Quantcast
Channel: Alain.R.Truong
Viewing all 36084 articles
Browse latest View live

‘Syria Antiqua – Coins and Monuments on the Museuminsel’ at Bode Museum, Berlin

0
0

1498639814-5da63

Uranius Antoninus, obverse: left-facing armoured bust of Uranius Antonius with laurel wreath; reverse: the stone of Baal from Emesa on a four-horse chariot (quadriga), left-facing. © State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet / Reinhard Saczewski

BERLIN - Bode Museum is displaying coins from ancient Syrian cities in an exhibition, titled 'Syria Antiqua – Coins and Monuments on the Museuminsel’, on view through November 5, 2017.

Coins from ancient Syrian cities illustrate impressively the cultural, religious, and political constellations of the time. Mints existed not only in the major trading cities, ports, and havens like Laodicea, Palmyra, and Damascus, but could also be found in centers of cultural and religious life such as Antioch and Emesa. Numerous members of the Roman imperial family, such as Julia Domna and her sister Julia Maesa, came from Syria, one of the greatest and richest provinces of the Roman Empire. 

The exhibition is on view at Bode Museum, Am Kupfergraben, 10117 Berlin, Germany.

csm_1a_Syria_Antiqua_d7614942f6

Uranius Antoninus , front, armor bust of Uranius Antoninus with laurel wreath in the breastview after l., © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Münzkabinett / Reinhard Saczewski

csm_1b_Syria_Antiqua_71beda04fb

Uranius Antoninus, back, The stone of Baal from Emesa on a four-horse chariot (Quadriga) to the left, on the stone framed by two umbrellas, is the relief of an eagle© State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet / Reinhard Saczewski

csm_2_Syria_Antiqua_2abbd76014

Iulia Domna, Front, Draped Bust of Iulia Domna with Stephane in the front view to the right, © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Münzkabinett / Lutz-Jürgen Lübke

csm_3_Syria_Antiqua_37d474dddf

Bostra, front, head of the Elagabalus with laurel wreath to the right, © State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet / Reinhard Saczewski

Antioch on the Orontes , front, head of Augustus, 5-4 v

Antioch on the Orontes , front, head of Augustus, 5-4 v. © State Museum of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Antioch on the Orontes , back, Tyche of Antioch among them the floating river god Orontes, 5-4 v

Antioch on the Orontes, back, Tyche of Antioch among them the floating river god Orontes, 5-4 v© State Museum of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Emesa , front, bust of Caracalla, 216-217 AD, © State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Emesa, front, bust of Caracalla, 216-217 AD,© State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Emesa , front, bust of Caracalla, 216-217 AD, © State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Emesa, back, temple front with the sacred stone of the Elagabal in the temple, 216-217 AD,© State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet 

Laodikeia , front, armored bust of Trajan, 122-123 AD, © State Museum of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Laodikeia, front, armored bust of Trajan, 122-123 AD,© State Museum of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Grabrolief by siblingspaar , depict the young Yarhaî and his sister Moainat, 2nd half of the 2nd century AD,

Grave relief of Sibbling couple , depict the young Yarhaî and his sister Moainat, 2nd half of the 2nd century AD, © State Museums of Berlin, Sculpture Collection and Museum of Byzantine Art / Antje Voigt.

Tyros , front, bust of Caracalla, 209-217 AD, © State Museum of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Tyros , front, bust of Caracalla, 209-217 AD, © State Museum of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

csm_8b_Syria_Antiqua_d4cecbaf27

Tyros , back, The goddess Astarte stands between a victory monument and a small statue, 209-217 AD, © State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

1498639991-29be7

Tyros, front, bust of the Elagabal, 218-222 AD © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Münzkabinett

Tyros , back, two cultivars between which stands at olive tree, including dog with shell, 218-222 AD, © State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet

Tyros , back, two cultivars between which stands at olive tree, including dog with shell, 218-222 AD, © State Museums of Berlin, Coin Cabinet


Hancocks at Masterpiece London 2017

0
0

Hancocks2652017T124936

Diamond pendant by Black, Starr & Frost, c.1910, set with a stunning old-cut pear-shaped diamond. Hancocks, Stand C25 © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Hancocks2652017T124442

Old emerald cut diamond 'Cassiopeia' ring by Amy Burton, 2016. Hancocks, Stand C25 © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Hancocks2652017T12373

Egyptian revival gold scarab and multi gem bead necklace by Marcus & Co., c.1905. Hancocks, Stand C25 © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Hancocks2652017T123332

Diamond, ruby and platinum 'Orchestra' bracelet, attributed to Ruser, circa 1940. Hancocks, Stand C25 © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Hancocks162016T123928

An extraordinary 41.78ct cushion cut diamond crossover ring by Hancocks. Hancocks, Stand C25 © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Hancocks. 52 & 53 Burlington Arcade, London, W1J 0HH, United Kingdom. T  +44 20 74 93 89 04 - M   +44 7850 555 555 - F  +44 20 74 93 89 05 - E-mail info@hancockslondon.com - Website http://www.hancockslondon.com

Amir Mohtashemi Ltd at Masterpiece London 2017

0
0

Mohtashemi442017T15437

Iznik tile, Turkey, Second half of the 16th century. Amir Mohtashemi Ltd., Stand C5 © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Mohtashemi1342016T17822

Mughal octogonal container, India, Late 17th - early 18th century. Amir Mohtashemi Ltd., Stand C5 © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Mohtashemi442017T14583

A study of a binjai (mangifera caesia), Probably Penang, 19th century. Amir Mohtashemi Ltd., Stand C5 © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Amir Mohtashemi Ltd. 69 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 4BG, United Kingdom. T  +44 20 7937 4422. F  +44 20 7937 4411. info@amirmohtashemi.com - www.amirmohtashemi.com E-mail info@amirmohtashemi.com Website http://www.amirmohtashemi.com

 

'China and Egypt. Cradles of the World' at Museumsinsel Berlin, Neues Museum

0
0

1

China and Egypt. Weighing the world, exhibition artwork, consisting of: Wine vessel in the form of an owl, © Shanghai Museum, China, statuette of the wacky god Anubis, © SMB, Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection / Sandra Steiß, Dui Food Vessel, © Shanghai Museum, China, Figure of the servant, © Shanghai Museum, China, heart scarab, © SMB, Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection / Sandra Steiss

BERLIN - For the first time the exhibition at the Neues Museum (New Museum) on the Museumsinsel Berlin (Museum Island Berlin) will present ancient Egyptian and ancient Chinese artefacts side by side. Many exhibits from China have never been on show in Europe, with the bulk of the loans coming from the Shanghai Museum, enriched by objects from the Ethnologisches Museum (Ethnological Museum) and Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Asian Art Museum) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The exhibition features about 250 objects, including significant treasures from both regions. Reflecting the full time-span of ancient Egyptian civilization, the works on show range in date from 4500 BC well into the Greco-Roman period (332 BC to 312 AD). 

China and Egypt. Cradles of the World traces the development of these two regions that laid the foundations of great civilizations. Although there was no direct contact between ancient China and ancient Egypt, besides their differences there are surprisingly many similarities. Each of the 250 exhibits has its own history, while also representing an entire culture. The exhibition demonstrates this through five thematic chapters. 

Daily Life

What did daily life look like in ancient Egypt and ancient China? Statues, jewellery, ceramics, and cosmetic vessels provide vivid insights into the everyday life of people in these two advanced civilizations.

Writing

Both Egypt and China are among the oldest written cultures in the world. Bamboo stripes and the so-called oracle bones belong to the earliest written sources in ancient China. They are juxtaposed with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic artefacts.

Death and the Afterlife

Precious grave goods illustrate each culture’s cult of the dead, their rituals, and their burial practices. In China, jade was considered a stone of immortality. Chinese jade amulets were not only intended to protect the living, but served above all as a talisman for the deceased on their journey to the netherworld. One spectacular highlight of the exhibition is the display of a Chinese jade burial suit alongside a richly painted mummy case from ancient Egypt, brought together for the first time in Germany.

Religious Beliefs

The ancient Chinese worshipped a plethora of natural forces and, most importantly, their own ancestors. Boundaries between the earthly and divine worlds were indistinct. Also featuring Egyptian statues and stelae, the exhibition presents these various divine worlds, cults, and religious forms of worship.

Government and Administration

In Egypt, the pharaoh reigned as a godlike ruler from early on. The Chinese empire, however, was governed for a long time by an extensive network of noble families before the first emperors. In early times the Chinese cultures demonstrated their power and wealth much more often through abstract symbols than by representations of rulers like in Egypt. By contrasting these forms of representation, their differing power structures become apparent.

China and Egypt. Cradles of the World has received generous support from the Savings Banks Finance Group, main sponsor of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The exhibition has received further support from the Verein zur Förderung des Ägyptischen Museums Berlin e.V and Museum & Location. Media partners are Inforadio (rbb), kulturradio vom rbb, National Geographic, Der Tagesspiegel, tip Berlin and ZITTY.

A comprehensive publication by the Prestel Verlag accompanies the exhibition.

New Museum China and Egypt. Cradles of the World 6.7. - 3.12.2017

csm_01_Paar1_chin_Dienerfigur_c3e1e61a05

Figure of the servant, clay, painted, Western Han Dynasty, 206 BC-AD 24 © Shanghai Museum

csm_02_Paar1_Uschebti_814e7ef647

Uschebti of the Psammetich, green faience, Late period, 26.-27. Dynasty, 664-405 BC. © Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, State Museum of Berlin, Sandra Steiss

csm_03_Paar2_chin_Kopf_9790844639

Stems in the form of a human face, Bronze, Western Zhou Dynasty, 1050-771 BC. Shanghai Museum

csm_04_Paar2_Koenigin_eeab4c4c6c

Statue of a Queen, Grayswacke, New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, Ramses II, 1279-1213 BC. © Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, State Museums of Berlin, Jürgen Liepe

csm_06_Paar3_Mumienkartonnage_d4912a9085

Mummy cover of Nes-Chons-pa-cheret, cardboard box, primed and painted, Third Intermediate Period, 23rd Dynasty, 756-722 BC. © Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, State Museums of Berlin, Sandra Steiss

Wine vessel in the form of an owl, clay, painted, Western Han Dynasty, 206 BC, 8th century, © Shanghai Museum

Wine vessel in the form of an owl, Bronze, Western Han Dynasty, 206 BC-AD 24 BC. © Shanghai Museum

csm_08_chin_Ochsengefaess_6add9c75da

Wine vessel in the Shape of an Ox, Bronze, Late Shang Period, 13th-11th Century BC. © Shanghai Museum

csm_09_aegypt_Mumienmaske_10c68d9b2a

Mummy mask of Ta-Scherit-en-Hor, cardboard, primed, painted and partially gilded, Ptolemy period, 323-30 BC. © Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, State Museums of Berlin, Margarete Büsing

csm_10_aegypt_Totenbuch_843a6383a9

The Death-book of the Ta-remetsch-en-Bastet, papyrus inscribed and painted, Early Ptolemies, 332-246 BC. © Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, State Museums of Berlin, Andreas Paasch

csm_11_aegypt_Doppelstatue_de15bfa429

Double statue of Nefer-hor and his wife, limestone, New Kingdom, 19th-20th Dynasty, 1292-1070 BC. © Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, State Museum of Berlin, Sandra Steiss

csm_12_chin_Gefaess_88aa596ac7

Gui vessel with "snails", bronze, Western Zhou Dynasty, 1100-770 BC. © Shanghai Museum

AR PAB at London Art Week 2017

0
0

1200

Dirck Barendsz (1534 - 1592) - (attributed), Allegory of America16th century, ca.1580. Teak, mother-of-pearl and bras spins (plate), and oil painting (painting), 42.7 x 42.7 cm. AR PAB © 2017 London Art Week

AR PAB. Leading art dealers in furniture and objets d'art related to the Age of Discovery, namely 16th to early 18th century works of art linked with the Portuguese Seaborne Empire. We have thus specialised in objects made for export and under Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and, to a lesser extent, also English commission in Asia and the Americas; works of art from West Africa, India, Ceylon (SriLanka), China, South east Asia and Japan. Member of APA (Associação Portuguesa de Antiquários, the Portuguese antique dealers' association), CINOA (Confederation Internationale des Negociants en Oeuvres d'Art), and SNA (Syndicat National des Antiquaires, France). Address in Lisbon: Rua D. Pedro V, 69 1250/093 Lisboa - Portugal Address in Paris: 19, Rue de Beaune 75007 Paris - France.

Contact information: Álvaro Roquette / Pedro Aguiar-Branco alvaro.roquette@gmail.com / pab@pab.pt - AR (+33) 6733129165 / PAB (+351) 932416590 - www.pab.pt

 Address of Exhibition: c/o 6 Ryder Street, London, SW1Y 6QB

London Art Week - 30 June – 7 July 2017

Jean-Luc Baroni Ltd at London Art Week 2017

0
0

1200

Raffaellino Motta da Reggio, Codemondo (Reggio Emilia) 1550/1-1578 Rome, Portrait of a Young WomanPen and brown ink and wash, over traces of black and red chalk. Bears inscription in red chalk: Federigo Zucchari, 203 x 144 mm. (8 x 53⁄4 in.)Jean-Luc Baroni Ltd © 2017 London Art Week

ProvenanceThe artist Giulio Piatti (1816-1872), Villa Piatti, Florence and by descent through the Giuliana family.

LiteratureMarco Simone Bolzoni, ‘The Drawings of Raffaellino Motta da Reggio', Master Drawings, vol.54, no.2, Summer 2016, p.196, cat. A58 (A signifying ‘Autograph'), fig.86.

1200 (3)

Raffaellino Motta da Reggio, Codemondo (Reggio Emilia) 1550/1-1578 Rome, Study of a Seated Female Nude, her Hands reaching to her FootPen and brown ink and wash, over traces of black and red chalk. Bears inscription in red chalk: Federigo Zucchari. Jean-Luc Baroni Ltd © 2017 London Art Week

Provenance: The artist Giulio Piatti (1816-1872), Villa Piatti, Florence and by descent through the Giuliana family.

LiteratureMarco Simone Bolzoni, ‘The Drawings of Raffaellino Motta da Reggio', Master Drawings, vol.54, no.2, Summer 2016, p.196, cat. A58 (A signifying ‘Autograph'), fig.86.

NoteWith the benefit of two recent studies of Raffaellino da Reggio's career as a painter and draughtsman, his place as a ‘rising star on the Roman art scene' before his premature death at the age of 28 has been made abundantly clear. Much of his fresco work has been destroyed and only the preparatory drawings remain as evidence of their virtuosity, while a number of studies exist of pastoral, mythological or allegorical subjects which were surely preparatory for domestic paintings also lost. This vivid portrait study of a woman gently smiling, is a characteristic example of a very particular group of Raffaellino's drawings, made from life and drawn with spontaneity and character. The curious manner in which the hair is depicted, in tight ringlets by the ears and with a peaked element of curls above the forehead, appears as an oft-repeated feature in Raffaellino's drawings of women, a Morellian convention highly typical of the artist. Raffaellino's drawings were clearly admired and preserved during and after his lifetime. The present work was recently discovered amongst a group of Italian 16th century drawings owned by the Florentine painter Giulio Piatti, and is a distinctive and fascinating addition to the surviving works of this intriguing artist.

1200 (1)

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino (Cento 1591-1666 Bologna), Recto: Study of the Head of a Bearded Man and a Second Head in Profile; verso: a fragmentary sketch of Greek style decorationPen and brown ink, 141 by 261mm. (5 1⁄2 x 10 1⁄4in.)Jean-Luc Baroni Ltd © 2017 London Art Week

ProvenanceWith E. Parsons and Sons, London, 1928 (pencil inscription on the verso); Dan Fellows Platt, Englewood, New Jersey (1873-1938) (L.2066b and L.750a); Benjamin Sonnenberg, his sale, New York, Sotheby's, 5 June 1979, lot 108, where purchased by a European private collector; by descent.

NoteGuercino may perhaps be studying the same head both from the front and in profile. There is a directness in the portrait drawing suggesting a face-to-face encounter which then becomes slighty caricatural in the profile study with its aggressively long, whiskery eyebrows. The angular, scratchy penwork and powerful expression identify the sheet as dating from the 1640's. The facial type with its serious expression, high forehead and full beard is similar to some of the Saint's heads in the altarpiece of 1645-6, the Christ and the Saints in Glory now in the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse

Guercino_-_La_Gloire_de_tous_les_saints

Guercino (1591-1666), La Gloire de tous les saints. Les saints protecteurs de la ville de Modène, vers 1645. © Musée des Augustins, Toulouse. Photo Bernard Delorme

1200 (2)

Jan Weenix (Amsterdam 1642-1719), A Squirrel MonkeyOil on canvas, 29.9 x 25.9 cm. (111⁄2 x 101⁄4 in.)Jean-Luc Baroni Ltd © 2017 London Art Week

Note: The technical brilliance of this work shows that Weenix was a masterful maker of oil-sketches but this example seems to be an exceptional survivor of its type. No other works by Weenix of this scale and finish have yet been published although the next generation of French artists such as Alexandre-François Desportes (1661-1743) and Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) specialised in such works and the Musée du Louvre and the Musée de la Chasse have important collections dedicated to this genre. We are grateful to Dr. Anke A.van Wagenberg who will be including the present work in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Jan Weenix's paintings. The monkey as studied here can also be seen in large canvases by Weenix depicting assemblages of game, fruit and flowers, in the Wallace Collection, London and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Jean-Luc Baroni Ltd. Jean-Luc Baroni belongs to the third generation of a family of connoisseur art dealers. The family business first opened in Paris in 1919, and moved to Florence in 1967. In 1982, Mr. Baroni went into a 20 years long partnership with the eminent British firm Colnaghi. He has now been working from his gallery in St. James's, London for over 15 years. Mr. Baroni has long been established as a specialist in fine paintings and drawings by Old and Modern Masters. The gallery holds regular exhibitions, produces substantial catalogues that are fully researched and illustrated and participates in a number of International Art fairs such as TEFAF Maastricht, TEFAF New York, the Salon du Dessin, Paris, Frieze Masters, London, and the Florence Biennale. Alexandra Chaldecott, who worked in the Old Master Drawings Department at Sotheby's for more than a decade, contributes to the team. As part of the service offered by the gallery, Jean-Luc Baroni uses his extensive experience to advise clients on establishing, augmenting and maintaining their private collections.

A blue and white Ming-style bottle vase, Mark and period of Guangxu (1975-1908)

0
0

A blue and white Ming-style bottle vase, Mark and period of Guangxu

7a84deae1f36a6d7bac84e0e330a61e6

Lot 694. A blue and white Ming-style bottle vase, Mark and period of Guangxu (1975-1908); 38.3 cm, 15 1/8  in. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000 HKD. Lot sold 250,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

painted with a composite floral scroll below pendent ruyi heads, continuous foliate scrolls and upright plantain leaves, the base with a six-character reign mark

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017 

 

A pair of blue and white 'Scholars' cups, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

0
0

A pair of blue and white 'Scholars' cups, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

2d9f67b135da331a7995f236f1eec79b

Lot 584. A pair of blue and white 'Scholars' cups, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 6 cm, 2 3/8  in. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 HKD. Lot sold 200,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each painted to the exterior with two scholars under pine trees in a landscape, the interior similarly painted, the base with an apocryphal six-character Jiajing mark

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017 


A blue and white and iron-red 'Dragon' dish, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

0
0

A blue and white and iron-red 'Dragon' dish, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

2d9f67b135da331a7995f236f1eec79b

Lot 700. A blue and white and iron-red 'Dragon' dish, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 17.6 cm, 6 7/8  in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 HKD. Lot sold 162,500 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

decorated to the interior with a five-clawed dragon writhing above crested waves, the underside similarly decorated with nine dragons dancing above waves, the base with a six-character seal mark

ProvenanceCollection of George Moule (1828-1912), Bishop of Hangzhou from 1880-1907, and thence by descent, by repute.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017 

A blue and white 'Eight Immortals' bowl, Seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850)

0
0

A blue and white 'Eight Immortals' bowl, Seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850)

fad9ec1d319b1af84bf83d13fb301a01

Lot 696. A blue and white 'Eight Immortals' bowl, Seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850); 10.8 cm, 4 1/4  in. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 HKD. Lot sold 125,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

painted around the exterior with the Eight Immortals above swirling waves, the interior with the Three Star Gods, the base with a six-character seal mark 

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017 

A blue and white Japanese-imitation jarlet, Seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850)

0
0

A blue and white Japanese-imitation jarlet, Seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850)

fad9ec1d319b1af84bf83d13fb301a01

Lot 699. A blue and white Japanese-imitation jarlet, Seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850); 8.5 cm, 3 3/8  in. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 HKD. Lot sold 100,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

finely painted to the body with geometric panels enclosing various flower sprays and florets, between bands of floral scrolls, the base with a six-character seal mark 

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017 

A blue and white 'Boys' bowl, Seal mark and period of Guangxu (1875-1908)

0
0

A blue and white 'Boys' bowl, Seal mark and period of Guangxu (1875-1908)

fad9ec1d319b1af84bf83d13fb301a01

Lot 691. A blue and white 'Boys' bowl, Seal mark and period of Guangxu (1875-1908); 15.8 cm, 6 1/4  in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 HKD. Lot sold 81,250 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

with a flared rim, the exterior painted with two groups of boys at play in a garden landscape, the base with a six-character reign mark 

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017 

A blue and white 'Lotus' dish, Seal mark and period of Xianfeng (1831 – 1861)

0
0

A blue and white 'Lotus' dish, Seal mark and period of Xianfeng (1831 – 1861)

fad9ec1d319b1af84bf83d13fb301a01

Lot 692. A blue and white 'Lotus' dish, Seal mark and period of Xianfeng (1831 – 1861); 15.5 cm, 6 1/8  in. Estimate 26,000 — 30,000 HKD. Lot sold 68,750 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the interior painted with leafy lotus scrolls, below a band of demi-flowerheads around the rim, the underside similarly painted, the base with a six-character reign mark 

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017 

Two pairs of blue and white and iron-red 'Bats' dishes and bowls, Marks and period of Guangxu (1875-1908)

0
0

Two pairs of blue and white and iron-red 'Bats' dishes and bowls, Marks and period of Guangxu (1875-1908)

fad9ec1d319b1af84bf83d13fb301a01

Lot 698. Two pairs of blue and white and iron-red 'Bats' dishes and bowls, Marks and period of Guangxu (1875-1908); 11.2 and 7.2 cm, 4 3/8  and 2 7/8  in. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 HKD. Lot sold 68,750 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each decorated with iron-red bats in various postures hovering amongst swirling clouds in underglaze blue, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017

A pair of blue and white 'Lotus' bowls, Marks and period of Tongzhi (1865-1875)

0
0

A pair of blue and white 'Lotus' bowls, Marks and period of Tongzhi (1865-1975)

fad9ec1d319b1af84bf83d13fb301a01

Lot 688. A pair of blue and white 'Lotus' bowls, Marks and period of Tongzhi (1865-1875); 16.8 cm, 6 5/8  in. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 HKD. Lot sold 68,750 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each painted to the exterior with six lotus blossoms borne on undulating foliate scrolls, the interior centered with a lotus medallion, the base with a six-character reign mark

ProvenanceSotheby's Hong Kong, 27th October 1992, lot 76.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017


A pair of blue and white 'Lotus' dishes, Marks and period of Tongzhi (1865-1875)

0
0

A pair of blue and white 'Lotus' dishes, Marks and period of Tongzhi (1865-1975)

fad9ec1d319b1af84bf83d13fb301a01

Lot 690. A pair of blue and white 'Lotus' dishes, Marks and period of Tongzhi (1865-1875); 15.7 cm, 6 1/8  in. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 HKD. Lot sold 37,500 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the interior painted with leafy lotus scrolls, below a band of demi-flowerheads around the rim, the underside similarly painted, the base with a six-character reign mark

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27th October 1992, lot 76.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017

A blue and white 'Dragon' bowl, Yichuntang zhi mark, dated Xuantong gengxu year, corresponding to 1910

0
0

A blue and white 'Dragon' bowl, Yichuntang zhi mark, dated Xuantong gengxu year, corresponding to 1910

fad9ec1d319b1af84bf83d13fb301a01

Lot 689. A blue and white 'Dragon' bowl, Yichuntang zhi mark, dated Xuantong gengxu year, corresponding to 1910; 8.3 cm, 3 1/4  in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 HKD. Lot sold 25,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the interior painted with leafy lotus scrolls, below a band of demi-flowerheads around the rim, the underside similarly painted, the base painted to the exterior with three medallions each enclosing a pair of dragons contesting a 'flaming pearl', the base with an eight-character mark reading Xuantong gengxu Yichuntang zhi

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 01 Jun 2017

Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. (London 1775-1851), Norham Castle: Sunrise

0
0

turner-norham-castle

Lot 105. Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. (London 1775-1851), Norham Castle: Sunrise. signed 'Turner' (lower left), pencil and watercolour heightened with gum arabic and with scratching out, 20 3/8 x 29 ¼ in. (51.7 x 74.4 cm.). Estimate: £500,000-800,000 (USD 636,500 - USD 1,018,400) © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Provenancewith Samson Wertheimer, from whom purchased by 
Agnew's, London, 8 June 1885, where purchased by 
Daniel Thwaites, 22 April 1886, and by descent to 
The Dowager Lady Alvingham; Christie's, London, 14 July 1987, lot 190.
with Agnew's, London, where purchased by the present owner.

From The Collection of the Late Professor Luke Herrmann 

LiteratureW. Thornbury, The Life of J.M.W. Turner R.A., London, 1862, I, p. 196, II, p. 368, no. 43.
Sir W. Armstrong, Turner, 1902, p. 268.
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, 1909, p. 72.
A.J. Finberg, The Life of J.M.W. Turner, revised edn., Oxford, 1961, p. 49.
A. Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, Fribourg, 1979, p. 324, no. 225.
D. Hill, ‘A Taste for the Arts: Turner and the Patronage of Edward Lascelles of Harewood House' (2), Turner Studies, 5, no. 1, summer 1985, pp. 36-40.
D. Hill, Turner in the North, New Haven and London, 1996, pp. 88-93.
M. Butlin and A. Kennedy in The Oxford Companion to J.M.W. Turner, 2001, pp. 201-2.
E. Shanes, Young Mr Turner. The First Forty Years: 1775-1815, New Haven and London, 2016, p. 154, fig. 187.

ExhibitedLondon, Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 1798, no. 353.
London, Royal Academy, Exhibition of Works of the Old Masters, 1887.
London, Guildhall, 1899, no. 118.
London, Agnew's, 1913, no. 29.
London, Royal Academy, Turner 1775-1851, 1974-5, no. 640.

NoteThe handful of haunting and atmospheric images Turner produced of Norham Castle between 1797 and the mid-1840s remain among his most celebrated works, culminating in the astounding late, unfinished oil painting at Tate Britain. This repeated castle motif reveals Turner’s lifelong affection for a subject that had inspired a boldly experimental response, effectively liberating him as a landscape painter. Simultaneously, the engagement with Norham had earned the fledgling painter critical recognition and financial success. It was for this reason that Turner apparently doffed his top hat to the castle, as a mark of grateful respect, when revisiting it in 1831.

This important large watercolour marks the start of this lifelong connection with Norham. It was first exhibited in London at the Royal Academy in 1798, less than a year after Turner had dragged himself out of bed at his overnight lodgings on the Scottish border to witness the dazzling sunrise above the castle from the banks of the Tweed. All the individual elements recorded here – the castle, the riverside bothy, and the cows drinking– recur in each of Turner’s depictions of Norham, right through to their abstracted manifestations in the Tate picture. 

As in many of his early works, it was Turner’s ability to instil with such precision the sensations of natural effects that won commendation. Here he re-created the effect of a line of smoke suddenly rising as it meets a different environment at a bend in the river. As well as this kind of observation, Turner’s realisation of the sunrise was indebted to the poetic influence of James Thomson (author of ‘Rule Britannia’), who had lived in the Tweed valley, and whose evocative poem The Seasons was an inspirational touchstone for many artists. In addition to the topographical and temporal details in his title, Turner appended some lines of Thomson’s poem in the exhibition catalogue, using the text to complement his own imagery. 

'But Yonder comes the powerful King of Day
Rejoicing in the East: the lessening cloud, 
The Kindling azure, and the mountain's brow
Illumin'd-his near approach betoken glad'

Although the young Turner had hitherto won respect for his painstaking depictions of architectural subjects, at Norham the picturesque ruins are relegated to the background and the service of the sunlight effect. This enabled Turner to create a bold silhouette, but also to penetrate it with the ‘fluid gold’ that Thomson described in his poem. To achieve the skilfully nuanced transition of colours in the sky, and at the tops of the still shaded riverbanks, Turner initially plotted his composition in two full size studies (Tate Britain). These demonstrate that his aim was to introduce areas of brilliant light - on the highest points and in the reflections - to suggest the way the advancing golden morning light will eventually infuse and colour the landscape. To intensify the effect he prepared this very large piece of paper with successive diluted washes on both the rectoand verso of the sheet.

The response to this highly innovative, yet richly bucolic and symbolic scene in 1798 was enthusiastic. Collectors evidently jostled over the picture, but it remains unclear who actually became its first owner. Soon afterwards other versions were commissioned, including one acquired by Edward Lascelles of Harewood House (now at The Higgins Art Gallery and Museum, Bedford). The ambition implicit in Norham Castle on the Tweedand Turner’s other watercolour exhibits of 1798 provoked the jealousy of his peers, including that of Benjamin West, P.R.A., who described these works in rather negative fashion as ‘manner’d’. But more generally the art press praised the striking effects realised in the watercolours, often singling out Norham: ‘This is a work upon which we could rivet our eyes for hours and not experience satiety. It is one of those few pictures which charm the more, the oftener they are inspected’ (Whitehall Evening Post, 2 June 1798). It was even declared that the 1798 watercolours surpassed the works painted in oils that Turner displayed that year (including the famous Lake District views now at Tate Britain). The St James’s Chronicle, for example, was of the opinion that Norham had ‘the force and harmony of oil painting. It is charmingly finished and the effect is bold and natural. In short, we think it the best Landscape in the present Exhibition.’ 

This magnificent watercolour was in the collection of Luke Herrmann, an expert on British Art and a leading authority on the life and work of J.M.W. Turner. He was the author of several seminal books on the artist, including Ruskin and Turner, 1968, Turner Paintings, Watercolours, Prints and Drawings, 1975, a biography Turner, 1986, Turner Prints, 1990, which led a to revival of interest in the artist’s engravings and placed them in the context of the artist's oeuvre, with Colin Harrison Turner's Watercolours, Drawings and Paintings (Ashmolean Handbooks), 2000 and with Evelyn Joll and Martin Butlin the comprehensive Oxford Companion to J.M.W. Turner, 2001. He was vice-president of the Turner Society, contributing numerous articles and edited the Walpole Society during the 1990s. He also published on Paul and Thomas Sandby, 1986. Amongst other bequests, he gifted 34 works of art to the nation in 2002, including works by Stubbs, Bonington, Thornhill, J.F. Lewis and J.R. Cozens, largely inherited from his colleague and mentor Sir Bruce Ingram. 

We are grateful to Ian Warrell for his help in preparing this catalogue entry, and to Professor David Hill for confirming that this is the version of the watercolour exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1798. 

Christie's. Old Master & British Drawings & Watercolours, 5 July 2017, London, King Street

Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. (London 1775-1851), Colour beginning: A coastal landscape with a figure in the foreground

0
0

f8bdb6f8933038eab1c07073d3b21090

Lot 106. Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. (London 1775-1851), Colour beginning: A coastal landscape with a figure in the foreground, watercolour, 7½ x 9 3/8 in. (19 x 23.8 cm.). Estimate: GBP 150,000 - GBP 200,000 (USD 190,950 - USD 254,600) © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

ProvenanceJohn Rutson (L. 1517).

Note: This previously unrecorded colour study was painted around 1822-4, when Turner was developing the last batches of watercolours for Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England. This long-running series, the first part of which had been published in 1813, was the project that fully established Turner among his contemporaries as the foremost painter of British topography. Known principally through the meticulous engravings realised from them, the forty detailed watercolours for the Southern Coast are now widely dispersed, and are increasingly rare outside museum collections (see The entrance to Fowey Harbour, Cornwall; Christie’s, New York, 27 January 2016, lot 88). 

By the early 1820s, Turner and his publisher, William Bernard Cooke (1778-1855), were keen to complete the project, not least because they faced competition from William Daniell (1769-1837), who was drawing towards the end of his even more ambitious A Voyage round Great Britain. When re-examining the sketches made on his 1811 tour of the south-western counties Turner was looking particularly for subjects to evoke the rugged cliffs between Minehead, in Somerset, and Tintagel, to the west, in Cornwall. He had recorded this stretch of coast in two sketchbooks: Cornwall and Devon (TB CXXV a); and the somewhat larger Somerset and North Devon (TB CXXVI, Tate Britain). 

The former sketchbook provided source material for three Southern Coast watercolours that share with this colour study a focus on rocky headlands and coves (Clovelly Bay, North Devon, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, fig. 1; W472; Combe Martin, Devonshire and Boscastle, Cornwall, both in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; W476 and W478). In each, the luminous, sandy colouring of the rocks is sharply contrasted with the deeper blue tones of churning clouds, which are themselves penetrated by bursts of brilliantly intense white sunlight. The palette tones and techniques deployed are sufficiently similar in all of these to speculate that they probably evolved during the same painting sessions, along with this study. 

A further shared characteristic is their common fascination with the lives of those who forged a living from the raw materials of this coastal setting. Labourers involved in the quarrying and burning of lime are shown in two of the images, and it is likely that the shadowy, indistinct figure(s) and pack animals included here would have eventually been resolved in a way to highlight another aspect of this local activity. 

A related colour sketch, in the Turner Bequest at Tate Britain, has been identified by Eric Shanes as a depiction of another local practice called ‘sand-landing’ (Turner’s Watercolour Explorations 1810-1842, Tate Gallery exhibition catalogue 1997, pp. 59-60, no. 41). Like the three finished watercolours, and this study, the Tate sheet is also around 24 cm. wide. This is significant because Turner was generally consistent in selecting sheets of approximately the same dimensions for a specific project. In the present colour study, however, the height of the sheet has not been trimmed the 3 or 4 centimetres along the bottom edge to the standard format.

As for the identity of the location depicted, this remains slightly uncertain. One possibility is that, like the Tate sketch, it may relate to the coast near Bude (see the sketch of cliffs, TB CXXV a 40 / D41318). But the higher viewpoint here seems to work against that conclusion. More plausible, therefore, is the possibility that the scene is a view from Lynton looking down over Lynmouth Bay (see the sketch in the larger sketchbook, TB CXXVI 16 / D08962). This part of the coast was to become a popular base for artists later in the 19th Century.

The early history of the watercolour is not known, but it bears the stamp of the collector John Rutson (1829-1906) of Nunnington Hall in Yorkshire, a former Director of the Royal Academy of Music, whose collection of three violins by Antonio Stradivari remain among the highlights of the Academy’s collection of instruments.

We are grateful to Ian Warrell for his help in preparing the present catalogue entry.

Christie's. Old Master & British Drawings & Watercolours, 5 July 2017, London, King Street

Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. (London 1775-1851), Abbotsford from the north bank of the River Tweed

0
0

107

Lot 107. Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. (London 1775-1851), Abbotsford from the north bank of the River Tweed, pencil, pen and ink and watercolour, with scratching out, 3 ¾ x 5 ¾ in. (9.5 x 14.5 cm.). Estimate: GBP 70,000 - GBP 100,000 (USD 89,110 - USD 127,300) © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

ProvenanceProbably acquired by Robert Cadell.
John Dillon; Christie's, London, 29 April 1869, lot 134 (195 gns to Agnew's).
John Heugh.
Andrew George Kurtz; Christie’s, London, 9-11 May 1891, lot 198 (150 gns to Agnew's).
Sir Donald Currie and by descent to 
Major F.D. Mirrielees; Christie's, London, 20 March 1959, lot 60 (850 gns to Leggatt). 

Property from a Distinguished Private European Collector

Literature: Sir Walter Armstrong, Turner, London, 1902, p. 238.
W.G. Rawlinson, The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., 1913, vol. II, no. 568, as ‘Abbotsford’.
A. Graves, Art Sales from Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early in the Twentieth Century, 1921, III, p. 226, sale of ‘A Trust Estate’.
A. Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, Fribourg and London, 1979, p. 435, no. 1142.
G. Finley, Landscapes of Memory. Turner as Illustrator to Scott, London, 1980, pp. 220-1, fig. 102.
F. Russell, Portraits of Sir Walter Scott, London, 1987, p. 87, no. 220.
T. Ardill, ‘Edinburgh sketchbook 1834’, published as part of the revised catalogue of the Turner Bequest on the Tate website, March 2011.

Exhibited: Aberdeen, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Turner in Scotland, 1982, no. 67, p. 51.

NoteLast exhibited more than thirty years ago, this brilliantly coloured watercolour vividly captures Turner’s fondness for the scenery of the Scottish borders. He had first explored the region in 1797, which resulted in his famous series of views of Norham Castle at sunrise, culminating in the late oil painting at Tate Britain (see lot 106).  

The scene here is located further up the River Tweed, close to Galashiels, and depicts Abbotsford, the neo-baronial home of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). As has been suggested by Gerald Finley, the celebrated Scottish author can probably be identified as the principal figure in white, in the foreground. Scott had acquired the land on the southern bank of the Tweed (then known as Cartley Hole Farm) around 1811. He was at that date already a commercially successful poet (improbable as the idea seems today), and his earnings from these literary endeavours usefully supplemented his stipend as Sheriff-Deputy of Selkirkshire and his official salary as Clerk of Session. By 1814 he had begun to write his immensely popular sequence of historical novels, publishing them anonymously as ‘The Author of Waverley’ (this being the first book of the sequence). 

Scott’s tireless curiosity about historical detail, combined with the acquisitive character of the true antiquarian served him well in his fiction, but also pervaded his home life. At Abbotsford he assembled fragments of ancient Scottish ruins, which were integrated into the stylistically eclectic house he constructed (with the assistance of the architect William Atkinson) between 1822 and 1824 to replace the old farmhouse, at an estimated cost of £25,000. In his book The Gothic Revival, 1745-1845(1975) James Macaulay asserted that ‘Abbotsford is the unsung prototype of Scots-Baronial architecture which was to sweep across the country’ in the later 19th Century. While the turrets and gables of the exterior are suitably fantastical as the home of a Romantic writer, the interior is equally memorable, especially the carved entrance hall, encrusted with armour and weaponry. This was one of several rooms that Turner recorded when he stayed at Abbotsford during the first half of August 1831 (see the Abbotsford sketchbook, Tate Britain, TB CCLXVII).

 

The direct connection between Turner and Scott arose over a decade earlier, when, in 1818, Turner had travelled to Edinburgh to record subjects to illustrate the author’s Provincial Antiquities and Picturesque Scenery of Scotland (see K. Thomson, Turner and Sir Walter Scott, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh 1999). Regrettably, Turner appeared aloof and rather boorish to Scott and the local artists he encountered, which inevitably soured the professional relationship. It was consequently a feat of tremendous diplomatic skill by the publisher Robert Cadell to bring them together again in 1831 to collaborate on a new standard edition of Scott’s writings. Hard economics also played a part, for in the meantime Scott had gone bankrupt, following the financial crash of 1825, which left him solely responsible for the debts of the publishing firm Ballantyne. In making his case for the collaboration, Cadell was hard-nosed in bluntly pointing out that, with Turner’s illustrations, sales of the new edition would be more than double what they might be without them. He sweetened this, however, by encouraging Scott to recognise a kinship, stating that both writer and artist shared an unparalleled ability to infuse even familiar scenes with something remarkable. 

The resulting edition of the Poetical and Prose Works, illustrated with frontispieces and title-pages by Turner between 1833 and 1836 was indeed a success, but Scott’s debts remained considerable at the time of his death in September 1832. To address this, and the public appetite for details of Scott’s life, his son-in-law John Gibson Lockhart embarked on a biography that Cadell intended would be produced in the same format as Scott’s own Works. Lockhart’s progress was frustratingly slow, and the original idea of seeking all the images from Turner was eventually abandoned. Ultimately only three were used, including this view of Abbotsford, engraved by William Miller (see Finley, 1980, pp. 211-228). 

In the meantime, Turner had revisited Abbotsford, as Thomas Ardill has recently demonstrated, on 4 October 1834 (see Ardill’s entries for the Edinburgh sketchbook: TB CCLXVIII ff.47, 47a, 52a; Tate website - D26186, D26187, D26197). The sketches he made on this occasion were generally even more impressionistic and slight than those of three years earlier. But these hasty pencil outlines, combined with the experience in August 1831 of a dawn walk to fish in the adjacent river, provided the basis for this atmospheric realisation of sunrise over the Tweed. Typically this effect has more often been mistaken for a sunset, a tendency common to other works by Turner, which he noted ruefully. In this instance, Turner had initially planned to evoke the landscape illuminated by a full moon, as is clear from the related preparatory study in the Hickman Bacon collection (Finley, 1980, p. 223, fig.104; not in Wilton). Ultimately, the decision to adopt a sunrise probably stems from the fact that he had already submitted a view of Abbotsford with a crescent moon for the Poetical Works (c. 1832, Private collection; W1093). 

It has been assumed that Turner painted the watercolour following a visit from Cadell on 8 May 1838, during which the publisher is supposed to have commissioned it. However, Cadell’s entry in his diary can be understood differently if other factors are taken into account. It reads: ‘to Turner with whom I arranged for a splendid Abbotsford for the Life’ (National Library of Scotland; quoted in Finley, pp. 220-1). The use of the word ‘splendid’ is clearly significant, indicating not something promised for the future, but that Cadell had actually seen an existing design that met his approval, and that he had negotiated successfully with Turner to be able to use or acquire it (presumably at his standard rate, which was 25 guineas per watercolour).  

To support this interpretation, as well as the idea of an earlier dating of the watercolour, it is worth comparing Abbotsford with the two other subjects that resulted from the 1834 visit: Chiefswood Cottage, Abbotsford and Rhymer’s Glen, Abbotsford(both National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh; W1118 and W1119; see Christopher Baker, English Drawings and Watercolours 1600-1900. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh 2011, pp.353-54). Like the present watercolour, both of these can be related to views in the 1834 Edinburgh sketchbook (TB CCLXVIII). They are defined by a similar golden tone, forcefully contrasted and percolated by deep blue shadows and reflections, and also feature seemingly random patches of white. All of which suggests these three watercolours could have been painted at the same time, towards the end of 1834, once Turner got back from Scotland. Yet, whereas Turner deliberately created a sense of the absent author in both of the vignette designs showing the settings that Scott had fondly inhabited, the landscape subject feels substantially imbued with his presence. This perhaps explains why it stimulated at least one later version of the image; there is an oval-shaped tray, painted in oil, which repeats the scene (Indianapolis Museum of Art; see Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, New Haven and London, 1984, p. 306, no. 524). In the past this was accepted as Turner’s own work, chiefly because of its apparent association with Sophia Lockhart, one of Scott’s daughters. However, its status has been questioned by some scholars, and it is no longer attributed to the artist at Indianapolis; it was most likely copied from the original in the later 1830s. Even so, it demonstrates the potency of Turner’s watercolour of Abbotsford and his effectiveness in creating a work that is a deeply felt homage to the writer and simultaneously an exultant evocation of the dawn of another day. 

We are grateful to Ian Warrell for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.

Christie's. Old Master & British Drawings & Watercolours, 5 July 2017, London, King Street

Viewing all 36084 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images