Lot 111: GEORGE JAMES FRAMPTON

GEORGE JAMES FRAMPTON BRITISH 1860 - 1928 MADONNA OF THE PEACH TREE signed: GEO: FRAMPTON. 1910 bronze, dark brown patina on wood base 58cm., 22 7/8 in.

The collection of Norman Forbes Robertson;
Thence by descent

George Frampton took the subject of this rare bust from a book of short stories written by Maurice Hewlett and published 1899. The story entitled Madonna of the Peach Tree tells of young Giovanna Scarpa 'fair haired and flushed, delicately shaped, tall and pliant'. Unfounded rumours led her to be stoned and chased out of the city of Verona with her baby boy. At dawn she came through the peach orchard outside the city walls to beg young shepherds for food. Such was her beauty that the boys believed they had seen a vision of the Virgin, and the town was filled with talk of apparitions and miracles.

By tradition the bust was given by the artist to Norman Forbes Robertson, a flamboyant character and a member of the renowned acting family.

RELATED LITERATURE
'Royal Academy Exhibition', 1910, Studio, July 1910, pp. 3-16