Milan Animal Sculptures

Boletto blue pig figurine from the Rimini Blu collection features a mold-made refractory white clay form. The vibrant blue glaze is enhanced by a finely incised decoration of varied ...

1970s Original big travertine elephant sculpture by F.lli Mannelli. The item is in excellent condition. Made in Italy. Dimension: 5,51 w x 1,18 D x 3,93 H inches L 14 cm x P 3 cm x c...

Pair of antique Italian rooster sculptures, hand-made in Italy in the early 20th century, in the Art Nouveau period, inspired to the Animalier style, ...

An African safari in the comfort of one’s home comes that much closer with this ceramic zebra statuette. The animal – at rest with its front legs crossed...

Playful true-to-life silver armadillo that serves as a lighter other than being a decorative artwork in its own right. Expertly made by the Florentine...

A symbol of strength and energy, the majestic head of the horse is represented in a fragmented cut that brings modernity to the entire sculpture. Since ancient times, it was believed...

Polpo is a hand-blown glass sculpture that captures the fluidity and grace of an octopus. "Light and silent, the sinuous movements of the octopus seem domesticated and united with th...

Silver-plated metal rhinoceros sculpture, made in the 1980s Ø cm 30 Ø cm 8 h cm 15

Green Murano glass duck sculpture, made by Archimede Seguso in the 1950s Ø cm 10.5 Ø cm 5 h cm 9 Archimedes Seguso was a renowned Italian entrepreneur and master glassmaker, consid...

Set of three Murano glass birds. Two of them designed by Alfredo Barbini for VAMSA. Original sticker on the young sparrow.

Black Forest carved hazelnut wood sculpture depicting two birds framed by oak branches, leaves, acorns with a terminal shield. Germany late 19th century.

Guido Cacciapuoti ceramic horses, 1940.

Ronzan “stile” Jaguar ceramic, 1950, Italy.

Murano glass and gold leaf elephant sculpture, the making of which is attributed to Ercole Barovier in the 1930s Ø cm 12.5 Ø cm 7 h cm 15 Ercole Barovier (1889 - 1974) was one of t...

1978 Tiffany & Co. ceramic crackle cat figurine porporri holder. Beige crackle finish ceramic holder with removable lid. Stamped Tiffany & Co. 1978 on the underside.

Made in Italy, 1980s. This is a high-quality handmade Sommerso glass decorative item. It might show slight traces of use since it's vintage, but it can be considered as in excellent ...

Russian ceramic sculpture depicting a polar bear, made in the 1950s Ø cm 11 h cm 11 Russian ceramics boasts a rich and long history dating back to t...

Bronze sculpture depicting a moving horse, fixed on a rectangular bronze base. France circa 1890.

1970s Original large travertine giraffe sculpture by Enzo mari for F.lli Mannelli. The item is in excellent condition. Made in Italy. Dimension: 2,75 w x 1,18 D x 7,87 H inches L 7 ...

A sculpture depicting a french buldog holding a pendulum clock. Over a green marble base, with moved profile of a bronze gilded depicting a French buldog, holding in his mouth a pend...

Italian modern Sculpture of standing bulldogge dog in beige black ceramic, 1970s Sculpture of standing olde english bulldogge dog, in beige an...

The collection includes a total of ten Murano glass pieces forged and painted by hand during the 1900s. They are made by master glassmakers; one is certainly traceable to a well-know...

Sculpture Of Fantastic Animal With Deity hand-carved from a single solid exotic wood, probably teak, with traces of polychromy, depicts the fictional lion figure, a lying guardian l...

This striking sculpture in the shape of a tiger-skin cat ("gatto tigrato" in Italian) is crafted of top-rate ceramic painted using white and black enamels. Rendered in whimsical and impressive details, this original decorative piece belongs to the Riedizioni Archivio Storico Collection, which includes Bitossi's cult designs...

Pair of bookend with enameled metal, depicting Pomeranian dogs sit on marble bases. England circa 1920.

Seguso.

1970s Original travertine horse sculpture by F.lli Mannelli. The item is in excellent condition. Made in Italy. Dimension: 1,77 w x 0,39 D x 1,57 H...

Made in Italy, 1950s. This piece is made in hand-painted ceramic and is signed by Ronzani. It is a vintage piece, therefore it might show slight traces of use, but it can be consid...

Iron sculpture of a Highland bull by Vittorio Piotti, modeled with the artist’s distinctive laminar, highly textured surface. The animal’s form is built through overlapping ridges, s...

1970s Original big travertine fish sculpture by F.lli Mannelli. The item is in excellent condition. Made in Italy. Dimension: 8,26 w x 1,18 D x 2,36H inches L 21 cm x P 3 cm x cm 6 H.

A polychrome murano glass rooster, from the 1950s, attributed to the firm SEGUSO and designed by Flavio POLI

Made in Italy, 1980s. This fish is made in polychrome Murano glass and features its original label. It is a vintage piece, therefore it might show slight traces of use, but it can be...

Sculpture of a stand grayhound that licks his wound. Patinated antimony over green marble base. France circa 1890.

This is an original piece by Raffaello Romanelli executed in 2011 after being commissioned by a private collector to the Galleria. The rhinoceros was modeled with clay looking at different pictures and the clay mold...

Pair Of Eagles In Carved And Gilded Wood from the mid-1800s, this pair of animalier carvings of birds of prey in carved and gilded wood represents a fascinating example of 19th-cent...

Pair of bookends in red veined Verona marble with an orthogonal L shaped structure, on the marble base there are two identical sculptures in white metal, depicting two Swallow birds....

Playful true to life silver frog that serves as a lighter other than being a decorative piece of artwork. Expertly handmade by the Florentine silversmiths, the Lisi Brothers, its rea...

Italian hunting decoy from the late 1950s, an owl-shaped ‘automaton’ with mechanical wing movement, used for hunting. The wings are moved by a cord connected to a spring. The cord mu...

1970s Original big travertine hedgehog sculpture by F.lli Mannelli. The item is in excellent condition. Made in Italy. Dimension: 3,93 w x 0,78 D x 3,93 H inches L 10 cm x P 2 cm x c...

Ceramic standing horse sculpture by Aldo Londi for Bitossi. Blue crystalline glaze enhancing the details of the decoration.

1970s Set of 4 Original travertine Anteater sculptures designed by F.lli Mannelli. There is a series of 70s Mannelli modernist travertine animals b...

Exceptional Centerpiece Alfredo Barbini V.A.M.S.A. Murano Glass 1940/50

GUIDO CACCIAPUOTI - from a family of Neapolitan majolica makers , Guido CACCIAPUOTI , moved to Milan at a very young age where he continued with his work with stoneware and created a...

BAROVIER & TOSO - bel cane disegnato e prodotto a MURANO, nelle fornace muranesi di BAROVIER & TOSO, negli anni 50 , con la raffinata accuratezza di questa raffinata ditta . Questo o...

This piece is one of the few that could be attributed to MARIO CACCIAPUOTI , in his brief stint with the MARIO CACCIAPUOTI AND C, In Milan. It is made of stoneware and plated with s...

This antique stone mask was probably used in a fountain. It is a very decorative Italian antique object. The mask fits as decorative object on a bureau o...

Gallo model bronze sculpture by Luciano Minguzzi. Limited edition of 1500 pieces. Number 451. Signed. Biography Luciano Minguzzi was born in Bologna in 1911 and died in Milan in 200...

German art decò polychrome porcelain eagle by Fritz Heidenreich for Rosenthal in the Selb department in 1930. Eagle sculpture in polychrome porcelain, resting on a rock also in porce...

Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramic statue of a feline animal cheetah, 1960s Ceramic statue of a cheetah in defense position. The animal has wide open mouth and eyes. Finely crafted ...

Hard porcelain bear modeled and painted in gray-brown and black Manufacture of Meissen, by Johann Gottlieb Kirchner and Johan Joachim Kaendler, 1735 It...

Parrot-shaped sculpture Psitaccus Dino Martens (1894 - 1970) Vetreria Artistica Rag. Aureliano Toso, 1953-1956 It measures 9.055 inches in height x 4.13 in x 5.90 in (23 cm, 10.5 cm x 15 cm) It weighs 1.997 lb (906 g) State of conservation: intact. The small glass sculpture...

Pair of bookends in veined green marble with orthogonal structure. On the marble base there are two identical metal sculptures, depicting two Toucan birds with an amber ball...

LARGE BASSANO CERAMIC, depicting black panther, fire-glazed. In perfect condition, original MADE IN ITALY 1960.

Silver sculpture depicting a piper, a dancer and a small dancing bear in the centre. Malachite base in the shape of a crescent moon Russia, around 1880.

Wonderful pair of Italian Baroque paperweights from the 1800s. The pair is made with a truly binding Onyx base. The onyx stone has been carved to make the paperweights semi-equal. Ab...

Sea monster Carrara marble mouth fountain Italy, late 16th century It measures 13.8 x 31.5 x 18.9 in (35 x 80 x 48 cm) State of conservation: some small evident gaps and widespread signs of wear due to outdoor exposure. The gray marks crossing it do not come from restoration, but are rather the natural veins of the marble. This work has some morphological characteristics typically associated with the iconography of the sea monster: an elongated muzzle, sharp teeth, protruding eyes, elongated ears, and a coiled serpent's tail. An in-depth series of studies on artistic depictions of the sea monster attempted to verify how this symbol evolved in antiquity in the European and Mediterranean contexts and how it gradually changed its image and function over time. The iconography itself is mutable and imaginative and its history is rich with cultural and artistic exchange, as well as the overlapping of ideas. This occurred so much that it is difficult to accurately pinpoint the "types" that satisfactorily represent its various developments. However, we can try to summarize the main figures, starting from the biblical Leviathan and the marine creature that swallowed Jonah (in the Christian version, this figure was to become a whale or a "big fish", the “ketos mega”, translation of the Hebrew “dag gadol”). Other specimens ranged from the dragons mentioned in the Iliad (which were winged and had legs) to "ketos” (also from Greek mythology), the terrifying being from whose Latinized name (“cetus”) derives the word "cetacean". See J. Boardman, “Very Like a Whale” - Classical Sea Monsters, in Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, in Papers presented in Honor of Edith Porada, Mainz am Rhein 1987, pp. 73-84). In Italy the monster underwent yet further variations: it can be found in Etruscan art on the front of some sarcophagi representing the companion of souls, while among the Romans we find the “Pistrice” (cited by Plinio in Naturalis Historia PLIN., Nat., II 9, 8 and by Virgilio in Eneide: VERG., Aen., III, 427), which appeared in the shape of a stylized hippocampus or a very large monstrous cetacean and evolved into a hideous being with a dragon's head and long webbed fins. During the Middle Ages, the sea monster was the object of new transformations: at this time, it is often winged, the head is stretched like a crocodile, the front legs are often very sharp fins - sometimes real paws - until the image merges with dragons, the typical figures of medieval visionary spirituality widely found throughout Europe (on this topic and much more, see: Baltrušaitis, J., Il Medioevo fantastico. Antichità ed esotismi nell’arte gotica, Gli Adelphi 1997). In Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries, the revival of classicism - representative of the humanistic and Renaissance periods - led to a different reading of these "creatures". Indeed, the sea monster was also to find widespread use as an isolated decorative motif, especially in numerous fountains and sculptures where dolphins or sea monsters were used as a characterizing element linked to water (on this theme see: Chet Van Duzer, Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps, London, The British library, 2013). From the morphological point of view, the "sea monsters" of this period are mostly depicted as hybrid figures, in which the body of a mythological or real being (a hippocampus, a sea snake, a dolphin), is joined to a head with a rather indistinct appearance. It was usually characterized by large upright ears, an elongated snout, sharp teeth and globular, protruding eyes; a complex and indefinite figure, both from the symbolic point of view and from that of its genesis. The work we are examining is placed as a cross between the medieval sea serpent and the Renaissance dolphin, with stylistic features which recall the snake as often used in heraldry (such as the "snake" depicted in the coat of arms of the Visconti - the lords and then dukes of Milan between 1277 and 1447 - and which, for some, may be derived from the representations of the “Pistrice” that swallowed Jonah). In the search for sources, Renaissance cartography and in particular woodcuts should not be neglected. See for example the monsters of Olaus Magnus, from the editions of the “Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus” (“History of the peoples of the north”) and the natural histories of Conrad Gesner, Ulisse...

Golden antimony metal sculpture, depicting an English Bulldog dog, mounted on a veined black marble base. Signed J. B. America circa 1890.

Italian modern black and white ceramic sculpture of Harlequin Great Dane dog, 1980s Large sculpture, depicting a Harlequin Great Dane dog, with a...

An original piece is of great quality and design, signed GUIDO CACCIAPUOTI, made in the 1940s and published in the various books concerning the production of this author.

'MANDRILLE' Sculpture by Pierre Christophe, known as Christophe (Seine-Saint-Denis, 1880 – Bordeaux, 1971), France, circa 1920s. The bronze sculpture features a dark patina and repre...