Lot 166. An Art Deco jade, ruby, emerald and diamond brooch, mounted by Cartier. Estimate USD 200,000 - USD 300,000. Price realised USD 225,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Lot 214. An antique diamond, emerald, ruby and enamel collar necklace, 19th century. Estimate USD 100,000 - USD 150,000. Price realised USD 225,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Lot 279. An antique diamond and multi-gem jigha.  Estimate USD 200,000 - USD 300,000. Price realised USD 225,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Metoko Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Male and Female Figures”, 19th century. Wood, 16.25 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 2002.308.1-2, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta

In Metoko societies, paired male and female figures representing husband and wife were used in initiation rites to confer the status of kasimbi, one of the highest ranks within the association called Bukota, whose membership included both men and women. 

The paired figures provided behavioral models, encouraged healing, and promoted peace. The Richmans have made couples—an important subject in African art—a special theme in their collecting. These sculptures represent idealized images of men and women who bear the potential to give birth to future generations. Without children, one does not become an ancestor.

Luba Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Adze”, Late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, copper, and iron, 14 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 2002.311, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

In Luba culture, to make or hold an adze signifies royalty and power. This symbolism is derived from oral histories that describe how a mythological hero established kingship by introducing advanced metal-working, forever connecting the two.

As a result, Luba blacksmiths are highly regarded, as in many African cultures. They are respected for their secret knowledge and expert metal-working skills, derived from the founding hero himself. 

The tools and products of blacksmiths play significant roles in investiture rituals for Luba kings as well as in many other ceremonies and events.

Bembe Artist, Democratic, Republic of the Congo, “Helmet Mask”, Late 19th–early 20th century. Wood and pigments, 16 x 11 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Richman to mark the retirement of Gudmund Vigtel, 1991.297, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta

Masks like this performed during initiation rituals of the alunga association, a powerful men’s organization charged with educating teenage boys and maintaining law and order. As the young men learned the mysteries of the mask through songs, the mask instructed them, “alunga is not a man, but a thing, something from the bush, something from very remote times, something very awe-inspiring. Never profane its mysteries.” This mask has two pairs of eyes, each painted white to indicate spiritual insight. Alunga associations were banned by the Belgian government in 1947 because their authority represented a challenge to colonial rule. 

Lwalwa Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Mask”, Late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, 11 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 2004.150, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta

Among the Lwalwa people of the southern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Angola, initiation masks like this one are carved by politically powerful men who are also in charge of staging masquerade performances. Lwalwa masks present an ingenious distillation of forms.

They typically have concave faces bisected by long vertical noses, narrow slits for eyes, round ears, and rectangular mouths. White clay highlights fill the eyes, mouth, and ears. 

Kongo Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Cross”, Mid 17th–mid 18th century. Bronze, 7 3/4 × 4 3/4 × 5/8 inches. Gift in memory of Lew C. Deadmore, 2005.319, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta

At the end of the fifteenth century, Christianity was introduced to the Kingdom of the Kongo, along the coast of central Africa. 
This influenced religious and artistic practices. Kongo artists created crosses and other objects of worship, combining their Kongolese and Christian iconography.

Here, Christ’s face is given African features. Crosses were not only used in Christian liturgy but also served additional diverse functions, in healing, in divination, as symbols of social status and political authority, and as hunting charms.

Kongo Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Royal Hat” (Mpu), Late 19th–early 20th century. Woven fiber  3 7/8 inches, Gift of Mrs. Pauline Lathrop Shomler, 1982.277, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta

Made of knotted raffia or pineapple-leaf fiber, hats such as this one were worn by political leaders throughout the region of the former Kingdom of the Kongo (founded ca. 1400), which flourished along the coastal region of central Africa. The finely detailed geometric patterns of this hat resemble those woven into the beautiful velvet-like raffia textiles worn by Kongo royalty and formerly used as currency throughout the kingdom. The geometric patterns of Kongo hats, textiles, and mats were associated with the maze-like layout of the royal palace and streets of the capital. 

Kongo Artist, Vili Region, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Republic of the Congo, “Fly Whisk”, 19th century or earlier. Wood, hair, and raffia, 13¾ x 2 x 2 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 1984.308, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta

This fly whisk was used as an emblem of political office. Its smooth, worn surfaces show signs of extensive use.

Delicate metalwork ornaments the figure’s face, repeating the same sign at the center of her forehead and at both temples. These four points mark the Dikenga, the Kongo cosmogram that charts the never-ending cycle of life.

Moving counterclockwise, the point at three o’clock indicates birth, twelve o’clock indicates prime of life, nine o’clock indicates the role of the elders, and six o’clock refers to the realm of the ancestors.

Pende Artist,  Democratic Republic of the Congo,  “Cup”, Late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, 8 1/8 x 5 inches, Gift of Bernard and Patricia Wagner,  2004.230, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

A heart-shaped face animates this cup. The face tilts slightly to one side, giving the sculpture a subtly asymmetrical expression. Its central support balances on one foot.

Pende sculptors carved such ceremonial cups to hold palm wine, a mildly intoxicating beverage made from the fermented sap of certain palm trees. Drinking palm wine was reserved primarily for initiated men

Nsapo-Beneki, Songye Region, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Neck Rest”, 19th century. Wood, 7 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 2002.309, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

This neck rest, once used to support the head while resting or sleeping, was carved by an artist known to African art collectors as the Master of Beneki.

Much of his work shares signature stylistic features, especially extravagantly large feet. In Songye art as well as in the art of the neighboring Luba, Kuba, and Shilele, prominent feet symbolize power. The motif refers to the confiscation of territory in warfare. This neck rest is supported by two back-to-back figures, both with huge feet.

Luba Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Divination Object” (Kashekesheke), Early–mid 20th century. Wood, 5 1/4 x 2 1/4 x 2 7/8 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 72.40.79, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

During divination sessions, a diviner and client held this sculpture and inserted their fingers into its opening. As the sculpture was moved across the diviner’s woven mat, it produced the sound “shekesheke,” giving this divination tool its name, kashekesheke.

Through this process problems were solved, memories reconstructed, and reasons for histories of misfortune revealed. Kashekesheke is one of the oldest of all Luba divination techniques.

Mangbetu Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Vessel”, ca. 1910. Terracotta, 12 1/2 × 6 × 6 inches. Purchase in honor of Debbie Wagner, President of the Members Guild, 2002–2003, 2003.36, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

This intricately detailed anthropomorphic vessel was made as a prestigious gift. Its elegant form depicts the aristocratic hairstyle worn by royal men and women of the Mangbetu kingdom in central Africa at the turn of the century. By the early 1920s the Belgian Queen Elizabeth visited central Africa and photographed a woman of the Mangbetu court; her portrait was then circulated on the Belgian stamp and images of royal Mangbetu women proliferated throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The image became an important icon for Harlem Renaissance artists, inspiring Aaron Douglas’s cover image for Opportunity magazine and many other works.

Kwese Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo, “Helmet Mask”, 20th century. Wood and pigment, 12 1/4 x 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 72.40.85, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

The white paint on the face of this mask identifies it as a representative of ancestral and spiritual realms. In Kwese society, sacred masks kept in small communal shrines perform at initiation ceremonies and on other occasions to promote social well-being, health, and abundance. 
This mask’s costume would have included a large, full collar of raffia fiber. Kwese masks are so similar to those of their neighbors the Yaka, the Suku, and the Pende that they are often misattributed. 
This mask’s red, blue, and white polychrome and its vertical crest distinguish it as Kwese.

Kongo Artist, Yombe Region, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, or Angola,  “Scepter”,  19th century.  Wood, feathers, cloth, paint, and metal,  17 3/4 × 9 1/2 × 5 inches.  Purchase with funds from the Fred and Rita Richman Special Initiatives Endowment Fund for African Art,  2005.291, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

The figure seated at the center of this royal scepter is painted white to show that its authority derives from ancestral and spiritual realms. The stroke of earth-red paint on its torso symbolizes life’s vital force. 

The feathers that surround the figure at the center of this scepter indicate that it is an nkisi, a medicine of God, concerned with “things of the above.” With a hand raised to its mouth, the figure bites munkwisa, a tenacious plant used in the investiture of Kongo political leaders.
Munkwisa leaves are associated with an ability to endure.

Kongo Artist, Yombe Region, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, or Angola, “Mother and Child Figure”, Late 19th–early 20th century. Wood, brass tacks, and glass, 12 3/4 × 4 1/4 × 4 inches, Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 2002.293, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

This sculpture was made to be used within the context of Mpemba, an organization concerned with fertility and the treatment of infertility, founded by a famous Kongo midwife.

The female figure’s studded cap, chiseled teeth, and scarification indicate her aristocratic status. Both the brass tacks and the glass eyes were imported. The light-reflecting glass was associated with an ability to see into invisible spiritual and ancestral realms.

Lot 49. A Louis XV ormolu-mounted chinese celadon porcelain vase, the porcelain Kangxi period (1662-1722), the mounts mid-18th century; 23 ¼ in. (59 cm.) high; 16 ½ in. (42 cm.) wide. Estimate GBP 40,000 - GBP 60,000 (USD 50,640 - USD 75,960). © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

The baluster body incised with peonies on an overall of stylised foliage, the cover with berried finial on pierced frieze, flanked by scrolled foliate handles headed by double shells, on a broad base edged with shells; the underside of the vase inscribed in red 3214R; the pierced frieze replaced at the end of the 18th century.

Lot 51. A pair of Chinese verte-imari armorial wine coolers for the Portuguese market, Kangxi period, circa 1720; 22 in. (56 cm.) wide. Estimate GBP 60,000 - GBP 80,000 (USD 75,960 - USD 101,280). © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Each colourfully decorated and highlighted in gilt with the coat-of-arms for the Sampaio e Melo family, surrounded by floral sprays and separated by a pair of gilt-bronze lion-mask and loose ring handles.

Provenance: Probably commissioned for Francisco José de Sampaio Melo e Castro (1675-1723).
Baron Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911), and by descent.

Literature: D. Cooper, Les grandes collections privées, ed. Du Pont Royal, Paris, 1963, p. 179 (illustrated)
Connaissance des Arts, June 1958, p. 109 (illustrated)
The Rothschild Archive, London - Inventaire après le Décès de Monsieur le Baron Gustave de Rothschild, A. Cottin Notaire, 26 April - 10 June 1912, no. 670, 1500 francs (Hôtel de Marigny, 'Petit Salon, près du grand vestibule')

Note: These magnificent wine coolers, sometimes referred to as 'monteiths’, are from one of several armorial services made during the first quarter of the 18th century for the Sampaio e Melo family. However, the person or even branch of the family for whom they were made, has been a matter of much speculation and contrasting views. This is discussed at length by A. Varela Santos, Portugal in Porcelain from China: 500 years of Trade, vol. III, London, 2009, pp. 822-831. It is most likely that this service was ordered for Francisco José de Sampaio Melo e Castro (1675-1723), 11th Lord of Vila Flor, Viceroy and Governor of India from 1720 until 1723.

What is undisputed is the importance and magnificence of the pieces in each service. From the known examples, the services comprised, as mentioned by Maria Antónia Pinto de Matos, The RA Collection of Chinese Ceramics: A Collector's Vision, London and Lisbon, 2011, p. 31, "the rarest and most sophisticated examples of porcelain ever made in China for the Western market". 

A slightly smaller pair of wine coolers of identical shape is in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, together with a rectangular tea-caddy. Other rare forms include a rectangular knife or cutlery box with sloping cover (now in the Fundação Ricardo do Espirito Santo Silva, Lisbon), a pair of tripod sugar castors in the same museum, a very unusual globular flask and cover (in the Fundação Oriente, Lisbon), as well as chapel candlesticks, barbers’ bowls, trays, tea-caddies. These examples, together with plates, dishes etc., are illustrated by Santos, ibid. pp.822-831 ; by de Matos, ibid. pp. 31-51; by N. de Castro, Chinese Porcelain and the Heraldry of the Empire, Oporto, 1988, pp. 62-69 ; by Conde de Castro e Solla, Ceramica Brazonada, vol.II, Lisbon, 1930, p. 117 and pls. CLXXXVI and CLXXXVII, amongst many other publications. 

Christie's. Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection, London, 4 July 2019

Lot 21. Lucio Fontana (1899 - 1968), Concetto Spaziale, Attese, signed, titled and inscribed 1+1 – 887Z on the reverse, waterpaint on canvas, 65 by 54 cm. 25 5/8 by 21 1/4 in. Executed in 1963. Estimate 1,800,000 — 2,500,000 GBP. Lot sold 2,415,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Provenance: Galleria Rotta, Genoa
Galleria Seno, Milan
Private Collection, Milan (acquired from the above in the early 1970s)
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Exhibited: Milan, Galleria Seno, Lucio Fontana, 1970, p. 30, no. 15, illustrated in colour (incorrectly titled and dated).

Literature: Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogue Raisonné des Peintures, Sculptures et Environnements Spatiaux, Vol. II, Brussels 1974, p. 135, no. 63 T 13, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, Fontana: Catalogo Generale, Vol. II, Milan 1986, p. 454, no. 63 T 13, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Vol. II, Milan 2006, p. 641, no. 63 T 13, illustrated.

Lot 40. Lucio Fontana (1899 - 1968), Concetto Spaziale, Attese, signed, titled and inscribed oggi è Giovedì domani è Venerdì on the reverse, waterpaint on canvas, 55.3 by 46.2 cm. 21 3/4 by 18 1/4 in. Executed in 1966. Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 GBP. Lot sold 795,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Provenance: Stampatore Sergio Tosi, Milan
Thomas Newman, Opio
Sotheby’s, New York, 21 May 1983, Lot 522A (consigned by the above)
Fujii Gallery, Tokyo (acquired from the above sale)
Private Collection, Japan (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Exhibited: Milan, Galleria Seno, Lucio Fontana, 1970, p. 30, no. 15, illustrated in colour (incorrectly titled and dated).

Literature: Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogue Raisonné des Peintures, Sculptures et Environnements Spatiaux, Vol. II, Brussels 1974, p. 187, no. 66 T 94, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, Fontana: Catalogo Generale, Vol. II, Milan 1986, p. 647, no. 66 T 94, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Vol. II, Milan 2006, p. 842, no. 66 T 94, illustrated.

Lucio Fontana photographed by Ugo Mulas in Milan, 1966. Image: © Ugo Mulas Heirs. All rights reserved. Artwork: © Lucio Fontana/ SIAE/ DACS, London 2019

Lot 33. A Mesopotamian inlaid limestone leopard, Late Uruk - Jemdet Nasr period, circa 3300-2900 B.C.; 2 ¼ in. (5.8 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 150,000 - GBP 250,000. Price realised GBP 212,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Lot 99. A Roman marble portrait head of the Empress Faustina Minor, circa 161-176 A.D.; 14 1/8 in. (35.9 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 120,000 - GBP 180,000. Price realised GBP 193,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Provenance: with Chaucer Fine Arts Inc., London, Autumn 1981 (Collecting in the 18th Century, Paintings and Drawings of Art, exhibition cat., no. 66).
Spanish private collection, acquired from the above.

Note: Faustina Minor (the Younger), Annia Galeria Faustina, born circa 125-130 A.D., was the daughter of the Emperor Antoninus Pius and Faustina Major (the Elder). Her great uncle, the Emperor Hadrian, betrothed her to Lucius Verus. However, her father Antoninus favored his wife's nephew, Marcus Aurelius, to whom she was eventually married. Antoninus succeeded Hadrian as Emperor, and eventually Marcus Aurelius inherited the Antonine throne as co-Emperor with Lucius Verus, thereupon Faustina became Augusta or Empress. 
Faustina bore at least twelve children for the Emperor, only six of whom survived past youth. Five were girls, with the future Emperor Commodus the only male heir. Their daughter Lucilla was later betrothed to Lucius Verus. 

Faustina was beloved by the Roman soldiers, as she accompanied her husband on several military campaigns, and they bestowed her with the title Mater Castrorum or Mother of the Camp. She died in 175 A.D. while abroad at a military camp in Halala in Cappadocia, which was renamed Faustinopolis in her honor. Faustina was buried in the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome and was deified by her devoted husband. Contemporary literature was less kind to Faustina. She was recorded as a murderer, schemer and adulterer. However, Marcus Aurelius defended her vigorously against these claims.
Faustina Minor boasts an extraordinarily high number of known portrait types– as many as nine distinct versions. The concept of multiple portrait types for members of the Imperial household is a familiar one, yet Faustina Minor is an exceptionally well represented member of the Antonine Imperial household. Only Septimius Severus has more than Faustina Minor, with ten recognized types. As mirrored in contemporary numismatic evidence, a change in her official portrait corresponded with one of her many births, or another major life event, cf. B.M. Levick, Faustina I and IIImperial Women of the Golden Age, Oxford, 2014, p. 277.
The present example depicts Faustina Minor in her eighth and penultimateportrait type. This type was commissioned to commemorate the accession of Marcus Aurelius in 161 A.D., and the birth of Marcus Annius Verus in 162 A.D (cf. W. Ameling, ‘Die Kinder des Marc Aurel und die Bildnistypen der Faustina Minor’, in Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik 90, 1992, p. 161). Portraits of this type share an undulating centre parting, coiled into an elaborate braided bun. The hairstyle covers the top of each ear, and a coil of hair rests on either side of the otherwise bare neck. Although later Faustina Minor portraits are stylistically frozen at around thirty years old, Kleiner notes that later portraits are noticeably “imbued with an air of maturity,” cf. D. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, Yale, 1992, p. 280.
Close surviving examples of this portrait type can be found at the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul (Inv. no. 5130; cf. K. Fittschen, Die Bildnistypen der Faustina Minor und die Fecunditas Augustae, Gottingen, 1982, pl. 41); and Rome’s Capitoline Museum (Inv. no. 632; op cit. pl. 43). 

Lot 97. A Roman marble head of a ram, circa 1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.; 10 in. (25.4 cm.) long. Estimate GBP 100,000 - GBP 150,000. Price realised GBP 275,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Provenance: Norbert Schimmel (1905-1990) collection, New York, acquired prior to 1964.
Norbert Schimmel Collection, Sotheby's, New York, 16 December 1992, lot 62. 
Antiquities, Sotheby's, New York, 31 May 1997, lot 108.
Antiquities, Christie's, New York, 8 June 2005, lot 74.
with Safani Gallery, New York, 2010.

Exhibited: The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ancient Art, The Norbert Schimmel Collection, 1974-1976. 
Ägyptisches Museum Berlin, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Prähistorischen Staatsammlung Munich, Von Troja bis Amarna, The Norbert Schimmel Collection, New York, 1978.

Published: O.W. Muscarella, ed., Ancient Art: The Norbert Schimmel Collection, Mainz, 1974, no. 43 (exhibition catalogue).
J. Settgast, et al., Von Troja bis Amarna: The Norbert Schimmel Collection, New York, Mainz, 1978, no. 108 (exhibition catalogue). 

Note: The original function of this ram head is difficult to ascertain. As Hoffman informs (Muscarella, op. cit., no. 43) there are traces of projections preserved along the edge of the surviving horn. This suggests that the piece was either architectural, or, if from a free-standing sculpture, that the head was turned sharply to its left. Ram heads and other animals are commonly employed as architectural embellishments. They are particularly common on the upper corners of Roman funerary altars, but the absence of the ties from a hanging garland, in combination with the degree of completeness of the underside of the head, argue against such an attribution. For a related ram head in Boston, thought to be Greek, circa 4th century B.C., see no. 39 in Comstock and Vermeule, Sculpture in Stone, which "must have been a dedication in a temple-precinct, a work of art akin to Myron's famous cow." The Schimmel ram may also have been part of a larger mythological group, perhaps depicting the escape of Odysseus' men from the cave of Polyphemos. See for example the figure of a ram carrying Odysseus in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Rome, fig. 402 in Bieber, The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age. The Schimmel ram has traditionally been attributed to the Roman Period, and has been catalogued as such here. However, we acknowledge the strong possibility that this is, like the Boston ram, a Greek original of the 4th century B.C.

Lot 338. Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto (Venice, 1697-1768), The Presentation of the Doge in S. Marco. Pen and brown ink and three shades of grey wash, heightened with touches of white over black chalk within original brown ink framing lines, 381 by 550 mm. Estimate 2,500,000 — 3,000,000 GBP. Lot sold 3,135,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

LONDON.- Today, in Sotheby’s Old Master & British Works on Paper Sale, a rare drawing by Canaletto realised £3.1m/ $3.9m, setting a new auction record for a drawing by the artist. A superbly preserved pen and brown ink drawing which ranks among the greatest that the artist ever made, The Presentation of the Doge in S. Marco belongs to a highly original series of twelve depictions of the ceremonies and festival of Doges, the Feste Ducali, the majority of which now reside in museums around the world. Imposing in scale and composition and brilliantly accomplished in its virtuosic lighting and handling of the media, the drawing is a masterpiece in the art of perspective and though unusual in the artist’s canon of work, is very definitive of his genius.  

Earlier in the sale, a newly-discovered 16th century work by Rosso Fiorentino sold for £471,000 / $592,047, also setting a new record for a work on paper by the Italian Mannerist. Long thought lost, The Visitation is an extremely rare example of a chalk drawing by Rosso and the first compositional study by the artist to appear on the market for half a century. Although Rosso must have executed many drawings in his lifetime, almost all of his graphic works have been lost over the centuries and this work adds significantly to the understanding of the working method of an artist known for his eccentricity, and expressive, unconventional pictorial style. 

Imposing in scale and composition, totally engaging in terms of narrative, and brilliantly accomplished in its virtuosic lighting and handling of the media, this superbly preserved drawing ranks among the greatest that Canaletto ever made. It belongs to a highly original series of twelve depictions of the ceremonies and festivals of the Doges, the Feste Ducali, conceived in the first instance as drawings, but made specifically to be engraved. Ten of the drawings are known today, four of them in the British Museum, two in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the remainder elsewhere1; this is only the second drawing from this extraordinary series, so unusual within Canaletto’s work, yet so definitive of his genius, to appear at auction since 1974, when two were offered for sale in these Rooms, from the collection of Eva, Countess of Rosebery.2 

Though Canaletto’s drawings and paintings are often very accurate renderings of specific locations – frequently, one would assume, at the request of one of the artist’s illustrious noble patrons – images like these of actual historical events are relatively rare in his work. Yet he clearly relished the opportunities offered by the subjects of this series of depictions of ceremonies and pageants, such a fundamental element in the Venetian spirit, and the compositions that he produced for this series are among his most original and inventive. In this work, the first in the series, we see the newly elected Doge being presented to the crowds for the first time in the grandiose interior of Saint Mark’s. Or rather, we see what is clearly a hugely important ceremony going on, and somewhere in the middle of it we know the Doge, and this important moment, is to be found. Yet in fact, it is not the Doge himself and his presentation that is the subject here, it is the famous and elaborate interior of St. Mark’s, and it is Venice, her life and her people. As Peter Kerber so aptly wrote in the catalogue of the recent Getty Museum exhibition on depictions of historical moments in the 18thcentury, ‘The Doge is but a tiny figure…: the true protagonist of this and the other depictions in the series is the Serene Republic, embodied by its rituals and traditions.’3  

Though Canaletto’s drawings and paintings are often very accurate renderings of specific locations – frequently, one would assume, at the request of one of the artist’s illustrious noble patrons – images like these of actual historical events are relatively rare in his work. Yet he clearly relished the opportunities offered by the subjects of this series of depictions of ceremonies and pageants, such a fundamental element in the Venetian spirit, and the compositions that he produced for this series are among his most original and inventive. In this work, the first in the series, we see the newly elected Doge being presented to the crowds for the first time in the grandiose interior of Saint Mark’s. Or rather, we see what is clearly a hugely important ceremony going on, and somewhere in the middle of it we know the Doge, and this important moment, is to be found. Yet in fact, it is not the Doge himself and his presentation that is the subject here, it is the famous and elaborate interior of St. Mark’s, and it is Venice, her life and her people. As Peter Kerber so aptly wrote in the catalogue of the recent Getty Museum exhibition on depictions of historical moments in the 18thcentury, ‘The Doge is but a tiny figure…: the true protagonist of this and the other depictions in the series is the Serene Republic, embodied by its rituals and traditions.’3 

Drawing, perhaps, on what he had learned early in life from his theatrical scene-designer father, Canaletto has here conceived and constructed his composition so as to maximise in every possible way the impact and drama of his scene. Both in scale and in compositional complexity, this is one of the most ambitious of all the artist’s drawings, and it is highly unusual in being an interior scene. Perhaps understandably, given how central light and water clearly were to Canaletto’s art, he painted only a tiny handful of interior scenes, and almost all of those depict the rich and mysterious interior of St. Mark’s, with its abundant gilded mosaics and flickering light effects (the other interior that Canaletto painted, twice, was that of the Ranaleagh rotunda, in London4). Two paintings, one of them part of the unrivalled collection of Canaletto’s works amassed by Consul Joseph Smith, and subsequently sold to King George III, the other in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, are views taken from much the same location as the present drawing, though slightly further to the right.5 A third painting, also in the Royal Collection, is a view from the south transept towards the north, across the pulpit.6 Canaletto used the latter viewpoint in making at least three drawings, one of them the very moving, highly finished drawing in Hamburg, on which the artist wrote, with feeling, that he had made it at the age of 68, without using his glasses, in the year 17667 – the same moment, late in his career, when he executed the present work. A much sketchier drawing in the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, shows a small detail of the view seen here.8 Otherwise, his only significant drawings of interiors seem to be the scene depicting The Doge giving thanks to the Maggior Consiglio in the same series as the present work (London, British Museum9), and the Interior of a Circular building, in a private collection.10 

Clearly, and understandably, Canaletto was fascinated by the captivating atmosphere and light effects to be found in the interior of St. Mark’s, and the artist has here maximised the theatrical potential of his subject, using the deep recession and dramatic contrasts of light and shade within the famous church’s elaborate nave to the greatest possible effect, and filling it with an infinite variety of animated figures, so eager to see the proceedings that they have to be held back by ushers with sticks. More figures fill the galleries above the aisle arcades, teetering perilously over the long drop down to the floor below. All these figures are brilliantly rendered with minimalist penstrokes and vibrant highlights, whose motion the artist has hardly managed to arrest. You can almost hear the hubbub of excited conversation. Everything in this wonderfully rich image speaks of an essentially Venetian wit and lightness of being, from the brilliance of the architecture and the lighting to the animation of the endlessly varied figures, who seem about to step onto the stage for a popular theatre production. 

The exact origin and chronology of this joy-filled series of drawings is unclear, but they surely originate from a major commission, seemingly the last such instruction that Canaletto received. The compositions exist in the form of drawings by Canaletto, prints by Giovanni Battista Brustolon which credit the designs to Canaletto (fig. 1), and paintings by Guardi, as well as through various other painted and drawn copies. This has given rise, over the years, to much discussion of which set of images came first, and whether there were originally also paintings of these subjects by Canaletto, but the consensus is now that the initial commission was for Canaletto to produce drawings that would then be engraved by Brustolon, and that subsequently, probably around 1775, Guardi was asked to make a series of paintings, now in the collections of the Louvre, based on these prints.11 Eight of the prints were announced for sale (though not yet actually printed) by the publisher, Lodovico Furlanetto, in March 1766, and four months later, in July, he obtained permission to extend the series to twelve plates.12 There is no way of knowing exactly how much earlier than this the drawings were made, but one of them, The Doge attends the Giovedi Grasso Festival in the Piazzetta, now in Washington13, includes the arms of the Doge Alvise Mocenigo IV, who was elected in 1763, so it seems reasonable to assume that the drawings were all made some time between then and 1766, and in the case of those compositions that show events specific to the election of the Doge, rather than annual festivities, that they were based on Canaletto’s first hand observation of the festivities following the election of 1763. 

Though the full series of the Feste Ducali prints consists of twelve compositions, drawings by Canaletto are only known for ten of them. These ten sheets were discovered in a bookseller’s in Venice (very probably the premises of the publisher Furlanetto himself), by Sir Richard Colt Hoare sometime between 1787 and 1789, when the dealer Giovanni Maria Sasso described them to Sir Abraham Hume, noting that they were as fine as any paintings.14 Hoare proudly took the ten drawings back to Stourhead, in Wiltshire, where for the next century or so they were hung, as a set, over a fireplace in the library; a delightful watercolour, executed around 1808-1813 by Francis Nicholson (1753-1844), shows the interior of the library, with Richard Colt Hoare seated at a table (fig.2).15 (The library must, though, have been kept very dark, as the drawings remain even today in outstandingly good, fresh condition.) In 1883, much of the contents of Stourhead were dispersed at auction, and the Canalettos were included in that sale, but this drawing and one other16 were bought back by a family member, thereby remaining in the hands of the Hoare family until sold to the present owner a few years ago. The drawing has therefore only changed hands three times since its creation and has not been seen on the auction market since 1883. 

Although the series of drawings to which this work belongs was executed very late in Canaletto’s career (no dated work is known from after 176617, and he died only two years later), they are none the less all full of the vibrant, optimistic energy of the artist’s drawings from much earlier periods, yet given an added resonance by the historical subject-matter that ostensibly provides the focus for each scene. As already mentioned, although Canaletto did occasionally depict real historical events, as in the splendid painting of around 1735, The Doge Visiting the Church and Scuola di San Rocco, in the National Gallery, London18, the vast majority of his paintings and drawings, even the most specifically topographical, are not linked to any particular moment. Indeed, the narrative content in this series of the festivals of the Doges is unparalleled in any other project undertaken by the artist, but the application of his extraordinary pictorial skills to this somewhat unfamiliar type of composition simply serves to add yet more layers of potential excitement and satisfaction for the viewer. All the visual riches of more typical masterpieces such as the Capriccio: Terrace and Loggia of a Palace on the Lagoon, in the Royal Collection (a star of the recent Canaletto exhibition at the Queen's Gallery, London19) are also abundantly present in the drawing now under discussion, but here they are interacting in a wonderful way with another, entirely different, realm of content and expression. 

It is hard to imagine a more total expression of the essence of Canaletto’s genius as a draughtsman than this extraordinary drawing, which – both literally and figuratively – transports us to the very heart of 18th-century Venice, in all its glory, wit and mystery. That it was loved and cherished for so long by one of the greatest families of English cognoscenti is the final piece in the jigsaw of elements that together make this by one of the two most important drawings by Canaletto to have come to the market in recent decades, and one of the most illuminating and enlightening, as well as one of the most visually exciting and satisfying, that he ever made. 

1. Constable/Links, op. cit., vol. II, pp. 525-32, nos. 630-639 
2. Constable/Links nos. 636 & 637, sold, London, Sotheby's, 11 December 1974, lots 10 & 11, and no. 632, sold, London, Sotheby’s, 5 July 2017, lot 44 
3. Eyewitness Views. Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe, exh. cat., Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum/Minneapolis Institute of Art/Cleveland Museum of Art, 2017-18, p. 15 
4. One of these paintings, dating from 1754, is in the National Gallery, London, the other in a private collection; see Constable/Links, op. cit., nos. 420 and 421 
5. Constable/Links, op. cit., nos. 79 and 78 respectively 
6. Ibid., no. 77 
7. Ibid., no. 558 
8. Ibid., no. 561 
9. London, British Museum, inv. 1910,0212.20, Constable/Links, op. cit., no. 63, 
10. Not in Constable/Links, but included by Alessandro Bettagno, in the 1982 exhibition, Canaletto. Disegni-Dipinti-Incisioni, at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice (no. 73) 
11. The twelve paintings by Guardi are all in the collections of the Louvre, but three of them are on deposit in museums elsewhere (in Brussels, Grenoble and Nantes). 
12. Constable/Links, op. cit., pp. 525-6, citing earlier sources 
13. Ibid, no. 636 
14. Ibid, p. 527 
15. In the collection of the National Trust, inv. 730813 
16. Ibid, no. 632 
17. The latest known dated drawing is the view of the interior of St. Mark's, Venice, now in the Hamburg Kunsthalle; Constable/Links no. 558 
18. Inv. no. NG937 
19. Constable/Links no. 821; Rosie Razzall and Lucy Whitaker, Canaletto & the Art of Venice, exh. cat., London, The Queen's Gallery, 2017, no. 138.

Lot 20. A Chinese ormolu, enamel and paste-set musical automaton clock, Guangzhou Workshops, Qianlong Period, circa 179042¾in. 109cm. high. Estimate 600,000 — 900,000 GBP. Lot sold 1,215,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

 the three-tier case surmounted by an urn with revolving tree above the 3.5-inch enamel clock dial with gilt hands and centre seconds, the paste-set bezel with blue enamel surround decorated with gilt leaves, the rear-wound two-train chain fusee clock movement with verge escapement and rack striking on a bell, the main automaton scene below comprising a central figure holding a double gourd vase that he moves from side to side and from which emerge polished hardstone balls, these alternately roll down the left and right chutes supported by kneeling figures until disappearing into the mouths of Buddhist lions attended by further kneeling figures, the substantial automaton movement with chain fusee and playing a tune on a nest of eight bells, concealed within the base and powering a further automaton of revolving glass rods simulating running water, the ornate case finely cast and chased and set with panels of blue guilloche enamel decorated in gilt with flowers and scrolls.

Note: Opulently decorated clocks with ingenious and entertaining designs were perhaps the most extravagant works of art made during the Qianlong reign (1736-1795). These visually striking objects which combined Western and Chinese decorative elements in a highly innovative manner, were not merely sophisticated timepieces but also markers of the unrivalled wealth, power and influence of the Qing Empire.

The present clock is a sophisticated and rare example of clocks made entirely in China as tribute gifts to the Imperial court in Beijing. When striking on the hour, bells begin to ring, the floral arrangement in the vase above the dial rotates, while small beads representing seeds are released from the bottle gourd held in the hands of the central figure and disappear in the mouth of two recumbent lions. Flowing water is cleverly simulated by revolving crystal rods in the lower section of the clock, a feature that is often found on both clocks made in Guangdong and those made in Europe for export to China.

The fascination with mechanical clocks in China began in the late 16th and early 17th century, when the first clocks from Europe came to China. The arrival of the Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) at the court of the Wanli Emperor (r. 1573-1620) began a long-lasting cooperation between Jesuits, who hoped their scientific knowledge would help to propagate their faith, and Chinese craftsmen. On his arrival in Beijing in 1601, Ricci presented two striking clocks to the Emperor, who later assigned him the task of teaching four eunuchs theory and practice of mechanical clockwork. As the eunuchs were deemed unable to maintain and repair the growing collection of clocks in Beijing, Jesuits were employed instead. The Imperial collection of European and Chinese clocks was vastly expanded under the direction of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722), who created an office of ‘self-ringing bells’ (zimingzhongchu) in the Duanningdian (Hall of Solemnity), which later became the Imperial clock-making workshop, zaozhongchu. The collection was further enriched by the Qianlong Emperor, and it is said that during his reign ‘in every hall, on every wall and on every table there was a clock’ (Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Palace Museum, Beijing, 1987, p. 55).

The Qianlong Emperor’s fondness for sophisticated timepieces encouraged the emergence of regional centres for the manufacture of clocks in the European style, of which Guangzhou was the most important. Cognisant of the Emperor’s passion for these objects, ministers and high officials employed craftsmen from Guangzhou to produce impressive clocks that they could send as tribute gifts to Beijing. Guangzhou was the main point of contact for foreign trade and was also the first landing place for many Jesuit missionaries, thus Guangzhou craftsmen were exposed first-hand to foreign objects and technology. The first clocks produced by Guangzhou craftsmen were directly inspired by European prototypes, and often were fitted with European mechanical movements (Catherine Pagani, “Clockmaking in China under the Kangxi and Qianlong Emperors”, Arts Asiatiques, vol. 50, 1995, p. 80).

This clock epitomises the unique stylistic syncretism that developed in Guangzhou from the mid through the late 18thcentury. Features such as the sumptuous vine swags, luxuriant acanthus leaves, or the urn at the top of this piece were directly inspired by European designs, as were the female head on the back and the leaves ending in cockerel heads at the top. It is interesting to note that while the Imperial court as well as the craftsmen in Guangzhou considered the European clocks in China as representative of Western technology and art, European clockmakers designed these clocks in what they considered as Chinese style. As Ian White noted (English Clocks for the Eastern Markets, Ticehurst, 2012, p. 210), “This mutual ignorance was the source of a great mutual trade”.

While incorporating the sophistication and highly decorative nature of the European prototypes, clocks made in Guangzhou for the court often feature auspicious designs steeped in Chinese symbolism. Indeed, these clocks represented most suitable gifts to the court for special occasions, such as birthdays and weddings. On the present piece, a foreigner is depicted pouring beads, perhaps representing seeds, from a double-gourd vase, which would have evoked the concepts of fertility, male progeny, as well as longevity, while its network of vines and tendrils may represent continuity.

Ian White (ibid., p. 238), notes that clocks made in China share certain characteristics which are displayed on this piece, such as dials set against a finely decorated basse-taille ground – a technique introduced from Europe, but which soon became associated with Guangzhou clocks. Rotating flowers and figures, as well as the tiered structure of many of these clocks, are all features associated with Guangzhou. The latter is likely to have derived from English clocks, such as those made by James Cox for export to China, which were often made of different tiers that could be easily dismantled and replaced if damaged.

Two clocks with foreigners holding bottle gourds and similarly modelled in three tiers, are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Ni yinggai zhidao de 200 jianzhongbiao [200 objects you should know: Timepieces], Beijing, 2007, pls 34 and 35, together with a clock in the form of a neoclassical building with foreigners on its roof, pl. 25. See also a clock with Shoulao, the God of Longevity, and two assistants with bottle gourds, from the Nezu Museum, Tokyo, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th May 2008, lot 1504.

Grand Tours of the 18th and 19th centuries are well documented but it is less well known that they also continued well into the 20th century. For a wealthy young Japanese gentleman, it was fashionable to travel to see the great sights of Europe and America as well as Asia. Spectacular clocks such as this have always been highly prized and, having witnessed other examples during his personal Grand Tour during the 1930s, the grandfather of the current owner was determined to add one to his own collection. It is not known precisely where the clock was acquired but, as can be seen by his scrapbook and the labels on his luggage preserved by his family, figs. 1 & 2, his travel was truly extensive.

From the Vendor’s family archives.

From the Vendor’s family archives.

Sotheby's. Treasures, London, 3 july 2019

Lot 7. A gold, rock crystal, enamel, mother of pearl and black onyx portico timepiece, Vacheron & Constantin and Verger Frères, retailed by Linzeler & Marchak, circa 1926; 19 cm. high. Estimate 280,000 — 400,000 GBP. Lot sold 531,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

in the form of a Chinese temple portico, the octagonal mother of pearl dial inlaid in hardstones with dragons and flaming pearls amidst billowing clouds, the bezel with diamond-set numerals, the Vacheron & Constantin 8-day movement with 17 jewels and lever escapement with cut bi-metallic balance, the portico case with hardstone and enamel cresting inlaid with flowers and supported on rock crystal pillars, the stepped plinth similarly inlaid and decorated, the movement signed Vacheron & Constantin, the case with Verger Freres lozenge and French assay stamps, signed Linzeler & Marchak and numbered 9399.

Provenance: Antiquorum, Geneva, 12th April 1987, Lot 160.

Note: The watchmaking firm of Vacheron & Constantin was established in 1819 by a partnership between the firm of Vacheron, founded in Geneva in 1755 by Jean-Marc Vacheron, and Francois Constantin. Renowned for the high quality of its watches and their movements, Vacheron & Constantin marketed their products throughout the world with the motto 'Do better if possible and that is always possible' and have an unbroken line of manufacture from 1755 to the present day.

Ferdinand Verger (1851-1928), was apprenticed at the age of eleven at the Parisian watchmaking firm of Lépine and just ten years later he established himself as a jeweller and watchmaker. He must have made quite an impression because in 1875 he became the Paris agent for Vacheron & Constantin, an association that was to last for sixty years. Verger assembled a group of exceptional in-house craftsmen who created cases and dials for Vacheron & Constantin movements using the finest hardstones, gemstones and precious metals. In 1911 he took into partnership his two sons and the firm became Verger Freres, their maker's mark changing from F.V. to V.F. at the same time. Their business went from strength to strength and, embracing the age of Art Deco, by the 1920s they were supplying major jewellery houses and retailers worldwide with their own designs.

Linzeler & Marchak was formed in 1922 as a short-lived partnership between Parisian jeweller Robert Linzeler and Russian jeweller Joseph Marchak. Working from their gallery at 4 rue de la Paix in Paris, they became famous for their fine Art Deco jewellery and desk clocks. In just three years they produced and sold some of the most outstanding pieces of the Art Deco age. Following the Paris Exhibition of 1925 the partnership was disolved but the business continued using the name Linezler & Marschak under the ownership of Joseph Marschak until 1927. The present timepiece, dating from 1926 was supplied by Verger Freres to be retailed by Joseph Marchak.

This jewel-like timepiece is one of the finest examples of the collaboration between Vacheron & Constantin and Verger Freres.  The symmetry of the case combined with the use of hardstones perfectly frames the inlaid dial with its diamond-set numerals. The Art Deco Chinese theme of the case was the height of fashion in Paris in the 1920s and is just as chic today. Almost certainly unique, this timepiece crosses the many boundaries of horology, design, jewellery and craftsmanship.

Lot 34. A rare 'Longquan' celadon-glazed bamboo-neck vase, xianwenping, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); 24.6 cm, 9 3/4  in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 137,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the pear-shaped body encircled by three carved grooves above the waist, rising from a short straight foot to a tall tapering neck encircled by two bow-string bands in imitation of bamboo and a broad everted mouth, covered overall in a thick bluish-green glaze save for the footring revealing the buff body.

Note: Longquan celadon vases of this elegant form belong to the most desirable vessels made during the Longquan kilns’ best period of production, the late Southern Song dynasty. Also known as xianwen ping, vases of this type derived their form from contemporary Guan bottle vases, which were in turn inspired by archaic bronze prototypes. See for example a bronze circular bottle, hu, attributed to the Han dynasty (206 BC- AD 220), in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no. 2007.133.

A vase of similar form but shallower everted rim, found among the cargo of the Sinan shipwreck which sank off the Sinan coast of Korea in 1323 on its journey to Japan, is illustrated in Relics Salvaged from the Seabed off Sinan, materials 1, Seoul, 1985, pl. 1; one excavated at a kiln site in the Longquan area, is published in Longquan qingqi yanjiu [Research on Longquan celadon], Beijing, 1989, pl. 41, fig. 1; another with a narrower rim, from the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, was included in the exhibition Song Ceramics, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1999, cat. no. 70; and a further example from the collection of Mathias Komor and the Falk collection, was sold at Christie’s New York, 16th October 2001, lot 119. See also a much smaller example, sold in our New York rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 27.

Bura Artist, Burkina Faso,“Vessel”, 13th century. Terracotta, 16 x 5 inches. Gift of Harriet and Eugene Becker, 2004.240, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Located along the Niger River in present-day Niger and Mali, the ancient sites of the Bura culture have been excavated by researchers and found to include areas dedicated to burials and other rituals as well as zones used for habitation. Some of the most striking discoveries involved the unearthing of huge cemeteries such the one at Asinda-Sikka, where 630 terracotta containers similar to this object were found.

The vessels had been buried with their mouths facing down, and many contained an iron arrowhead. Their placement marked the burial of human remains a few feet further down, and the containers took both figural and more abstract forms, similar to this object. The discovery of more abstract pots at sites of both ritual and domestic activity suggests that for the Bura culture, pots such as this one served multiple purposes.

Lobi Artist, Burkina Faso, “Seated Figure”, Late 29th–early 20th century. Wood, 6.25 x 5 inches. Purchase with funds from Jane Fahey and Emmet Bondurant in memory of Alan Brandt, 2003.35, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

A miniature masterpiece, this sculpture might be seen as the Lobi version of Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker. Its contemplative posture and the despairing gesture of its large hands give it emotional weight.

Known by the Lobi people as bateba, sculptures like this one were carved to act as intermediaries between people and protective sprits called thila. The sculptures are considered animate, carrying out the orders of thila, protecting individuals and communities from harm.

 Lobi Artist, Burkina Faso, “Head”, Late 29th–early 20th century. Wood, 16 5/8 × 5 1/2 × 6 inches. Fred and Rita Richman Collection, 2004.139, High Museum of Art, Atlanta. © High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

The deeply weathered surface of this elegant head, with its smooth, round forms and pure, simple lines, suggests it was once kept outdoors in the open air. Carved at the suggestion of a diviner or traditional healer as a remedy for sickness or misfortune, the sculpture represents a protective spirit. It probably once stood on a household or market altar.

Lot 280. An antique diamond and multi-gem jigha, 18th century; 7 ¾ ins. Estimate USD 200,000 - USD 300,000. Price realised USD 225,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Lot 349. A set of rock-crystal and gold cutlery, Sri Lanka or Goa, India, 16th-17th century or later. Estimate USD 100,000 - USD 150,000. Price realised USD 225,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Lot 94. An Art Deco diamond, emerald, enamel and pearl pendant-watch, Janesich. Estimate USD 80,000 - USD 120,000. Price realised USD 218,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019

Lot 47. A cinnabar lacquer 'Bird and Flower' box and cover, Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century; 7 cm, 2 3/4  in. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 GBP. Lot sold 5,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

of circular form, the flat top carved through the layers of red lacquer with a magpie amongst flowering prunus, the base similarly carved, all against a diaper ground, the interiors lacquered black.