Italian Ceramic Cherub Statues, Bandini for Zaccagnini White Rustic Glazed Art Deco Fauns, 1940s Vintage

White Rustic Glazed Bandini Art Deco Fauns circa 1938 for Zaccagnini

A pair of cherubic fauns, playing music and holding flowers. One is holding a bouquet of flowers upright like an instrument and the second faun plays a bagpipe with his cheeks puffed and his eyes closed. They are each seated on tree stumps highlighting their goat like legs and hooves.

Each of this pair has been signed, inscribed to the top of the base 'J.M.Bandini' by Mario Bandini, Zaccagnini's principle sculptor. They also carry the Zaccagnini signature 'Z' under the base. Bandini was hired in 1938 to sculpt for Zaccagnini. This pair of fauns share some of the facial features found in Austrian Secessionist figural sculpture of the 1930s, with a rustic, naive style, arched eyebrows and hooded, catlike eyes, dating them to circa 1938-1940.

It's rare to see Bandini's signature combined with that of Zaccagnini in one place. This is an attractive prospect for the collector of Zaccagnini ceramics as the Mario Bandini/Urbano Zaccagnini partnership marked Zaccagnini's hugely successful entry to the North American market.

These will appeal to lovers of Italian ceramics, stylized Art Deco and/or Austrian Secession period sculpture.

M E A S U R E M E N T S
Bagpipe player 9"H x 5"W
Bouquet holder 10 1/2"H x 5"W

C O N D I T I O N
Great vintage condition. Gold translucent tin color is still bold and bright, with minimal color loss in only the tips of the horns and hooves and a tiny chip in the white paint on the rim of the base, barely noticeable. These are hand painted and there is some teal paint on the bottom of one cherub, likely from the studio when it was made, its slightly visible on the bottom back of the bagpiper. It could potentially be cleaned off but we don't want to attempt and risk damaging the piece.

please keep in mind when buying any of our items that vintage means they’ve lived long lives before finding their way to you and are preloved unless otherwise specified. signs of wear, use and age are to be expected and add to the character of the piece.

we do our best to accurately and honestly describe all of our items and will always point out major flaws like cracks, chips, missing pieces, abnormal wear, etc.

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