Folk Art Sculpture

Folk Art Sculpture.

Engaging Primitive Head and Shoulders Portrait Bust.
With Reductive Timeworn Features.
Hand Carved and Naturally Patinated Limestone.
English, circa 1770.

A genuine "barn find" this primitive stone head was probably originally made as a gate post finial or boundary marker. The sculpture is reminiscent of some early gravestone carvings and may have been made by a stonemason for his own purposes, but there is something unquestionably individual about it and its engaging naïve quality. The reverse side is uncarved and left raw, whilst the facial features are primitive and reductive, with just a suggestion of the eyes each side of the simple geometric nose, set beneath the interesting stylised "hair" which was probably carved as a wig. The surface shows evidence of much weathering and natural patination to the carved stone. Discovered in the English Cotswold region, hidden in an old Cotswold stone barn we know nothing more about its history. It has a strong Georgian feel about it, and we suggest an origin around c.1770, but it may be from an altogether earlier period. Whatever, it is an exciting discovery and a previously unknown work of naïve folk art sculpture, which has natural charm and integrity.

Dimensions

Price on application

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

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