18th Century French Folk Art Sculpture St Joseph Patron Of Carpenters Circa 1780
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:38598 | Style: French folk art - 18th century |
| Original/Reproduction: Original | Age: Pre-1800 |
| Country/Region of Origin: France - Brittany |
18thcentury French folk art wooden sculpture of St. Joseph, Catholic Patron of Carpenters, circa 1780We purchase collections of Continental lighting, metalwork, ceramics, glass & textiles, enabling me to offer a quantity of rareantiques. Please register my store/page in your favorites, for a fine range of 14th to 19th century period metalwork, lighting& other pieces, all guaranteed, as to age, condition & origin. Ihave far more than I can possibly keep up with, as to eBay �...�� and, internationalbuyers cannot otherwise "see" pieces listed on eBay UK. Text, formatting & images © 2019 – R. JosefBurdett-Williamson – all rights reserved.Breveté, 2019, par M. R. Josef Burdett-Williamson. ATTENTION – défense de reproduction ! We are veryserious, as to Intellectual Property rights – any violations are reported toeBay,
and our Intellectual Properties attorneys in Leeds & Paris. Please readall my terms of sale carefully!Elly BurdettThis is in England.Pieces in the group photo are for scale.You are only buying the sculpture.Free collection by appt. is possible near York:my large antiques room & many new arrivals can be viewed. Please note: For those not familiar with my eBay store, you are dealing with 2different people in England & France. I’m an antiques dealer, & exhibitat UK antiques shows; my associate in France is an expat American historian ofEuropean Decorative Arts & guest museum curator, with 45 years of advancedexperience. Sincerely, ET Burdett Dear friends & clients: We have more Fine Arts & Antiques than we canbegin to keep up with, as to eBay – at least 4, 000 period pieces. Group photos will give you a slightidea of the depth of my collections, and Elly's inventory - keep watching thispage. R. Josef Folk art, in any country, is such a vast & rich subject thatit can only be addressed in the broadest fashion, in survey books that arenon-specific, or others that focus on a narrow range. In the French context, one of the very best surveys is the most excellent volume, L’ARTPOPULAIRE EN FRANCE (printed in Switzerland, Office du Livre, 1975), by Monsieur Jean Cuisenier, who was the senior curator of the French National Museum of Folk Art, ethnologist, and the director of research for the CNRS (the French governmentthink-tank).It is far more than a "coffee table" book, and covershistory, theory, diffusion and diversification with both intelligence anderudition. I have it in France, and recently bought a duplicate for Elly’shouse in England; I regard it as indispensable for addressing not just French, but Continental folk art. Elly recently sold a Friesian/chip-carved bed-smoothingboard that was most certainly a wedding presentation gift, and a masterpiece ofEuropean folk art: it displayed a wide variety of folk motifs that arethoroughly established as being protective devices, including the Tree of Life, daisy and solar wheels, X’s, hearts, and several “saw-tooth” variants on both cross-hatching and the “rainbowserpent”. Outside of strictly academic ethnologists, Cuisenieris one of the few folk art authorities to address protectivemotifs – and he also illustrates a number of patron saints in sculpted wood (mostlypolychromed).This rare French folk art sculpture depicts Joseph in hisclassic Catholic role as the patron of Carpenters: for a detailed discussion, see the excellent online reference Wikipedia(and please support – I do, several times a year). This came from a reliabledealer in Brittany whom I have frequently purchased from - he acquired it directlyfrom a compagnon’s (French master guildsman) wood-working atelier, where it had been on display for more than 150 years. Personally, I think it’ssad that more people don’t respect their own family heritage – I have afabulous 19th century Louis Philippe period lace-maker’s table Ibought very locally not long ago, at a flea market. I asked the seller if heknew where it came from, and was shocked by the answer – the table was made byhis great-great-great grandfather, in the renowned tapestry town of Aubusson.This sculpture is in the UK, and I’m in France, so I can’t minutely examine it for tracesof early paint, but it might well have been polychromed. The grain resemblesoak, but it more likely chestnut, and there are a few very old andinactive bug holes (what Brits euphemistically refer to as “historical woodworm”).Obviously, the base is a later replacement. Please keep in mind that circa means exactly that - about - this could be earlier, or slightly later - the stylized nature of the sculpting is hard to precisely date.
Another important reference source on folk art and objects ofdomestic life is the numerous French volumes of Roger Verdier – I’ve beenslowly accumulating them, but still have a ways to go, in that he published 30or more, many of which focus on folk art. As with many other categories of material culture, what you seeon Elly’s eBay page is a tiny fraction of what we own, and this comment verymuch applies to Continental metalwork, glass, lighting, ceramics, textiles, furniture, folk art and treen. Due to the sheer volume of our buying, we aremonths behind in offering many pieces for sale – unless of course one visits, in either France or England. We have expanded our horizons in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Italy, where we now purchase & trade with numerouscollector/dealers, and also buy in quantity from several auction houses. Wehave increased not only our buying, but also my reference library, and inseveral languages – definitive (and usually out-of-print) volumes arrive nearlyevery week.This is one of many pieces of early Continental Decorative arts Ellywill be offering, including quite a few from private collections - one alonecontained 200 early lamps – supplemented by summers of non-stop buying on theroad in Western Europe – do keep an eye on Elly’s eBay page/store.We areindependently listed with the NewEngland Appraisers Association, underEngland or France.Condition: as-seen, and as described – but basically excellent. There is the usual overall minorwear, and the base is a more-recent replacement. Please examine the photosclosely – they are an integral part of the description. Note: Photos are high resolution – use magnification forviewing details. Please ask, if you wish more.© R. JosefBurdett-Williamson Certified expert & appraiser, New England Appraisers Association.FoundingTrustee, NewBedford Museum of Glass.Height – 15 & 3/4" (40 cm.): width – 5 & 1/8" (13 cm.). Weight – 1.7 kilos, not including packaging.Insuredmailing within the UK is £11; to the EU is£20 – to North America is £24.
We don't charge for packing & handling, & always offer grouped rate posting, with no time limits.We ship from both France & the UK– please read listings carefully – rates& conditions are substantially different.Important!We usually mail within3 to 7 working days from clearance of payment: but request that buyers beunderstanding of delays due to illness, severe weather, or computer problems: this is strictly a small business, with noemployees! Intolerantbuyers, or those leaving less than 5-star feedback (no longer invisible) willbe black-listed. This is not a"decorator" shop - eBay’s Consumer Goods-generated “Hassle-freereturns” policy does not apply to arbitrary whim, or unqualifiedopinion! Returns areaccepted - if: there is amajor problem with the age, condition or origin of a piece as described;and this is confirmed by aqualified expert with professionalcredentials. Photographs of anyalleged damage are required - they are mandatory for insurance claims.What you pay for shippingis our actual cost – international shipping is stupidlyexpensive - we have absolutely no control over rates – I lose 4% to PayPal, and often absorb extra costs, such as double-boxing.International buyers – please inquire, as to mailing costs!Note:Our independent certifications withthe New England Appraisers Association (in both France & England) expedite Customsclearances, and prevent duties being incorrectly imposed on antiques conformingto the 100 years legal dateline, thus saving buyers 10% to 43% in relevant countries. From France, the postalsystem is fast, efficient, flexible, & based on weight; rates haverecently changed, but often remain less than those of the UK. Up to 2 kilos to North America costs 36Euros; up to 5 kilos to North America costs 53 Euros; up to 10 kilosis 100 Euros, & 20 kilos is 160 Euros – plus 1 Euro per 100 Euros insurance coverage, to a maximumof 1, 000 Euros. Buyers can lowercosts on grouped purchases, depending on the size of the parcel, &insurance coverage - several pieces in one parcel are usually lessexpensive, as to per-item shipping cost – but do ask first!From the UK - Royal Mail can only be used for internationalparcels under 2kilos; measuring less than 90 centimeters total, and with a maximum insurance value of £250 (a recent, &exceedingly dumb decision): FedEx or UPS shipping is largelyvolumetric – the cost of sending a 5-kilo parcel is only marginally higher than1 or 2 kilos – 5 kilos toNorth America can be as little as £50 - versus £28 to £32 for 1 kilo – depending on the size of the parcel, & insurance coverage. Buyers can usually lower shippingcosts on grouped purchases – but again, please ask first. Payments:PayPal, French or UK checks, or bank drafts, & all banktransfers accepted. We areobliged to accept PayPal, but prefer bank transfers, or UK or French checks -PayPal takes a 4% bite out of all transactions - including shipping costs.Please feel free to contact us for grouped rates, andcommissioned, or guided buying in France - including partial or completecontainers, with related services. For period furniture (which we also collect, buy & sell) & other bulk shipping from France to Western Europe &the UK, we can arrange low-cost transport (depending on destination) via bonded& insured shippers.My business associate is an expatriate American historian ofDecorative Arts, a published antiques editor & writer, guest curator, certified appraiser, & internationally respected authority in early glass, lighting, metalwork, sculpture, period furniture & other categories. He hasplaced pieces with French & US museums, including the Smithsonian, &assists me with acquisitions, research & texts. You can buy from me, withconfidence in your purchases. We are separate and private, academic collectors, looking to defray the costs of advancing with our own collections. R. Josef is the only EuropeanDecorative Arts specialist for the NewEngland Appraisers Association residing in theEuropean Union, and is available for expertise or arbitration. We areindependently listed with the New EnglandAppraisers Association, forFrance or the UK – or see my professional contact details, as provided beneath eBayUK listings. ET BurdettDear buyers – apologies for the intrusive copyrightlines, but they are there because R. Josef is an extensively published expertwith ongoing academic & commercial commissions, including forthcomingbooks. Listings often contain original research & information that has notappeared before; several British & Continental eBay sellers have beenreported for plagiarizing formatting & texts. Theiraccounts were canceled – we fiercely protectour Intellectual Property rights – and in court, when necessary.
00053
and our Intellectual Properties attorneys in Leeds & Paris. Please readall my terms of sale carefully!Elly BurdettThis is in England.Pieces in the group photo are for scale.You are only buying the sculpture.Free collection by appt. is possible near York:my large antiques room & many new arrivals can be viewed. Please note: For those not familiar with my eBay store, you are dealing with 2different people in England & France. I’m an antiques dealer, & exhibitat UK antiques shows; my associate in France is an expat American historian ofEuropean Decorative Arts & guest museum curator, with 45 years of advancedexperience. Sincerely, ET Burdett Dear friends & clients: We have more Fine Arts & Antiques than we canbegin to keep up with, as to eBay – at least 4, 000 period pieces. Group photos will give you a slightidea of the depth of my collections, and Elly's inventory - keep watching thispage. R. Josef Folk art, in any country, is such a vast & rich subject thatit can only be addressed in the broadest fashion, in survey books that arenon-specific, or others that focus on a narrow range. In the French context, one of the very best surveys is the most excellent volume, L’ARTPOPULAIRE EN FRANCE (printed in Switzerland, Office du Livre, 1975), by Monsieur Jean Cuisenier, who was the senior curator of the French National Museum of Folk Art, ethnologist, and the director of research for the CNRS (the French governmentthink-tank).It is far more than a "coffee table" book, and covershistory, theory, diffusion and diversification with both intelligence anderudition. I have it in France, and recently bought a duplicate for Elly’shouse in England; I regard it as indispensable for addressing not just French, but Continental folk art. Elly recently sold a Friesian/chip-carved bed-smoothingboard that was most certainly a wedding presentation gift, and a masterpiece ofEuropean folk art: it displayed a wide variety of folk motifs that arethoroughly established as being protective devices, including the Tree of Life, daisy and solar wheels, X’s, hearts, and several “saw-tooth” variants on both cross-hatching and the “rainbowserpent”. Outside of strictly academic ethnologists, Cuisenieris one of the few folk art authorities to address protectivemotifs – and he also illustrates a number of patron saints in sculpted wood (mostlypolychromed).This rare French folk art sculpture depicts Joseph in hisclassic Catholic role as the patron of Carpenters: for a detailed discussion, see the excellent online reference Wikipedia(and please support – I do, several times a year). This came from a reliabledealer in Brittany whom I have frequently purchased from - he acquired it directlyfrom a compagnon’s (French master guildsman) wood-working atelier, where it had been on display for more than 150 years. Personally, I think it’ssad that more people don’t respect their own family heritage – I have afabulous 19th century Louis Philippe period lace-maker’s table Ibought very locally not long ago, at a flea market. I asked the seller if heknew where it came from, and was shocked by the answer – the table was made byhis great-great-great grandfather, in the renowned tapestry town of Aubusson.This sculpture is in the UK, and I’m in France, so I can’t minutely examine it for tracesof early paint, but it might well have been polychromed. The grain resemblesoak, but it more likely chestnut, and there are a few very old andinactive bug holes (what Brits euphemistically refer to as “historical woodworm”).Obviously, the base is a later replacement. Please keep in mind that circa means exactly that - about - this could be earlier, or slightly later - the stylized nature of the sculpting is hard to precisely date.
Another important reference source on folk art and objects ofdomestic life is the numerous French volumes of Roger Verdier – I’ve beenslowly accumulating them, but still have a ways to go, in that he published 30or more, many of which focus on folk art. As with many other categories of material culture, what you seeon Elly’s eBay page is a tiny fraction of what we own, and this comment verymuch applies to Continental metalwork, glass, lighting, ceramics, textiles, furniture, folk art and treen. Due to the sheer volume of our buying, we aremonths behind in offering many pieces for sale – unless of course one visits, in either France or England. We have expanded our horizons in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Italy, where we now purchase & trade with numerouscollector/dealers, and also buy in quantity from several auction houses. Wehave increased not only our buying, but also my reference library, and inseveral languages – definitive (and usually out-of-print) volumes arrive nearlyevery week.This is one of many pieces of early Continental Decorative arts Ellywill be offering, including quite a few from private collections - one alonecontained 200 early lamps – supplemented by summers of non-stop buying on theroad in Western Europe – do keep an eye on Elly’s eBay page/store.We areindependently listed with the NewEngland Appraisers Association, underEngland or France.Condition: as-seen, and as described – but basically excellent. There is the usual overall minorwear, and the base is a more-recent replacement. Please examine the photosclosely – they are an integral part of the description. Note: Photos are high resolution – use magnification forviewing details. Please ask, if you wish more.© R. JosefBurdett-Williamson Certified expert & appraiser, New England Appraisers Association.FoundingTrustee, NewBedford Museum of Glass.Height – 15 & 3/4" (40 cm.): width – 5 & 1/8" (13 cm.). Weight – 1.7 kilos, not including packaging.Insuredmailing within the UK is £11; to the EU is£20 – to North America is £24.
We don't charge for packing & handling, & always offer grouped rate posting, with no time limits.We ship from both France & the UK– please read listings carefully – rates& conditions are substantially different.Important!We usually mail within3 to 7 working days from clearance of payment: but request that buyers beunderstanding of delays due to illness, severe weather, or computer problems: this is strictly a small business, with noemployees! Intolerantbuyers, or those leaving less than 5-star feedback (no longer invisible) willbe black-listed. This is not a"decorator" shop - eBay’s Consumer Goods-generated “Hassle-freereturns” policy does not apply to arbitrary whim, or unqualifiedopinion! Returns areaccepted - if: there is amajor problem with the age, condition or origin of a piece as described;and this is confirmed by aqualified expert with professionalcredentials. Photographs of anyalleged damage are required - they are mandatory for insurance claims.What you pay for shippingis our actual cost – international shipping is stupidlyexpensive - we have absolutely no control over rates – I lose 4% to PayPal, and often absorb extra costs, such as double-boxing.International buyers – please inquire, as to mailing costs!Note:Our independent certifications withthe New England Appraisers Association (in both France & England) expedite Customsclearances, and prevent duties being incorrectly imposed on antiques conformingto the 100 years legal dateline, thus saving buyers 10% to 43% in relevant countries. From France, the postalsystem is fast, efficient, flexible, & based on weight; rates haverecently changed, but often remain less than those of the UK. Up to 2 kilos to North America costs 36Euros; up to 5 kilos to North America costs 53 Euros; up to 10 kilosis 100 Euros, & 20 kilos is 160 Euros – plus 1 Euro per 100 Euros insurance coverage, to a maximumof 1, 000 Euros. Buyers can lowercosts on grouped purchases, depending on the size of the parcel, &insurance coverage - several pieces in one parcel are usually lessexpensive, as to per-item shipping cost – but do ask first!From the UK - Royal Mail can only be used for internationalparcels under 2kilos; measuring less than 90 centimeters total, and with a maximum insurance value of £250 (a recent, &exceedingly dumb decision): FedEx or UPS shipping is largelyvolumetric – the cost of sending a 5-kilo parcel is only marginally higher than1 or 2 kilos – 5 kilos toNorth America can be as little as £50 - versus £28 to £32 for 1 kilo – depending on the size of the parcel, & insurance coverage. Buyers can usually lower shippingcosts on grouped purchases – but again, please ask first. Payments:PayPal, French or UK checks, or bank drafts, & all banktransfers accepted. We areobliged to accept PayPal, but prefer bank transfers, or UK or French checks -PayPal takes a 4% bite out of all transactions - including shipping costs.Please feel free to contact us for grouped rates, andcommissioned, or guided buying in France - including partial or completecontainers, with related services. For period furniture (which we also collect, buy & sell) & other bulk shipping from France to Western Europe &the UK, we can arrange low-cost transport (depending on destination) via bonded& insured shippers.My business associate is an expatriate American historian ofDecorative Arts, a published antiques editor & writer, guest curator, certified appraiser, & internationally respected authority in early glass, lighting, metalwork, sculpture, period furniture & other categories. He hasplaced pieces with French & US museums, including the Smithsonian, &assists me with acquisitions, research & texts. You can buy from me, withconfidence in your purchases. We are separate and private, academic collectors, looking to defray the costs of advancing with our own collections. R. Josef is the only EuropeanDecorative Arts specialist for the NewEngland Appraisers Association residing in theEuropean Union, and is available for expertise or arbitration. We areindependently listed with the New EnglandAppraisers Association, forFrance or the UK – or see my professional contact details, as provided beneath eBayUK listings. ET BurdettDear buyers – apologies for the intrusive copyrightlines, but they are there because R. Josef is an extensively published expertwith ongoing academic & commercial commissions, including forthcomingbooks. Listings often contain original research & information that has notappeared before; several British & Continental eBay sellers have beenreported for plagiarizing formatting & texts. Theiraccounts were canceled – we fiercely protectour Intellectual Property rights – and in court, when necessary.
00053
