Outstanding pair of life size carved Austrian Pine Ostriches by the famous and world renowned wood carvers Fiorenzo Bartolozzi and Giuseppe Maioli. Standing almost 7ft tall and Originally commissioned for the Higbee's retailer store in downtown Cleveland Ohio. 20th century Italian wood carvers! One off Palatial size birds only pair known to exist Florentine wood carvers Fiorenzo Bartolozzi and Giuseppe Maioli met in 1938 and, soon after, from their friendship stemmed a fruitful artistic collaboration that made their Bottega d'Arte one of the leading wood carving and restoration workshops in the world. 70 years later the atelier remains internationally renowned, attracting the attention of the most discerned commissioners around the world. Prestigious examples include works for the Quirinal, the Italian President's palace in Rome, for the Arab Emirates Palaces and, most recently, for the Kremlin in Moscow. Bottega dâ€â„¢Arte Bartolozzi e Maioli was born in 1938 from the casual encounter of Fiorenzo Bartolozzi from Florence and Giuseppe Maioli from Ravenna. A long-standing, deep friendship and unspoken artistic understanding developed between these two artists who started working together in increasingly prestigious professional endeavors. This harmonious dynamic brought them success from their very first project: the complete renovation of the Choir and Sacristy of Montecasino, both of which were destroyed by air raids during World War II. Prominent commissions soon followed, not only in the art world, but also in political, cinema, and literary realms. Such commissions propelled them onto the international stage, first successfully working in the United States, then creating lavish interiors for the Emirates Palace and several government buildings in Abu Dhabi, and finally returning to Italy to work on the Quirinale Palace in Rome and Medio banca in Milan. From the late 1990s onwards, Bottega took on the great task of restoring the two great halls in the Romanov Palace (Saint Andrew and Saint Alexander) and the Kremlin in Moscow: these rooms, destroyed by Stalin during the Revolution and Civil War, were returned to their original splendor over the course of a three-year, UNESCO-sponsored project. Some light base cherry stain discolor and slight separation/repair to left lower leg of one bird as shown. See photos. Call for shipping details.