The striking early twentieth century plaster bust depicting a young lady, her head inclined with a contemplative, almost theatrical poise, and modelled wearing a deeply folded ruffled collar, on an architectural socle base, in its original green wash paint and surviving from the zeniths of the nineteenth century in beautifully decorative condition.
Unknown.
The sculptor’s intention feels somewhere between portrait and stage character; a gentle nod to commedia dell’arte filtered through a quieter, northern European sensibility. The whole piece carries that elusive ‘found in an attic atelier’ atmosphere, helped along by the tall, sweeping form of the bust and its square plinth. The green paint is original and intentional: an early 20th-century decorative technique intended to imitate a light bronze/verdigris patina. Used widely in studio ateliers, theatre workshops, and educational plaster rooms of the period.
A wonderfully decorative presence; sculptural, moody, and entirely singular.
The original green paint has worn back in all the right places: soft scuffs, exposed plaster edges, and scattered losses that now read as an honest, beautifully mottled surface. One corner of the base has a larger section of loss as photographed. The surviving wear is characteristic and desirable.
By appointment only.
