Auction Preview: Sotheby’s, 19th and 20th Century Sculpture, London, Dec .14

A superb life-size marble nude Iris by the rare Italian sculptor Metello Motelli leads this diverse dedicated sculpture auction. The sale is focuses on an important Parisian collection of Romantic and modern European marbles. It also includes elegant examples of the British New Sculpture movement, as well as Gérôme’s dazzling gilt-bronze Corinth.What: Auction of 19th and 20th Century SculptureWhere: Sotheby’s, 34-35 New Bond Street, London‎When: December 14, 10:30am GMTPublic viewing: Dec 10-11, 12pm – 5pm GMT; Dec 12, 9am – 7pm GMT; Dec 13, 9am – 4:30pm GMTTop lots of the sale:* Metello Motelli, Active 1851-1894, Italian, Iris, signed and dated: Mlo Motelli. / Milano - 1873 and entitled: IRIS, white marble, 180cm, 70 7/8 in. Estimate: £120,000 - £180,000 (US$ 146,688 – US$ 220,032)* Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1824 – 1904, French, Corinth, bronze, gilt patina, inlaid with semi-precious stones, 73.5cm, 28 7/8 in overall. Estimate: £100,000 - £150,000 (US$ 122,240 – US$ 183,360)* Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, 1827 – 1875, French, Le Chinois (Bust Of A Chinese Man), bronze, green-brown patina, 62cm, 24 3/8 in. Estimate: £40,000 - £60,000 (US$ 48,896 – US$ 73,344)* Aimé-Jules Dalou, 1838-1902, French, Baigneuse Dite Avant Le Bain (Bather Before The Bath), bronze, rich reddish brown patina, 55cm., 21 5/8 in. Estimate: £40,000 - £60,000 (US$ 48,896 – US$ 73,344)* William Wetmore Story, 1819 – 1895, American, Fauness and Child, marble, 82 by 68cm, 32 1/4 by 26 3/4 in. Estimate: £35,000 - £50,000 (US$ 42,784 – US$ 61,120)* Ernest Barrias, 1841 – 1905, French, La Nature Se Dévoilant Devant La Science (Nature Revealing Herself to Science), partially tinted white marble, bronze, silvered and gilt patina, and lapis lazuli, on a variegated red marble base59cm, 23¼in. Estimate: £35,000 - £50,000 (US$ 42,784 – US$ 61,120)* Isidore-Jules Bonheur, 1827-1901, French, Le Grand Jockey, bronze, dark brown patina, on a veined green marble and wood base and a bronze veneer and wood plinth, bronze: 94.5 by 109cm, 37¼ by 42 7/8 in, marble base: 4 by 76cm, 1½ by 29 7/8 in, plinth: 83.5 by 79cm, 32 7/8  by 31 1/8 in. Estimate: £35,000 - £50,000 (US$ 42,784 – US$ 61,120)For details, visit: http://www.sothebys.com/enClick on the slideshow for top lots of the sale.