The Cleveland Museum of Art is offering a carefully-considered selection of 24 sculptures from its collections at a Christie's sale in New York on Nov. 22.

Mostly 19th-century reproductions of Renaissance-era pieces, the sculptures were deemed by curators as non-essential to the museum's holdings. Many are "Grand Tour" souvenir pieces made by Italian workshops. One is a possibly 15th-century "Madonna and Child" being let go over condition issues.

Some of the pieces were acquired by the museum in the gifted local estates of "Gilded Age" collectors such as Elisabeth Severance Prentiss (1863-1944), a Cleveland philanthropist whose fortune came from Standard Oil.

If each of the deaccessioned pieces reaches its high estimate in the "500 Years: Decorative Arts Europe" sale, the total take would be a modest $390,000. The sales will benefit future acquistions.

In January, the museum sold 32 European paintings at Sotheby's for about $1.47 million.