Posted 11 months ago
mcheconi
(42 items)
Just found this incredible piece and it promptly made think of Giambologna's turkey I saw at the Bargello in Florence which impressed me so much. It proved to be the right reference because later in my research I found commentary on this piece as being Elia Sala's tribute to the famous Renaissance piece.
I was able to find at least two other copies by the same artist online and a catalog from the exhibition "Fantastic Animals - Italian Sculptures Between the Two Wars" (page 50-51) from Berardi Art Gallery of Rome, that describes this piece as presented in 1919 at the Third Exhibition of the Lombard Artistic Federation at the famous Pesaro Gallery of Milan (page 11, #139 of the exhibition's catalog) .
Elia Sala (Also knows as Elio Sala, Elio Salya, Emilio Sala) was a painter, sculptor and architect, born in Milan in 1864 and the major part of his artistic career took place in Saint Petersburg and (mostly) Kiev during the Russian Empire. His works can be found in many buildings and public monuments throughout the city. He died in 1920 at Gorlaprecotto, Italy.
The piece is signed "E. Sala" at the base. It measures 23cm H x 14cm W x 20cm D (9.05 x 5.51 x 7.87 inches) and weighs 5 kg (11.02 pounds).
Link to Berardi`s exhibition catalog: https://www.berardiarte.com/pubblicazioni/fantastic-animals-italian-sculptures-between-the-two-wars/
Thank you for the visit!
Incredible indeed!! I love this sculpture.
Thank you jscott0363!
Thanks yougottahavestuff and Vynil33rpm for the love.
Very nice to see this sculpture in your collections. I love the best anamaliers and what they produce, altough I am most familier wih the French ones. A turkey would be one of the more complex of the birds. excellent aquisition !~
Hi Phil, thanks for your comment. To find a piece with some real artistic quality and relevance like this one, in the wild, for a low price is almost impossible these days, so I consder myself lucky to stumble upon this bird. Some time ago I found a lost Edouard Sandoz that had its entry removed from CW just because someone asked me if I would sell it and I answered "yes, please contact me by email" (I never told a word about price or anything else). Of course I'd rather find a lost Rembrandt Bugatti or a Pompon, but I am happy with these two birds I had the chance to save from the junkyard.
Hi mcheconi,
I saw your comment on one of BB2's posts. I miss him also, and sent a message to his email address, fauxpasunltd@gmail.com, around a year ago but got no response, maybe you will have better luck. I hope he is well but with covid around one never knows (we lost Malkey a couple yrs ago). It is nice to think of him enjoying life on beautiful St Maarten, maybe we'll see him come back one day
Best, Jenni (aka Newfld)
hey Jenni, thank you for your message. I will try sending an email too. Let`s hope he is doing OK. Take care!
Hi mcheconi, I rarely come on to site but just saw your message on my last post . So you are moving and I assume by now your in a new place ! That's wonderful . Hope all is well with you my friend xo
I remember seeing a Sandoz piece at a gallery in 1985. You probably could post it again if you leave out that word sell. Someday soon I will probably list some items as we cannot keep things forever, especially after one is gone !
Phil, I think you are right. I should repost the Sandoz bird, as it was a rare piece and a lucky find. It was actually an unique piece, as far as I know. I never found a single image of that bird, except on Sandoz's catalogue raisonné.