Pair of Ebonized Blackamoors on Pedestals

This pair are distinguished from most by the very high quality carving of both the figures and pedestals. Often the Venetian carvers would produce either a white youth in blackface, or a stage version of a black person. These, in contrast, treat sympathetically the subject and model the figures with regard to how such a couple might actually look. He is modelled holding aloft a plinth; she stands gracefully in attendance, dressed in draped shawl and a skirt. Each stands on a panelled shaped square plinth on a low columnar pedestal. They are neither guyed nor prettyfied but treated with respect by a master-carver. They are very Orientalist in sensibility and make one think of the paintings of Rudolf Ernst or Ludwig Deutch and their treatment of such subjects there is a panel of calligraphy that we have not yet been able to translate.

Width 17"

Depth 17"

Height 63"

D2802