A hitherto unknown Doccia porcelain figure is a stand-out lot in Chiswick Auctions’ ceramics and glass sale on July 25 in London. The model of The Executioner, originally based on a bronze figure of the Roman god Mars by the Florentine sculptor Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi (1656-1740), probably descended through the same family since c.1750.
Only one other version of this figure is known and it currently resides in the Museo di Doccia in Florence. Another variation, holding the severed head of St John the Baptist in his raised hand, is in the Wallace Collection. No other versions in porcelain are known to survive and this version has never been seen before.