A September 12 sale of European works of art and clocks at Chiswick Auctions in west London will include this waxwork of Medardo Rosso’s (1858-1928) sculpture Bambina Ridente.
The 10½ (26.5cm) high head was probably cast by the Italian sculptor’s son, Francesco Rosso, from the original plaster model and has belonged in the same collection since 1959.
The idea for Bambina Ridente was first conceived in the Parisian Hôpital Lariboisière in 1889. Rosso, having recently arrived from Milan and exhibited at the Exposition Universelle, was admitted to hospital with a high fever. On his discharge, he produced a portrait of the daughter of the hospital bursar, Marie-Jacques Enjolras.
Estimate £50,000-80,000.
chiswickauctions.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
