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A green, yellow and brown-glazed "Tradescant" storage jar, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), around 1600

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A green, yellow and brown-glazed 'Tradescant' storage jar, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), around 1600

Lot 1344. A green, yellow and brown-glazed "Tradescant" storage jar, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), around 1600. Height 32.5 cm. Estimated price €1.000 - €1.500. Result: €992. Photo Lempertz

With five loop handles to the shoulder and with an applied decoration of four large lotus flowers and scrolls to the body and a frieze of leaves in relief above the foot. Chips.

LiteratureCompare an identical jar in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Similar jars are illustrated in: W. B. Honey, Ceramic Art of China and other Countries of the Far East, London 1945, pl. 81 and 102 (in the Victoria and Albert Museum), an in S. Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London 1953, pl. 113B (Ex Eumorfopoulos Collection), and B. Harrison, Pusaka Heirloom Jars of Borneo, Oxford, 1990, pl. 77 (Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden)

Jar, lead-glazed earthenware with applied decoration of flowers, China, Ming dynasty, ca

Jar, lead-glazed earthenware with applied decoration of flowers, China, Ming dynasty, ca. 1600, Victoria & Albert Museum, 1338-1876 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2017

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels


A gu-shaped Yixing vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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Lot 1347. A gu-shaped Yixing vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722).Height 28.5 cm. Estimated price €5.000 - €6.000. Result: €5.580. Photo Lempertz

Decorated in relief with six panels depicting pine, prunus, magnolia, lotus, bamboo and hibiscus?, a border of stylised cicadas around the foot and shoulder.

ProvenancePrivate collection, The Netherlands

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

Jan van Kessel the Elder (Antwerpt 1626 - 1679), Butterflies, a moth, ladybird and other insects with a sprig of auricula

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Jan van Kessel the Elder (Antwerpt 1626 - 1679), Butterflies, a moth, ladybird and other insects with a sprig of auricula

Lot 10. Jan van Kessel the Elder (Antwerpt 1626 - 1679), Butterflies, a moth, ladybird and other insects with a sprig of auricula, oil on copper, 13.7 x 19 cm.; 5 5/8  x 7 1/2  in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 GBP. Lot sold 296,750 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: Private collection, France, since the 18th century;

With Johnny van Haeften, London;

From whom acquired by the present owner in March 2003.

LiteratureK. Ertz and C. Nitze-Ertz, Die Maler Jan van Kessel. Jan van Kessel der Ältere 1626–1679, Jan van Kessel der Jüngere 1654–1708, Jan van Kessel der 'Andere' ca. 1620 – ca. 1621, Lingen 2012, p. 269, no. 405, reproduced.

NoteJan van Kessel started painting his celebrated studies of insects in the first half of the 1650s, with the earliest dated examples painted in 1653.1 Though some fine examples are on panel, the majority were painted on copper, the smooth surface of which was better suited to his meticulous and detailed finish. Most of the surviving dated examples, like those here, come from the 1650s, but Van Kessel continued painting these subjects well into the 1660s, although the level of finish of the later examples tends to be less exacting than those from the previous decade. Many are purely studies of insects, but these are sometimes, as here, combined with studies of flowers or branches of fruit, and occasionally shells. As Fred G. Meijer has recently observed, Van Kessel only rarely repeated motifs in these studies, and it seems that for each of them he approached his subjects afresh.2 Many studies in the same panels are clearly observed from different viewpoints and often out of scale to each other, suggesting that each was the result of individual scrutiny. The various insects are carefully and accurately observed, and most species can be identified.3 Although Van Kessel did not intend these panels in a trompe l'œil manner, the butterflies alighting gently on the sprigs of flowers lend each panel a very natural and realistic air.

Although we cannot know for certain of their original function, these tiny coppers most probably originally formed part of a series of plates for a small cabinet, in which a collector would have kept his natural specimens as well as other curiosities in small drawers. Unfortunately over time most of these sets were split up, but surviving examples, such as that sold in these rooms, 11 March 1964, lot 66 (see fig. 1) indicate that the smaller panels formed a border around a larger central panel. Another complete set, for example, painted in 1658, now in the Mellon Collection in Washington (see fig. 2), included sixteen panels of similar size to the present pair of 14.3 x 19 cm. around a central panel of 38.7 by 53 cm.4 The very high quality of the present panel and its companion (see following lot) would suggest that they may be of similar date. The sprig of auricular, for example, recurs in a signed and dated copper of 1659 of very similar size, today at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.5

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Jan van Kessel, Flowers, insects and butterflies, set of seventeen paintings on copper, current whereabouts unknown.

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1. See for example the set of panels of 1653 sold in these rooms 3 July 1997, lots 12–14, for £220,000, £215,000 and £200,000 respectively.

2. F.G. Meijer, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Catalogue of the collection of paintings. The Collection of Dutch and Flemish Still-life paintings bequeathed by Daisy Linda Ward, Zwolle 2003, p. 229, reproduced fig. 41.1

3. Dr. S. Segal (private communication, n.d.) has identified the following insects in these paintings: Ichneumon fly, Nettle Leaf roller, Raspberry beetle, Brush beetle, Sevenspot ladybird, Hedge Brown butterfly, Magpie moth, Brimstone butterfly, Speckled wood butterfly, Bee-eating beetle and Garden Tiger Moth.

4. Ertz and Nitze-Ertz 2012, p. 252, nos 330–46, and F.G. Meijer, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Catalogue of the collection of paintings. The Collection of Dutch and Flemish Still-life paintings bequeathed by Daisy Linda Ward, Zwolle 2003, p. 229, reproduced fig. 41.1, and in colour in The Connoisseur, vol. CXXXVII (1956), no. 553, pp. 198–99.

5. Ertz and Nitze-Ertz 2012, p. 262, no. 381.

Sotheby's. Old Masters Evening Sale, London, 05 Jul 2017 

Jan van Kessel the Elder, Butterflies, moths, a dragonfly and other insects, with a spring of apple blossom

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Lot 11. Jan van Kessel the Elder (Antwerpt 1626 - 1679), Butterflies, moths, a dragonfly and other insects, with a spring of apple blossom, indistinctly inscribed by a later hand on the reverse: Monser fontenoy par.../P(?)apion..fich...., oil on copper, 14 x 19.4 cm.; 5 1/2  x 7 5/8  in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 GBP. Lot sold 272,750 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: Private collection, France, since the 18th century;

With Johnny van Haeften, London;

From whom acquired by the present owner in March 2003.

LiteratureK. Ertz and C. Nitze-Ertz, Die Maler Jan van Kessel. Jan van Kessel der Ältere 1626–1679, Jan van Kessel der Jüngere 1654–1708, Jan van Kessel der 'Andere' ca. 1620 - ca. 1621, Lingen 2012, p. 268, no. 401, reproduced.

Sotheby's. Old Masters Evening Sale, London, 05 Jul 2017 

A pair of blanc de Chine Buddhist lion joss stick holders, Dehua, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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A pair of blanc de Chine Buddhist lion joss stick holders, Dehua, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

Lot 1351. A pair of blanc de Chine Buddhist lion joss stick holders, Dehua, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 32 cm. Estimated price €1.000 - €1.500. Result: €1.364. Photo Lempertz

Each with bell and tassel around its neck and a ribbon in its mouth attached to a brocade ball under its forepaw, seated on a tall rectangular plinth, the tubular holder at its rear. Chip. (2)

LiteratureCompare a similar pair of male blanc de Chine lions in: P. J. Donnelly, Blanc de Chine, London 1969, plate 93 (dated to around 1650 -1700)

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

A blanc de Chine figure group, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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A blanc de Chine figure group, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

Lot 1352. A blanc de Chine figure group, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 9.5 cm. Estimated price €700 - €900. Result: €992. Photo Lempertz

Two seated scholars playing weiqi, watched by a standing figure, beneath overhanging pine branches in front of an openwork grotto with applied flowers. Remains of pigments

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

Two blanc de Chine cups, Dehua, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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Two blanc de Chine cups

Lot 1354. Two blanc de Chine cups, Dehua, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 3.8 cmEstimated price €300 - €500. Result: €434. Photo Lempertz

The conical shape moulded in relief with flowering branches. (2).

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

Attributed to Benedetto Gennari II (Cento 1633-1715 Bologna), Mars

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Lot 80. Attributed to Benedetto Gennari II (Cento 1633-1715 Bologna), Mars, oil on canvas, 64.3 x 52.4cm (25 5/16 x 20 5/8in), unframed. Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 (€9,300 - 14,000). Sold for £149,000 (€169,293). Photo: Bonhams. 

Provenance: In the collection of present owner's family since at least the end of the 19th century

Bonhams. OLD MASTER PAINTINGS, 5 Jul 2017, 14:00 BST, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET


A rare white-glazed dish with incised anhua decoration, Incised Qianlong six-character mark and of the period (1735-1796)

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A rare white-glazed dish with incised anhua decoration, Incised Qianlong six-character mark and of the period (1735-1796)

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Lot 1356. A rare white-glazed dish with incised anhua decoration, Incised Qianlong six-character mark and of the period (1735-1796). Diameter 34 cm. Estimated price €15.000 - €20.000. Result: €22.320. Photo Lempertz

The broad shallow dish incised on the interior with a lotus bouquet surrounded by flowers and scrolls to the exterior and interior walls, covered with a greyish-white glaze.

Provenance: Galerie Alex Finck, Brussels

Collection Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) and Isabelle de Strycker (1915-2010), Louvain, 1941

Collection Baron de Strycker (1915-2004) and Baroness de Strycker (1923-2015), Brussels, 1993 

Professor Robert de Strycker and his wife Isabelle discovered Chinese art while on a trip to London in the 1930s. They began collecting Chinese art in 1938, buying in Paris and Belgium and corresponding with scholars in this field throughout Europe. They meticulously documented the acquisitions. Some of the pieces from the collection were shown in the exhibition "Oude kunst uit Leuvens privébezit" (Old art in private collections of Leuven).

LiteratureCompare a similar dish in: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm 1965, no. 680

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery at Masterpiece London 2017

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Belperron. Vintage ruby brooch, 13 round and oval cabochon rubies and 61 old-mine cut diamonds, approx. 6.25 carats, set in platinum and gray gold, 1955-1969. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7. © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Grape earclips. Pearl, diamond, platinum and gold. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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Belperron. Congo cuff. Ebony wood and 18k gold. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Raja ring. Ceylon sapphire, turquoise. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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Belperron. Corne earclips. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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Belperron. Corne earclips, diamond and platinum. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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Belperron. Coronet cuffs, sapphire and ruby. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Dogwood cuff. Moonstone and Sapphire. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Dogwood pendant and brooch, 1943. Sapphire and ruby. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Double-clip bracelet. Moonstone, diamond and platinum. Convertible to double clipsVerdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Feather cuff earclips. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Grape earclips emerald and diamond. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Leaf and flower bracelet with diamonds, 1954. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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Belperron. Leaves necklace, Blue chalcedony, sapphire, old-mine cut diamond and 18k gray goldVerdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7. © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Medusa earrings. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7. © 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Medusa ring. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Pomegranate earclips. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Stardust cluster moonstone earclips. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939. Stardust Cluster sapphire and diamond earclips. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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VERDURA, Est. 1939.  Tendril Flame earclips. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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Suzanne Belperron. Toi et Moi ring, 22K virgin gold.  Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

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Belperron. Triple Wave cuff. Verdura Jewellery-Belperron Jewellery, Stand A7© 2017 MASTERPIECE LONDON LTD

Harry Fane, 31 Bruton Street, London, SW1Y 6DB, United Kingdom. T  2079308606. M   2079308606. M   79308606 F  2079308606 - info@hfane.com - harryfane.com

Nico Landrigan, 745 5th Ave, Manhattan, New York, 10019, United States - info@verdura.com - E-mail info@hfane.com

info@verdura.com - Website http://www.verdura.com

A blue and white kendi, First half 17th century

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A blue and white kendi, First half 17th century

Lot 1378. A blue and white kendi, First half 17th century. Height 16.5 cm. Estimated price €800 - €1.000. Result: €930. Courtesy Lempertz

Of globular shape with long neck and a bulbous spout to the shoulder, decorated with flower sand birds

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 Blackfriars), Saint Andrew

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Lot 26. Studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 Blackfriars), Saint Andrew, oil on panel, 63.5 x 47.6cm (25 x 18 3/4in). Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 (€12,000 - 17,000)Sold for £75,000 (€85,214). Photo: Bonhams.

ProvenanceMorris I. Kaplan, Chicago
His sale, Sotheby's, London, 12 June 1968, lot 33 (£4,000, as Sir Anthony van Dyck), where purchased by the present owner's uncle

NoteThe present composition is after van Dyck's original, now in The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, which once formed part of a series of depictions of the Twelve Apostles and one Head of Christ, known as the Böhler Series, after the Munich dealer who purchased all twelve Apostles (but not the Christ) from the descendants of the Genoese noble family who had owned them since the 18th century. This series is now scattered around the world in various collections and museums. There is another example, considered autograph, in the Museum of Art, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Saint Peter and Saint Thomas from the series were sold at Sotheby's on the 24 January 2002 for $3,140,750 and $2,095,750, which were auction records for the artist at that time. 

Not only was van Dyck known to have painted more than one version of the series but it is known that the Apostles were almost immediately copied at the time: most famously the subject of a lawsuit brought in 1660/61 by Franciscus Hillewerven against the art dealer, Paul Heulewels. Unfortunately the verdict has been lost, but a crucial witness in the trial was Jacob Jordaens who declared, alongside other artists, that he had himself seen the paintings being done by copyists and not by the master himself. 

Bonhams. OLD MASTER PAINTINGS, 5 Jul 2017, 14:00 BST, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET

Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London), Head study of a bearded man

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Lot 1. Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London), Head study of a bearded man, oil on paper, laid down on panel, 14 x 11 ½ in. (35.7 x 29.3 cm). Estimate GBP 60,000 - GBP. 100,000. Price realised GBP 118,750© Christie's Images Ltd 2017

ProvenanceThe Earls of Warwick, Warwick Castle (according to a label on the reverse).
with Agnew's, London.

Property of a Private Collector

Note: This striking head study appears to have been used as the model for the figure at the rear centre of van Dyck’s celebrated Christ crowned with Thorns, formerly in the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum, Berlin, and destroyed in World War II (fig. 1). Two other oil studies of heads that relate to the Berlin picture are known: a study, also executed on paper and later laid down on panel, for the headscarved man kneeling before Christ (Sotheby’s, New York, 21 May 1998, lot 149a); and a sketch for the figure on the left with a raised hand, formerly in the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Christie’s, New York, 10 October 1990, lot 52a), although the attributions for both have recently been questioned by Nora de Poorter (see S.J. Barnes et alVan Dyck - A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven and London, 2004, p. 38, under no. I.22). The author further points to the relationship between the bearded man and the Thomas in the Apostle Series (ibid., p. 75, no. I.63), which employs the same head but in reverse. 

The remarkably bold handling of this head study is characteristic of van Dyck’s style from this early phase in his career when the artist was in Rubens’s studio. The apparently rapid application of paint, executed with a loaded brush, is entirely consistent with other head studies on paper by van Dyck from this period, including the Study of a young woman (Mary Magdalene) now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and the Young woman resting her head on her hand, probably a Penitent Mary Magdalene, dated to circa 1617-18 (see the exhibition catalogue, The Young Van Dyck, eds. A. Vergara and F. Lammertse, London, 2013, p. 116, no. 8), which was sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 22 April 2015, lot 35, for $298,000.  

We are grateful to Dr. Christopher Brown for confirming the attribution after inspection of the original. 

Christie'sOld Masters Evening Sale, 6 July 2017, London, King Street

 

Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London), Saint Sebastian after His Ordeal

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Lot 8. Sir Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599-1641 London), Saint Sebastian after His Ordeal, signed 'VAN DYCK' (centre right, on the bank), oil on canvas, 77 5/8 x 55 in. (197.2 x 139.7 cm). Estimate GBP 1,200,000 - GBP 1,800,000. Price realised GBP 1,925,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Provenance(Possibly) Palazzo Borghese, Rome, from where acquired by, 
Melchior Cardinal de Polignac (1661-1742), Paris. 
(Possibly) Anonymous sale; Mssrs. Langford, The Strand, London, 26 March 1778 (=2nd day), lot 45, as ‘St. Sebastian shot with Arrows’: ‘The terrible subject the artist has rendered in a manner new, by the poetical manner in which he has treated it. The presence of the angels shew that the saint has received the crown of martyrdom. The cherub, who is employed in pulling out the arrows, seems to suffer with him; his sympathy is pictured in the most lively manner in his attitude and countenance. The colouring and execution speak for themselves. It would be to affront the taste of the spectators to presume to make any encomium on it; all who have seen it allow it to be the most capital picture of this subject in the world, that of Raphael himself not excepted.’ 
In the collection of the present owner’s family since the 19th century.

NotePainted in circa 1627-32 during the artist’s second Antwerp period, this imposing and hitherto unpublished canvas showing Saint Sebastian after His Ordeal is an important addition to Van Dyck’s oeuvre

The picture corresponds closely to Van Dyck’s treatment of the subject in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (fig. 1). That work, which was in the celebrated collection of Everhard Jabach before being sold to King Louis XIV of France in 1671, has until now been considered the prime version. In the 2004 catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work, Horst Vey lists four copies of the Louvre canvas: the picture at Copenhagen; that from the von Wendland collection and sold at Nagel, Stuttgart, 20-21 June 2002, lot 78; that in Le Havre; and the picture in Manchester Art Gallery, which shows a quiver and armour in the lower right corner, in place of the thistle (H. Vey in S. Barnes et. al., Van Dyck, A complete catalogue of the paintings, New Haven and London, 2004, pp. 286-7, no. III.52). Notwithstanding the condition of the Louvre picture, which was restored in 1977, there is a strong argument for considering the present canvas to be the prime version.   

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Fig. 1 Sir Anthony van Dyck, Saint Sebastian Rescued by Angels, Musée du Louvre, Paris© Bridgeman Images

This picture, which is signed on the bank, differs chiefly in the presence of an arrow in Sebastian’s thigh, while the feathered arrow in the saint’s torso extends towards the attending angel’s head. A pentimento in the latter arrow suggests the artist changed its position as the composition developed. Interestingly, of the four copies listed by Vey (ibid.), three correspond precisely in this regard by showing the arrow in Sebastian’s thigh while only the Copenhagen picture follows the Louvre canvas. A further copy, showing both arrows but with the saint’s armour in the foreground, was in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne (inv. no. 2295), and later sold in 1944. 

The handling of the present work seems unquestionably freer and more sophisticated than the Louvre Saint Sebastian. The artist’s characteristic use of black paint, applied in bold sweeping strokes, to lay-in the figures is clearly evident in the saint’s right leg and raised arm. The masterful treatment of the principal angel, whose head corresponds closely to that of the left cherub in Van Dyck’s Charity (London, National Gallery), and the red drapery of the angel entering the composition from the left edge, are conspicuously finer than their counterparts in the Paris picture. Furthermore, Sebastian’s head, which is shown in a slightly more slumped position, is captured here with startlingly few fluid strokes of dark paint.  

In 1627, after nearly six years in Italy, Van Dyck returned to the city of his birth and embarked on the most prolific period of his career, displaying a ‘positively inhumane appetite for work’ (G. Glück, Van Dyck: Des Meisters Gemälde, 2nd ed., Stuttgart and Berlin, 1931, p. XXVII, the translation quoted after Barnes et. al., 2004, p. 240). Despite the effects of the ongoing war between the Spanish Netherlands and the States-General, the demand for Counter-Reformation art was still strong in Flanders; during the following years the artist received a vast number of commissions for religious works, possibly helped by Rubens’s absence from Antwerp between 1628-30. The subject was a favourite of the artist’s and, as Vey notes (op. cit.), Van Dyck’s paintings of Sebastian, the most important of the plague saints as well as the patron saint of the militia guilds, were probably used as votive images as well as altarpieces. Unlike the pictures from his early years in Antwerp in which Sebastian is shown being bound and prepared for martyrdom (Paris, Musée du Louvre; Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen; and Potsdam, Blidergalerie, Schloss Sanssouci), Van Dyck’s treatment of the subject after his return from Italy shows the wounded saint tended by angels following his ordeal. Here Sebastian’s extended arm and bound hand, a gesture that both frames the scene while heightening the saint’s suffering, reveals his exposure to Venetian and Bolognese art and displays his own response to the idiom of contemporary Baroque painting. Whilst there is no direct source for the saint’s pose, it does in part echo the figure of the bound protagonist from Titian’s Perseus and Andromeda, the picture that was in Van Dyck’s collection at the time of his death in 1641 and is now in the Wallace Collection, London.  

The well documented influence of Titian, so eloquently revealed in the numerous copies of the Venetian painter’s work in Van Dyck’s Italian sketchbook (London, British Museum), is not only exhibited in the artist’s style from this period but also in his decision to sign his work in capitals, as illustrated here. Although Van Dyck was an irregular signer of his paintings, the artist’s signature does appear on other key works from this period, including the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine in the Royal Collection, the portraits of Peeter Stevens and Anna Wake (dated 1627 and 1628 respectively) in the Mauritshuis, The Hague, and the magnificent full-length of Philippe Le Roy in the Wallace Collection, London.  

Although the identities of those working in Van Dyck’s workshop during this period are unknown, the number of variants and contemporary copies of his compositions, painted to meet the demands of his patrons, attest to the importance of his assistants who would frequently be called on to paint the minor passages of his grand-scale commissions. Dr. Christopher Brown, to whom we are grateful for confirming the attribution, has suggested that there is some studio involvement in the landscape of the present work.  

Sebastian is said to have been an officer in the Praetorian guard during the reign of Diocletian (3rd century A.D.). He was a secret Christian and for his support of two like-minded, fellow soldiers, was condemned to be shot to death by arrows; this ordeal he survived, thanks to the ministrations of Saint Irene, only subsequently to be clubbed to death. 

Christie'sOld Masters Evening Sale, 6 July 2017, London, King Street

A rare blue and white basin, Shunzhi period (1643-1661)

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A rare blue and white basin, Shunzhi period (1643-1661)

csm_Lempertz-1093-1379-Asian-Art-II-China-Tibetan-Nepalese-Art-A-rare-blue-and-white-bas-a_7a9aa0eb39

Lot 1379. A rare blue and white basin, Shunzhi period (1643-1661). Diameter 34.7 cmEstimated price €5.000 - €6.000. Result: €6.200Courtesy Lempertz

With a brown rim, decorated with a lady resting her chin on her hand dreaming of her love, Du Liniang, the main character from the Kunqu-opera Mudan ting (The Peony Pavilion) by Tang Xianzu, and the Three Abundances (sanduo), leafy, fruiting branches of peach, pomegranate and the Buddha's hand citron and bamboo to the outside. Four-character mark Yu tang jia qi (Fine vessel for the Jade Hall). Channelled footring.

ProvenancePrivate collection, Bochum

LiteratureFor the form compare: Sir Michael Butler, Margaret Medley, Stephen Little, Seventeenth-Century Chinese Porcelain, Alexandria 1990, p. 146, plate 95

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels


A blue and white octagonal baluster vase, Transitional period, 17th century

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A blue and white octagonal baluster vase, Transitional period, 17th century

csm_Lempertz-1093-1380-Asian-Art-II-China-Tibetan-Nepalese-Art-A-blue-and-white-octagona-a_499fc9aeb1

Lot 1380. A blue and white octagonal baluster vase, Transitional period, 17th century. Height 30 cm. Estimated price €2.000 - €4.000. Result: €2.976. Courtesy Lempertz

Painted with a continuous landscape setting and an official attended by a fan bearer and other companions, all above a band of pendant banana lappets around the foot, below a border of eight-petalled panels at the shoulder, each enclosing a lotus spray. Mushikui.

ProvenancePrivate collection, North Rhine-Westphalia.

LiteratureCompare: Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesisches Porzellan. Die Ohlmer'sche Sammlung im Roemer-Museum, Hildesheim 1981, p. 71.

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

A pair of blue and white beaker vases, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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A pair of blue and white beaker vases, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

Lot 1382. A pair of blue and white beaker vases, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 44.4 cm. Estimated price €4.000 - €6.000. Result: €5.580. Courtesy Lempertz

Gu-shaped vases from a mantle garniture, decorated in underglaze-blue between key-fret borders with the "lange lijzen"-pattern and potted flowers in cartouches surrounded by floral sprays. Apocryphal Jiajing six-character mark. Restored. (2).

Provenance: Private collection, Bochum.

Literature: Compare similar vases in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

Three blue and white salt cellars, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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Three blue and white salt cellars, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

Lot 1383. Three blue and white salt cellars, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 5 to 5.5 cm. Estimated price €1.200 - €1.500. Result: €1.178. Courtesy Lempertz

On a high foot, with shaped sides, painted with various flowers and one with a landscape. Restored. (3).

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

A blue and white octagonal bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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A blue and white octagonal bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

Lot 1384. A blue and white octagonal bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722), 14.6 x 14.2 cm. Estimated price €800 - €1.000. Result: €1.178. Courtesy Lempertz

The flattened sides painted with four scenes from "The Romance of the Western Chamber" (Xi xiang ji), alternated with lotus, chrysanthemums, peony and peach blossoms at the corners. Apocryphal Chenghua six-character mark.

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

A blue and white dragon bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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A blue and white dragon bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

Lot 1385. A blue and white dragon bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Diameter 21.3 cm. Estimated price €1.500 - €2.500. Result: €3.844. Courtesy Lempertz

Decorated with four dragons amongst lotus sprays above a band of ruyi-heads on the exterior, the interior with a band of similar dragons at the rim around a central roundel with a double vajra and ribbons. Apocryphal Chenghua six-character mark within a double circle.

Lempertz. Asian Art II China, Tibetan/Nepalese Art, 18.06.2017, 14:00, Brussels

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