Ambrogio Lorenzetti (before 1317 - c. 1348), St. John the Baptist, 1337-42. KMS8314. National Gallery of Denmark

Recent studies show that this small late Gothic painting was originally part of an altarpiece dedicated to St. Crescentius. This altarpiece was one of four commissioned by the cathedral in Siena as part of a grand decoration scheme to celebrate the city’s patron saints and the Virgin Mary.

The avant-garde of the time

The altarpieces were highly innovative in their overall structure and subject matter and placed Siena at the forefront of the avant-garde of the time. Simone Martini (ca. 1280-1344) delivered the first of the four in 1333, Ambrogio and his brother Pietro Lorenzetti (ca. 1280-1348) supplied theirs in 1342, and the altarpiece by Bartolomeo Bulgarini (1300/1310-1378) and the Master of the Palazzo Venezia Madonna (ca. 1340-1360) arrived in 1351 as the last. All have later been removed from the church and dismantled into individual pieces that are now housed in museums around the world.

St. John the Baptist

Apart from the large central panel of the St. Crescentius altarpiece, now at the Uffizi in Florence, only the top panel depicting St. John the Baptist can be conclusively attributed to Ambrogio’s altarpiece. St. John is shown as the ascetic prophet described in the Bible, a figure who garbed himself in camel’s hair and subsisted on grasshoppers and wild honey. His slightly parted lips appear to be uttering the words on the scroll, “Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord!”

By: Eva de la Fuente Pedersen (http://www.smk.dk)

Master of the Palazzo Venezia Madonna (active c. 1340-60), St. Corona, before 1351. & St. Vittorio of Siena, c. 1350. kms3624. National Gallery of Denmark

Legend says that in a vision the 16-year old St. Corona saw an angel descend from the heavens bearing two crowns: a modest one for herself and a more precious version for St. Vittorio, with whom she was to suffer martyrdom for her Christian faith.

The depiction of the two saints

The Master of the Palazzo Venezia Madonna depicted her wearing the small crown while elegantly supporting the large crown with the fingertips of her left hand. Like St. Vittorio, she carries a pair of palm branches – the trophy of martyrdom – in her right hand. St. Vittorio also holds an olive branch, the symbol of Siena’s victory over Montepulciano and Orvieto in 1229 on what was later called St. Vittorio’s Day.

Examples of Siena Gothic

The panels were originally side panels flanking a main panel depicting the adoration of the shepherds painted by Bartolomeo Bulgarini (1300/1310-1378). They are very rare and fine examples of Siena Gothic with its unique linear and colourful decorative style; a contrast to the rival Florentine school which puts greater emphasis on mass and gravity.

A grandiose decoration project

The altarpiece was created in or immediately after the plague year of 1348, which severely decimated the population of Siena. The St. Vittorio altarpiece marked the completion of a grandiose decoration project in the city’s cathedral; a project which also encompassed the altarpiece of which Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s (before 1317 - c. 1384) St. John the Baptistwas part.

By: Eva de la Fuente Pedersen (http://www.smk.dk)

Cecco di Pietro, Virgin and Child Playing with a Goldfinch and Holding a Sheaf of Millet, 1379. kms3378. National Gallery of Denmark

Cecco di Pietro is a typical artist from the early Italian Renaissance. The figures are stylised and have little volume. The surroundings are without depth or perspective. These features tie the motif to the surface and lift it out of the flow of time. 

The gold ground symbolically denotes that we are in a realm beyond ours, in Heaven. As was common in art at the time, everything has symbolic significance. The infant Jesus holds a goldfinch, which symbolises the Passion – the bird lives on thistles, and so refers to the crown of thorns. 

The bird has a ribbon tied around its foot. Its fettering symbolises the soul caged in the body. Only with the Resurrection is the soul set free. Thus, the bird also becomes a symbol of resurrection. The sheaf of millet in the child’s right hand symbolises the bread of communion, and the coral around his neck protects the child against evil.

By: Eva de la Fuente Pedersen (http://www.smk.dk)

Imperial Topaz on Quartz. Ouro Preto Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Thumbnail：2.7 x 2.1 x 1.3 cm

The original miner "LeMenz". Ex collections Bill larson, Lou Schwartz, Jim and Dawn Minette, Cal Graeber, Roland and Kathy Sherman, Carl Acosta.

Illustrated in the Mineralogical Record; Vol.26 #1, Jan-Feb 1995 Special Topaz issue, on page 33.

Quartz with Amethyst phantom and Prehnite

Herkimer Diamond with Petroleum inclusions.

23mm x 18mm, 31.37ct. Price $282.00

Contains a twin crystal, bridge crystal, key marks, flat terminations on one end of the main crystal and moving enhydro’s within the main and twin crystal.

Quartz with Negative Carbonate Crystal with Petroleum and moving bubble. Minas Gerais, Brazil.

7 x 1.2 x 0.9 cm. 19.80 carats. Price: $ 350

A rounded top rectangular gem with 19.80 carats. It has a cavity, that used to be a carbonate crystal, maybe a Calcite or Siderite. This crystal got disolved and left what we call a negative crystal, with the shape of what it used to be. This negative crystal has a viscous orange fluid, natural crude oil, or petroleum, and a bubble inside. The bubble moves slowly due to the viscosity of the fluid. Unlike the Pakistani material that fluoresces bright blue, this Brazilian material has a very faint yellow fluorescence. It also has some fine Rutile needles going in different directions. It is quite a special inclusion piece.

Quartz with Tourmaline from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

2.7 x 1.9 x 1.7 cm. 32.40 carats. Price $ 320

A colorless Quartz gem with one long and gemmy green Tourmaline crystal piercing through near one corner and ending inside the gem near the opposite corner. Quite an aesthetic position. The Quartz has some gemminess with some internal silk and tension fractures, one that follows the Tourmaline. It has a good contrast of colors and the Tourmaline is very visible. With a loupe, you can see the termination inside the Quartz.

Platinum, Diamond, and Emerald Necklace.

composed of Art Deco elements, centering a bezel-set old mine-cut diamond measuring approx. 8.89 x 8.20 x 5.32 mm and weighing approx. 2.50 cts., approx. total diamond wt. 19.00 cts., cultured and mabe pearl highlights, lg. 15 1/2 in., completed by a clasp signed Cartier NY.

Cartier powder compact, 1927

yellow and rose gold, diamonds set in platinum, red and black enamel. The cover is set with a mother of pearl, gold, malachite, lapis lazuli marquetry by Vladimir Makowsky.

Carved Emerald Ruby and Diamond Flower Brooch by Cartier.

CARTIER. Peridot Diamond Amethyst Brooch, France, circa 1950. Photo courtesy Gem de la Gem.

18k yellow gold oval faceted amethyst 12 round faceted citrines 14 round faceted peridots 32 brilliant-cut diamonds. .approx diamond weight is 1.80cts Pin measures 2" in diameter, weighs 40 grams, and has double clips on the back side.. . .signed & numbered "Cartier 31032"

Gem de la Gem. By Appointment. Teaneck, NJ, 07666 - 201.314.5033

Cartier diamond-and-sapphire necklace, 2009.

Laguna Iris Agate slice, 2.5 x 2.75". Photo Wood's Stoneworks and Photo...

Bismuth. Photo Denise

Copper Gone Native. Photo Denise

Pendentif en forme de dromadaire. Allemagne, dernier quart 16e siècle, émail sur ronde-bosse d'or, or. Hauteur : 0.106 m. Longueur : 0.053 m. ECL20527. Ecouen, musée national de la Renaissance (C) RMN-Grand Palais (musée de la Renaissance, château d'Ecouen) / René-Gabriel Ojéda

Pendentif en forme d'ours, Allemagne, dernier quart 16e siècle. Hauteur : 0.027 m. Longueur : 0.039 m. Legs S. de Rothschild, 1922. ECL20700. Ecouen, musée national de la Renaissance (C) RMN-Grand Palais (musée de la Renaissance, château d'Ecouen) / René-Gabriel Ojéda

Pendentif reliquaire : Agneau mystique. Italie, 16e siècle, émail sur ronde-bosse d'or, perle baroque. Hauteur : 0.076 m. Longueur : 0.026 m. Legs baron Adolphe de Rothschild, 1901. OA5585. Paris, musée du Louvre (C) RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Daniel Arnaudet

Pendentif en forme de crapaud. Fin 16e siècle, émail sur ronde-bosse d'or, rubis. Hauteur : 0.075 m. Longueur : 0.025 m. Legs M. et Mme Philippe Lenoir, 1874. OA2321. Paris, musée du Louvre (C) RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Daniel Arnaudet

Pendentif : Dragon ailé . Espagne, 16e siècle, émail sur ronde-bosse d'or, perle baroque. Hauteur : 0.115 m. Legs baron Charles Davillier, 1883. OA2944. Paris, musée du Louvre (C) RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Daniel Arnaudet

"Grand-père raconte-moi l'A-Nam" par  Guy Levilain. 

« Tiens, me dit ma mère, garde ça précieusement. C’est toute l’histoire des Sorel d’Indochine que tu as dans les mains ! »
C’est par la découverte d’un antique livret de famille que s’élabore la genèse de Grand-père, raconte-moi l’A-Nam . Obsédé par le souvenir d’un portrait, le petit-fils part à la recherche de son aïeul et de ses racines familiales. Rétrospective historique, cette quête s’étend de la conquête du Tonkin à la fin à la présence française. Multidimensionnelle, cette saga du drame a pour toile de fond le charme du vieil A-Nam, la magnificence de son cadre naturel et les mystères de sa culture millénaire.
Grand-père, raconte-moi l’A-Nam se penche particulièrement sur une facette que sociologues et historiens n’ont pas encore explorée, la dimension humaine de la tragédie indochinoise. Bien que balayée par le vent de l’histoire il y a plus d’un demi-siècle, l’Indochine demeure un sujet d’actualité que l’auteur aborde ici avec une narration cinématographique.

Guy Levilain est néà Hanoï en 1936. Rapatrié avec les ressortissants français lors de l’exode de 1946, il fit ses études à Bordeaux avant de faire carrière dans le professorat aux Etats-Unis. Ses recherches sur les écrivains de la négritude, notamment ses entretiens avec Aimé Césaire, eurent une profonde influence sur sa pensée politique. Critique et tromboniste de jazz, il s’est produit à Montréal, Chicago et New York. Grand-père, raconte-moi l’A-Nam est son premier roman.

Roman historique, cette saga de famille recouvre un siècle de colonisation depuis la conquête du Tonkin (1882) à Dien-Bien-Phu. A la fois un manuel d’histoire, un manifeste anti-colonialiste et une étude sociologique, cet ouvrage – sous la forme d’une fiction romanesque – révèle toute la dimension humaine de l'histoire de l'Indochine. 

ISBN : 9782332543820 - http://www.edilivre.com/grand-pere-raconte-moi-l-a-nam-guy-levilain.html

Vietnam. Panneau rectangulaire en bois exotique rehaussé d'incrustations de nacre à motif de vases fleuris. Ep. fin XIXè. Photo EURL BOSCHER ENCHERES

Haut. : 44,5 cm. Long. : 28 cm. Estimation: 100 € - 150 €

Dimanche 11 août à 14h00 à Cherbourg. Maïtre Samuel BOSCHER,4 rue Noyon, 50100 Cherbourg. Tél. : 02 33 20 56 98 - Fax : 02 33 20 03 31 - boscher.s@wanadoo.fr

lemitcA VA2+VB1 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany; Plastic yogurt containers, onyx, nylon, 2012. Photo Petra Jaschke. Ornamentum Gallery

lemitcA VA2+VB1 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany; Plastic yogurt containers, onyx, nylon, 2012. Photo Petra Jaschke. Ornamentum Gallery

lemitcA VH1 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany; plastic yoghurt containers, 2012; 11 x 35 x 42cm (30T). Photo Petra Jaschke. Ornamentum Gallery

lemitcA VD2 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany; plastic yoghurt containers, 2012; 11 x 35 x 42cm (30pcs); Mixstone, Nylon. Photo Petra Jaschke. Ornamentum Gallery

lemitcA VC2 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany; plastic yoghurt containers, 2012; 9 x 34 x 40cm (30pcs); Freshwaterpearls, Onyx, Nylon. Photo Petra Jaschke. Ornamentum Gallery

lemitcA VA2 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany; plastic yoghurt containers, 2012; 9 x 34 x 40cm (30T). Ornamentum Gallery

lemitcA VE2 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany; plastic yoghurt containers, 2012; 9 x 34 x 40cm (30pcs). Onyx, Nylon. Ornamentum Gallery

lemitcA VE2 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany; plastic yoghurt containers, 2012; 9 x 34 x 40cm (30pcs). Onyx, Nylon. Folded together as table-object. Ornamentum Gallery

Brooch by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany. 2010. Silver, pearls; 3 3/4 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches. Ornamentum Gallery

Brooch by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany. 2010. Silver, pearls; 4 x 4 1/4 x 2 inches. Ornamentum Gallery

Frozen. Necklace by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany. 2011. Pearls, silver, nylon. Ornamentum Gallery

Frozen by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany. 2011. Pearls, silver, nylon. Ornamentum Gallery

Frozen necklace (shorter) by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany. 2011. Pearls, silver, nylon. Ornamentum Gallery

Ginger Earrings 3 by Duong Sam Tho - Vietnam / Germany. 2011. Silver; 2.5 x 1 3/8 x 3/4 inches. Ornamentum Gallery

Prof. Christine Luedeke (University of Design, Pforzheim, Germany) speaks about the jewelry of Sam Tho Duong during the opening reception

Ornamentum Gallery. 506½ Warren St. Hudson, NY 12534 - tel 518.671.6770 -email info@OrnamentumGallery.com

A Ming-style blue and white stemcup, Daoguang seal mark and period. Photo Sotheby's

the body with deep flaring sides rising to an everted rim, decorated on the exterior with Tibetan lançacharacters interspersed by lotus blooms borne on thin stems issuing curling leaves, the tall splayed foot decorated with jeweled tassels below a lotus-lappet band, the interior with a floral medallion, seal mark in underglaze blue in a line inside the foot. Diameter 5 3/4 in., 14.6 cm. Estimation 8,000 — 12,000. Lot vendu: 37,500 USD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 14th-15th November 1989, lot 238

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM AND JENNIFER SHAW

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 11 sept. 2012 www.sothebys.com

A Ming blue and white 'Lotus' jar, Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century. Photo Sotheby's

the high shouldered body painted around the center with scrolling lotus blossoms growing on undulating stems issuing curled leaves between double-line borders, below a border of interlocking scrolls and flower-heads at the shoulder, all above a band of upright lotus panels at the foot. Height 5 1/4 in., 13.3 cm. Estimation 3,000 — 5,000. Lot vendu: 80,500 USD

PROVENANCE: Christie's Hong Kong, 8th October 1990, lot 426.

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM AND JENNIFER SHAW

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 11 sept. 2012 www.sothebys.com

A blue and white baluster jar and cover, Ming dynasty, Wanli period. 

painted in a deep tone of underglaze blue with a frieze of peony scrolls above a border of horses galloping over waves, the short neck with the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems' above a wan-fret band on the shoulder, reserved with floral cartouches repeated on the domed cover (2). Height 16 in., 40.5 cm. Estimation 8,000 — 12,000. Unsold

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 14th-15th November 1983, lot 102.

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM AND JENNIFER SHAW

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 11 sept. 2012 www.sothebys.com

A small blue and white beaker vase, Qianlong seal mark and period. Photo Sotheby's

of archaic bronze gu-form, the central bulb decorated with lingzhi and interlocking scrollwork, the splayed base and the trumpet neck with a composite floral scroll, a band of classic scroll beneath the widely flaring rim, seal mark in underglaze blue. Height 8 7/16 in., 21.4 cm. Estimation 20,000 — 30,000. Lot vendu: 290,500 USD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2nd May 1995, lot 71.

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM AND JENNIFER SHAW

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 11 sept. 2012 www.sothebys.com

A rare ruby-ground famille-rose bowl, Yongzheng mark and period. Photo Sotheby's

decorated in bright enamel colors with four detached yellow sprays of peony, interspersed with buds in pink, blue and purple, the petals all outlined in white, all borne on stems with leaves veined in black enamel on an even ruby-ground, the interior and base with a transparent glaze, six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double square. Diameter 5 in., 12.6 cm. Estimation 100,000 — 150,000. Lot vendu: 254,500 USD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9th November 1982, lot 293.

NOTE: The colors employed on this bowl are typical of the early Yongzheng period porcelain produced in the Imperial Workshops at Jingdezhen. Hugh Moss suggests, in By Imperial Command. An Introduction to Ch'ing Imperial Painted Enamels, Hong Kong, 1976, p.82, that such bowls that heavily relied on the traditional famille-verte palette were probably produced in Jingdezhen following porcelains painted in the Palace Workshops in Beijing. Until the craftsmen in Jingdezhen became acquainted with the developments in famille-rose of the Palace Workshops in Beijing theycontinued to work in the dominant style of the Kangxi period. Dark-colored grounds adorned with vibrantly colored floral designs were favored for their dramatic demonstration of the new famille-rose enamels developed during the Kangxi era. It was not until the early years of Yongzheng's reign that the exchange of ideas and techniques occurred, thus heralding the celebrated style and palette of enameled wares of his era.
The present bowl is unusual for both its composition and coloring of the two bands of peony blossoms. Two further bowls with this design are known, but painted alternately in tones of blue, pink and peach on a coral ground, one illustrated in Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command. An Introduction to Ch'ing Imperial Painted Enamels, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 82, and sold in these rooms, 29th November 1978, lot 373, together with its companion bowl, lot 374.
The color scheme and style of painting appears to have been based on smaller bowls of shallower form and lipped rim, similarly painted with three large peony blossoms in yellow and red against a rich coral ground, but with a fourcharacter Yongzheng yuzhi mark; see one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the museum's exhibition Painted Enamel of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Taipei, 1979, cat. no. 35; and two in the Chang Foundation, published in Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 142. A bowl of this shallow type painted with related blue and white blossoms, in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, is included in Chugoku toji zenshu, vol. 21, Kyoto, 1981, pl. 105. Moss discusses coral-ground bowls of this pattern with Yongzheng yuzhi marks and suggests that they were enameled at Jingdezhen, those painted in the famille-verte palette between 1722 and approximately 1725, and those with additional touches of rose enamel between 1722 and 1728.

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM AND JENNIFER SHAW

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 11 sept. 2012 www.sothebys.com