Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

A FINE PAIR OF ITALIAN CARVED WALNUT FIGURES OF YOUNG HUNTSMEN

ATTRIBUTED TO VALENTINO PANCIERA BESAREL (ITALIAN 1829-1902), C1880

each wearing Renaissance costume and with various hunting accoutrements, including: a flask, a horn and a bag, one holding up a fish trophy with nets at his side, the other a falconer, holding aloft a hawk, with his trusty hound and dead game beside him, each standing on a naturalistic base (2)

147.4cm and 148.8cm high

Provenance

The Allcroft Family, 'The Hall' Stokesay Court, Shropshire.

Acquired by the present owner from Sotheby's, Stokesay Court, Shropshire, 28th September 1994, lot 42.

Catalogue Note

Valentino Panciera, known as Besarel, was born in Zoldo near Belluno on 29th July 1829. He belonged to a family of carvers and carpenters but his style was heavily influenced by the 17th century sculptor Andrea Brustolon. During the 1860s he established his workshop in Venice on the Grand Canal. He soon became famous for creating exquisite sculpture and furniture for wealthy clients, even royalty, Edward, Prince of Wales, was a known patron. At the age of fifty-six, through carelessness, he cut off the fingers of his right hand. However, with his strong willpower and the use of prosthesis he continued to work. In 1878 he exhibited at the Paris Universelle Exposition where he won a gold medal. He died in Venice in 1902.

Stokesay Court is a country house and estate in the parish of Onibury in Shropshire. It is described by John Newman in the Shropshire volume of Pevsner's Buildings of England as 'the most grandiloquent Victorian mansion in the county'. It was built for John Derby Allcroft, who had made his fortune as a glover, by the architect Thomas Harris. The work lasted from 1889 and 1892 and was finished only six months before Derby Allcroft's death. Following Jewell Magnus-Allcroft's death in 1992 the contents were sold by Sotheby's in 1994 to fund building repairs. The court was the main location for the filming of the 2007 movie, Atonement, featuring Kiera Knightley and James McAvoy.

Literature

Illustrated in Michael Hall, The Victorian Country House-From the archives of Country Life', p.147.