Pair of Monumental Italian Majolica Portrait Busts – Early 20th Century

A commanding and decoratively rich pair of hand-modeled and hand-painted majolica portrait busts depicting a male and female figure in period costume, each resting on a turned socle decorated with faux rosso antico marble banding. They have been photographed on a square burl wood pedestal. Sold separately.

The busts are of substantial scale and exceptional painterly quality, with the bold polychrome palette and expressive characterization characteristic of the best Southern Italian and Sicilian majolica workshops of the 19th century.

The male figure is depicted wearing a broad-brimmed hat festooned with fruit and floral garlands – a motif rooted in the Baroque and Commedia dell’Arte traditions – with a pointed goatee and arched brows rendered with theatrical precision. His doublet is painted white with floral sprigs and button details, beneath a green jacket with ochre-trimmed edges. The female figure is presented with coiled auburn hair and full lips slightly parted; her draped garment is painted in olive green, ochre, and amber, evoking the fluid handling of sculptural drapery. Both faces are finished in a crisp opaque tin glaze white ground, the defining technical achievement of the Italian majolica tradition, against which the polychrome decoration reads with extraordinary vividness.

The form and treatment of these busts place them firmly within the tradition of Italian busti ritratto, decorative portrait sculpture in glazed earthenware, practiced most prolifically in Naples, Sicily, and Tuscany from the 17th century onward. The theatrical character of the male figure, with his fruit-laden hat and expressive face, may reference the figure of Pulcinella or related Commedia dell’Arte archetypes, while the female recalls the idealized peasant portraits celebrated by Neapolitan and Sicilian workshops producing for the Grand Tour market.
As mentioned above the pedestals are also available for purchase, please inquire for pricing.