A large Parian figure of a Wood Nymph

A large Parian figure of a Wood Nymph from the sculptor Charles Bell Birch, of unknown manufacture, dated c. 1864. This popular figure shows the nymph tenderly holding a fawn and a doe, and wearing a garland of hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium or Convolvulus  sepium). The bindweed, ivy and ferns are beautifully modelled.  

According to "Mr. C. B. Birch". The Graphic (701). London, England: 446. 5 May 1883 (via Wikipedia), Birch won a significant prize of £600 in an open competition in 1864 from the Art Union of London for his marble work The Wood Nymph, which was judged to be the "best original figure or group". 

The figure was made in Parian or marble in the size of this copy, as well as in larger sizes. A full-size version was exhibited at the London Royal Academy in 1867.

Birch was commissioned to make a number of life size (or larger) public statues, including a marble of Queen Victoria for her Golden Jubilee in 1887 which was reproduced in several copies in bronze. 

The Parian figure is illustrated in the Parian Phenomenon page 250 figure 850. A large size marble version is illustrated in fig 850A.

Height: 49½ cm (19½ “)
 

Condition: Very good with just a short firing crack in the crook of the right elbow.