Featured French 19th Century Spelter Sculpture of a Warrior

Hi, Some very fancy staircases have a lamp installed on the newel post at the bottom of the staircase. There are ones at the top of the staircase also.
greg

 

Thank you for the explanation. That must look great!
So I have to get myself a house with a staircase like that first. I already have the lamp..

 

Hi R. Antonis, What a great restoration. Your warrior looks amazing. Wow! I would guess the holes around the base may have been used to secure the lamp to the top of the newel.

 

That looks amazing. So that either raises or answers a question....

Does that mean that it was a lamp to begin with?

I thought that it was made as a sculpture, which was later transformed into a lamp. (Cited from: https://www.antiquers.com/threads/french-19th-century-spelter-sculpture-of-a-warrior.31763/page-2)

 

Hi R,
When I enlarge your restoration photos, judging by the thread in his hand that holds the bulb and glass shade, I think it has always been a lamp.
Others might see it differently.

 

Well... thats the whole reason I doubted it would be.
Because the thing he hold in his hand goes another direction.
(Not straight up, as the "lamp-pipe'' does)

 

I disagree, R. Antonis - wire is maleable, bendable, flexible. Whoever removed the original fixture bent it in the process. This was meant to have a lamp from the get-go.

 

Hello again R.,
The rod that runs up inside your warrior, which is now covered due to your excellent restoration but visible in your photos, I believe may be the original rod that could have held the electric wires. And just to make things more challenging, this rod could also have been used for gas lighting. I had two small gas wall sconces/lamps that had a similar rod system.
Whichever, you have a stunning object that has the added personal value of having been restored by you.

 

I agree, it has always been a lamp. The rod AuDragon mentioned could have been used for gas lighting. Later an electric wire would have passed through it, or it was meant for electricity from the start.

 

as long as it stays home and is not listed on platforms like catawiki.

 

Well, I guess that depends on you, and how special you display him (to keep him happy at home) or if USD$900 is too tempting (the price realised on catawiki).

 

It's for sale And I will try to offer it on Catawiki, but the problem is that they will probably give a reserve price too low, cause it has been restored. But we'll see

 

JMHO.
it's already a shame if those "experts" would accept it for being listed. but I wouldn't be amazed on catawiki.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that...

 

in France this figure is what they'd call a "nonvaleur" and no serious auction house would accept it for sale because it's simply an imperfect and repaired item.
this doesn not mean that your work on it is not well done and you invested much time on it, but that's the way it is with serious collectors.