Posted 13 years ago
tenyeart
(1 item)
My mother and father picked this up from a lady that lived next door to them. It is a handcarved marble statue of "Rebecca at the Well". It is 8ft. tall and on the top is a lamp carved out of marble. the only thing in it that isnt marble is the wire and the light bulb, oh and the steel rod going through the middle.They got it in 1975 i do believe and my mother thinks the lady got it in the 20's or 40's. We have tried to do research on it but to no aveil.It says on the bottom italy. Any help would be great on finding the history of this item , or even the worth of this item.Thanks for the great show!
Amazing wonderful item! You are blessed and highly favored... Thanks for sharing!
It's really something. I am find a few examples of Rebecca at the well alabaster lamps dating from the 1900's. This might be what this is made of. I can't even imagine how much they cost back then, but I'm betting find this exact one will be hard to find.
Im thinking that some of it is alabaster, but her dress and other peices look to be marble. Also i have looked all over the web and have found none that compare. I woudnt think that they would have only made one. But i suppose that if that were the case it would make it even better.
Soapstone?
My Mom has a statue that is very similar. I know it was purchased in Italy in the eariler half of the 1900's. Other than that, we don't know much. It looks to have been done by the same sculptor though and the marble looks identical. Ours, however, is not on a pedestal and is probably 3 1/2 ft. tall. Please post if you find any new info!
I have one that is like it, the dress is a slightly different color. It's more translucent. It's a beautiful piece, especially the carved light cover.
j
These pieces were NEVER made in the first half of the 19th century as Missy thinks. They were made in the early 20th century mainly during the teen years and into the 20's when alabaster was very popular and easier to carve than marble. Alabaster will let light shine through whereas marble will not. This entire lamp is made of alabaster. The lighter face is made of white alabaster whereas the body is a brown alabaster. Alabaster was sometimes stained also in those days, so the dress may be stained, but from the photos its hard to tell. Its a beautiful piece and remember going into a store in the 80's, and they must have had at least 10 such lamps including the later deco ones. Very impressive piece, you are lucky to have such luck to own one.
She does look like Rebecca, though Rebecca usually had an urn beside her. They also made a lot of them in the Egyptian princess or Cleopatra style as in the 1920's Carter had opened the tomb and Egyptian style was very popular again.
I have the same exact statue, originally purchased by my grandparents. My mother had it appraised in the late 1980's. The appraisal says it is marble and made in Italy in the 1940s. Our dome top was broken and repaired in the 1960s. The appraisal came in at $3500 taking the damage into account. My mom recently passed and I have no interest in keeping the statue. I'm looking to donate it if I can't find a buyer. I haven't tried selling it yet. Any suggestions?
A comment/question from JJD was emailed to me but I don't see it here.
I never found a buyer but I didn't try very hard. As a matter of fact, I don't remember posting it anywhere. I did try to donate it to temples and churches but surprisingly with no success. Again, I only reached out to about 5 places. I gave it to a new friend about 6 months who loved it. My grandmother and mother had cherished it and it made me feel good that the statue was going to someone who appreciated the sentimental value and loved the piece itself.