Jan Verdonk, Paridur Bust of a Sleeping Child, 1920s, Plaster & Resin

Details

Description

About This Piece:

A tenderly modelled bust of a sleeping infant designed by the Dutch sculptor Jan Verdonk (1887–1962) and … Read more About This Piece:

A tenderly modelled bust of a sleeping infant designed by the Dutch sculptor Jan Verdonk (1887–1962) and cast by the Amsterdam workshop of Gebroeders van Paridon. The head inclines gently forward, eyes closed, the full cheeks and softly parted lips caught with real anatomical sensitivity, and rises from a shaped collar terminating in a faceted socle.

Executed in Paridur — the workshop's proprietary composite of plaster and synthetic resins — and finished in a warm honey-amber faux-bois, the grain drawn on by hand in fine brushed strokes. The effect is convincing enough to read as carved oak; the piece is, in fact, cast composite.

Impressed 521 GEBRvP on the reverse of the socle, and retaining its original oval Paridur label on the underside — an unusual survival on a cast of this age.

Verdonk trained at the Koninklijke School voor Nuttige en Beeldende Kunsten in 's-Hertogenbosch under Antoon Derkinderen, and was the son of the goldsmith Piet Verdonk and brother of the painter Ad Verdonk. The Van Paridon brothers opened their Jordaan studio at Rozenstraat 52 around 1905, producing plaster figures of composers and mythological subjects before becoming one of the Netherlands' foremost makers of devotional sculpture, exporting church statuary widely. Their shop opened on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in 1929, and the Rozenstraat ateliers remained in operation until 1980.

In good condition overall, with minor losses and light chipping to the crown and socle edge consistent with age. Weight 920 g. This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution See less