Past Auctions

After Antoine Louis Barye (French 1795-1875) Pair of Heavy Cast Bronze Figural Elephant Vases
signed “A. Barye”
Height 11 1/2 inches, diameter 9 inches
Condition: good condition, light oxidation to both bases

Estimate: $500 - $1000

French Sandstone Corbel with a Winged Lion, 15th Century
A carved sandstone architectural corbel depicting a winged lion in vigorous profile, the creature shown crouching beneath a projecting molded capital. The lion’s wings are rendered with tightly scored feathering, and the surrounding architectural elements retain crisp Gothic detailing. The sculptural block embodies the animated bestiary imagery favored throughout late-medieval French ecclesiastical architecture.
13 inches, 17 inches 22 inches
Provenance: Sothebys, New York, Lot 128
Property of the Philadelphia Museum of Art sold to benefit the Acquisitions fund
Purchased with Philadelphia Museum funds from the George Grey Barnard Collection, 1945
Literature: Martin Weinberger, The George Grey Barnard Collection, New York, 1941, no. 92, pl. XXVII;
Joan A. Holladay and Susan L. Ward, Gothic Sculpture in America, vol. III, The International Center for Medieval Art, New York, 2016, p. 445.
Fantastic beasts appeared in architecture throughout the Middle Ages. The present sculpture would have supported a statue or the springing of a vault, and it has been suggested that this piece may have served an heraldic function in a family chapel (Gothic Sculpture, op. cit., p. 445).

Estimate: $3000 - $5000