections COLOR Black TEAR SHEET CONDITION NOTES Very good, no damage or losses, slight wear to the black paint, with feint highlights of terracotta glowing through. See less