Doe and Hope

Description

The very decorative ecclesiastical and architectural angel figure support, modelled in plaster, issuing from acanthus foliage, and having an acanthus leaf top the two wings outspread and the whole later applied to a panel of support, the figure with a beautiful sea green patination to the gesso and plaster composition surface and having traces of original gilding, surviving from the first half of the eighteenth century and most likely from an ecclesiastical setting.

Showing a quite wonderful patination commensurate with age, having been possibly placed partially exterior, the mount is in fragile condition but remains largely in tact. Care must be taken when moving the piece as the flanks and some of the mouldings are loose. Having said that she is delicate, she is largely in tact with one obvious piece of loss to the lower left side with the acanthus scrolls having loss to the ends. There are no repairs or signs of any restoration to note and thus she remains in desirable original condition, completely untouched since her conception. The piece is a little crudely later mounted onto an old door panel to give her the stability she needs to be hung on a wall but it could be removed and reattached to a different support with a bit more panache.

The piece is rather difficult to date to an exacting decade though the fragility and patination, coupled with the style and materials used all point to first half of the eighteenth century. There is a possibility she could be French but we think the piece is probably English and was part of a larger composition in an ecclesiastical environment. Her curved shape points to the possibility she was mounted on one side of a curved doorway, acting as the top part décor of the jamb.

A very pretty and substantial sculptural fragment, and a swirling tempest of outstanding colour and patination.