Lot 231: Shakespeare Wood (British, 1827-1886)

A young diaphanous maiden, standing, in two-piece dress, wearing a cap, a sash belt to her waist, her left hand holding a ewer to her, her right hand to her side, her left leg behind her, on a tree stump and shaped base carved with leaves, and signed, inscribed and dated 'Shakspere Wood, Rome 1857', carved Carrara marble, on a further grey marble plinth, 98cm high, repaired.

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Shakespeare (Shakspere) Wood was born in November 1827 into a Manchester manufacturing family. The family moved to London following the breakup of the business, where Shakespeare was partly educated as a sculptor in the schools of the Royal Academy. In around 1851, he went to Rome to study. He submitted five works to the Academy between 1868 and 1871; later settling in Rome to write and lecture on antiquities of the city.