Featured 2 Antique Greek Style Sculpture/Figures Very Light Weight Wood Both 59" tall

I've had this set on other sites.I'm not sure if it has been on here or not.I have listed so many I sometime forget.This is a set of Greek style sculptures figures.Appea r to be very light wood.Seem hollow.both measure about 59" tall.This set is a storage find.It appears at one time someone tried to paint one black.The Lady sculpture has white paint but over the years paint is coming off.Fingers and toes look very human as well as the face and body.I can't find a name.The bottom of each has a plug for some reason.Any itea maybe the age or who they are styled after.

 

Could these be theater/art/movie props? If the statues are lightweight, the plugs are probably for the purpose of weighting. I'd imagine they could be filled with lead or sand for display, then emptied for transport. Are you sure these aren't made from plaster? I can't imagine they are made of wood considering they are hollow.

My vote's on stage props from the 19th century or early 20th.

 

I look at each one appear to be wood,the base for sure is wood.Maybe plastic but sure fell like wood.

 

The male figure reminds me of classical statues of athletes, although they aren't usually draped with a mantle. Techbiker's suggestion that they are stage props is interesting. The lady has been painted to look from a distance like white marble. Maybe someone tried to make the man look like black marble but didn't finish the job. Or it was once all glossy black & someone didn't finish stripping to repaint?

I'm impressed, whether these were carved or molded. Seems like tricky business either way.

 

The wear on the lady shows wood underneath the paint, last photo. Amazing carving, if I'm right.
The man could be another material. Maybe plaster, as techbiker considered.

 

Hmmm could be pulp.They were in a storage I got at storage auction.I believe about 3 or 4 years ago,that storage was full of old antiques.

 

Unusual pose. It kinda mimics the Farnese Hercules.

Debora

 

Is there any other kind? (Just funnin' you.)

Had the same thought. I was trying to get a better look at the head to see if it could be a young H., but can't see well enough to form an opinion.

 

Hope this set of pictures help.

 

Yes, thank you, new pix do help. It is not Hercules, who is beardless as a youth but always depicted with tightly curled hair.

 

Do you see any splits or cracks in the figures? Was the storage unit you purchased these from climate controlled? Do you see any mold lines? Are you sure the figures themselves (not the bases) are hollow?

If you see no cracks or splits and the figures are hollow, I doubt they are made of solid carved wood. Pulp, plaster, etc. maybe! I'm not a wood carver, however I have a few years of trim carpentry experience. Solid wood just isn't dimensionally stable, especially without very good climate control. If the figures are hollow and made of segments of carved wood, I would also expect to see seams somewhere. I also don't see any wood grain where the paint has been removed from the lady's leg.

Doubt they are made from plastic either as I don't see any mold seams.

Another observation is the underside of the bases look different. The man's base has a lip and the lady's is flat. I suspect these were created by different sculpturers/manufacturers (maybe at different times). Would be interesting if you can find seams between either of the figures and their bases.

P.S. I could be completely wrong. Just a guy on a computer going off your description and pictures.

 

I welcome all comments and corrections.I will look very close to see,but I haven't seen any so far but will look again.The reason I say hollow is when I tap or knock with my hand sound hollow.The storage wasn't climate controlled.I'm not sure how they were made.Whoever did the work did a great job,The fingers,feet,toes,face,ect look so real.I don't see any cracks or splits.

 

Possibly 19th/early 20th Century plaster casts made for young art students to study (draw,paint,sculpt). Could also be outside Garden Art (prob too delicate weather wise) or interior decor items.The Academia in Florence (where the Michelangelo 'David' is,not the copy in front of the Bargello) has hundreds of these plaster casts,some undoubtedly very old). Although if this is quite light weight-could be made of a light casting material,like modern 'Mannequins'.

 

The copy is on the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, the original position of the real David. If it were in front of the Bargello, it would probably be hit by traffic. (No great loss)

Maybe you thought of the Bargello because it houses the much more beautiful 'David' by Donatello:

 

A Jewelry-You're right abt David.The Bargello is definitely the most beautiful prison I've ever visited.The Chimera of Arezzo in the Archaeology Museum & the Bronze Boar (Porcellino) that's at the Mercato (modern copy) and in the museum also wonderful.Also the carved wood Mary Magdalene by Donatello (wood-1450 !).

 

I love it. I went there to see a very rare Medieval liturgical fan, the 'Flabellum of Tournus', beautiful. And to see if they had an exhibit of Florentine silk velvet. Which they didn't, but they showed me their collection in storage, a wonderful experience.
My mother told me to look at Donatello's David as well, and I ended up spending the entire day in the Bargello, wandering through the collection.
Took a break for lunch at a restaurant terrace across the road, my eyes still on the Bargello.

 

Any-Amazing city.It's fantastic you got a private look at their Silk Collection (how did you get access ?). We thought about seeing some archives at The V&A Museum,but figured we'd have to book it months in advance.A kind but bored curator perhaps ?

 

I asked if the collection was on show. I was told to wait, and a lady came with a key and took me to the store rooms. I was amazed, but enjoyed it thoroughly. All those sample books, a costume collector's dream.

The V&A is getting too many requests, in general. They never reply to my queries about certain niche antiques, I just get an automatic message saying they get so many requests etc.

 

I love beautiful antique clothes (English Country elegant casual-think Brideshead Revisited,aka Ralph Lauren). How did you hone-in on Florentine silk velvet in particular ?
See,I don't look like a handsome English Country Aristocrat (Jeremy Irons or Matthew Goode) except in my mind.I'm an old Mediterranean guy with a big nose,one of my old friends did say I had lots of character though-'the face of a Balkan Assassin !' like in an old Orson Welles movie.
Still,a $3000 suit couldn't hurt.