The quoted lines are from Dante's "Vita Nuova" and are partly obscured by the overlying sprig-like object. They actually read and should be given as follows:

Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare
la donna mia quand’ella altrui saluta

See http://tinyurl.com/52fs7m5e (first two lines).

F.lli is the abbreviation for brothers. https://www.wordsense.eu/F.lli/
I can’t see why your suggested attribution would be wrong.

I found the following online at http://tinyurl.com/4c6m3tpn :

Guglielmo Pugi owned a workshop in Firenze where he sculpted with his two sons Gino and Fiorenzo. His sculptures, directly chiseled in the alabaster or the Carrara marble, were above all made for the United States. Many of them were presented during the American Exhibition of Buffalo in 1901 and the International Exhibition of Saint-Louis in 1904. We owe him many Art Nouveau sculptures but also portraits kept in the historical Museum of Alabaster in Volterra, Italy, or even the bust of the king Humbert Ist on the place in Fiesole. When he died, his two sons kept going the workshop by changing the name «Guglielmo i figli » (and sons) to « Fratelli G. e F. Pugi » (Brothers G. and F. Pugi) as the signature for « Flli Pugi ».

I hope this helps:
When he died, his two sons kept going the workshop by changing the name «Guglielmo i figli » (and sons) to « Fratelli G. e F. Pugi » (Brothers G. and F. Pugi) as the signature for « Flli Pugi ».

Extract from this website:
https://www.marcmaison.com/architectural-antiques-resources/Carrara_Marble

an example here without the G e F https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/guglielmo-pugi-italian-ca-1850-1915-186719

An example here with the F & G https://www.proantic.com/en/1092945-pugi-brothers-large-female-bust-in-white-carrara-marble-art-nouveau-period.html#
I would suggest that as is common with signatures they change over time along with circumstances. it looks like they signed F & G, G e F , or just F.lli Pugi Firenze.

See also Wikipedia at http://tinyurl.com/2e4ah5sb and the better Italian Wikipedia entry at http://tinyurl.com/3aj752u7

When did this bust enter the collection?

What is the date based on?

From one website:

"Beatrice Portinari was actually named Bice di Folco Portinari and was born in Florence in 1266. She died at only 24 and was Dante's great love and muse."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_Portinari

The bust, of which there were no doubt other versions from the Pugi firm, was also produced in alabaster:

http://tinyurl.com/bdh8y2ue

Someone (Kieran?) in a previous discussion about skilled Florentine or at least Italian work of this period cited the phrase 'scultura di salone' which well describes a piece like this, though also here in the specific Dante-industry subdivision of it. 'Decorative and characteristic about then contemporary attitudes both to Dante and female representation' is probably a fair summary.

Based on the signature, the bust should be listed under Gino and Fiorenzo (Fratelli) Pugi. A note could be added to the Art UK entry like "Gino and Fiorenzo Pugi were sons of the sculptor Guglielmo Pugi (1850-1915), who founded a firm of decorative sculpture in Florence. The brothers worked at the firm with their father and inherited it upon his death."

We cannot say when the original version of this bust was made, but the Lancashire version would be no earlier than 1915, when the firm's name would have gone from some form of Guglielmo Pugi and Sons to some form of Fratelli Pugi.

Yes, Pieter, there were many sculptors in Florence making this sort of work in the 19th and early 20th century, aimed at foreign tourists or for export. A comparable example is http://tinyurl.com/52e5ca9h

It is conceivably possible, albeit speculation, that the original bust was created by Guglielmo Pugi and continued being copied after his death. However, information on these relatively commercial sculptors in Florence tends to be sketchy, and it would take specialized (and probably local) knowledge to be more specific.

See the attached, from the American newspaper The Buffalo Enquirer, of the 24th October 1901. It could be that the bust described is the same one as is featured in this discussion.

See the additionally attached, from The Buffalo Times of Sunday 14th July 1901 and The Buffalo Commercial of Monday 11th November 1901.

Excellent, Kieran. The Pugi firm exhibited many pieces at the 1901 World's Fair in Buffalo, New York (also known as the Pan-American Exposition). The newspaper article you link refers to the line from Dante which is on our bust ("Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare"), so it seems highly likely that it was an earlier version of the Lancashire bust. Thus, the date of the bust is no later than 1901 and almost certainly earlier, early enough that it might have been created by Guglielmo Pugi, but again, that is speculative.

Dante's line as set out by Jacinto above - 'Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare' - is also referenced in the first-attached Buffalo article, suggesting that it is the same work. A date of c. 1901 would, therefore, be credible.

Snap!

For context:

https://archive.org/details/panamericanexpos01pana/page/n1/mode/2up

I expect this bust was a "best seller" for the firm, so that it was kept in its catalogue from the time it was first made and reproduced on demand. Again, when was it bequeathed to the collection, and is the given date of c. 1875 more or less a guess or is there evidence for it? If the bust dates from the 1870s, it would have to be by Guglielmo Pugi (b. 1850), since his sons would have been too young then.

There is nothing else listed under Pugi in Art UK.

A version of this bust sold at auction in 2019 was said to be signed "G. Pugi Firenze" but I could not see the actual signature.

See https://tinyurl.com/3jphjetc

I suppose that the signature given in that 2019 auction listing may have been a simplification of the actual signature on the bust, but if the signature was precisely as stated, that would seem to imply the original sculptor was Guglielmo Pugi.

Here is that bust on the Cowan’s website. The signature is visible if you hold down on the second image.

https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/g-pugi-italian-early-20th-century-3976410

Thanks, Marcie. I cannot be entirely sure, but it seems to be as described in the auction listing. Does it seem so to you?

I do think so, Jacinto. I’ve attached a close-up of that section of the bust.

We know the original bust can be no later than 1901, but we need to know when the Lancashire bust entered the collection and why the date is given as c. 1875. The date of acquisition, if early enough, could establish that Guglielmo Pugi was indeed the creator.

Actually, upon further thought, the date of acquisition won't really help, since (based on the signature) it is bound to be later than 1915.

The collection's accession number suggests the bust was acquired in 1991, unless that was simply the year it was catalogued.

The Pugi firm also exhibited at the 1904 St Louis World's Fair in the US.

Here's an interesting snippet.

It didn’t attach. Here’s the text:

Nineteenth Century Decorative Arts - Page 144
books
Sotheby's (Firm) · 1986 · ‎Snippet view

“FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 144 SOTHEBY'S (Firm). 302 302 W Flle ** Pugi . A White Marble Bust of Beatrice , late 19th century , the young woman wearing a scarf and a blouse embroidered with flowers , a scroll at the base inscribed with a verse from Dante , signed Flle ...”

The style looks pre-Art Nouveau, so it could be c. 1870s-1880s. I tend to think that the original artist was Guglielmo Pugi.

According to Panzetta's standard reference dictionary of Italian 19th to early 20th century sculptors, Guglielmo's son Gino was born in 1897 and his other son, Fiorenzo, was born in 1900. Thus, since this bust (or its original version) is no later than 1901, it cannot be by either son and must be by (or rather after) Guglielmo Pugi.

Panzetta does not give vital dates for Guglielmo Pugi, but he does say that the workshop or firm went from "Guglielmo Pugi" to "Guglielmo Pugi e figli" and then, in 1935, to "Fratelli G. e F. Pugi." This suggests that Guglielmo may have died c. 1935 and not 1915, when both his sons would have been in their teens.

The birth years for Guglielmo's sons seem odd. This Italian directory from 1908 shows the business in Florence - "Pugi F e G. F.lli".

https://tinyurl.com/yck6wkww

This Italian directory from 1898 shows the business in Florence as "Pugi Fortunato e Guglielmo F.lli" (Scultori)". It seems to me that Fortunato and Guglielmo were brothers.

https://tinyurl.com/4dd22dw5

Yes, Marcie, they were evidently brothers, although Panzetta does not mention Fortunato and his role in the business is unclear. As for the birth dates for Guglielmo's sons, why are they odd to you?

I was mixing up the two sets of brothers.

Based on Marcie's findings in those Italian sources from 1898 and 1908, it may be that the signature on our bust refers to Guglielmo and Fortunato rather than Gino and Fiorenzo, which would mean an earlier date of production for the bust (though I suppose that is a technicality). I suspect the date of c. 1875 may be a guess, unless that is the date of the bequest, which would certainly be of interest.

It has been implied above that Guglielmo Pugi may have died in 1935, (rather than 1915) when reference to him in the family 'brand' is reported as dropped rather than earlier: can someone produce a definitive date, either way?

Some sources give 1870-1915 as the dates of activity, so 1915 may be when he retired as opposed to when he died.

Marcie, can you find out how the Pugi firm was listed in an Italian directory of the early 1930s?

My attachment failed but page 1161 of this directory from 1932 shows the company in Florence as "Pugi F. G. Fratelli - Scultori en marmo - vl in Curva 27." I haven't been able to find the family on Ancestry.

https://tinyurl.com/3y3c5h2u

That's more or less the same name as in the 1898 and 1908 directories, though presumably by 1932 it referred to Fiorenzo and Gino.

I'm not going to purchase the Sotheby's auction catalogue from 1986 that includes a bust of Beatrice (29/09/2023 19:52), but perhaps it is available in a library. Hopefully it would include dimensions and a photo. That auction was in London.

https://www.abebooks.com/Sothebys-1986-Nineteenth-Century-Decorative-Arts/21976072327/bd

Here, temporarily, are photos of the "F. G. Pugi Frères" workshop.

https://www.delcampe.net/fr/collections/publicites/422-f-g-pugi-freres-grands-ateliers-de-sculptures-florence-italie-1804560529.html

A Pugi marble bust of Diana, apparently sold at the Foire de Paris in 1933, is at https://tinyurl.com/mzpsmmpn . Note the business card and more particularly the sale receipt https://tinyurl.com/mr5aw3km (possibly for an earlier sale of the bust in 1929), especially the text at upper right.

The firm's name is given as F. & G. Pugi Frères, with Guglielmo Pugi listed as Artistic Director, implying he was still alive at the time. Unless old outdated stationery was being used, which seems unlikely, this suggests (as I previously said) that Guglielmo Pugi may have assumed a supervisory or honorary role in the firm around 1915 but remained alive until c. 1930 or thereabouts.

In the presumed French catalogue for the firm Marcie found, Guglielmo Pugi is listed as Proprietor and Artistic Director, perhaps because it is earlier than the sale receipt I found, by which time the elderly Pugi may have been more of a decorative figure in the firm.

Ideally, someone from Florence or at least Italy would help us with more definitive data from local sources, but the matter is clearly not conclusively documented at present.

Can the collection, which prompted this discussion, please tell us when it received the bust via bequest? The donor's identity, if it can be revealed, would be of interest, but the date is more important.