A good Staffordshire saltglaze model of The Spinario, circa 1750-60


Modelled as a naked youth seated removing a thorn from his left foot that he rests across his right knee, on a simple flat, oval base, 10.8cm high
|The Spinario, or Boy with a Thorn, has been one of the best known ancient bronzes since the Middle Ages. The original was a Greco-Roman bronze of the 1st century AD that was placed outside the Lateran Palace in Rome until it was moved to the Capitoline Museums in 1471. The model has been much reproduced since the 16th century. The model was ideally suited to casting in undecorated Staffordshire saltglaze and was placed on different bases. A similar saltglaze example was sold by Bonhams 3 October 2012, lot 36.