Covered bowl with scalloped lotus leaf cover, flat knob, incised lotus leaf decoration on lid and body, Vietnam, 13th century-14th century, earthenware, green glaze; (a-b) 15.3 × 17.2 cm diameter (overall). Gift of Zorica McCarthy, 2010, 2010.333.a-b © National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Vietnam, 13th century-14th century, earthenware, glaze. Two parts - lid and jar. Three fish molded as decoration; (a-b) 22.5 × 19.0 cm diameter (overall). Gift of Zorica McCarthy, 2010, 2010.324.a-b © National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Beaker with small foot ring, Vietnam, 13th century-14th century, earthenware, cream glaze, 11.0 × 11.0 cm diameter. Gift of Zorica McCarthy, 2010, 2010.346 © National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bowl with small foot ring, Vietnam, 13th century-14th century, earthenware, unembellished green glaze, 7.0 × 11.0 cm diameter. Gift of Zorica McCarthy, 2010, 2010.340 © National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bowl with small foot ring, Vietnam, 13th century-14th century, earthenware, cream glaze with splashed dark brown iron oxide glaze markings, 6.5 × 17.5 cm diameter. Gift of Zorica McCarthy, 2010, 2010.342 © National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bowl with small foot ring, Vietnam, 13th century-14th century, earthenware, cream glaze, with splashed dark brown iron oxide glaze, 12.0 × 15.0 cm diameter. Gift of Zorica McCarthy, 2010, 2010.341 © National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Round dish carved with radiating petal-like motif, raised scalloped rim, central unglazed circular band. Vietnam, Hanoi, 13th century-14th centuryStoneware, 5.2 × 21.3 cm diameter. Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of The Thomas William Lasham Fund, Governor, 1998, 1998.243 © National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bowl with small foot ring, carved lotus petals on exterior, Vietnam, 13th century-14th century, earthenware, green glaze, 6.5 × 15.0 cm diameter. Gift of Zorica McCarthy, 2010, 2010.337© National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bowl with small foot ring, moulded and carved lotus petals on exterior, Vietnam, 13th century-14th century, earthenware, brown/green glaze, 6.5 × 16.5 cm diameter. Gift of Zorica McCarthy, 2010, 2010.338© National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Lot 38. Orazio Gentileschi (Pisa 1563 - 1639 London), Head of a Woman, oil on panel, 16 1/2 by 14 3/8 in.; 42 by 37 cm. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's
Provenance: Acquired by King Charles I of England, Whitehall Palace, London, by 1636, (recorded in his 1636/37 inventory);
His estate, Saint James' Palace, London (recorded in the 1649/51 inventory);
Robert Houghton and the Third Dividend, by 1651/52;
With Agnew's, London, by 1930;
Harry Eustace Marsland Benn (1902-1987), Ilkley, by 1951 and until 1981;
With Agnew's, London, by 1988;
From whom acquired by an American private collector in 1989.
Exhibited: London, Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of Italian Art, 1200-1900, 1 January - 8 March 1930, no. 733;
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Mostra del Caravaggio e dei caravaggeschi, April - June 1951, no. 114;
London, National Gallery; Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao; Madrid, Museo del Prado, Orazio Gentileschi and the Court of Charles I, 3 March - 20 November 1999, no 10;
Rome, Museo di Palazzo Venezia; New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Saint Louis, The Saint Louis Museum of Art, Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, 15 October 2001 - 15 September 2002, no. 50.
Notes: Orazio Gentileschi (fig. 1) is rightly praised for his lyrical and gentle interpretation of the caravaggesque idiom, as well as his meticulous depiction of the sheen and texture of fabrics, which he approached with the sensitivity of a still-life painter. An aspect of his work that is not praised enough, however, is his psychological insight, no doubt because so few of his extant paintings capture deep emotion and inquisitiveness in quite the same way as the present depiction of a lady, who looks back at us so hauntingly. It is at the same time ethereal and psychologically penetrative, both other-worldly in its beauty and yet evidently describing a real person. Several sources mention that Gentileschi painted portraits while in England, but none alas has survived.
Anthony van Dyck, Drawing of Orazio Gentileschi© The Trustees of the British Museum, Art Resource, NY
Gentileschi counted among his patrons the leading collectors of his time as well as several European monarchs. The present panel was painted during the first half of the 1630s, while the artist was working at the court of King Charles I of England (fig. 2), who is recorded as having acquired the work by 1636. Gentileschi's presence and success at the court caused some resentment and in 1627 a group of English painters, no doubt envious of the royal pension Orazio was awarded, drew up a petition to present to the king in which they complained that too many foreign artists, among them Gentileschi, were stealing their work.
Anthony van Dyck, Equestrian Portrait of Charles I, oil on canvas / National Gallery, London, UK Bridgeman Images
Orazio had two faithful allies though, for the Duke of Buckingham was a loyal patron and Queen Henrietta Maria was very fond of his work. Indeed, one of his key commissions during his time at the English court was the Allegory of Peace and the Arts for the Queen's House in Greenwich, now installed at Marlborough House, London. Joseph and Potiphar's wife, again painted in London and today at Hampton Court, was also destined for the Queen's House. Gentileschi had previously worked at the French court in Paris as well as for the leading nobility in Genoa. One of his most important commissions there, painted for the Sauli family in 1615, was the magnificent Danaë (fig. 3) sold in these Rooms on 28 January 2016, which today hangs in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles with its pendant, a Lot and his Daughters. The third picture in the set is a Penitent Magdalene in a private collection. On Orazio’s death in 1639 he was given the singular honor of burial in the recently completed Catholic Chapel designed for Queen Henrietta Maria at Somerset House in London by Inigo Jones.
Orazio Gentileschi, Danaë, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Lot 23. Adam de Coster (Mechelen 1585/6 - 1643 Antwerpt), A young woman holding a distaff before a lit candle, oil on canvas, 52 3/4 by 37 3/8 in.; 134 by 94.9 cm. Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's
Provenance: Principe di Galati, Palermo, by descent in the family since the 17th century and until before 1958 (where documented in an early inventory as by Gerrit von Honthorst, and where hung together with a painting by Matthias Stomer);
Private collection;
Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 17 January 1992, lot 46 (followed by the pendant by Matthias Stomer as lot 46A);
There acquired by the present collector.
Literature: C. Matranga, "Dipinti inediti o poco noti di Mattie Stomer in Sicilia," L’Italia e L’Arte Straniera, Rome 1912, p. 425, no. IV (as Matthias Stomer);
T.H. Fokker, "Nederlandsche schilders in Zuid Italië," Oud Holland, vol. 46, 1929, p. 23 (as attribution unknown);
S. Somers, Adam de Coster (1586-1643), een Vlaams Caravaggist, MA thesis, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven 1996, pp. 204-211, cat. no. A22;
G. Papi, Bartolomeo Manfredi, Soncino 2013, p. 56, note 38;
G. Papi, Gherardo delle Notti. Quadri bizzarrissimi e cene allegre, exhibition catalogue, Florence 2015, p. 238, under cat. no. 52.
Note: This painting is emblematic of the refined and dramatic nocturnes that form the small catalogue of works by Adam de Coster. Benedict Nicolson was the first scholar to isolate a corpus of works by this Flemish candlelight painter in a series of publications.1 He based this group around Lucas Vorsterman’s engraving after a lost work by de Coster, which depicted tric-trac players and a musician illuminated by two burning candles on a table.2 Unpublished until its sale in 1992 when Professor Leonard J. Slatkes identified the work as by Adam de Coster, the present work remains one of the most significant additions in recent decades to the artist’s catalogue.
In this painting, the glow of a single flame illuminates the various rich fabrics and delicate features of a young woman set against a dark background. Vivid shadows cast throughout the composition define her engaging visage as well as the patterned details of her sleeve, the tufts of fur that line her robe, and the wispy tendrils of the distaff she holds near the candle. The same rich crimson color found in her robe and striped headdress is also subtly detectable in her supple lips, the apple of her cheeks, and the sheen of the stem of the candlestick. Distinct affinities are apparent between the present painting and de Coster’s A Man Singing by Candlelight (circa 1625-1635, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, fig. 1), a work, like the present canvas, once thought to be by Honthorst.3 Both works depict a single figure dressed in a fur-lined costume, beautifully lit by the flame of what appears to be the same candle stick. Although it is tempting to think these two canvases may have once been pendants that hung at opposite sides of a grand gallery, the figures face in the same direction and hold slightly different places in the picture plane. Nevertheless, the undoubted connection between the two illustrates de Coster’s reworking of a successful and captivating compositional prototype.
Adam de Coster, A Man Singing by Candlelight, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.
Little is known of the biography of Adam de Coster. Born in 1586 in the Flemish city of Mechelen, a province of Antwerp, he appears to have spent much of his career in Antwerp and became a Master of the Guild of Saint Luke around 1607. His portrait was reproduced as an engraving in Anthony van Dyck's Iconography, where he was described as "pictor noctium," signaling that his reputation as a painter of night scenes had firmly been established in Northern Europe by the 1630s.4 Although documentary evidence only ever records de Coster outside of Antwerp in 1635 when he visited Hamburg, Nicolson has noted that correspondences between his paintings and the works of the Lombard artist Antonio Campi suggest a possible sojourn to Italy.5
The idea of the artist's Italian travels becomes even more intriguing when considering the provenance of the present work, for it is said to have remained in a private collection in Palermo from the 17th century until the mid 20th century. The model, in her fur-trimmed red dress with an elaborate white sash and a striped red turban, reappears in another painting by de Coster with possible Italian provenance, The Denial of Saint Peter (private collection, fig. 2).6 The stylistic similarities between these two paintings also suggest they were executed around the same time. That they both appear to have remained in Italy for centuries further hints at the possibility that de Coster may have once been active south of the Alps.
Adam de Coster, The Denial of Saint Peter, sold 98,500 USD at Sotheby’s, New York, 5 June 2008, Lot 58.
Whether or not he ever left the Low Countries, Adam de Coster undoubtedly was influenced by the Caravaggesque style that spread throughout Europe in the early 17th century. Particularly relevant are the works by Northern Caravaggisti such as Gerard Seghers, from Antwerp, and Hendrick ter Brugghen, Gerrit von Honthorst, and his student Matthias Stomer from Utrecht, among whom vivid chiaroscuro compositions, enhanced by an artificial light source such as a candle or brazier, were extremely popular. With this in mind, it is not surprising that attributions to Gerrit von Honthorst and Matthias Stomer were once proposed for the present painting, which for centuries acted as a pendant pair to Matthias Stomer's Cavalier lighting a pipe from an oil lamp (private collection, fig. 3) while both paintings hung in the Palazzo Galati in Palermo.7 The pair remained together until their sale in these Rooms in 1992. The recent appearance at auction of direct copies after this pair, which also come from a private Sicilian collection, reconfirms their old Italian provenance and their former connection as pendants.8
Matthias Stomer, Cavalier Lighting a Pipe from an Oil Lamp, Sotheby’s, New York, 17 January 1992, Lot 46A.
1. See B. Nicolson, “Notes on Adam de Coster,” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 103, no. 698, May 1961, pp. 185-189; B. Nicolson, “Candlelight Pictures from the South Netherlands,” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 108, no. 758, May 1966, pp. 252-256; and B. Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement: List of Pictures by Caravaggio and his Followers throughout Europe from 1590 to 1650, Oxford 1979, pp. 44-45.
2. For a reproduction of the engraving, see A. von Schneider, Caravaggio und die Niederländer, Marburg 1933, plate. 39b.
3. B. Nicolson, “Candlelight Pictures from the South Netherlands,” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 108, no. 758, May 1966, pp. 253.
4. For Anthony van Dyck's grisaille portrait of Adam de Coster, see S. Barnes, N. de Poorter, O. Millar, and H. Vey, Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven, 2004, p. 367, cat. no. III. 148, reproduced.
5. B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Oxford 1979, vol. I, p. 100.
6. Sold in these rooms, 5 June 2008, lot 58.
7. Mattias Stomer's Cavalier lighting a pipe from an oil lamp was sold in these rooms, 17 January 1992, lot 46a and referenced in B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Oxford 1979, p. 187. The relationship between the present painting by de Coster and this Stomer lead Matraga (see Literature) to propose an attribution to Stomer for this pair.
8. See Anonymous sale, Genoa, Wannenes, 30 November 2016, lot 656. This pair was offered as Manner of Mattias Stomer.
Lot 39. An Arita Dish Commissioned by the Dutch East India Company, Edo period (late 17th century). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.
The shallow dish decorated in underglaze blue with the central roundel containing the initials of the Dutch East India Company, VOC [Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie], surrounded by two ho-o birds amongst pomegranate and camellia, the six radiating border panels at the rim enclosing alternatively bamboo with plum blossoms and peony divided by narrow bands of stylised foliage - 36cm. diam.
Note: The porcelain in the second half of the seventeenth century ordered by the Dutch from Deshima Island were copied from Chinese Wanli 'kraak' porcelain. With the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in China in 1644 Holland's great source of supply of Wanli blue and white 'kraak' porcelain suddenly came to an end, and as a consequence the Dutch turned their attention to Japan. From about 1660 to 1700 a great variety of shapes and designs were exported to Batavia. The 'kraak' style is mainly characterised by a central floral or animal motif surrounded by a radiating segmented border. The designs of the Japanese 'kraak' style dishes show some differences from the original Chinese prototypes. The wider panels without the use of auspicious symbols, and the depiction of the phoenix (ho-o birds) with their fanned-out tails, which again was later imitated in Europe on faience and porcelain. Dishes with the VOC monogram are naturally exemplary of East West relations in ceramics and the role the company played in them. No special mention is made of them in the trade documents, but it can be taken that they were ordered for the use of the company staff at the factory on Deshima and possibly also in Batavia and other factories in Asia.
Christie's on line. JAPANESE ART AT THE ENGLISH COURT
Lot 40. An Arita Coffee Urn and Cover, Edo period (late 17th - early 18th century). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.
Decorated in underglaze blue with ho-o birds perched on rockwork and in flight among chrysanthemums and peonies, the loop handle with scrolling karakusa, the tripod feet with stylised flower and foliage, the cover with a drop-shaped finial with further flowers, with silver patinated metal tap modelled as a mythical beast head and metal chain attaching the cover - 28.5cm. high
Note: For a similar example, see Christiaan J.A. Jorg, Fine and Curious, Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections (Amsterdam, 2003), p.204, no.261 (the Groninger Museum collection)
A similar example was sold Christie's London, 23rd November 1992, Lot 399 (sale 4866).
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Lot 41. An Arita Vase, Edo period (late 17th century). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.
Of ovoid form, decorated in underglaze blue with three shaped panels enclosing chrysanthemums, peonies and dianthus issuing from rockwork, divided by stylised lotus and scrolling foliage, the shoulder and neck with bands of various patterns and lappets - 33cm. high
Note: For similar examples, see John Ayers et al., Porcelain for Palaces: The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650-1750, exh. cat., The British Museum, (London, 1990), p. 106-107, no. 54; and Kogi Ichiro, Shinshusei Ko-Imari [A new compilation of Ko-Imari] (Tokyo, 1993), p. 225, pl. 268.
Christie's on line. JAPANESE ART AT THE ENGLISH COURT
Lot 42. An Arita Tureen and Cover, Edo Period (late 17th century). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.
Decorated in underglaze blue in the Kakiemon style with continuous design of buildings among mountains above a band of geometric design, the domed cover similarly decorated with landscape and a geometric band surrounding the finial shaped as a shishi [lion dog] - 34cm. high
Note: For similar examples, see Nagatake Takeshi, Yabe Yoshiaki, Imari, vol. 19 of Nihon toji taikei [Compendium of Japanese ceramics] (Tokyo, 1989), pl. 28; Toguri Bijutsukan [Toguri Museum of Art], Kaikan kinen meihin ten [Commemorative Exhibition for the Opening] (Tokyo, 1987), p.65, pl.57; and Toguri Bijutsukan [Toguri Museum of Art], Nihon toji meihin zuroku [Japanese ceramics in the Toguri collection] (Tokyo, 1988), p. 103, 298, no.144 (the Toguri Museum of Art collection).
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Mao Xiang (Chinese), Transplanting rice seedlings, dated 1588. Hanging scroll. Ink and colors on silk. H. 12 3/4 in x W. 21 1/2 in, H. 32.4 cm x W. 54.6 cm (image). The Avery Brundage Collection, B62D19 © 2016 Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture
This painting presents country life along a waterway. In the right foreground is a country house with an open window through which can be seen a desk piled with books—clearly the country home of a member of the educated elite. At the left, five farmers transplant rice seedlings. Across the body of water from them a man props up an oar in a boat while on the nearby shore a boy rides a buffalo and plays his flute. Further along the waterway is a village with a woman and a boy standing outside and a man carrying a pair of barrels on a pole balanced on his shoulders. The central intention of the painting is to be found in the inscription, which reads:
Clear rainwater has risen up to the banks. Everywhere fields cry for seedlings to be planted. Green gardens attract birds to sing and rest, Their shadows like fresh lotuses appliquéd to the surface of the water. Painted and inscribed by Mao Dan from Meixi, summer of the year wuzi.
The planting and harvesting of rice was critical to China's well-being and such a scene could be interpreted as a wish for success or for prosperity in the empire, and consequently for the reign of a benevolent and just emperor.
Artist's Biography The signature on the painting reads "Mao Dan," a name not recorded in the standard references on Chinese painters. The style and the subject indicate this work was executed sometime in the Qing dynasty. The cyclical date on the painting is most likely the equivalent of 1828.
Two birds on a blossoming branch, China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) or later. Hanging scroll. H. 9 3/4 in x W. 11 in, H. 24.8 cm x W. 27.9 cm (image); H. 41 1/2 in x W. 17 in, H. 105.4 cm x W. 43.2 cm (overall). Museum purchase, B69D3 © 2016 Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture
In this small work a pair of swallows perch on a branch of blossoming wax plum. Wax plum (lamei) has blossoms resembling those of the plum, but its petals are translucent and waxlike. These effects are captured in this painting by edging the petals with opaque white and leaving the center bare so that the silk ground shows through. Because of its beauty and unusual fragrance, the wax plum is one of the most popular flowers of winter.
Wen Zhengming (Chinese, 1470 - 1559), Discourse in Green Shade, 1470-1559, Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Hanging scroll. Ink on paper. H. 40 1/8 in x W. 11 1/4 in, H. 101.9 cm x W. 28.6 cm (image); H. 104 3/4 in x W. 24 1/2 in, H. 266.1 cm x W. 62.2 cm (overall). Museum purchase, B68D9 © 2016 Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture
This painting presents a scene of quiet, scholarly life spent in harmony with nature. Wen Zhengming used dry brushwork and ink with little tonal variation for this composition. In theme and execution this painting (and the fan painting by the same artist in this gallery) crystallizes the values of the more scholarly painting traditions that flourished in and around Wen Zhengming's hometown of Suzhou, of which he was a leading master during the 1500s. After a brief, unsatisfying political career, Wen returned to his native Suzhou and lived a life of painting and other scholarly pursuits. Those inspired by Wen Zhengming's painting style included Wen Jia and other painters whose works are displayed in this gallery, all of whom followed the Suzhou painting traditions during the late Ming dynasty.
Man grooming a horse, 1700s, Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Nephrite. H. 3 3/4 in x W. 6 1/4 in x D. 3 1/2 in, H. 9.5 cm x W. 15.9 cm x D. 8.9 cm. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60J388 © 2016 Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture
A cheerful man is grooming his horse, while his right hand holds the halter. The horse stands with its head turned toward the groom; its long neck and short stocky legs identify it as a Mongolian horse. The groom wears a short vest; his hat that harks back to the Tang dynasty pottery grooms. The group rests on a rocky base that resembles the bamboo carvings of the Ming dynasty. There has been much discussion about this base.
d'Argencé, who dated this piece to the Ming period, believed that Ming jade carvers invented a new flat and roughly rectangular base as a protective device to support their standing figurines, and that this type of little "landscape" was the prototype of the jade mountains of subsequent periods. Watt agreed with this Ming dynasty dating. Yang Boda, however, felt that this is an archaistic piece made in the 1700s.
