Lot 207. A fine and rare faux-bois grisaille-decorated brushpot, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 18.3 cm., 7 1/4 in. Estimate 6,000,000 — 9,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 20,840,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

of slightly waisted cylindrical form, finely painted in grisaille on the exterior in a wide band resembling a handscroll with schollars in a landscape, one seated at his painting table inside a house nestled in a grove of trees, two others walking towards a rocky promontory, a fourth resting under the canopy of a boat with his attendant, all between 'faux-bois' borders  of various tones extending over the rim and covering the entire interior, the mark inscribed in underglaze-blue in three columns in a countersunk circle on the base. Quantity: 1.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2nd May 1995, lot 150.

Literature: Sotheby's Thirty Years in Hong Kong: 1973-2003, Hong Kong, 2003, cat.no. 164.

Note: It was under the Yongzheng Emperor that decoration in black ink only, possibly influenced by European sepia wares, first appeared. It was also during this period that imitations of other materials in ceramics were first attempted. Yongzheng's edition of the Jiangxi tongzhi (General Description of the Province of Jiangxi) published in 1732 and compiled by Xie Min, governor of Jiangxi province between 1729 and 1734, lists the range of ceramic wares produced for the Imperial palace during Yongzheng's reign under the supervision of Superintendents Nian Xiyao and Tang Ying. No. 40 in Xie Min's list mentions the making of porcelain decorated in black ink. This new technique allowed the painter to closely follow the style of traditional Chinese landscape painting, with details of figures, flowering plants and birds all executed with shading, so as to reproduce the light and dark strokes of brush-and-ink drawing. This category of wares would have been among Yongzheng's favourites, with the simplicity of the design accurately reflecting his very fine taste. It also satisfied his great fondness for traditional Chinese ink painting.

Cai Hebi in her introduction to the Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1992, p. 12, quotes an edict from 1732 in which the emperor praises the making of sepia wares and says, 'For Grand Minister Hai Wang to transmit the following edict: The enamel paintings in sepia are all exceedingly fine. Employ the two painters Tai Heng and T'ang Chen-chi as enamel painters and remove the paintings brought as samples of their works. Also remove the sample paintings by T'ang Tai. The work of the others is all fine, and they may remain. By Imperial Command. Have the painters Tai and T'ang transferred to enamel painting.'  

The present decoration on the brushpot closely follows traditional handscroll paintings. The landscape on this piece appears to have been influenced by the Wumen School of Painting of the Ming dynasty which included Wen Zhengming. It shares the sense of perspective, use of bold black colouring and shading, and is painted in a similarly refined and elegantly meticulous style. For the possible inspiration of the painting on this brushpot see Wen Zhengming's, 'A Scholar's Cottage Beside a Mountain Stream; A Guest Approaching' illustrated in Osvald Siren, Chinese Painting. Leading Masters and Principles, Part II, London, 1958, pl. 204. Rosemary Scott in her article 'Some Influences on the Painting Styles of Qing Overglaze Enamel Wares', Imperial Taste, Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, London, 1989, pp. 115-118, notes the influence of handscrolls on porcelain painted in the new 'rich black or sepia enamel'  introduced in the early eighteenth century which have the effect 'akin to that of the slightly austere monochrome paintings in ink on paper or silk so favoured by Chinese connoisseurs'.

Two Yongzheng brushpots appear to be known with this combination of 'painterly' landscapes in sepia and simulated wood borders continuing into the interior. One brushpot is illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, 1989, p. 239, pl. 68; and the other was sold in these rooms, 4th November 1997, lot 1565, also illustrated in Sotheby's Thirty Years in Hong Kong: 1973-2003, Hong Kong, 2003, cat.no. 165. See three brushpots with faux-bois borders, but the landscape painted in famille-rose enamels, one illustrated in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 433; one in the Victoria and Albert Museum included in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, pl. 197; and the third sold in these rooms, 27th April 1993, lot 208, and now in the collection of Robert Chang.

Brush pot, mark and reign of Yongzheng (1723-1735), porcelain. Height: 14 cm. Julia C. Gulland Gift, 682-1907 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2017. 

Cf. my post: Brush pot, mark and reign of Yongzheng (1723-1735)

Compare also two brushpots lacking the faux-bois borders but painted in grisaille and sepia, one in the Shanghai Museum included in the exhibition Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Hu, Shanghai, 1989, cat.no. 50; and one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, published in Michel Beurdeley and Guy Raindre, Qing Porcelain, London, 1987, pl. 133, both with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the period. 

Porcelain copying wood, bronze or lacquer was a new technique developed during Yongzheng's reign and perfected by the Qianlong period. It was the Qianlong emperor who had a particular penchant  for material mimicry and visual tricks. The convincing imitation of wood on this brushpot is evidence of the high level of crafsmanship already achieved by Yongzheng period potters at Jingdezhen in this new technique of ceramic simulations.     

Sotheby's. A Quest for Perfection - Important Chinese Porcelain from a Distinguished Asian Family, Hong Kong, 23 Oct 2005

Lot 2125. A fine inscribed and enamelled 'Autumn pavilion' mallet-shaped vase, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 7 1/4 in. (18.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 6,000,000 - HKD 8,000,000. Price realised HKD 7,830,000. © Christie’s Images Limited 2012. 

The rounded body of the vase is finely potted with a broad base and a rounded shoulder under a high cylindrical neck. The exterior is superbly decorated in polychrome enamels with a continuous landscape comprising an architectural complex and figures amongst craggy mountains partially shrouded by misty clouds and various trees. The reverse side is inscribed with a poem written in kaishu, standard script, followed by an iron-red seal mark, Qiuting, 'Autumn Pavilion', box.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's London, 14 November 2002, lot 503 

Note: The short poem was composed by the Song dynasty poet, Dai Fugu (b. 1167), under the title 'Guanlan Pavilion of Xiangxi Temple', and may be translated as:

Pavilion east ashore, mountains to the west,
Xiaoxiang river lies amidst.
Red dust cannot the cyan waves reach,
Seagulls and white clouds leisurely drift across.

The Xiaoxiang refers to an area of south-central China located near the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in Hunan province. Part of the name was derived from the Xiang River and this region had a long association in Chinese history and classical literature as a desolate place where talented ministers and officials were sent into exile by somewhat feckless monarchs. The differing landscapes of the Xiaoxiang were painted by Song dynasty painters such as Li Shi of the 12th century, and popularised by later Ming artists.

This vase is painted with extraordinary artistry reflected in the composition of the decoration, the choice and use of colours, and the delicacy of the painting style. Two mallet-shaped vases of similar size painted in falangcai enamels with figures in landscapes in a similar style, formerly in the Alfred E. Hippisley and J. Insley Blair collections, are illustrated by Hippisley in A Catalogue of the Hippisley Collection of Chinese Porcelains: With A Sketch of the History of Ceramic Art in China, Washington, 1890, pl. 130 and A Sketch of the History of Ceramic Art in China, with a Catalogue of the Hippisley Collection of Chinese Porcelains, Washington, 1902, pl. 130, and later sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lots 2122 and 2123. 

An important and very fine inscribed falangcai enamelled 'Lofty mountain' mallet-shaped vase, Yongzheng-Qianlong period (1723-1795); 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.) high. Sold for HKD 34,260,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2122. © Christie’s Images Limited 2012. 

Cf. my post: An important and very fine inscribed falangcai enamelled 'Lofty mountain' mallet-shaped vase, Yongzheng-Qianlong period

 An important and very fine inscribed falangcai enamelled 'Beneath pine trees' mallet-shaped vase, Yongzheng-Qianlong period (1723-1795); 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.) high. Sold for HKD 35,380,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2123. © Christie’s Images Limited 2012. 

Cf. my post: An important and very fine inscribed falangcai enamelled 'Beneath pine trees' mallet-shaped vase, Yongzheng-Qianlong period

Two other inscribed vases of this form and decorated in the famille rose palette appear to have been published. A vase of similar size and shape, dating to the Qianlong reign, painted with a delicate river landscape and bearing a poetic inscription is in the collection of Alan Chuang illustrated in The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong 2009, no. 102. The other is a vase of similar size and shape from the Grandidier Collection, now in the Musée Guimet, Paris, decorated with a deeply coloured scene of mountains and rivers illustrated in Oriental Ceramics - the World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Musée Guimet, Paris , Tokyo, 1981, no. 192.

Vase bouteille à décor de paysage dit "vase maillet" poème calligraphié en émail noir "les pagodes enveloppées d'une pluie brumeuse", règne de Qianlong (1736-1795), porcelaine de la famille rose, H: 18,5 cm. Collection Ernest Grandidier, G3464. Paris, musée Guimet - musée national des Arts asiatiques. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (MNAAG, Paris) / Thierry Ollivier

Christie's. Imperial Sale; Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 29 May 2013, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall

Lot 358. A rare grisaille-decorated 'mallet' vase, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 7 3/8 in. (18.3 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 40,000 - GBP 60,000. Price realised GBP 50,000. © Christie’s Images Limited 2015. 

The vase has a flat base and domed body rising to a tall cylindrical neck with a lipped mouth rim. The body is delicately decorated with an idyllic landscape with pavilions set against trees next to a fast flowing river inhabited by figures on boats and a further figure crossing a bridge.  

Note: The current vase belongs to a well-known group of wares from the Yongzheng period, delicately painted in the grisaille palette, closely following traditional Chinese ink painting. 

It was during the Yongzheng period that this type of decoration first appeared, most likely influenced by European sepia wares. Under the supervision of Superintendent Nian Xiyuao and Tang Ying (as listed by Xie Min, governor of Jianxi province between 1729 and 1734, in the Jiangxi Tongzhi, General Description of the Province of Jiangxi, published in 1732), porcelain wares decorated in black made their first appearance. 

This new technique and style of decoration enabled the painter to closely follow the style of traditional Chinese landscape painting, with carefully rendered figures and clever use of shading to depict texture and light. Such wares were among the Yongzheng Emperor's favourites, reflecting his refined and scholarly taste; it also echoed his great fondness for traditional Chinese ink painting. 

For a Yongzheng-marked brush pot painted in the grisaille palette, see Michel Beurdeley and Guy Raindre, Qing Porcelain, Famille Verte, Famille Rose, London, 1987, p. 96, pl. 133. For another brush pot, with 'painterly' landscapes in sepia, see Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, 1989, p. 239, pl. 68. 

Compare also the style of painting on a Yongzheng-marked brush pot, decorated in grisaille with 'painterly' landscapes, sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 23 October 2005, lot 207. 

A fine and rare faux-bois grisaille-decorated brushpot, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 18.3 cm., 7 1/4 in. Estimate 6,000,000 — 9,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 20,840,000 HKD at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 23 October 2005, lot 207. Photo: Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: A fine and rare faux-bois grisaille-decorated brushpot, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)

Two mallet-shaped vases of similar size painted in falangcai enamels with figures in landscapes in a similar style, formerly in the Alfred E. Hippisley and J. Insley Blair collections, are illustrated by Hippisley in A Catalogue of the Hippisley Collection of Chinese Porcelains: With A Sketch of the History of Ceramic Art in China, Washington, 1890, pl. 130 and A Sketch of the History of Ceramic Art in China, with a Catalogue of the Hippisley Collection of Chinese Porcelains, Washington, 1902, pl. 130, and later sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lots 2122 and 2123. 

An important and very fine inscribed falangcai enamelled 'Lofty mountain' mallet-shaped vase, Yongzheng-Qianlong period (1723-1795); 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.) high. Sold for HKD 34,260,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2122. © Christie’s Images Limited 2012. 

Cf. my post: An important and very fine inscribed falangcai enamelled 'Lofty mountain' mallet-shaped vase, Yongzheng-Qianlong period

 An important and very fine inscribed falangcai enamelled 'Beneath pine trees' mallet-shaped vase, Yongzheng-Qianlong period (1723-1795); 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.) high. Sold for HKD 35,380,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2123. © Christie’s Images Limited 2012. 

Cf. my post: An important and very fine inscribed falangcai enamelled 'Beneath pine trees' mallet-shaped vase, Yongzheng-Qianlong period

See also a painted enamelled ‘Autumn Pavillion’ mallet shaped vase sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 2125.

A fine inscribed and enamelled 'Autumn pavilion' mallet-shaped vase, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 7 1/4 in. (18.5 cm.) high. Sold for HKD 7,830,000 at at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 2125. © Christie’s Images Limited 2013.

Cf. my post:  A fine inscribed and enamelled 'Autumn pavilion' mallet-shaped vase, Qianlong period (1736-1795)

Lot 324. A large rare early Ming blue and white 'peony' dish, Yongle period (1403-1425); 14 ¾ in. (37.5 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 50,000 - GBP 80,000. Price realised GBP 74,500. © Christie’s Images Limited 2015.

The dish is finely painted in bright sapphire-blue tones with two peony blooms growing from a curled branch bearing leaves and buds, surrounded on the cavetto with seven peony blooms and on the everted lipped rim with continuous scrolling sprays. The exterior is detailed with a further lotus meander, all within double-line borders. The base is unglazed.  

Provenance: Formerly in the Christer Löfgren collection, Sweden.

Note: Dishes of this pattern include one in the Topkapi Saray Museum, illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, 1986, no. 598; another in the Archaeological Museum of Iran, Teheran, recorded by A. Pope, Chinese Porcelain from the Ardebil Shrine, 1956, pl. 32, no. 29.68 ; another from the collection of Gustaf VI Adolf, H.M. The King of Sweden, was included in the exhibition of Ming Blue and White, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 1964, no.23, p.39 and is also illustrated by Bo Gyllensvärd in The World's Great Collections, Oriental Ceramics, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Sweden, Vol.8, no.214; another dish of this exact same pattern is illustrated by Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume II, p. 47, no.660. 

Lot 208. A large rare blue and white 'floral scroll' dish, Yongle period (1403-1424); 16 ¼ in. (41.2 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 30,000 - GBP 50,000. Price realised GBP 30,000. © Christie’s Images Limited 2015.

The dish is painted in brilliant tones of deep cobalt blue characterised by 'heaping and piling' effect on the interior with an interlacing vine bearing blossoms and buds including peony, camellia and mallow surrounded by their respective leaves, below a composite floral scroll of eleven flowerheads to the cavetto and a band of cresting waves encircling the rim. The exterior is similarly painted with a frieze of composite floral scroll between double-line borders.   

Provenance: Christies London, Le Grand Gout - A Private European Collection, 17 June 2009, lot 40.
From the Collection of Francis Golding (1944-2013).

Note: A dish of this type was included in the Chang Foundation exhibition Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, no. 44. Other similar examples include one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Dynasty Porcelain, pl. 37; one exhibited at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, 1978, and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 5; one illustrated by J. Ayers in The Baur Collection, Geneva, 1969, vol. II, no. A140; and another included in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White, 1994, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 38.  

Lot 208. A large rare blue and white 'floral scroll' dish, Yongle period (1403-1424); 16 ¼ in. (41.2 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 30,000 - GBP 50,000. Price realised GBP 30,000. © Christie’s Images Limited 2015.

The dish is painted in brilliant tones of deep cobalt blue characterised by 'heaping and piling' effect on the interior with an interlacing vine bearing blossoms and buds including peony, camellia and mallow surrounded by their respective leaves, below a composite floral scroll of eleven flowerheads to the cavetto and a band of cresting waves encircling the rim. The exterior is similarly painted with a frieze of composite floral scroll between double-line borders.   

Provenance: Christies London, Le Grand Gout - A Private European Collection, 17 June 2009, lot 40.
From the Collection of Francis Golding (1944-2013).

Note: A dish of this type was included in the Chang Foundation exhibition Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, no. 44. Other similar examples include one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Dynasty Porcelain, pl. 37; one exhibited at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, 1978, and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 5; one illustrated by J. Ayers in The Baur Collection, Geneva, 1969, vol. II, no. A140; and another included in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White, 1994, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 38.  

Lot 359. A doucai'chrysanthemum' bowl, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 4 ¼ in. (10.9 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 15,000 - GBP 20,000. Price realised GBP 32,500. © Christie’s Images Limited 2015.

The exterior of the bowl is decorated with five medallions containing colourful chrysanthemum sprays, surrounded by smaller flower heads with stylised leafy scrolls. 

Note: See a pair of bowls in the Tianminlou Collection, decorated with the same design but bearing a Yongzheng mark within double squares instead of circles, illustrated in Chinese Porcelain, The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 100. Also compare this vessel to a very similar bowl sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3459.

A doucai 'chrysanthemum medallion' bowl, Yongzheng six-character mark within double circles and of the period (1723-1735); 4 1/4 in. (10.7 cm.) diam. Price realised HKD 1,480,000 at at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3459. © Christie’s Images Limited 2014.

Lot 351. A blue and white 'Six-dragon' vase, Shendetang zhi four-character mark in iron-red, Daoguang period (1821-1850); 11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 15,000 - GBP 25,000. Price realised GBP 104,500. © Christie’s Images Limited 2015.

The vase has an oviform body rising to a tall tapering neck with a flaring mouth, all supported on a short ring foot. The exterior is decorated with six writhing dragons chasing flaming pearls amongst clouds and flames, all above a key-fret band above the foot rim.

Lot 154. A fine ru-type cong, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795); 29.5cm., 11 5/8 in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 362,500 GBP. Photo Sotheby’s

of square section with straight sides rising from a spreading foot to a short waisted neck, the corners moulded with the bagua (Eight Trigrams) arranged into horizontal registers of two columns divided by undulating vertical bands, pierced with two pairs of circular apertures on one side and two oval apertures at the foot, covered overall in a crackled greyish blue glaze stopping at the footring to reveal the brown body, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark, wood stand. Quantity: 2.

Provenance: Christie’s London, 16th June 1986, lot 57.

Lot 157. A fine and rare iron-red ‘Phoenix’ waterpot ,Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735); 6cm., 2 3/8 in. Estimate 30,000 - 50,000 GBP. Lot sold 170,500 GBP. Photo: Sothebys

of beehive form, the tall hemispherical sides rising to a short waisted neck, painted to the exterior with two archaistic phoenix between stylised keyfret bands, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double-circle, wood stand. Quantity: 2.

Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 16th June 1998, lot 260 (part lot). 

Lot 405. A very rare kinrande‘dancing lady’ ewer, Ming dynasty, Jiajing period (1522-1566); 30cm., 11 3/4 in. Estimate 30,000 - 50,000 GBP. Lot sold 134,500 GBP. Photo: Sothebys

intricately modelled in the form of a lady dancing with her right knee raised, her left arm lowered forming the handle and the right arm lifted forming the spout, clasping a leafy spray in the hand, wearing long robes elaborately decorated in iron-red, turquoise, and green enamels with a mythical beast panel to her chest, a foliate scroll around her collar and floral diaper patterns around her shoulders and underskirt, further embellished with traces of gilt floral scrolls, her face pencilled with underglaze-blue features and tied-up hair, all supported on an oval base decorated with shaped panels enclosing tasselled florets on a diaper ground, later wood cover imitating a double hair-knot and a matched rectangular stand. Quantity: 3.

Note: For a very similar ewer from the famous collection of Sir Percival David, see R.L.Hobson, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in the David Collection, pl CXLV, London, 1934; another in the Ataka Collection, see Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1999, no.57; another in the Tokyo National Museum, see Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum, Chinese Ceramics II, Tokyo, 1953, p.93; another in the collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., accession no.1940.228; and another, sold in these rooms 17th June 1937, lot 116. 

Wine ewer in the form of a woman with kinrande decoration, Ming dynasty, Jiajing to Wanli reign, about AD1522–1600. Porcelain with overglaze red, turquoise and green enamels, and gilding (replacement lid), Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Height: 31,8 cm. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF.704 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

Ewer in the Form of a Dancing Lady Holding a Fruiting Peach Branch, the Stopper in the Form of a Bun of Hair, Ming dynasty, 1368-1644, probably mid 16th century. "Wucai" (five-color) ware, of so-called "kinrande" type: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze polychrome and gold enamels; with underglaze cobalt-blue mark reading "Fu Gui Jia Qi" on the base, 31.4 x 15.8 x 8.8 cm. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Samuel C. Davis, 1940.228.A-B © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Lot 325. A fine pair of carved celadon-glazed 'chilong' bottle vases, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 42cm., 16 1/2 in. Estimate 50,000 - 70,000 GBP. Lot sold 104,500 GBP. Photo: Sothebys

each globular body rising from a short tapering foot to a tall slender cylindrical neck, finely carved around the exterior with two sinuous chilong amidst scrolling lingzhi, all below chevron, stiff leaf and ruyi bands at the neck, covered overall in an even bluish-green glaze, the base glazed white with underglaze blue double rings. Quantity: 2.

Lot 158. A rare blue-ground gilt-decorated conjoined triple-neck double-gourd vase, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795); 10.8cm., 4 1/4 in. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 GBP. Lot sold 80,500 GBP. Photo: Sothebys.

well potted, the three double-gourd vases conjoined together forming three lobes rising to three separate tubular necks, decorated in gilt on each section with stylised lotus sprays separated by a band of circles, encircled at the foot with a upright lappets and the rim with a keyfret band, all reserved against a rich deep blue ground, the base with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 23rd September 1995, lot 472.
J.M. Hu Family Collection.
Sotheby’s London, 16th June 1999, lot 883.

Note: This charming vase belongs to a special small group of vessels decorated with gilt-paint on a rich blue ground. No other Qianlong example appears to have been published, although a larger vase of this type with a Xianfeng mark and of the period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 15, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 183.

Lot 29. Bartholomeus van der Helst (Haarlem 1613-Amsterdam, 1670), Portrait of a Gentleman, Probably Hendrick Zegersz Van Der Kamp, Seated Before a Balustrade, a Landscape with Country House and a Distant View of Haarlem Beyond, signed and dated on the stone balustrade lower right: B. vander. helst 1655, oil on canvas, 44 by 37 7/8  in.; 111.7 by 96.2 cm. Estimate 400,000 — 600,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: Jean-Robert Tronchin Boissier (1710-1793), Procureur-Général of Geneva, by 1777 (when recorded by his cousin François Tronchin in a list of the most important paintings in Geneva collections "TronchinBoissier, Un bourguemestre et sa femme, pendans de Barthelemy van der Helst. Les fonds de Jaq. Ruysdael")
Thence by inheritance in the family to form part of the Cabinet de Bessinge, near Geneva;
Acquired en bloc with the Bessinge estate in 1938 by Xavier Givaudan;
Thence by descent in the family;
By whom anonymously sold ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Christie's, 7 December 2010, lot 22.

Exhibited: Geneva, Musée Rath, De Genève à l'Ermitage: Les Collections de François Tronchin, 21 June-15 September 1974, no. 4.

Bibliography: J. Crosnier, "Bessinge," Nos Anciens et leurs oeuvres, Geneva, VIII, 1908, pp. 81-83, reproduced;
J. J. de Gelder, Bartholomeus van der Helst, Rotterdam 1921, p. 178, cat. no. 180, (the landscape by another painter);
R. Loche, De Genève à l'Ermitage: Les collections de François Tronchin, Geneva 1974, p. 199-200, under "Quelques tableaux ayant appartenu à la famille Tronchin," cat. no. 4, reproduced;
M. Roethlisberger, "Review of the exhibition, 'De Genève à l'Ermitage: Les Collections de François Tronchin,'" The Burlington Magazine, CXVI, September 1974, p. 552;
J. van Gent, "'Fenix der Nederlandsche Pourtretschilders,' Bartholomeus van der Helst 1613-1670," Van der Helst op straat. 'Fenix der Nederlandsche Pourtretschilders, Amsterdam 1999, p. 34, reproduced fig. 12;
J. van Gent, Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670): een studie naar zijn leven en zijn werk, Zwolle 2011, p. 249, cat no. 77, reproduced; p. 102, reproduced in color;
S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, “Twee portretten door Bartholomeus van der Helst uit 1655,” Amstelodamum 99-4, October-December 2012, pp. 161–82, reproduced p. 164;
S.A.C. Dudok van Heel (introduction by J. van Gent), Bartholomeus van der Helst (Haarlem 1613-1670 Amsterdam): the marriage portraits of Gabriel Marselis and Maria van Arckel, Otto Naumann, Ltd., New York 2013, p. 6-23, reproduced p. 10;
R. Dessing, De Amsterdamse buitenplaatsen: een vergeten stadsgeschiedenis, Utrecht 2015, p. 170, reproduced;
P. Biesboer, "Een nieuwe identificatie van twee pendantportretten door Bartholomeus van der Helst: Hendrick Zegersz van der Kamp en Hester du Pire," Maandblad Amstelodamum, no. 102, 2015, pp. 91-101, reproduced p. 92, fig. 1.

Note: By 1655, the year this elegant portrait and its pendant (see following lot) were painted, Bartholomeus van der Helst had become the most sought after portrait painter in Amsterdam amongst the city’s elite, famed for his impeccable technique and the refinement of his style. Born in Haarlem, he moved at a young age to Amsterdam where he most likely trained under Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy (1588-circa 1653), a leading Amsterdam portrait painter.  His earliest known portrait, the 1637 group portrait of The Regents of the Walloon Orphanage, already demonstrates van der Helst’s prodigious talent, and his monumental  painting of 1648, the Celebration of the Peace of Munster, in which 25 members of a civic guard are depicted at a banquet, further elevated his reputation.1  From that date through the end of the 1650s marks the most active and successful period of van der Helst’s career.2

The sitters in this impressive pair of portraits are life-size, both seated facing each other on a terrace in front of a balustrade.  In the background beyond are extensive dune landscapes under cloud-filled blue skies.  Van der Helst has taken great care in depicting the sumptuous fabrics of their costumes, demonstrating his extraordinary skill at rendering different textures and materials.  Both are attired at the height of fashion for the period, richly garbed in black velvet with starched white linen collars and cuffs.  The man wears a broad-brimmed hat, his only adornment consisting of two tassels hanging from his collar.  He looks out assuredly at the viewer, gesturing with his upturned left hand towards his wife.  Under her velvet gown she wears a wine-red silk underskirt with gold trim; small black bows are affixed to her plain, broad linen collar.  She wears a fashionable cap bordered with pearls and coming to a point on her forehead (a tipmuts), a double-strand pearl necklace, and large drop pearl earrings.  Rings are prominently displayed on her left pinky and right index fingers and she holds a fan in her left hand.  Behind each sitter are walls with overgrown vines — a grape vine behind the man and ivy behind the woman — symbols of enduring love, marriage and friendship.3

The background landscapes are given prominence in both portraits and allude, perhaps, to the couple’s landed wealth in addition to their obvious material wealth.  In the distance of the Portrait of a Man can be seen the silhouette of St. Bavo, Haarlem, while the background of the woman’s portrait looks out over dunes to a broad expanse of water in the distance with faintly defined vessels.  Rendered in extraordinary detail, they were likely painted by a highly skilled collaborating artist who specialized in landscapes.  Indeed, the earliest documentation of the portraits, when they were in the Tronchin collection in the 18th century (see Provenance), ascribes the landscapes to Jacob van Ruisdael, though no firm evidence shows that the two artists ever collaborated.4

Though the names of the sitters are not known with certainty, Pieter Biesboer (see Literature) put forward a compelling theory in 2015 as to their possible identification as Hendrick Zegersz van der Kamp and Hester du Pire.  Based on the topography of the landscape, Biesboer identified the house depicted as Huis te Manpad (House at Manpad).  In 1655, the date of execution of these portraits, that house was in the possession of Hester du Pire who had inherited it from her first husband.  She remarried in 1650 to Amsterdam merchant and widower, Hendrick Zegersz van der Kamp.  Their ages in 1655 would have been in their early 50s which fits well with the ages of these sitters.  Also notable is that Hester du Pire was an aunt of Bartholomeus van der Helst’s wife, Anna du Pire, and godmother to their daughter.  Furthermore, it is documented that the artist stayed at Huis te Manpad in the summer of 1654, close to the date of these portraits.  Also present during that same summer was the artist Jan Miense. Molenaer who some years earlier had painted a portrait of Hendrick van der Kamp with his first wife and their children, a painting which is documented in van der Kamp’s will of 1654.  Biesboer believes that portrait to be identifiable with Molenaer’s, Family Portrait with Slap Hands, which depicts a bourgeois family watching a slap hand game taking place in a country inn (fig. 1).  He notes the strong resemblance of the standing man at far left and the sitter in van der Helst’s portrait, concluding that they both depict Hendrik van der Kamp.5

fig. 1. Jan Miense. Molenaer, Family Portrait with Slap Hands, oil on panel, 19¼ by 26⅜ in.

Another fascinating theory was presented by S.A.C. Dudok van Heel in 2012 (see Literature) who proposed that the sitters are Gabriel Marselis (1609-1673), an international merchant in iron and munitions, and his second wife Maria van Arckel (circa 1621-1656) who were married in 1655, the year these portraits are dated.  He based his argument on the landscape in the man’s portrait, which presents a view in the direction of Haarlem (by his calculation from west to east).  Dudok van Heel has identified the land and house seen at right as that which had belonged to the international Haarlem merchant Carel du Moulin and was subsequently purchased by Gabriel Marselis in 1654.  The house, which is still extant, would eventually be incorporated into the estate of Elswout.  These portraits, then, would appear to celebrate both Marselis’s recent acquisition and the couple’s new marriage.

Note on the provenance:
This portrait and its pendant were first documented in the collection of Jean-Robert Tronchin Boissier (1710-1793), a leading political figure in Geneva, who became Procureur-Général in 1760.  His preference for Dutch pictures may have been influenced by his cousin François Tronchin (1704-1798) who amassed one of the largest collections in 18th century Geneva, favoring Dutch and Flemish works.  François successfully negotiated the sale of 95 paintings from his collection to Catherine the Great in 1770 and then built up another collection, most of which was sold after his death in a Paris sale in 1801.  The present portraits, together with some thirty paintings from François Tronchin, and others from his parents’ collection, remained in the family and later formed the Cabinet de Bessinge at the Tronchin estate outside Geneva.  That collection was acquired en bloc with the estate of the same name in 1938 by Xavier Givaudan, and the van der Helst portraits descended in that family until their sale at auction in 2010.6

1.  In the Stichting Hospice Wallon, Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam respectively.
2.  See J. van Gent in Bartholomeus van der Helst (Haarlem 1613-1670 Amsterdam): the marriage portraits of Gabriel Marselis and Maria van Arckel, Otto Naumann, Ltd., New York 2013, pp. 3 and 5.
3.  See P.J.J. van Thiel, “Marriage Symbolism in a Musical Party by Jan Miense Molenaar,” in Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, vol. 2, no. 2, 1967-1968, pp. 98-99.
4.  In an auction in 1742, two portraits by van der Helst with background views ascribed to Ruisdael are listed (The Hague, Michiel van Hoeken and Theodore Hartsoeker, 1 May 1742, lots 54 and 55); according to J. van Gent ( op.cit. p. 7) the dimensions correspond roughly to those of the present pair and she finds it plausible that these could be the same works.
5.  In a private communication dated 17 September 2014, Dennis Weller states that though, in the past, he had dated this Molenaer portrait to circa 1635-40, he thinks it could conceivably be later in date and that the costumes are consistent with a later date.
6.  See R. Loche, under Literature, p. XIV.

Sotheby's. The Otto Naumann Sale, New York, 31 janv. 2018, 06:00 PM

Lot 11. Giovanni Baglione (Rome, circa &566 - 1643 (?)), Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, signed and dated, center left: EQ IO. / BALGIONVS / .R.P.1610, oil on canvas, 76 3/8  by 59 1/2  in.; 194 by 151 cm. Estimate 400,000 — 600,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: Possibly commissioned from the artist by Cardinal Alessandro Damasceni Peretti di Montalto (1571-1623), Rome, who paid 100 scudi for a painting of this subject on 3 August 1610;
Possibly by descent in the family, included in 1655 inventory of the collection;
Private collection, Italy, by 1970;
Thence by descent in the family;
By whom anonymously sold ("Property from a European Private Collection"), London, Sotheby's, 5 December 2012, lot 19 (where it bore a later inscription lower right: CARRACCI);
There acquired.

Literature: G. Baglione, Vite de' pittori, scultori et architetti. Dal Ponitficato di Gregorio XIII del 1572. In fino a' tempi di Papa Urbano Ottavo nel 1642, Rome 1642, p. 402;
B. Granata, Le passioni virtuose. Collezionismo e committenze artistiche a Roma del cardinale Peretti Montalto (1571-1623), Rome 2012, pp. 102-103, 115, 180, note 4, 217, note 65, 241, note 149 and 299, document 67;
Looking South: Three Centuries of Italian Paintings presented by Otto Naumann and Robert Simon, exhibition catalogue, New York 2014, pp. 26-27;
G. Papi, Giovanni Baglione: Judith and her Maidservant, New York 2014, pp. 26-27, reproduced fig. 11.

Note: Giovanni Baglione’s impressive and exquisitely painted Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness is a recent addition to the artist’s corpus. The painting was rediscovered in a private collection where it had remained since 1970, bearing a later inscription in the lower right corner, reading CARRACCI. Despite the inscription, the hand was recognized as that of Giovanni Baglione and the painting was sold with the correct attribution at Sotheby’s London in 2012 with a tentative dating to 1603 (see Provenance). The attribution was later endorsed by Dr. Maryvelma Smith O'Neil, author of the artist’s monograph, who proposed a later date of execution during the 1620s, when the artist was working in Mantua for the Gonzaga court. However, the painting was cleaned while in the hands of its present owner, revealing not only its rich surface and intricate detail but also the artist’s own signature and date, hidden beneath the old varnish: EQ IO. / BALGIONVS / .R.P.1610. Baglione, who had been knighted in 1606, prominently proclaimed his title, EQ, a shorthand for Eques or “knight,” while the R.P. stood for “Roma Pinxit,” or perhaps “Romanus Pictor.”

With its starkly lit figure and pronounced chiaroscuro effect, it is tempting to compare this Saint John the Baptist to Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s treatment of the subject in the Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City (fig. 1; inv. no. 52-25). Baglione, in fact, painted the saint on numerous occasions in the course of his career, though the present work is by far the largest and most accomplished. A preparatory drawing (fig. 2) was sold at Sotheby’s London in 1977 and is typically rapid in execution, as was Baglione's style as a draughtsman.1 It maps out the composition very clearly and shows that from an early stage in the creative process Baglione was keen to include both the foreground plants and the background landscape, elements which are more often merely alluded to in his work. This notably disciplined approach runs counter to Caravaggio’s preparatory methods. 

 fig. 1. Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio, Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness. William Rockhill Nelson Trust.

fig. 2. Giovanni Baglione, Saint John the Baptist, pen and brown ink and wash, 170 by 114 mm. Sale, London, Sotheby’s 4 July 1977, lot 78.

The artist produced a substantial body of work as a painter, but was also an accomplished writer, publishing Le nove chiese di Roma in 1639 and his momentous Le Vite de’ Pittori, Scultori & Architetti, in 1642.2 Despite these notable feats, however, Baglione is better remembered today for the scandal surrounding the lawsuit he brought against his brilliant and notoriously hot-headed colleague, Caravaggio. Unlike many of the so-called Caravaggists, Baglione responded to the work of Caravaggio as his direct contemporary.3  The two artists, working concurrently in Rome, were fierce rivals and Caravaggio accused Baglione of imitating his distinct painting style. Soon defamatory poems and writings regarding Baglione’s supposedly depraved paintings and disreputable activities circulated in Rome. These were presumed to have been disseminated by Caravaggio and his circle of friends and resulted in Baglione bringing libel charges against his antagonist in 1603.4 Caravaggio’s close friend and colleague, Orazio Gentileschi (who was thought to have penned some of the defamatory verses) admitted as witness at the trial that Baglione was a “first-class painter.” Yet Caravaggio’s own disparaging comments on the stand, dismissing Baglione as derivative, would unfairly cast a shadow over the artist’s work and reputation for centuries to come. In fact, far from adhering to Caravaggio’s style, Baglione was creatively independent and an inventive artist in his own right.

Professor Antonio Vannuglio proposes that the painting can be identified as the work for which the artist was paid 100 scudi on 3 August 1610 by Cardinal Alessandro Peretti Damasceni di Montalto. If the present painting is indeed the very same Saint John listed in Montalto's account books, then it would also be the work mentioned by Baglione in his autobiography published in 1642. The date of the painting, 1610, and its corresponding entry in Montalto's account books, would suggest a straight match and confirm the Montalto provenance. While there is a discrepancy in the measurements of the canvas (194 cm) and the height given in the 1655 Montalto inventory of 6 palmi (134 cm) this could well be accounted for by the high incidence of incorrect dimensions being recorded in 17th-century inventories. Moreover, the fact that it is listed as a sovrapporta and so would have been hanging high up on a wall when the inventory was drawn up could further account for the inaccuracy in the measurement.

This painting will be included in Michele Nicolaci's forthcoming monograph of the artist.

 1. Sale, London, Sotheby’s, 4 July 1977, lot 78, Giovanni Baglione, Saint John the Baptist, pen and brown ink and wash, 170 by 114 mm.
 2. G. Baglione, Le vite de’ pittori, scultori & architetti. Dal pontificato di Gregorio XIII del 1572 in fino a’ tempi di Papa Urbano Ottavio nel 1642, (originally published Rome 1642), J. Hess ed., Rome 1995.
3. The style generally referred to as Caravaggism was in fact more dependent on the work of Bartolomeo Manfredi and his Manfrediana Methodus than on Caravaggio himself. 
4. For more on the lawsuit see M. O’Neil, Giovanni Baglione, Artistic Reputation in Baroque Rome, Cambridge 2002.

Lot 18. Giovanni Bilivert (Florence, 1585 - 1644), Venus, Cupid and Pan, inscribed on the reverse in an old hand, possibly by the artist himself: originale di Giovanni Biliverti/ Fiorentino, oil on copper, 18 by 13 in.; 45.7 by 33 cm. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: Private U.K. collection, since at least circa 1900;
By whom anonymously sold ("Property from a Private Collection"), London, Sotheby's, 4 July 2012, lot 29;
There acquired.

Literature: F. Berti, "Bilivert 'in piccolo' e non solo," in Medicea, no. 12, December 2012, pp. 8-10, 12, reproduced p. 9, fig. 1.

Note: In this intimate painting we see Venus, goddess of love, dipping her feet in a shallow, crystalline pond.  Naked save for her pearl headdress and earrings, she is assisted by Cupid who tenderly washes her left leg.  He is naked as well, wearing only a silk sash that billows up behind him as he bends forward.  Standing in the background is Pan who holds Venus’s crimson cloak and a shepherd’s crook, his attribute as god of the wild and protector of flocks.  The brilliant sheen of the cloak’s fabric contrasts with his rustic fur garb, and his weathered skin offsets the smooth, luminous flesh tones of Venus and Cupid.

This work, painted on copper plate, is a variant of an earlier, larger painting on canvas by Bilivert in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden (fig. 1) which Roberto Contini (see Literature) dates to between 1630 and 1633.  There is also a preparatory drawing for the composition in the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence (fig. 2) which, in format, more closely resembles the present work than that of the squarer Dresden painting.1  Bilivert’s pupil, Orazio Fidani recorded (sometime before 1656) that Bilivert executed a pair of pictures — each measuring four braccia high — for Charles I, King of England: "He painted for the king of England two paintings four braccia high, one showing the council of Psyche and the other Venus with Cupid washing her legs, and the god Pan is also there holding up a cloak. He executed these paintings with extraordinary sweetness, and they were so well liked that he had numerous copies made for various friends of his."2  A number of these contemporary copies are known and attest to the popularity of the composition.3  This beautiful small-scale version was most likely executed for a private patron shortly after the larger painting’s completion.  The inscription scratched into the reverse of the copper plate is very likely done by Bilivert himself to distinguish it from the copies produced by his workshop.  Until recently, only one other painting on copper by the artist was known — The Temptation of Charles and Ubaldo in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (fig. 3).4  In Venus, Cupid and Pan, the copper medium is perfectly suited to Bilivert’s brilliant brushwork and vivid color palette, and the intimate scale enhances the sensual subject matter.

fig. 1. Giovanni Bilivert (Florence 1585-1644), Venus, Cupid and Pan. 191 x 165 cm.  Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Photo:  Estel/Klut

fig. 2. Giovanni Bilivert, Venus, Cupid and Pan, Gabinetto di Disegni e Stampe, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence

fig. 3. Giovanni Bilivert, The Temptation of Charles and Ubaldo, Copper, 37.5 x 28.5 cm. Inv: R.F. 1986-65. Eric Lessing/ Art Resource, NY.

Bilivert was born in Florence into an artistic family of Dutch origin.  His father Jacques, a goldsmith, had left Delft as a young man to supervise the metal workshops of Grand Duke Francesco I de’Medici.  Through his father’s connections with the important Medici family, Giovanni Bilivert secured an apprenticeship with Lodovico Cigoli and accompanied him to Rome between 1604-1608.  After his return to Florence he enrolled in the Academia del Disegno and eventually presided over one of the most successful workshops in the city.  Among his pupils were Orazio Fidani, Baccio del Bianco and Francesco Furini.  Indeed, Furini’s style would greatly influence that of his master from circa 1630 onwards and the younger artist’s more sensual approach to subject matter can be discerned in Venus, Cupid and Pan.

1.  Two other drawings have been associated with this composition. The first, in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (Inv. no. 563; black chalk with highlights, 145 by 134 mm.), shows a study for a female head turned in profile and looking slightly downwards, at an angle very similar to that of Venus here, and is likely therefore to have been executed in preparation for this figure ; the second, in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, relates to the whole composition but is certainly a copy (Inv. D 1639; red chalk (arched top), 124 by 223 mm.).
2.  "Fece per il re d'Inghilterra due quadri di quattro braccia, dentrovi in uno il consiglio di Psiche e ne l'altro una Venere che Amore gli lava le gambe e ci è un Dio Pane che li serba il manto. Dipinse questi quadri con una dolcezza straordinaria, e piaqquono sì che ne fu fatte fare molte copie per diversi amici sua," see O. Fidani, in F. Baldinucci, Notizie dei Professori del Disegno da Cimabue in Qua, ed. P. Barocchi, Florence 1975, vol. VII, p. 70. The disparity between the Dresden painting's dimensions (191 cm.) and those recorded by Fidani as four braccia (approx. 232 cm.) may be explained by the fact that the Dresden painting has been reduced, particularly along the top.
3.  Amongst these are the painting sold, New York, Christie's, 9-10 February 2009, lot 58 (as Circle of Bilivert; oil on canvas, 191.7 by 146.1 cm.); and that formerly at Potsdam, Bildergalerie von Sanssouci (inv. no. 7623, destroyed during World War II), almost certainly painted in Bilivert's studio and with possible participation of the master himself (oil on canvas, 207.5 by 168 cm.).
4.  A third painting on copper, in a private collection, depicting Minerva has been identified as a work by Bilivert by Federico Berti, see under Literature, p. 11, reproduced p. 12, fig. 3. 

Lot 30. Bartholomeus van der Helst (Haarlem 1613-Amsterdam, 1670), Portrait of a Lady, Probably Hester Du Pire, Seated Before a Balustrade, Holding a Fan, with a View Out to the Sea Beyond, signed and dated on the stone balustrade lower left: B. vander. helst 1655, oil on canvas, 44 by 37 7/8  in.; 111.7 by 96.2 cm. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: Jean-Robert Tronchin Boissier (1710-1793), Procureur-Général of Geneva, by 1777 (when recorded by his cousin François Tronchin in a list of the most important paintings in Geneva collections "TronchinBoissier, Un bourguemestre et sa femme, pendans de Barthelemy van der Helst. Les fonds de Jaq. Ruysdael")
Thence by inheritance in the family to form part of the Cabinet de Bessinge, near Geneva;
Acquired en bloc with the Bessinge estate in 1938 by Xavier Givaudan;
Thence by descent in the family;
By whom anonymously sold ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Christie's, 7 December 2010, lot 22.

Exhibited: Geneva, Musée Rath, De Genève à l'Ermitage: Les Collections de François Tronchin, 21 June-15 September 1974, no. 5. 

Literature: J. Crosnier, "Bessinge," Nos Anciens et leurs oeuvres, Geneva, VIII, 1908, pp. 81-83, reproduced;
J. J. de Gelder, Bartholomeus van der Helst, Rotterdam 1921, p. 207, cat. no. 534 (the landscape by another painter;
R. Loche, De Genève à l'Ermitage: Les collections de François Tronchin, Geneva 1974, p. 199-200, under "Quelques tableaux ayant appartenu à la famille Tronchin," cat. no. 5, reproduced;
M. Roethlisberger, "Review of the exhibition, 'De Genève à l'Ermitage: Les Collections de François Tronchin,'" The Burlington Magazine, CXVI, September 1974, p. 552;
J. van Gent, "'Fenix der Nederlandsche Pourtretschilders,' Bartholomeus van der Helst 1613-1670," Van der Helst op straat. 'Fenix der Nederlandsche Pourtretschilders, Amsterdam 1999, p. 34, reproduced fig. 12;
J. van Gent, Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670): een studie naar zijn leven en zijn werk, Zwolle 2011, p. 250, cat. no. 78, reproduced; p. 102, reporoduced  in color;
S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, “Twee portretten door Bartholomeus van der Helst uit 1655,” Amstelodamum 99-4, October-December 2012, pp. 161–82, reproduced p. 165;
S.A.C. Dudok van Heel (introduction by J. van Gent), Bartholomeus van der Helst (Haarlem 1613-1670 Amsterdam): the marriage portraits of Gabriel Marselis and Maria van Arckel, Otto Naumann, Ltd., New York 2013, p. 6-23, reproduced p. 11;
R. Dessing, De Amsterdamse buitenplaatsen: een vergeten stadsgeschiedenis, Utrecht 2015, p. 170, reproduced;
P. Biesboer, "Een nieuwe identificatie van twee pendantportretten door Bartholomeus van der Helst: Hendrick Zegersz van der Kamp en Hester du Pire," Maandblad Amstelodamum, no. 102, 2015, pp. 91-101, reproduced p. 93, fig. 2.

Note: See Bartholomeus van der Helst, Portrait of a Gentleman, Probably Hendrick Zegersz Van Der Kamp, 1655

Lot 10. Carlo Dolci (1616 – Florence – 1687), Saint Jerome in Prayer, dated lower center: 1655, oil on panel, 17 by 21 1/4  in.; 43 by 54 cm. Estimate 150,000 — 200,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: Probably in the collection of the Marchesi Capponi, Florence, from at least 1767 until at least 1842, when it hung in the picture gallery;
Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, Georgia1;
Their sale, New York, Sotheby's, January 14, 1994, lot 35;
There purchased by Jean Luc Baroni, for Colnaghi, London;
From whom acquired by Luigi Koelliker, Milan and London, 2002-2009; 
By whom sold, New York, Sotheby's, 29 January 2009, lot 27, for $302,500;
There acquired.

Exhibited: Possibly, Florence, Cloister of Santissima Annunziata, 1767 (possibly on loan from Alessandro Maris Capponi);
Maastricht, Colnaghi, 11-19 March 1995;
New York and London, Colnaghi, Master Paintings, 7-30 May, 10 June - 11 July 1998, no. 13;
Massachusetts, Davis Museum at Wellesley College, The Medici's Painter: Carlo Dolci and 17th century Florence, 8 February – 9 July 2017; North Carolina, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, The Medici's Painter: Carlo Dolci and 17th century Florence, 24 August 2017- 14 January  2018.

Literature: F. Fantozzi, Nuova guida, ovvero descrizione storico-artistico-critica della città e contorni di Firenze, Florence 1842, p. 398;
F. Borroni Salvadori, "Le esposizioni d'arte a Firenze dal 1764 al 1767," Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, vol. XVIII, no. 1, 1974, pp. 80-81;
Advertisement in The Burlington Magazine, vol. CXXXVII, no. 1103, February 1995, p. VIII, reproduced in color;
F. Baldassari, Carlo Dolci, Turin 1995, pp. 128-129, no. 101, reproduced in colour pl. XXVIII and fig. 101;
M. Gregori, M. Voena (eds.), Pittura Fiorentina Secolo XVII, (Koelliker collection catalogue), 2003, pp. 128-129, reproduced fig. 101;
S. Bellesi, Catologo dei Dittori Fiorentini del '600 e '700: Biografie e Opere, Florence 2009, vol. 1, p. 135;
F. Baldassari, Carlo Dolci: Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, Florence, 2015, p. 222, no. 118;
W. Franits, “A Very Famous Dutch Painter: Schalcken in England, 1692-1696,” Schalcken. Gemalte Verführung, exhibition catalogue, Cologne 2015, p. 43, reproduced fig. 21;
W. Franits, "Schalcken in London: Self-Portraiture as Self-Promotion," Sonderdruck aus dem Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, Band LXXVII, 2016, p. 22-23, reproduced fig. 2;
F. Baldassari and E. Straussman-Pflanzer, The Medici's Painter: Carlo Dolci and 17th century Florence, New Haven 2017, p. 60, reproduced fig. 6.

Note: Isolated in the wilderness, half naked and in silent prayer, Saint Jerome is depicted here with his usual attributes of the open book, the minutely observed skull, and the lion, here included in the shape of a dark stone ornament or paperweight. Dated 1655, it is a painting entirely consistent with Dolci's output in the 1650s, notably in the highly polished surfaces of the fleshtones and still life elements. Baldassari cites two other depictions of St. Jerome by Dolci, both of them earlier in date.  One of these, in a private collection, New York, she dates to circa 1635, and the other, in a different New York collection, she dates to circa 1647-48.2

A note on the Provenance:
In his Notizie... Filippo Baldinucci, a contemporary biographer of Dolci, mentions four paintings of St. Jerome by Dolci. Of these Francesca Baldassari has identified two, one painted for Agnolo Teri and another for Antonio Lorenzi.3  From further archival research she has identified several other references to paintings of St. Jerome, including one for the Abbot Eschini, one for the Bartolomei family and another for the Marchese Capponi.  Baldassari identifies the present work with the Capponi picture, described by Fantozzi in 1842 as "san Girolamo in orazione, opera insigne e del più finito stile, di C. Dolci,"4it being apparently the only treatment of the subject 'insigne' ('distinguished').5  The painting is first recorded in the Capponi collection in 1767, when it was exhibited in the Accademia di San Luca, and is last documented there by Fantozzi in 1842, where it is cited as hanging in the 'quadreria'.

1. While in this collection the painting suffered several intentional scratch marks, joining in the saint’s shoulder, but harming little of the important parts of the composition.  See condition report, available upon request.
2.  Baldassari, under Literature, p. 52, no. 21, reproduced and pp. 101, 103, no. 72, reproduced p. 103.
3.  F. Baldinucci, Notizie de' professori del disegno da Cimabue in qua, vol. V, Florence 1846 edition, p. 351.
4.  "St. Jerome in Prayer, an outstanding work and in the highly finished style of Carlo Dolci."
5.  See under Literature.

Lot 19. Charlotte Vignon (Paris, before 1639 - ? after 1685), Peaches and grapes on a table draped with a red velvet cloth, oil on panel, 10 3/4  by 14 in.; 27 by 35.5 cm. Estimate 150,000 — 200,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Provenance: Private collection, Paris;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby’s, 11 December 1985, lot 116 (as Circle of Paul Liégeois); 
Private Collection, Europe; 
By whom sold anonymously, London, Christie’s, 5 July 2007, lot 71 (as attributed to Paul Liégois); 
Private collection, London;
From whom acquired by the present collector in 2011. 

Literature: M. Faré, Le Grand Siècle de la Nature Morte en France, Fribourg 1974, p. 78, reproduced (as Ecole Française and as oil on canvas);
E. Coatalem, La nature morte française au XVIIe siècle, Dijon 2014, p. 351, reproduced. 

Note: This enchanting, delicately-rendered still life is a rare work by the female artist Charlotte Vignon.  In it she deftly captures a range of textures; the contrast between the crispness of the leaves, the soft fuzz of the peach skin, and the luminescent red cloth are exceptionally realized. While the composition may appear simple at first, it is remarkably complex: the five peaches are placed in a precarious balancing act, while her use of shadows and the subtle shifting of the cloth underneath provide a convincing sense of depth and tension between the objects.

Along with Louise Moillon (1610-1696), Vignon was one of the very few female painters in 17th century France whose work and name have been preserved over the centuries.  The handful of known works by Vignon are all still lifes, and none are signed.  Her paintings are indebted to one of the pioneers of still life painting and fellow female artist Fede Galizia (c. 1574-1630), whose signed and dated still life of 1607 is one of the earliest Italian paintings in the genre that can be securely dated.1  Vignon's works also betray the influence of Willem van Aelst, who spent about five years in Paris as a young artist and left his mark on the French still life genre.  

Very little is known of Vignon's life.  Born in Paris, she was the tenth child of the artist Claude Vignon, who spent much of his career in Rome.  While she likely trained with her father, his oeuvre consists mostly of large-scale religious and figurative works.  Baptized in 1639, she was briefly married in 1655 to Joseph Régnault, an instrumentalist and dancer, and lived in Paris.   

The present painting relates closely to a work in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes, which also depicts peaches and grapes on a red velvet covered table, though it is larger and on canvas (fig. 1).  In the 2007 sale (see Provenance), a pendant to the present painting, featuring bunches of grapes on the same red velvet cloth, was also offered, though its current location is unknown.  Both paintings were then attributed to Paul Liégeois (active in Paris, 1650-70), though both Eric Coatalem (see Literature) and Fabrice Faré have since confirmed the attribution of the present painting to Vignon.2 

fig. 1. Charlotte Vignon, Peaches and grapes. Oil on canvas, 18,3 x 29,1 cm, INV794.1.116 © MBA, Rennes Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Jean-Manuel Salingue.

1. A Crystal fruit stand with peaches, quinces and jasmine flowers, signed with monogram lower left: · FG · and dated lower right: 1607, oil on poplar panel, 31.2 by 42.5 cm. Sold London, Sotheby's, 8 July 2015, lot 29.
2. Private correspondence, 7 July 2011.

Lot 219. A rare carved ‘Cizhou’ ‘peony’ jar and cover, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 12.5cm., 4 7/8 in. Estimate 25,000 — 35,000. Lot sold 290,500 GBP. Photo: Sothebys.

the ovoid body rising from a recessed base to a short neck, deeply carved through the creamy-white slip into the straw-coloured ware with a wide band of peony blooms borne on undulating leafy stems, all below overlapping pendent lappets around the shoulder, applied overall with a thin ivory glaze, the interior glazed dark brown, the domed cover similarly decorated with a stylised floral medallion, Japanese wood box. Quantity: 3.

Provenance: A Japanese Private Collection, acquired in the 1970s.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, London, 06 Nov 2013