Laruccia Sculpted Tree Circa 1965, Root Details, 8 inches tall
The internet is magic. It brings desperate worlds together and connects in unexpected ways. A few years back, I would have never dreamed of finding sculptures from my old mentor, Dominick Laruccia, Jr. Now, I discover or am contacted about pieces that folks have owned or acquired in estate sales.
I have been able to add to my collection, mostly of sculpted trees. I have estimated that there are over 400 of the genera that were made. Styles vary widely from the simple upright, no roots version to one that was 24 inches tall with some 75 glass fruit. For the most part, they have stood up well. Dominick use to say that his pieces would last hundreds of years. Certainly the copper structure will, but the glass fruit eventually drop off when the epoxy fails. I have repaired a few already. Most often, branches become mangled and need reshaping. Laruccia always gave them a formal shaping in character with the overall design. In some cases the glass fruit was glued to each other to retain the shape.
On rare occasions I have found other sculptural styles such as a vase, wire wound pieces, geometric abstracts. THe trees, however, were the most prolific pieces and were the bread and butter off the welding bench. Please contact me if you have a Laruccia sculpture, even if only to share. I am writing a biographical piece and would love to reference his other works.
Michael Hutchings
Coppersmith
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