RARE ENRICO CARUSO SELF PORTRAIT BRONZE 1909

RARE ENRICO CARUSO SELF PORTRAIT BRONZE 1909. Comprising a scarce patinated bronze caricature self-portrait "laughing Buddha" by famed operatic tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921). Inscribed on side Enrico Caruso and dated 1909 or 1901 and with foundry initials for Roman Bronze Works (R.B.W.) on base. Height 5.75 inches (15 cm).

Operatic tenor Enrico Caruso achieved international fame in the early 20th century, thanks to the gramophone. Though he appeared at opera houses throughout Europe and the Americas, making more than 800 performances in New York, it was his recordings that won him a mass audience. His version of the aria "Vesti la giubba'" ("On with the motley") from Leoncavell's opera Pagliacci, made in 1902, was the first record to sell over a million copies. Caruso was also known as a caricaturist. He regularly contributed sketches to an Italian-American newspaper La Follia di New York, from which a book of drawings was produced in 1908. He also produced sculptures. In this bronze self-portrait bust, he represents himself as a "Laughing Buddha". It is believed that fewer than ten cast were ever made.

For a similar example see the Victoria and Albert Museum, accession # S. 104-2015

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