Back in early 2000, we were full into the throes of seeking out architectural antiques, interesting pieces, and things we could fit into or build into the house. We searched the pages of our favorite antiques periodicals; The Bee, Maine Antique Digest, Antiques and the Arts Weekly, Antique Week, and others. we looked at every auction ad we could find to see if there was anything of interest. One ad promised a couple of interesting marble statues, and we requested more information, as the photograph on their website was small, but the pieces looked appealing, especially one of them…with an Egyptian-clad maiden carrying a fat baby in a basket, which they identified as “The Finding of Moses”. We awaited additional photographs and information. In the meantime, we did a few searches for the sculptor, named in the article as “F. Bazzaghi”, and came up empty.
Once we received some better photographs of the marble, we began in earnest looking for comparable pieces. Since the sculptor appeared to be an unknown, which was surprising given the quality of the piece, we had nothing to compare on the art price databases we subscribed to. We then went to our physical library of auction catalogs for Sotheby’s and Christie’s and other large auction houses, and started flipping through the appropriate auction records. We began this catalog collection many years before, finding it helpful to have the auction records of all of the amazing things we loved to look at in museums and read about in books. This was just another way of learning about the furniture and decorative art pieces we loved, as the catalogs gave interesting histories and condition information about the pieces they had for sale, some of which ended up in museums, collections, or referenced in books.
Browsing these catalogs proved invaluable, as we happened upon an almost identical version of the marble that was for sale. It had sold at Sotheby’s back in the mid-1990s and it was then that we realized that the advertisement for the auction house had misspelled the sculptors name, which was, in fact, Francesco Barzaghi (1839 – 1892), one of Milan’s premiere marble carver of his time, with a history of having carved numerous saints for the Duomo in Milan, and with notable commissions in Piazzas all around Milan in bronze and marble, as well as pieces in museums throughout Europe. It was documented that he had, in fact, exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876, among other Expositions.
Curious, we looked up the entry for F. Barzaghi at the Centennial Exposition on the web, and found some ancient stereographs of the Marble Courtyard including some old photographs of the entry submitted by Mr. Barzaghi…Pharaoh’s daughter finding Moses! Excitement tingled up our spines as we digested this new information, and we printed out every old photograph we could find of the Centennial Exposition piece that we could dig up to bring with us to the auction.
We arrived in Norfolk at a warehouse where the movable remains of a seafood restaurant sat in rows for buyers to inspect. There were the vinyl booths, the deep fat fryers and other restaurant kitchen equipment, boxes upon boxes of simple flatware, and a few interesting decorative pieces you might expect in a Greek-styled seafood restaurant. Along with the old lighting, there were a few simple pieces of marble statuary and a couple of porcelain busts as well. We discovered that there were many locals there to purchase a piece of a childhood memory, as it turns out that Nick’s Seafood Pavilion Restaurant, which had operated in Yorktown VA for many years, was a local legend. The owner had left it to the State, who was auctioning off the contents, and bulldozing the restaurant itself in order to redevelop the area.
In the front of the warehouse were two over-sized marble statues, Leda and the Swan, a glorious sensual and moving piece, and Pharaoh’s daughter finding Moses, a lifelike and full-sized marble of a young girl wearing an ancient-styled Egyptian skirt and jewelry, stepping out of the rushes holding a fat and pensive baby in a basket. The look of excited disbelief on her face as she calls out to her companions, contrasting significantly with the sad and lost look on the infant, who caresses the necklace of beads around his neck as he sits nestled in the basket atop the homespun blanket that his mother had placed there for him. The characteristic “horns” combed into his hair identifying him biblically as the infant Moses.
Standing discreetly off to one side, I compared the photographs of the piece from the Centennial of 1876, which we had printed off on a transparency, to the statue in front of us. It matched up photographically! Ducking my head behind the piece where the signature was snug up against the wall, I was unable to make out much of the signature because of the angle and the lighting, so I stuck my digital camera back there instead, and looked at the resulting photographs, clearly showing the signature as F. BARZAGHI and the date — not the 1870 as advertised, but 1876! We were looking at THE piece exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. I could barely contain my excitement.
This piece had stood in Philadelphia at the 1876 Centennial to be admired by all who saw it. It was such a lovely composition that it was written about in the local arts papers and reviews of the Exposition gave it high marks.
We sat patiently through the auction, keeping our fingers crossed that one of the local museums hadn’t picked up on the advertisements. Notably, the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk would have been our most likely competition, but apparently they missed this one. Without any serious competition, and with the local dealers believing that this was a random marble by some unknown artist, we were assured of the high bid. We were thrilled when the hammer fell!
The auction company gave us names of some reputable movers who would be capable of transporting such a piece, and we informed our insurance company of the purchase to add it to our policy. We were assured that the piece would be covered during transportation, except for any damage incurred by the “overturning of a conveyance.” Well, considering that a truck, a forklift, and a dolley were all considered “conveyances, we realized that this policy would not sufficiently cover our new purchase. After many inquiries, we discovered Chubb…will cover anything you own, wherever it is in the world, for any damage caused by any reason. Our new insurance company as of that day–and still is to this day.
In anticipation of her arrival, we beefed-up the floor supports for the bay window in which she would reside. Fortunately, the location is ideal, with brick walls underneath in close proximity on all sides. This would be especially important, as we had the pedestal pictured in the 1876 Centennial Exposition reproduced for her, and that thing weighed a ton!
Still, I was curious as to how a noted piece at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition managed to end up in a restaurant in Yorktown, VA. In one of the old photographs, I noted that the marble had a “SOLD” sign placed at her feet. If I could only trace who had purchased this piece, I would have the starting point for my search. We had already begun a budding collection of references on the various Expositions and World Fairs around the world, and had volumes on the most notable during the Victorian era, but only a small volume on the Philadelphia Exposition. Upon finding a series of volumes highlighting the Philadelphia Centennial, we found not only a large write-up on this marble, but also a lovely artistically-rendered etching of the piece, and a notation as to its fate…”Signor Barzaghi has made a tender, plaintive, appealing work, which takes possession of the heart-strings at once. It is gratifying to be able to state that this pure and elevating piece of sculpture does not leave the city with the close of the festival it was sent to grace. It has become the property of the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.”
Now, many of you may recall from previous posts that my favorite architect is Frank Furness of Philadelphia PA. It would just so happen that my favorite (still extant) Furness building is the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts building in Philadelphia, built in 1876. I never visit Philly without walking by this lovely edifice, and have toured the museum so many times, that I can instantly perceive changes they have made in their collection. In addition to having the coolest Frank Furness interior, they have the most amazing wood carved figures by William Rush, and a lovely permanent collection of marbles, as well as paintings by some of my favorite 19th Century artists. And don’t you know that anytime I can bring the subject of Frank Furness into a post, it makes me happy. To have this marble linked with this building makes me ecstatic!
I was able to find a reference to this piece in an 1882 copy of the “Catalogue of the Permanent Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts”. There listed under Sculpture; Marbles — Principally In The Main Corridor And Transepts, identified as B38: Pharaoh’s daughter finding Moses by F. Barzaghi.
To think that the marble we found in a restaurant auction once sat in this beautiful setting — one of my favorite places in America — was just too much of a coincidence. How such a beautiful piece can sit high in the esteem of the Art world, only to end up in obscurity in a seafood restaurant is still a mystery to me. Perhaps the changing tastes of the populace over time have relegated this marble as unfashionable in this country, though versions of it exist, still valued, in museums in Europe. It is a mystery to me, as to how it could have been discarded in such a fashion, especially as I find it to be appealing and graceful.
For now, it sits in my parlor, a plywood box built around it to protect it from the construction, as it awaits its place of esteem and attention in the front parlor bay window. Until then, the next chapter is still unwritten, as my inquiries to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts have remained unanswered. It seems that they are not interested in the travels of a piece they once owned, nor the story of how a piece of art ascends to the stage of public opinion, given the most prominent place in the public eye, only to descend to the unexpected low of spending years observing diners consuming meals, grubby hands dirtying its surfaces, only to be unceremoniously auctioned off along with the restaurant equipment. I eagerly await the re-ascension of this piece, atop its pedestal, and back to its rightful place in the public eye.
Addendum: Looking through the most recent London Sotheby’s catalog on 19th Century Art, I came across a curiosity — another version of Pharaoh’s Daughter Finding Moses by F. Barzaghi, dated 1870. This one, they muse, pre-dates all other known versions, and therefore must be the long-missing, highly-acclaimed piece, that was once exhibited at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition…
I didn’t even need to count the beads strewn across the baby’s chest to know that they are wrong…
Carla Minosh
While I am new to Blogging, I have always enjoyed sharing the stories of my crazy life, so this is simply another medium to share, and hopefully entertain and enrich others. Perhaps you can feel thankful that your life is so steady and predictable after reading these, perhaps you can appreciate the insanity and wish you had more of it in your life. Either way, the crazy tales are all true (to the best of my spotty recollection) and simply tell the tale of a life full of exploration, enthusiasm, curiosity and hard work. I hope you all enjoy being a part of the journey.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoyed reading this and seeing this spectacular sculpture. She is going to be something in that window and to think one day you will have the pleasure of viewing her every day and admiring the magnificence of her, the sculptor and the marble. it is so beautiful.
Each post you upload is an incredible, stunning, and fascinating story in itself.
I am simply gobsmacked at finding your blog and reading each post.
While you have ruined my day/schedule, I nonetheless have a big smile on my face.
Thank you. Thank you.
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts de-accessioned most of its non-American art in the 1960s & 1970s to concentrate on works by American artists. No doubt, that's when this beautiful piece went on the market and eventually found a home at the seafood restaurant.
Brilliant story – I have just found a photo of this sculpture take in Philli around 1876 – please let me know if you want to see it.
Kind Regards
Malc