Lot 117: ODOARDO TABACCHI ITALIAN, 1831-1905

white marble

THE DIVING GIRL (LA TUFFOLINA)

100cm., 39 1/4 in.

PROVENANCE
Grimshaw Hall, Warwickshire

La Tuffolina has become one of Tabacchi's most recognisable works since the original version was exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878 alongside his Hypatia: bronze reductions were edited and even the Robinson & Leadbenton factory in England reproduced it in porcelain, sized 24 1/2 in. (see The Parian Phenomenon 1984). The girl is depicted in a striped bathing costume, typical of the second half of the nineteenth century and considerably more modern than would have been customary in England at the time. Her posture is cleverly captured as being on the point of diving into a pool.
Amongst Tabacchi's more famous public works are the monument to Garibaldi in Turin, his native town; the Victor Emanuel monument at Asti and the statue of Paleocapa in Piazza Carlo Felice, Turin. The latter was even reproduced in The Illustrated London News on 7th October 1871 (p.333). His large studio was attended by numerous pupils and he thus wielded considerable influence over the younger generation of Italian sculptors of this period. He was made a Chevalier de la legion d'Honneur in 1878.

RELATED LITERATURE Panzetta p.185, no.769; De Michelis pp.137-40