Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant Bust / SOLD
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant Bust - Inventory Number: POL 055 / SOLD
Ca. 1870. Parian Bust of General Grant, also known as "statuary porcelain". Incredible detail, Grant, is shown as a three-star Lieutenant General. Pencil signature in base. Measuring 11 7/8th” x 7 1/2”.
U.S. Grant became a Three-Star Lieutenant General on March 9, 1864, and became a viable Political Candidate for President directly after the Civil War. This impressive highly detailed bust is in fine condition and makes a perfect display piece.
Parian marble is a fine-grained semi translucent pure-white and entirely flawless marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros in the Aegean Sea.
It was highly prized by ancient Greeks for making sculptures. Some of the greatest masterpieces of ancient Greek sculpture were carved from Parian marble, including the Medici Venus and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
The original quarries, which were used from the 6th century BC onwards, can still be seen on the north side of the island on the slopes of its central peak. The Parian's main rival in antiquity was Pentelic marble, which is also flawless white, albeit with a uniform, faint yellow tint that makes it shine with a golden hue under sunlight. Italian Carrara marble is also flawless white with a uniform faint grey tint. It is today mined mostly on the neighbour island of Paros, Naxos, in the mountains near the village of Kinidaros.
Parian ware is an artificial substitute for marble, originally a brand name for a variety of unglazed bisque porcelain, developed in 1842 in England. This is cast in moulds, typically for small busts and figurines, rather than carved.
Inventory Number: POL 055 / SOLD