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By borzoid, 1 December, 2008

Description

This is a very detailed and somewhat unusual piece. We originally thought it was pottery because it is glazed rather than painted and because it was so heavy. I know many breeder collectors and none of them have seen this piece. I have only seen it once in a vintage home reclaimers warehouse about 10 years ago and they refused to sell it at any price. I do know that the life size pieces were generally made for storefront displays and that sort of thing. This breed of dog was also heavily used in the art deco era.

The glaze has yellowed some and there is crazing to the glaze and a few small (less than 1/2 inch) where the glaze has been chipped off. There is no damage to the statue other than to the glaze.

I would really like info on the origin, and what it is made of as well as a value. I know a number of borzoi collectors including the author of "Unique Zoitiques" and none of them have this piece in their collections. Thank you

Re: Life sized borzoi (russian wolfhound) statue

Hi, I found more information on rau antiques . com. There they are offering a black forest borzoi sculpture. same height as mine for a discount price of 15K or so. Mine is white lacquered like yours. It is wood. I scraped through and took some shavings and it smells like wood and carves like wood. the 'dark red' you may see is the aged wood peeping through the areas where the paint was thin and worn off. The borzoi was in popular culture from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's. my guess is yours and mine were painted for art nouveau fashion when the original wood carving looked unfashionable. Most likely from 1880 to 1920 pretty cool huh?

Re: Life sized borzoi (russian wolfhound) statue

I have the exact same statue I bought at an auction in Indiana around 1986. The only difference is mine is fully painted. I'm sure it's not wooden. It's hollow. If you turn it over there is a circle in the bottom that you can see up into it. Must be poured. If I can figure how to get a picture on here I will. Just joined.