VICTORIAN WAX ICON

Wax, wire, paste stone, bead, thread, paint and plant matter icon, 7 1/2" x 5 3/4"; unsigned. An obvious loss, approximately 2"-square, to the composition's lower left corner, the paper backing exposed, a smaller loss apposite this and extending to the composition's lower right corner; other losses certainly, and perhaps several, including plant matter, the densely layered technique difficult to read (as regards layout, pattern and repetition); a portion of the figure's nose is missing; some soiling. Set in a deep, 1 1/2"-wide, gilt wood frame we assume is original, whose leaf-and-twig motif appears to be hand-carved (a 1 1/2" x (maximum) 3/8" loss at the frame's upper left corner, a 3/8"-diameter loss and a 1/2" x 1/4" loss at the frame's upper edge). The accoutrements of the 3" x 2 1/2" wax Virgin include a sword and a portion of a wheel. Undated; perhaps, middle third, 19th-century.