British 20th C, except portraits, Continental European after 1800, East of England and The Midlands: Artists and Subjects, Sculpture 15 Could this be a bronze by the Croatian sculptor Petar Palavicini (1888–1958)?

DBY_BXMAG_TN_2003_A110_001
Topic: Artist

I believe the signature may wrap around the sides of the base (images #7-8) [both attached], and I do not think it is 'P Poute' but the initials are clearly PP. After looking into the matter, I believe this is by Petar (or Petrus) Palavicini (1888-1958), a Croatian sculptor who exhibited in London and Swansea (1930) and Belfast (1931), and this piece could easily be c. 1930. Compare to this piece by him, and note especially the base and the treatment of the feet in both works, as well as the similarity of the figures overall https://bit.ly/3hsHfDe. Here is another work by him with biographical information https://bit.ly/3huroUq. Here is his listing on Mapping Sculpture, which is what pointed me in the right direction based on his initials https://bit.ly/36dXajj.
Could the title really be Byblis, the mythological character who fell in love with her twin brother? https://bit.ly/2SJPFxG. This statuette depicts a very young woman standing nude, wearing what appears to be a small fez cap.

Jacinto Regalado, Entry reviewed by Art UK

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15 comments

The Collection has commented: 'The provenance is the Funduklian collection. Arto Funduklian, son of an Armenian refugee living in Manchester, went to learn the oriental goods market in Paris in the 1920s. While there, he purchased several artworks, mostly prints and engravings by contemporary artists. He moved to New York (where he died), leaving his collection with his brother Vahe who remained in Manchester in the textile industry. Vahe collected a few more pieces by contemporary artists before retiring to Buxton with the third brother Naz. The collection was bequeathed in 1980. The documentation includes three sculptures including Babylisse (written as this) but no artist ascribed. I assume that the then curator identified the artist and I've no idea of the source. The suggestion that this is Palavicini is appealing, but is it not too few letters before the v on the signature?’

Jacinto Regalado,

Based on the attached enlarged view of image #8, I now think it may not be part of the signature but rather a reference to this piece being 1/5 or 1/6, referring to the number of versions made.

Jacinto Regalado,

I suppose the title might conceivably be an Armenian name or word, but I am not at all familiar with that language.

Marcie Doran,

The first composite is based on the Pallavicini work on Invaluable.com that Jacinto mentioned in the introduction to this discussion.

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/petar-palavicini-1888-1958-239-c-6eb432fb5d

The National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, has a work by Pallavicini dated 1922 that is signed with his first initial and his surname. The second composite is based on that work.

https://nmmu.hr/en/2022/08/02/petar-pallavicini-don-quixote-1922/

Jacinto Regalado,

Thank you, Marcie. I'm afraid the signature on our work, albeit hard to make out, may not be Pallavicini, so my original theory may have been a sort of near miss.

Jacinto Regalado,

Yes, Kieran, that is the maddening thing, that the style seems to fit Pallavicini but the signature, athough with the same initials, refuses to cooperate sufficiently, as it were.

Kieran Owens,

It should also be noted that the suggested artist Pallavicini used two letters L in his signature on several bronzes that can be seen online.

Kieran Owens,

Jacinto, can we assume that there was no writing evident on the other two sides of the base that have not yet been mentioned in this discussion?

Kieran Owens,

Also, this could be a work by a student of Pallavicini, as he appears to have had some:

https://royalfamily.org/june-2014-works-of-vladeta-piperski/

It also could easily be the case that if this piece is by an Eastern European artist from a Russian speaking region, the two obvious first letters could be Cyrillic Ps, which would be pronounced as two Rs in English.

Jacinto Regalado,

There are only close-ups of the back and the side on the figure's right. Enlarging the images of the front and the side on the figure's left shows no definite writing, though the front side is equivocal (I suppose, if there is writing there, it would be the title).

Kieran Owens,

....that last bit might more accurately read as:

would be pronounced as two English Rs.

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