"Golden Youth, " Exceptional Nude Male Sculpture by Jared French, Cadmus estate

This sensuous ceramic piece depicts a beautifully sculpted nude figure embracing an exaggerated grape cluster, sculpted by Kai Nielsen for Bing & Grondahl in Copenhagen. While all examples of this piece are rare, the glazes here are extremely unusual, emphasizing a dark ebony color contrasting with a rich purple for the grapes. Officially noted as a "drunken young man," this piece was one of a series depicting wine-lovers issued in 1912, which also included a Bacchus on a donkey, a satyr boy with grapes, and a satyr paired with a woman. Nielsen was a noted sculptor in Denmark, active in the early 20th century, who was heavily influenced by Rodin and Maillol and dealt often with mythological subjects. His bronzes and ceramic pieces have been auctioned by dealers in Copenhagen...

This highly rare bronze of a nude male athlete preparing to left a heavy kettlebell weight was sculpted by an Austrian artist, Franz Seifert, in 1922. Although Seifert is known for his nude figures straining to accomplish physical tasks -- such as carrying a large bucket or splitting a stone -- this sculpture is the only example known to exist. A decade after this sculpture was cast, Seifert carved a marble portrait of Siegfried Marcus, inventor of the gasoline-powered car, for a monument in Vienna, which includes a nude male figure in bas relief racing forward on the upper edge of an automobile wheel. He also created a large sculpture grouping honoring Empress Elizabeth...