Lighting the way
Statuesque lady an unusual design statement,
This marble statue/lamp on a tall column base was given to me several years ago. I believe it may date to the 1920s or 1930s and was bought in Montreal. With the base, which is separate and square-topped, it stands about 198 centimetres high. The figure with the lamp bowl on her head is 91 cm, including its black-and-white mottled bottom. The figure and the lamp bowl come apart at the figure’s bust line. There is writing on the statue’s base indicating it comes from Italy. Can you tell me anything about this piece? I have always wanted the sweeping staircase in the mansion hallway that would do it justice. MONICA, Ottawa
A sweeping staircase would certainly do this lovely lady credit. Made of alabaster, rather than the more costly marble you suggest, she does indeed date from the 1920s or ’30s. The lamp’s flowers and draped gown might suggest an Art Nouveau heritage, but these lamps are more associated with the later Art Deco period.
The contrasting pink colour is especially nice and the fact that your lady is semi-nude will boost her value somewhat, since nudity was a rather unusual design statement in those more conservative times.
Your lamp very likely had a dome topping the bowl and yours is not the first such lamp to have lost its original dome. This is a pity, since complete lamps are worth quite a bit more. A sculptor’s signature would also increase the value. Still, your lamp will be worth $400. I would like to know more about this bust I believe to be of George V by sculptor/artist T. Carli. I purchased it at a farm auction about 10 years ago, somewhere to the east of Ottawa. I don’t recall paying more than $15 for it. I understand the sculptor carved many church statues in Quebec at the end of the 19th century. The bust measures 36 cm high and weighs 2.38 kg. Is it possibly plaster of paris or chalkware? PAM, Alcove, Que.
This is Edward VII, predecessor to George V — although the two men did look remarkably alike. Edward reigned from 1901 until his death in 1910, lending his name to the Edwardian era. He was a great diplomat and a famous patron of both arts and sciences.
Your plaster bust was made by Italian artist Thomas Carli (1838 to 1906), who came to Montreal in the 1850s. He set up a workshop in 1867 and built a successful business creating decorative plaster and wood carvings of crucifixes, monuments and other church ornaments.
Your bust would originally have been painted in realistic colours, highlighting the King’s dress and medal adornments. This could be restored, increasing your bust’s value. Signed pieces by known Canadian sculptors are uncommon; as is, I think a Monarchist collector might pay $90. Restored, it could command as much as $275. I have a pair of chairs that came from an uncle’s family home in Chateaugay, Que., east of Montreal. Sadly, he stripped them in the 1960s but did not refinish them in any way. The chairs have been re-caned and are 91 cm high. DAVID, Orléans
Actually, what you have is a pair of early slat-back chairs with properly restored splint seats, not cane seats. Chairs of this style were made in great numbers in Quebec and Ontario from 1820 to 1840.
The design is a simpler version of those made in the United States in the later 1700s. The splint seats are often made from the inner bark of elm. Two of the posts on one chair are striking tiger maple, and the other woods could be yellow birch.
As primitive as these chairs appear, there is much skill involved in making them. The subtle ring-turned decorations, the nice urn-shaped finials and the fine scribe marks delineating where the slats fit into the posts all are signs of quality. Generally, these chairs are not that popular today and do not sell well. Still, this pair should be worth $250 to an early Canadiana collector.