This alabaster group depicts The Pancrastinae, also known as The Uffizi Wrestlers, a celebrated Hellenistic composition immortalizing two naked athletes locked in combat. The sculpture captures the climactic moment of the pankration—a brutal blend of wrestling and boxing that was among the most demanding events of the ancient Olympic Games. The sculptor demonstrates a masterful understanding of anatomy and movement: the taut musculature of each figure, the twisting torsos, and the intense interlocking of limbs are carved to convey both strength and strain. The smooth, luminous alabaster accentuates the play of light across the figures’ forms, lending the scene an almost ethereal vitality. Reproducing the celebrated marble group housed in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, this work reflects the 19th-century neoclassical revival and the era’s fascination with antiquity. Alabaster—valued for its translucency—was a favoured medium among Italian sculptors seeking to reinterpret classical masterpieces for the grand tours of Europe’s elite. The Pancrastinae remains one of the most dynamic and admired examples of ancient athletic sculpture, symbolizing both the physical ideal and the intellectual engagement with competition and harmony. The present alabaster reduction exemplifies the enduring appeal of classical subjects in 19th-century European art.

Rare Art Deco carved wooden lioness on marble base by Eugene Emile Borga, France c1925

Marks: To base

Dimensions: Height  7½ inches (19cms), Width 20⅞ inches (53cms), Length 5⅜ inches (13.5cms)

Condition: Excellent (historic professional restoration to base)

Mid-century Swedish glass vase with blue and green decoration.

Circa 1960.

H 11cm x W 15cm x D 15cm

An unusual late French Art Nouveau tall slender cameo glass vase decorated with raised deep orange falling leaves against a mint green field. Exhibiting excellent detail and colour, signed Galle in cameo.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Height:                                     8.5 cm

Diameter:                                  6.5 cm

Condition:                        Excellent Original Condition

Circa:                                    1900

Materials:                           Etched and Enamelled Cameo Glass                  

SKU:                                                6625

ABOUT

Daum’s unique technique common to all was that a clear vessel was blown with colour only on the inner surface or layer. An acid resist landscape was painted free-hand onto the vessel which was then etched by plunging into a hydrofluoric acid bath. The outer surface was then polished which gave the trees a ‘third dimension’ as the onlooker can see through the clear glass to the inner colour. Then the background was frosted, tricking the eye into thinking it is seeing coloured glass.

Three types of enamel were painted by the artist to complete the design: transparent enamel for the three dimensional trees, opaque enamel for the snow or the ground and a polychrome enamel for the details in the distance which could be hills or trees. Finally the piece was reintroduced to the heat to anneal the enamels with the base glass.

Some very rare examples such as the ‘Deep Winter’ design had an additional and more complicated process of applying a layer of cameo glass to the outer body before painting the acid resist. This had the effect of giving a more dense layer of snow or summer fields that could be further worked to give additional features in the landscape.

The many landscape vases of Daum were always examples of excellence and the skill of several different craftsmen.

Early 16c English oak panel with applied carved head of a Tudor lady

size 38 cms x 29cms deep and 3cms deep

A fine example of a pair of Trench Art egg cups from the British Army Medical Corps. WW1 1914-1918.

Jacques and Pierre Bellenger designed this original vintage poster in 1936.

This clever image shows that Bourin Quinquina is the perfect versatile beverage that can be enjoyed as an aperitif, while dining, and as an digestif.

Quinine based drinks such as Quinquina Bourin became popular as a result of France’s military skirmishes in North Africa at the turn of the century. Quinine combats malaria but tastes very bitter, so beverages were made that combined its bitterness with other flavours.

This is an original vintage poster; it is not a reproduction.

This poster is conservation mounted, linen backed and in excellent condition. Framed size

sharkskin technical drawing kit c1840

2012 A Pair Of Italian Signed Abstract Bronzes – wonderful scale, colour & patina! – priced separately

height 93cms width 33cms depth 33cms

height 95cms width 33cms depth 19cms