Mystery Mark Huge Group Figure Farnese Bull Spain "*RARDO'"? Blue stamp crown JG TG I

[ocram]

Mystery Mark Huge Group Figure Farnese Bull Spain "*RARDO'"? Blue stamp crown JG TG I

14.5" tall Farnese Bull Statue or Figurine. Says incised Made In SPain adding the blue makers mark. Anybody any idea what it says. TIA

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[Red-Coat]

Just tidying up some blasts from the past (including some very ancient ones), largely for the benefit of anyone searching the site for information.

Nice piece.

The mark is ‘FG EL PARDO’ which was for a collective guild of craftsmen with offices and workshops in the El Pardo neighbourhood of Madrid, Spain. This foundation of guilds was intended to promote the work of Spanish artisans including furniture-makers and other trades, as a personal initiative by Spain’s leader, General Franco in 1941 and remained in operation until 1995.

Originally it was known as ‘La Fundación Generalissimo Franco’ after its sponsor, but after Franco’s death in 1975 the foundation’s connection to the former dictator increasingly became a liability. In 1984 they distanced themselves from Franco by changing name to ‘La Fundación de Gremios. Industrias Artísticas Agrupadas’ (Foundation of Guilds. Grouped Artistic Industries) and then shortened it in 1989 to ‘Nueva Fundación de Gremios’ (New Foundation of Guilds). The name change preserved the use of their intertwined F and G letters as a trademark.

As part of Franco’s initiative to promote Spanish artisans, the foundation was charged from the outset with furnishing Spain’s official buildings and ‘National Paradores’ (a collective of prestigious state-run hotels in restored Castles, Monasteries, Convents, Fortresses, Manor Houses, Palaces etc and some exceptional modern properties). Initially they made copies or reinterpretations of historical pieces. They later included original modernist works, sixties pieces and current designs.

This particular piece is a scaled-down modern reinterpretation of the massive ‘Farnese Bull’ sculptural work discovered in pieces during excavations in Rome in 1546, which dates to AD 222-235. The restored work is in the National Museum of Archaeology in Naples, Italy.

Credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011), CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16512927

Here’s one of the El Pardo pieces that sold at auction for about $160:

https://www.duran-subastas.com/es/subasta-lote/fundacion-de-gremios-toro-farnesio-s-xx/622-759