Tigre, Chine, dynastie Shang (c.1600-1046 avant J.-C.). Néphrite, bronze. MNAAG Paris, MA3863. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée Guimet, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier.

Ours assis, Chine, dynastie Shang (c.1600-1046 avant J.-C.). Néphrite, bronze. MNAAG Paris, MA3840. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée Guimet, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier.

Circular Box with Peacocks, Peonies, and Auspicious Motifs, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Wanli period (1573–1620). Porcelain painted in underglaze blue. H. 14 cm; diam. 25.3 cm. Gift of the Orientals, 1931.753. The Art Institute of Chicago©2015 The Art Institute of Chicago.

Lot 75. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux),  A hunter with his dog in a landscape. Estimate USD 600,000 - USD 800,000 © Christie's Image Ltd 2017

numbered by the artist '96' and with number in pen and ink '42' (Madrazo album III), point of the brush and brown ink, scraping, fragmentary watermark crest surmounted by a cross, 8 x 5½ in. (20.2 x 14.1 cm.)

Provenance: By descent to the artist's son
Javier Goya y Bayeu (by 1828), and by descent to his son
Mariano Goya y Goicoechea, after 1854. 
Federico de Madrazo and/or Román Garreta y Huerta, around 1855-60.
Paul Lebas; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 3 April 1877, lot 55, where acquired by
Baron de Beurnonville; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 16-19 February 1885, part of lot 49, where acquired by
Maurice de Beurnonville.
George Ortiz.
Anonymous sale; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 25 June 1986, lot 21, where acquired by
Peter Jay Sharp.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 28 January 2009, lot 99, where acquired by the present owner. 

Literature: P. Gassier, 'Une Source inédite de dessins de Goya en France au XIXe Siècle', Gazette des Beaux Arts, LXXX, no. 6, 1972, pp. 109-20.
P. Gassier, Francisco Goya. Drawings. The Complete Albums, London 1973, p. 497, 'lost drawing' F.j.

Exhibited: New York, National Academy of Design, European Master Drawings from the Collection of Peter Jay Sharp, 1994, p. 76, ill. p. 77 (catalogue note by J. Tomlinson).

Notes: An avid hunter himself, Goya devoted several drawings to the theme of the hunt, including at least ten in one of the ‘private’ albums of independent works which he formed at the end of his life, the so-called album F (or Sepia Album), generally dated to 1815-20 (see, in addition to the present sheet, P. Gassier and J. Wilson, Vie et œuvre de Francisco Goya, Freiburg and Paris, 1970, nos. 1510-8, ill.; and Gassier, op. cit., 1973, nos. F.97-F.106, ill.). Drawings from the series can be found at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 35.103.22, 35.103.23), The Morgan Library and Museum (inv. EVT 296), and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (J. Wilson-Bareau, Goya: Drawings from his Private Albums, exh. cat. London, Hayward Gallery, 2001, no. 66, ill.); one formerly in the Krugier collection was recently sold, Sotheby’s, London, 6 February 2014, lot 113.  

Of the group, the present sheet counts among the most elaborate, showing a young man in an open landscape, holding his gun and accompanied by his dog. The animal’s pose, his mottled fur, the man’s gear and the shadow cast on his face by his hat are all evidence of Goya’s extremely agile yet subtle brushwork. The dog’s alertness stands in contrast to the man’s seemingly pensive mood, while the hunters’ prey remains invisible, adding to the viewer’s impression of witnessing a moment suspended in time. The landscape is reminiscent of that of Goya’s youth in Aragon. 

Christie's. Old Master Drawings, 24 January 2017, New York, Rockefeller Center

Lot 86. Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp), Scipio Africanus welcomed outside the gates of Rome, after Giulio Romano. Estimate USD 500,000 - USD 700,000 © Christie's Image Ltd 2017

black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, grey, cream, white and green bodycolor with heightening in oil, 16½ x 22½ in. (41.9 x 57.3 cm.)

Provenance: Anthonius Triest, Bishop of Ghent (according to P.-J. Mariette in the Crozat catalogue).
Possibly Cornelis Vermeulen.
P. Crozat (his number ‘24’, L.3612); Paris, 10 April-13 May 1741, part of lot 814.
Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun; Paris, 29 September 1806, lot 160.
M. Brunet (according to Woodburn's 1835 catalogue).
Bought by Samuel Woodburn for Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2445); unsold at the 1835 exhibition of his collection by Samuel Woodburn.
Samuel Woodburn; Christie's, London, 4-8 June 1860, lot 801 (28 gns. to Nieuwenhuys).
John Charles Robinson, London; Christie’s, London, 12-14 May 1902, lot 345 (£10 to Peters);
Clifford Duits, London, thence by descent to
Brenda Brod.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, London, 9 July 2008, lot 16, where acquired by the present owner.

Literature: J. Richardson Sr. and Jr., An account of some of the Statues, Bas-reliefs, Drawings and Pictures in Italy, & sc. with remarks, London, 1722, p. 12.
M. Rooses, ‘Œuvre de Rubens. Addenda et corrigenda’, Bulletin-Rubens/ Rubens-Bulletijn, V, 1900, p. 198.
M. Rooses, Rubens' leven en werken, Amsterdam, 1903, I, p. 32, ill.
M. Rooses, Rubens, Philadelphia, 1904, I, p. 32, ill.
F. Lugt, Musée du Louvre. Inventaire général des dessins des écoles du Nord publié sous les auspices du Cabinet des dessins. Ecole flamande, Paris, 1949, II, p. 29, under no. 1081.
M. Jaffé, 'Rubens and Giulio Romano at Mantua', The Art Bulletin, XL, 1958, p. 326, note 7.
J. Bouchot-Saupique, Dessins de Pierre-Paul Rubens, exh. cat. Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1959, p. 22, under no. 40.
J.G. van Gelder, ‘The Triumph of Scipio by Rubens. P. Crozat sale (1741), lot 814’, Duits Quarterly, VIII, 1965, pp. 5, 9-13, 16-18, ill.
D. Rosand, 'Rubens Drawings', The Art Bulletin, XLVIII, 1966, p. 242.
M. Jaffé, Rubens and Italy, Oxford, 1977, p. 43, fig. 113.
N. De Poorter, The Eucharist Series (Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, II), Brussels, London and Philadelphia, 1978, I, p. 204, note 136.
D. Freedberg, 'L'année Rubens, manifestations et publications en 1977', Revue de l'Art, no. 39, 1978, p. 84.
B. Jestaz with R. Bacou, Jules Romain. L'Histoire de Scipion, exh. cat., Paris, Grand Palais, 1978, p. 137, under no. XXII.2. 
A.-M. Logan, 'Rubens Exhibitions, 1977-78', Master Drawings, XVI, 1978, p. 447.
A.-M. Logan, 'Publication received [Review of B. Jestaz and R. Bacou, Jules Romain. L'Histoire de Scipion, tapisseries et dessins, Paris 1978], Master Drawings, XVIII, 1980, p. 60.
H. Macandrew, Italian Schools: Supplement (Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Catalogue of the Collection of Drawings, III), Oxford, 1980, p. 263.
R. Bacou, Autour de Raphael. Dessins et peintures du Musée du Louvre, exh. cat. Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1983, p. 55, under no. 59
J. Wood, Copies and Adaptations from Renaissance and Later Artists: Italian Artists: I. Raphael and his school (Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, XXVI (2)), London and Turnhout, 2010, I, no. 75, pls. 11, 16 and fig. 189. 
A.T. Woollett, ‘Faith and Glory. The Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia and the Triumph of the Eucharist’, in Alejandro Vergara and Anne T. Woollett, eds., Spectacular Rubens. The Triumph of the Eucharist, exhib. cat., Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, and Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, Prado, 2014-2015, p. 28, note 77

Exhibited: London, The Lawrence Gallery, First Exhibition. A Catalogue of One Hundred Original Drawings by Sir P.P. Rubens, Collected by Sir Thomas Lawrence, late President of the Royal Academy, 1835, no. 9 (catalogue by S. Woodburn).
London, The New Gallery, Exhibition of Pictures by Masters of the Flemish and British Schools including a Selection from the Works of Sir Peter Paul Rubens, 1899-1900, no. 154.
Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland and Nottingham, Djanogly Art Gallery, Rubens. Drawing on Italy, 2002, no. 36 (catalogue by J. Wood), p. 16, no. 36, fig. 4. 

Notes: The present drawing corresponds closely to a composition by Giulio Romano (1499-1546) for a tapestry from a set dated to the 1530s, illustrating the life and triumphs of the Roman general Scipio Africanus. While the tapestries themselves are lost, Giulio’s designs are still known from surviving drawings, including the present sheet. Far from being a marginal part of his œuvre, Rubens’ copies after and retouched drawings by earlier artists were central to his art and his working method. Among them, the drawing offered here counts as ‘one of the most visually coherent, elaborately worked, and pictorially brilliant’ (Wood, op. cit., 2010, I, p. 351-352). With a second retouched drawing after Giulio, now in the Fritz Lugt Collection, Paris (inv. 1044), the drawing exhibits ‘those qualities of relief and of rich contrast in light and shade which Rubens could infuse with his pen and brush onto old copies of another’s drawings’ (Jaffé, op. cit., 1977, p. 43). Writing in the Crozat sale catalogue, the great 18th Century collector and connoisseur Pierre-Jean Mariette found the drawings to demonstrate ‘an intelligence of which only [Rubens] was capable’ (‘une intelligence dont il n’y avoit que lui qui en fût capable’). He recorded that both sheets once belonged to Bishop Anthonius Triest of Ghent (1576-1657), a contemporary of Rubens who may have acquired them directly from the artist, or from his heirs after his death. The drawing passed through several prestigious collections, and was recognized early on as a ‘capital drawing and of the greatest beauty’ (‘dessin capital & de première beauté’; Brunet sale, 1806) and as ‘magnificent’ (Woodburn sale, 1861).

As Mariette already appears to have understood, Rubens worked on top of an earlier drawing, probably a workshop replica of Giulio’s autograph model (petit patron), preserved at the Louvre, Paris (inv. 3536), while an earlier preparatory sketch is at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (inv. WA1947.1). Without changing much in the layout and the details of the triumphal scene, Rubens completely transformed the 16th Century drawing, covering it almost entirely with bodycolor of different hues, and giving the classical, linear style of the original the vigorous and three-dimensional appearance of a Baroque masterpiece. Two other retouched replicas of Giulio’s designs for the Triumphs of Scipio are known: one at the Louvre (inv. 20250), the other at the Museum Heylshoff, Worms (inv. 3). Undeniably, the present drawing is the most energetic and attractive composition, as well as the more dazzling display of Rubens’ ability to infuse new life into an earlier design. 

Giulio took his subject from Appian’s Roman history (book 8, chapter 9, paragraph 66), which describes the triumphal entry of Scipio in Rome after defeating Hannibal in 201 B.C. in the Second Punic War. The general is seated on an elaborate chariot, a double quadriga led by a boisterous crowd of men and women. Winged figures filling much of the upper half of the drawing crown him with laurel wreaths. At left, the larger-than-life personification of Rome welcomes the hero at her gates. At lower right, a river god refers to the Tiber and the she-wolf and Romulus and Remus to the city itself. From a comparison with Giulio’s original drawing at the Louvre, it is clear that Rubens changed little in the Italian’s composition, but minor modifications subtly add to the updated feel of the drawing, such as the rustication of the city gates at left, and the elaboration of the scroll decorating the chariot and the cornucopia held by the Tiber. 

Plat à bouquet symétrique, Iznik, Vers 1600, période ottomane (13e siècle-1922). Anc. coll. Salzmann, Acq. Musée de Cluny, 1865. Ecouen, musée national de la Renaissance, E.Cl.8321. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée de la Renaissance, château d'Ecouen) / René-Gabriel Ojéda

Plat aux hautes tiges de tulipes et d'oeillets, Iznik, vers 1570, période ottomane (13e siècle-1922). Anc. coll. Salzmann, Acq. Musée de Cluny, 1865. Ecouen, musée national de la Renaissance, E.Cl.8139. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée de la Renaissance, château d'Ecouen) / René-Gabriel Ojéda

Spectacular ruby and diamond parure, Asprey. Sold 2,345,000 CHF at Sotheby's Geneva, 14 Nov 2007, lot 371A. 

Comprising: a necklace composed of a graduated line of brilliant-cut diamonds supporting at the front a fringe of oval and cushion-shaped rubies set within oval, pear-shaped and brilliant-cut diamond surrounds, the five largest pear-shaped diamonds weighing 2.47, 3.01, 3.01, 3.45 and 3.58 carats respectively, the seven largest oval diamonds weighing 2.01, 2.03, 2.04, 2.07, 2.07, 2.22 and 2.60 carats respectively, accompanied by a pair of pendent earrings and a ring en suite, mounted in platinum and yellow gold, signed Asprey, French assay and maker's marks. Necklace length approximately 400mm, ring size 51. 

Accompanied by SSEF report no. 49615 stating that all rubies, estimated to weigh approximately 78.60 carats in total, are of Burmese origin, with indications of heating and some minor to moderate residue in fissures.

Very attractive fancy purplish pink diamond ring, 1930s. Sold 1,561,000 CHF at Sotheby'sGeneva, 14 Nov 2007, lot 356.

The fancy purplish pink Asscher-cut diamond weighing 6.54 carats, set between triangular diamond shoulders, size 52.

Accompanied by GIA report no. 15644798 stating that the diamond is Fancy Purplish Pink, Natural Colour, VS2 Clarity.

Further accompanied by GIA Diamond Type Classification report stating: 'Scientists classify diamonds into two main "types" - type I and type II - based on the presence or absence of nitrogen which can replace carbon atoms in a diamond's atomic structure. These two diamond types can be distinguished on the basis of differences in their chemical and physical properties. Type II diamonds contain little if any nitrogen and they are subdivided into two groups (IIa and IIb) both of which are quite rare (less than 2 % of all gem diamonds). 

According to the records if GIA Laboratory, the 6.54 carat cut-cornered rectangular step-cut diamond described in the GIA Colored Diamond Grading Report # 15644798 has been determined to be a type IIa diamond. Type IIa diamonds are the most chemically pure type of diamond and often have exceptional optical transparency. Type IIa diamonds were first identified as originating from India (particularly from the Golconda region) but have since been discovered in all major diamond producing regions of the world. 

Among famous gem diamonds, the 530.20 Cullinan and the 105.60 Koh-i-noor are examples of type IIa.' 

Octagonal Box with Birds, Peony Flowers, and Peach Branches, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Jiajing mark and period (1522–1566). Porcelain painted in underglaze blue. Restricted gift of Josephine P. Albright in memory of Alice Higgenbothem Patterson, 1967.366a-b. The Art Institute of Chicago ©2015 The Art Institute of Chicago

Démêloir, Chine, dynastie Zhou (vers 1046- 256 av. J.-C.). Néphrite. MNAAG Paris, MA3844. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée Guimet, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier.

Grande tablette de cérémonie, "yu mei gui", Chine, dynastie Qing (1644-1911), 18e siècle. Néphrite, bois. Hauteur : 27,5 cm; Largeur : 6 cm; Profondeur : 2,5 cm. Don Gieseler, 1932, MNAAG Paris, MG18376bis. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée Guimet, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier.

Lot 3686. A fine Junyao ‘bubble’ bowl, Northern Song-Jin Dynasty. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 5,440,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby’s

well potted with gently rounded sides rising to a slightly incurved mouthrim, applied overall with a bubble-suffused pale blue glaze thinning to a buff colour at the rim, the interior with several mottled purplish-blue splashes, the interior and exterior decorated with splashes of purple, all supported on a neatly finished unglazed chocolate-brown foot, wood stand; 8.7 cm., 3 1/2  in.

PROPERTY FROM A HONG KONG FAMILY COLLECTION

Purple-splashed Jun bowls of this classic Northern Song shape are remarkable for their understated elegance, offset by splendid colouration displaying a range of blue and lavender tones. The vibrant colours, glossy glaze and rounded shape on the current bowl successfully create the illusion of a soap bubble, hence their ‘bubble bowl’ name. Rose Kerr in Song Dynasty Ceramics, London, 2004, p. 34, notes that the splashes found on ‘Jun’ wares are made with the application of copper brushwork or washes, which then merge with the bluish ‘Jun’ glazes at full heat. This provides a striking contrast to the thick bright blue glaze beneath, giving each vessel decorated in this manner its unique design.

Compare a splashed bubble bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in the Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 225; and another from the Sir Percival David collection and now in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Margaret Medley, The Chinese Potter, Oxford, 1976, fig. 83. Two Jun splashed bubble bowls from the Edward T. Chow collection, amongst the best extant examples, were sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, the first, lot 264, sold again in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 209, from the T.T. Tsui collection, the second, lot 265, sold in our London rooms, 7th June 2000, lot 93.

Sotheby’s. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 oct. 2014, 03:00 PM

Lot 6. A Lacquer Casket Commissioned by the Portuguese, Momoyama period, late 16th - early 17th century © Christie's Image Ltd 2017

The rectangular casket with domed hinged cover, decorated in shark skin, gold hiramaki-e and inlaid in mother-of-pearl over a black ground, each panel bordered with inlaid bands and shippo patterns, copper gilt fittings engraved with stylised flowers - 16.9cm. wide. Estimate GBP 5,000 - 7,000

Notes: For an example decorated in shark skin in the Tokyo National Museum collection, go to: http://webarchives.tnm.jp/imgsearch/show/C0097526

For another example in the Oita City Historical Museum collection, visit Cultural Heritage Online (Japanese): 
http://bunka.nii.ac.jp/SearchDetail.do?heritageId=23254#

A similar example sold Christie’s London, 20 November 1990, lot 1010. 

For more information on lacquer caskets commissioned by Europeans, visit the British Museum website: 
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/t/travelling_chest_kamaboko-bak.aspx

Christie's on line. JAPANESE ART AT THE ENGLISH COURT

Lot 8. A Lacquer Casket Commissioned by the Portuguese, Momoyama period, late 16th century. © Christie's Image Ltd 2017

The rectangular casket with domed hinged cover, decorated in gold hiramaki-e and inlaid in mother-of-pearl and bordered with chequered bands, the cover and the front with two lozenge-shaped panels containing a pavilion amongst a maple tree and kikyo [Chinese bellflowers] and a hawk amongst tachibana on a shippo-hanabishi ground, the sides with further tachibana and a cherry blossom tree, the back with morning glory, copper gilt fittings engraved with stylised flowers - 46.3 x 29 x 24.5cm. Estimate GBP 10,000 - 12,000

Notes: For an example of a cabinet with similar decoration see Fundação Oriente, Encomendas Namban: Os Portugueses no Japão da Idade Moderna (Lisbon, 2010), p. 115 - 117, cat. no. 27.

For more information on lacquer caskets commissioned by Europeans, visit the British Museum website: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/t/travelling_chest_kamaboko-bak.aspx

Christie's on line. JAPANESE ART AT THE ENGLISH COURT