Late 19th Century Italy Solid Sandstone Bust of Woman With Flowers and a Palm Branch

Details

Description

This statue depicts a female bust of what appears to be a young woman holding an armful of flowers and … Read more This statue depicts a female bust of what appears to be a young woman holding an armful of flowers and a single palm branch. The Grand Tour style statue is fairly detailed and has a rough sandstone weathered texture overall except for the girls face, which is smooth and more life like than the rest of the sculpture. The piece weighs about 20lbs give or take and is too heavy to carry with one hand. It is a charming piece that appears to be hand sculpted but could be just as easily a caste stone artwork as well. No artists signature discoverable.(circa Italy 1950)

The Anecdotal Provenance - a Story Worth Repeating
This intriguing decorative figure was curated from an estate sale held by an Italian woman who se mother lived in Palm Desert CA. It was just after the COVID 19 travel restrictions were lifted. in July of 2021 As soon as i spotted the statue I was filled with the need to find out the backstory of the piece, So I sought out the host whose mother was the recently departed and whose belongings were being sold off to close the estate and so I inquired about the provenance of the statue. The daughter explained that it had come from Italy and was given to her mother Maria on her 16 birthday by her aunt on October 16th 1950. She went on to explain that it was a depicted effigy of Saint Maria Goretti the Catholic Saint who was born Oct 16th, 1902. It turns out that Marias family (the family of our hour hosts mother) lived for a short two year period of time in Corinaldo Italy the same hometown and birthplace of St. Goretti. Small world eh? But wait you say both of the women were named Maria? Oh wait there's more! it was in June 1950 that Maria Goretti was canonized by the Vatican to be considered a Saint in the Catholic Church. Maria's Aunt Theresa travelled to Italy to participate in the celebration of the canonization of Maria Goretti that June in 1950.. Just to clarify, that would be Maria the mother's aunt not Saint Marias aunt. Aunt Theresa purchased the statue and thought it would make a nice gift to give her niece Maria on the occasion of her 16th birthday to be celebrated a few month later on Saint Goretti's birthday on October 16th. She thought it would be the perfect birthday gift and in addition she had wanted to give Maria a souvenir from her trip to the religious event in Italy. By this time in hearing the story my head was spinning. Yours is too no doubt! I thought to myself, "with so many similarities is this merely a series of coincidences or a. conspiracy theory slowly being unraveled?"...
I wondered why this heirloom was not being held and kept in the family to be esteemed by generations to come and instead was being sold to the highest bidder. So I asked the woman why she was selling the statue given the amusing story she had just recited. She replied "Not only did I convert to Judaism when I married my husband a decade ago but my mother was not religious at all and it really was not a big deal to either of us and I have no kids so its an heirloom to be given to who? I don't think my mother had moved it off the shelf it has sat on since she moved into this place. 20 years ago." she then said you ought to buy it and pass the story along " Well we found it very charming and a story worth repeating! (I'm just glad I took notes) See less