Lot 86: An Italian bronze figure of a diving bather, entitled 'Tuffolina'

Cast from a model by Odoardo Tabacchi, Turin, Dated 1878
The naturalistic base inscribed O. Tabacchi. Torino 1878
44 in. (111.8 cm.) high

Odoardo Tabacchi (1831-1905) trained at the Brera Academy in Milan and worked on several successful public monuments. He specialised also in small sensuous statues of girls, such as the present Tuffolina, dating from 1878, in which the spontaneity of action and the natural grace of the youthful body created appealing and popular images. Due to its great celebrity this model was cast in bronze in different sizes, of which an example is in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.