Symbolist Figural Wooden Sculpture, Italy, 1990s

Symbolist Figural Wooden Sculpture, Italy, 1990s.

A tall, slender figure, assembled from many pieces of wood, stands upright on a small base with little feet. The head is shaped like a toothed creature, with an inset eye, a jaw cut in a lively zigzag line and a fin-like form at the back, which gives the profile a bold, graphic character. One hand hangs open at its side, carved with individual fingers, and the body is built from long planks fitted together, with a pointed oval inlaid at the centre. The joints between the pieces are left in plain view, so the figure reads as a careful construction in which every part has its place. The wood is warm and rich in tone, with a hand-finished glow and darker passages that add depth. Luciano Bertolotto was an Italian maker who signed his works Pompi and followed a naïf, primitive instinct. He often mixed human and animal features, in a way that recalls folk carving and ancient masks more than any single school, and he built his figures by fitting pieces together.