eBaywatch, 31st August 2026: sculpture
Category: Buy Secondhand
My glass assemblages got me thinking about sculptural objects in general. If you’re not a Make-it-Yourself kind of person, what’s on offer on ebay? It turns out there’s lots to choose from.
Search “vintage sculpture”, add the filters location: UK and condition: used (always best to make sure) and you’ll be presented with over 8,100 options. Yes, I looked at - or skimmed - every one of them. Many are not my thing. If you like kitsch (people made from nuts and bolts) or sentimental (animals looking cute) or romantic (couples embracing) or the vaguely erotic (naked women), just adjust your search term.
Somewhat predictably, I gravitate towards mid to late 20th century pieces. Here’s what caught me eye.
I saw a few of these of these lucite light bulb things by Pierre Giraudon. (l’ve just double checked and counted 19 - they must have shifted loads of these back whenever.) This looks like a clean copy but there are some for under £50.
As a reminder, if ever one was needed, of how insane prices are on 1st Dibs, the site has these for around £400 each.
I might consider one (from ebay, obvs) as an alternative to Enzo Mari’s lucite cubes.
As I was scrolling through the pages, I wondered if I might find a Curtis Jere boat. It was something I was briefly fixated on when I lived in New York, an obsession that only grew when I spotted one as a prop in The Wolf of Wall Street (a connection highlighted in this ebay US listing.)
I found nothing by Curtis Jere but there are loads of other boats. I love this simple thing by Cornish artist John Griffiths.
The same seller has a cat by Griffiths too.
This little brass yacht is cute. There’s a variation of it here.
But my hands down favourite nautical flavoured object is this gorgeous wood and acrylic sailboat. Just beautiful.
It looks like it might have been a lamp. That clip could have supported a bulb fitting. Who cares, it’s perfect as it is.
Another lamp, although intact this time, this angular construction by Philips will project shapes around your room.
I’m a sucker for a piece of folk art so this sculptural box jumped out at me. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be a bird or…a cat, perhaps? Or just an abstract shape? I like the ambiguity of not knowing if the vagueness was intentional or a function of the maker’s skill level.
Sticking with folk art, there’s something about this salamander that really appeals to me.
Here’s possibly my favourite of the lot. A stylised dog made from folded metal. What’s not to like. Just perfect. (What’s that? Rust? No, it’s patina.)
Back towards abstract, I love this elm globe and block. Not only is there a tiny round of ebony inlaid in the sphere, but there’s a touch of the kinetic about it: tap the globe and watch it rock in the dish of the block.
Another abstract piece that I really like is this wooden geometric block or blocks.
I love a piece of nicely curved and sanded wood and this has many. It’s billed as a garden sculpture but would you really want to leave this outside in the elements?
Back at the end of the 90s there was a very sceney restaurant in Notting Hill called Pharmacy. It was designed by Damien Hirst. I never went. It always seemed a bit too gimicky.
The restaurant might have lasted only a few years but the art lives on. Suspended above the door was a giant molecular model called The Molecular Structure, which - I assume - is this 1 × 2 metre piece which is circulating in the art market. I thought of Hirst when I came across this on ebay.
Never one to miss a commercial opportunity, Hirst created, if I remember correctly, one - or an edition of - regular sized models of The Molecular Structure built with standard classroom molecular model kits. Working models for the piece also found their way onto the market, like this one.
If you’re an MIYer, you could grab one of these kits and have a go yourself, for a tiny fraction of the cost of a Damien Hirst. More on this another day.
Anyway, I digress. For more work-related sculptural objects, how about a palmistry hand?
Or a wig stand? Would look great with a fedora parked on it.
She’s seen better days but, you know…patina.
Lastly, in those 8100ish listings there are plenty of reproductions of ancient antiquities. Among the Roman emperors and Greek gods there are a fair few Etruscan bits, like this horse. At first attracted to its enormous mane and the curve of its tail, I dismissed it as just a bit too ancient.
But then something changed. At the bottom of each page of results, ebay reminds you of the things you’ve recently looked at. And seeing the old horse next to the wood and acrylic boat, I thought: what a perfect combination, like an object version of colour theory. Context counts.
Happy hunting!
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