[CarltonHendricks]

19 inches tall, Sculptor, Demetre Chiparus 1886-1947



I'm not exactly sure this is my favorite for the year but I’ll take a stab at this statue of a Hurdler I got in April. Antique sports sculpture is one of my favorite areas of collecting. I’m always fascinated to learn about it. I prefer American works but even if they’re European like this Hurdler, if it’s good quality I’m interested.



Speaking of which, not that it has anything to do with this post…just a few days ago I came across a photo of the full version of the “First Baseman” bronze by Oronzo Cosentino. Until I saw the photo above I only knew of the first baseman by himself….this photo I uncovered shows the whole work with the runner sliding into base…..found the photo on an Italian website…even though Cosentino lived and worked in NYC…

Anyway enough of my excitment about that…back to this hurdler pick up…It was once owned by former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth…The story I got is that at one point it was sold at a garage sale in Southern California…I could imagine Ueberroth’s wife telling him “I want that gone”…

The sculptor Demetre Chiparus 1886-1947 is a big name in Art Deco antiques…he did a slew of art deco style sculpture, mostly of woman dancers and so on…He was Romanian but his career all happened in Paris…off the top my head I don’t know of any other sports pieces he did. You can read more about the whole acquisition in a story I did which still languishes on my home page…for the time being…until I can get the whole page straightened up that is….which will have to wait till I finish the 2013 National story…which is coming along…