Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;808 raver, post: 1679913, member: 4654&quot;]Hi all, thanks for the nice comments, this post is 3 years on now and I will try and answer what I think is the case with this piece and answer the recent questions 1) the piece is walnut and the notch in the back was an alternative way of hanging it 2) I&#039;m sure E.A. Colquhoun was once an owner not the maker. 3) I wish it was in the style of Gibbons as Gibbons&#039;s work was the best I&#039;ve ever seen, not saying mine is bad but not a Gibbons. So IMHO I think the work is by Pietro Giusti and carved in Siena around 1850 it might of found it&#039;s way to the UK when Giusti exhibited at the Royal exhibition crystal palace. The work hung over a coal fire for many years hence the dark finish, you can still smell the coal tar on the front. The V&amp;A weren&#039;t very helpful at all, they said an expert would have a look and give an opinion but all I got from them was an initial first email on Giusti&#039;s work but nothing on my piece, I never received an expert opinion and when I chased them up they said they weren&#039;t expert in Giusti&#039;s work and couldn&#039;t give an opinion. Luigi Frullini was one of my early candidate&#039;s but his work has a distinctive element as does Giusti and Giusti&#039;s work has very many similarities with my plaque, far more than I&#039;ve found with any other carving. I have written to the University where Giusti became a professor and they hold a thesis on Giusti, they said plate 180 (I think) was similar but all his writings and sketch&#039;s are held in the library of Siena and it&#039;s not in a electric format for me to view online <img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/frown.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=":(" unselectable="on" /> The plaque the V&amp;A have is very close in format but close up inspection of theirs shows the carving isn&#039;t as good as mine. I still own the plaque and after years of trying to definitively track down who made it and it&#039;s history since then has worn me out. I have been thinking if I did manage to definitively put Giusti&#039;s name on it I perhaps wouldn&#039;t be able to own it any longer as the insurance would be a fortune (for me anyway) I&#039;m still happy for anyone out there to help and if it were to have proof and I had to sell it then so be it, I could do with the cash but as for now the only way I can see is going to the library of Siena and looking for myself.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in