Plaster bust on a pedestal

A plaster cast bust of a classical female head modelled after the Aphrodite type attributed to the school of Praxiteles, the Greek sculptor who in the 4th century BC essentially invented feminine idealism in stone. Half-closed eyes, hair swept softly back, that particular expression that sits somewhere between serenity and indifference. It has been copied and recopied for two thousand years because no one has quite managed to improve on it. This reproduction is 19th to early 20th century born from the Grand Tour tradition, when educated European households kept plaster casts of classical sculpture not as curiosities but as daily companions. Artists sketched from them. Architects referenced them. They lived on desks and shelves and mantelpieces, in rooms that believed beauty was part of the furniture. Mounted on a grey veined marble base. The warm patina in the recesses is decades of honest ageing not applied, just accumulated. The kind of object that makes everything around it more considered. Size approx 25 cm high; .