Description

This is a beautiful antique pair of Venetian, polychrome painted and giltwood Blackamoor torcheres in the Rococo revival style, circa 1840 in date.
Each has a shaped marblised top with a gilt gadrooned edge, held aloft by a turbaned Nubian boy dressed in colourful heraldic garb holding a tazza and terminating in scrolled, rocaille and leaf clasped on outswept tripod legs.
It is a very beautiful pair and a wonderful example of Venetian art.

Backamoor figures (Italian moretto, moretti) are depictions of dark-skinned Africans used in sculpture, jewelry, armorial designs and decorative art.

The blackamoor is typically male, depicted with a head covering, usually a turban, and covered in rich jewels and gold leaf. They are typically enamelled, carved from ebony or painted black to contrast with the bright colours of the embellishments. Depictions may only represent the head, or head and shoulders, facing the viewer in a symmetrical pose.

In decorative sculpture the full body is depicted, either to hold trays as virtual servants or bronze sconces to hold candles or light fixtures. They may be incorporated into small stands, tables, or andirons. They are often portrayed in pairs. Andrea Brustolon (1662–1732) was the most important sculptor of blackamoors. Often these blackamoors are in acrobatic positions that would be impossible to hold for any extended length of time for a real person.

Size; 45 cm deep x 45 wide x 93 high

Price; £ 1,850