A Superb Pair of Neapolitan Carved Figures of Dwarves

Attributed to Francesco Celebrano (1729 - 1814)
Marble
Naples, Italy
18th Century

PROVENANCE:
Ex Private collection

Francesco Celebrano was an Italian artist, sculptor and painter. He was well known for producing Neapolitan ‘presepio’ creche figures. A number of his ‘presepio’ figures are housed in museums, including Naples, Bavarian National Museum in Munich and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Celebrano trained as a painter and from the 1760s worked as a sculptor, painter and designer in Naples. He painted a number of altarpieces, was commissioned for the sculpture of the Chapel of San Severo in Sta Maria della Pietà and designed the maritime chariot for del d'Ofri, which brought him to the attention of Ferdinand IV (1751 - 1825). He was appointed director of the Royal Porcelain Factory of Naples at Capodimonte in 1770 and remained as its head until 1781. During this time, many models of figures were created at the factory, which may have reflected Celebrano’s interest in and modelling of figures for the Neapolitan ‘presepio’ figures.