UK Temporarily Bans Export of a ‘Small But Mighty’ Italian Renaissance Bronze Valued at $6.1 M.

The UK has temporarily banned the export of a rare and highly valuable Renaissance bronze by the artist known as Antico. Seated Nymph, by Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi (ca. 1455–1528), is valued at £4.6 million ($6.1 million). UK museums and galleries have until December 17 to make an offer following the decision, taken on the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA).

Antico’s signature works are very rare to come to the auction market. Seated Nymph was the last and the priciest to come to the block, fetching £1.4 million ($2.3 million) at Sotheby’s London in 2009. It’s the only Antico piece to exceed $250,000. In the years since, just five pieces, all credited to his workshop or a follower, have come to public sale.

Seated Nymph may have been in the possession of legendary arts patron Isabella d’Este, the Marchioness of Mantua, in 1503, according to the announcement of the hold; it may also have been in the holdings of a member of the Gonzaga collecting family. The Gonzaga collections were bought in the 17th century by King Charles I, and this piece was sold from that royal collection a few years later. By about 1861, it went to the collection of the Dukes of Bedford, whence it was sold at Sotheby’s; the Art Newspaper reports that the dealer Alan Hobart, of now-defunct Pyms Gallery, bought the piece. Christie’s London offered Mary and Alan Hobart’s collection in 2024. The current owner purchased it in April from London dealer Patricia Wengraf.

Seated Nymph stands not quite 8 inches high and sports mercury gilding and inlaid silvered eyes.

“This statuette is small but mighty,” said arts minister Ruth McKenzie in an announcement of the export ban. “I very much hope this export bar can help keep this exquisite statue in the country where the public can also enjoy its beauty.”

“Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi, known as Antico, forever linked his fame with his skill at imitating classical antiquity,” said RCEWA committee member Stuart Lochhead. “He developed a highly sophisticated technique for producing luxuriously finished bronze statuettes, becoming one of the leading artists at the court of Mantua. The Seated Nymph is one of his most beautiful creations, embellished with golden hair and drapery, as well as inlaid silver eyes. It was rediscovered in the sculpture collection at Woburn Abbey. The export of this exquisite sculpture from the UK would be a great loss, depriving the public of the work of an exceptionally rare and hugely admired sculptor.”