Sacred Heart & Virgin Mary with Infant Jesus - Irish Antique

Sacred Heart & Virgin Mary with Infant Jesus - Irish Antique - Polychrome Plaster Freestanding Statues - Pair c1900s - RS125

A beautifully made, antique plaster statues of The Sacred Heart and Virgin Mary carrying Jesus, probably made in Dublin, Ireland at the start of the 20th Century, although there are no marks. The statues are freestanding and measures 12.75" or 32.5cm in height, including the coloured plinths. The Sacred Heart is approx. 4.5" or  11cm wide and the Virgin Mary is 3.5" or 9cm wide.Both measure aprox. 3.5" or 7.5cm deep. 

Originally dating from the very early 1900's, we know that they were displayed as a pair for over fifty years, standing together in a nook in the wall of a convent chapel in West Cork, Ireland and they were purchased from the estate when the Nuns moved home. As the pair have been together for such a long time we hope to keep them together now.

This is a better than normal representation of Jesus Christ, the Sacred Heart.  He is looking down at the ground before Him. The decoration was at one time in bright colours (termed polychrome); the red colour of His robe shows lots of wear over the years, and although it has been subject to some knocks and scratching and vigorous cleaning in times past, it still shows the unusual gold adornment to His toga. There is very little actual damage to the statues - although Mary does show signs of refurbishment, only on some of the paintwork.  Some of the highlights to the robes, originally in a bright gold colour, have darkened over the years giving a hint to the true age of this work. The hands of Christ, clearly pierced, are pointing to The Sacred Heart.  Lovely artefacts, hand-painted religious figures beloved of those of the Catholic Faith. These are early original statues, both very well painted and not a later copies. Both have been painted by the same person, and you can tell by the eyes that have a downcast humility to them, that this is the technique used by the artist.

The plinth for the sacred Heart is coloured in green and brown to represent the earth and grass; that of the Virgin Mary is white. Individually they weigh approx 0.75kg or 1.6lb without any packaging. The condition is 'good antique condition for its age', with some chips and scratches or rubbing to the paint colours as mentioned - but no more than would be expected. The wear on the statues, the Sacred Heart in particular, give the impression of having been loved and handled by many. The statues have only been given a light dust, so are in original 'as found' condition.

Your purchase will be carefully packed in recycled wrappings where possible and despatched by An Post or Courier Service.

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