Scott Defrin, gallery owner of The European Decorative Arts Company, located in Gallery #6 at The Manhattan Art & Antiques Center made an exciting and significant discovery this past April, when he found the long missing pedestal to Hercules and Antaeus, an important ivory sculpture attributed to The master of the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, circa 1660. The sculpture is an important work in the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection at The Metropolitan Museum. European Decorative Arts Company has just sold the pedestal to the Metropolitan Museum.”When I first saw an image of the base,” Scott explains, ”I immediately recognized it as a 17th century ivory but was disappointed because it was now just a remnant with important elements missing forever. Within just a few moments it hit me. This is the missing pedestal for the Linsky ivory sculpture of Hercules and Antaueus. When I showed it to The Metropolitan Museum, they compared it to an old photograph when it was in the Rothschild Collection and confirmed that it was indeed the same base. I was ecstatic!”
Coincidentally, several years ago Scott Defrin found the plaque that is the inset to the pedestal of that very same sculpture. That plaque was sold to the Met in 2004. Now the sculpture will be completely restored to its former magnificence.
European Decorative Arts Company, founded in 1996, is known for its fine collections of European ivory carvings, objets de vertu and decorative carriage clocks. Members of the Art and Antique Dealers League of America since 2002, they have sold to museums, collectors and dealers worldwide. Scott Defrin has a master?s degree in the History of Decorative Arts from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.
Gallery #:6
Phone: 212.750.1337
Email: Eurodecart@aol.com
Web Site: www.Eurodecart.net