Italian Plaster Cherub with White Polished Agate Coral Wings and Base.

Italian plaster cherub with polished agate coral wings on an 18th century Italian gilded candlestick base with polished agate slices. The Italian 18th century gilded base is origina...

18th century Italian holy water font with two angels framed with polished agate coral wings on fossil coral.  The Italian holy water front is from a historical Italian church and is...

This is a vintage flying cherub. An Italian, plaster putto figure with leather hanging strap, dating to the late 20th century, circa 1980. A decorative accent piece, ideal for suspen...

A large-scale white bisque porcelain putto or cherub statue standing on an ornate bombe plinth by 19th century French ceramicist Gille Jeune. Dating from the 1860s, this statue is over 150 years old. It depicts an infant – known as a cherub or putto – wearing a head band with a swathe of fabric draped over his arm and thigh. He sits upon a tree stump or rock with his arms raised and castanets in his hands. Thanks to its scale and provenance, it is a breath-taking statue for an interior or gallery, both the putto and the plinth inscribed with the maker’s mark ‘Gille Jne, Fabt. Paris’. Gille Jeune, Paris Parisian ceramist Jean-Baptiste Gille (1798-1868) was one of the leading manufacturers of French bisque porcelain - also known as biscuit porcelain - of the 19th century. In 1836, he established his own porcelain factory in Paris under the name ‘Gille Jeune’. His work was displayed in many prestigious exhibitions including London’s 1851 Great Exhibition where he was awarded a prize medal, the 1862 exhibition in London and the Paris exhibition in 1867. Four of his cherub works in the same style and scale reside at Hughenden House in Buckinghamshire as part of the National Trust’s collection. These include two of Gille’s depictions of the four seasons and a putto playing a flute as well as a putto with castanets like this one dating from 1855-1864. For this reason, we can say with some certainty that this antique cherub statue...