Convent Estate Find: 1917 Italy Sign Statue of St. John Vianney by Luigi Guacci

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Convent Estate Find: 1917 Italy Sign Statue of St. John Vianney by Luigi Guacci :
$472.55

In 1998 the Dominican Sisters Convent, founded in 1897 in Newburgh, New York was closed and an estate sale was held for much of the contents. This statue of Saint John Vianney was sold with a full provenance of its amazing history. The statue itself is very rare as it was made by the famous Italian papier mache sculptor maker Luigi Guacci, in Lecce, Italy (1871-1934). He was most famous for his hand-made Catholic Saint statues which were very expensive and rare, many in churches and museums today, as each one took a very long time for him to sculpt. He set up a shop and taught the craft to other artisans but statues made by him were most prized and this one is by him as validated by the sticker with his name as sculptor on bottom of statue. The statue is 15 inches tall, has glass eyes, real lace and for being 100 years old is in quite good shape, one finger is damaged and it looks like the head may have been reattached at the neck at some time in the far distant past. I am told the Archbishop said this statue was sculpted in 1917 by the artist.
In 1921, Archbishop John Joseph Dunn (1869-1933) went on pilgrimage to Italy and while there purchased this statue as a gift for the Abess of the Dominican Convent (a label on the bottom of statue states this part of its history). Archbishop Dunn was a great supporter of the Dominicans and today the Catholic school in Newburgh, NY is called Bishop Dunn Memorial School. To help guard this rare, old, important statue from the elements, I purchased a glass dome for it. I am now moving, must downsize thus this sale. It will come with biography of Bishop Dunn, Luigi Guacci and a email from the principal of Bishop Dunn School in Newburgh.The statue and glass dome are fragile, thus I am offering them as pick up. IF THE SALE IS NOT FOR PICK UP BUT BY POST I WILL ONLY SEND THE STATUE, THE GLASS DOME WILL NOT BE INCLUDED OR AVAILABLE IN THE SALE UNLESS AGAIN IT IS LOCAL PICK UP. THUS THE PRICE STAYS THE SAME FOR BOTH BUT PICK UP INCLUDES GLASS DOME, POST DOES NOT. Also included is a votive light that was bought in Ars, France in 2015 celebrating the 200th Jubile of Saint John Vianney\'s ordination to the priesthood.
You can do an internet search on Luigi Guacci, his pieces are in many museums and churches in Europe, following is a quote from an article describing one of his pieces on the crucifixation \"1913, a brand new large scale Crucifix arrived at Xaghra. It is the work of a renowned sculptor Luigi Guacci in papier mâché. Art experts consider this crucifix as a fine execution of deep realism and depicts the Cristo Morto with a life-less body nailed to the cross.\"