PLASTER MAQUETTE BY GIOVANNI NICOLINI (ITALIAN 1872-1956)
'CREDI A ME', OR SATYR AND NYMPH, CIRCA 1910
Auction: Day Two | Thurs 4th Sept at 10am | Lots 403 to 727
Description
patinated plaster, the base with incised signature ‘Nicolini, Roma’ and also ‘H. Richir’ with another indistinct inscription below
Dimensions
73cm high, 44cm wide, 34cm deep
Provenance
Herman Jean Joseph Richir (Belgian 1866-1942), who was a friend of Nicolini and presumably was gifted the piece, it is understood that Richir also patinated this plaster. Thence by descent to his daughter Ann-Marie Vroonen, who sold it to the current vendor.
Footnote
For an auction comparable see Pandolfini, Florence, Sculture dal XV al XIX Secolo, 26 October 2023, lot 99, a slightly larger version of this composition in white marble.
Giovanni Nicolini was born in Palermo and studied under the Italian sculptor Vincenzo Ragusa at the Museo Artistico Industriale. Nicolini later moved to Rome to work for the naturalist sculptor Giulio Monteverde (1837-1917), where he won the national prize with his relief of Le Marie al Sepolcro and the sculptures La Meditazione and Il Risveglio. His oeuvre ranges from literary to historical and mythological subjects. He is best known for his sculptures in Rome, such as La Calabria (1907) and Trionfo Politico (1911). See A. Panzetta, Nuovo Dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell'Ottocento e del Primo Novecento, volume 2, pp. 651-652. An identical composition to this piece was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1910.