Lot 605. A fine wucai'dragon and phoenix' bowl, Daoguang seal mark and period (1821-1850). Diameter 6 1/8  in., 15.6 cm. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Lot sold 16,250 USD. © Sotheby's

with deep rounded sides, resting on a subtly tapering foot rising to a gently everted rim, the exterior freely decorated with alternating dragon and phoenix against floral sprigs, below a band of the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems' interspersed with ruyi, all between line borders, the center with a roundel enclosing an iron-red dragon pursuing a 'flaming pearl', the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Acquired between 1960s-1980s, and thence by descent. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 612. A doucai'dragon and phoenix' dish, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 8 5/8  in., 21.8 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Lot sold 50,000 USD. © Sotheby's

well potted with wide rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot, brightly painted on the interior with a large green-enameled five-clawed dragon writhing among clouds beside a 'flaming pearl', all saturated in vivid colors within a double-line border and below a single line at the rim, the exterior similarly decorated with an underglaze blue five-clawed dragon striding in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl' behind a serrated-tailed phoenix among clouds, all above green crested waves and between a double-line borders encircling the foot and rim, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character mark within a double circle.

Provenance: Chang Collection (according to label).
Marshall Field & Company, Chicago.
Collection of Hoyt Augustus Moore (1870-1958), and thence by descent. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 615. A large wucai'dragon and phoenix' dish, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 12 3/4  in., 32.3 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Lot sold 27,500 USD. © Sotheby's

the shallow rounded sides supported on a gently tapered foot, brightly enameled to the center with a pair of confronting dragons divided by a pair of swooping phoenix, against a dense ground of leafy peony stems, the cavetto and exterior similarly decorated with the creatures in profile, the recessed base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle.

Provenance: Collection of Lois Templer Baker (1895-1956), acquired in Europe circa 1920s, and thence by descent. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 616. A pair of green and aubergine-enameled yellow-ground 'dragon' dishes, Kangxi marks and period (1662-1722). Diameter 5 1/4  in., 13.2 cm. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 USD. Lot sold 20,000 USD. © Sotheby's

delicately potted, each with rounded sides rising from a short foot, incised to the center with two confronting dragons contesting a 'flaming pearl' amid fiery cloud scrolls, the exterior with four double clusters of grapes, the base with a six-character mark in aubergine enamel within a double circle (2).

Provenance: Collection of Henri Mazot (1882-1956), acquired in Beijing in the 1920s.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 617. A green-enameled yellow-ground 'dragon' bowl, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 4 in., 10.2 cm. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 USD. Lot sold 13,750 USD. © Sotheby's

delicately potted with deep rounded sides rising to a flared rim, the exterior incised with two striding five-clawed dragons in pursuit of 'flaming pearls', all above a border of ruyi-heads circling the foot, the rim bordered with a classic scroll band, the interior centered with a medallion enclosing a shou character, the design all picked out in green against a yellow ground, the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle.

Provenance: Collection of Henri Mazot (1882-1956), acquired in Beijing in the 1920s.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 664. A famille-rose'floral' vase, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795). Height 17 in., 43.3 cm. Estimate  20,000 — 30,000 USD. Lot sold 27,500 USD. © Sotheby's

the ovoid body resting on a splayed foot and rising to a tall cylindrical neck flaring at the rim, brightly enameled allover with a twisting tree branch and tangled stems of lush flowers growing amidst pierced sapphire-blue rockwork, including blooms of hibiscus, chrysanthemum, and lingzhi-shaped coxcomb, the spindly tree branches extending across the shoulders, all on a plain ground, the rim gilt, the interior and recessed base turquoise-enameled, the latter with a six-character seal mark in iron red.

Note: A vase of similar shape and subject matter, enameled with birds and a plain turquoise base, attributed to the Qianlong period, sold in our London rooms, 19th June 2002, lot 49. See a slightly smaller meiping depicting a similar scene, with a four-character iron-red seal mark, sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms: 12th May 1976, lot 280, and 18th May 1988, lot 277. A bottle vase formerly in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, enameled with a pheasant and an iron-red seal mark on the base, sold in these rooms 8th November 1980, lot 215, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th May 1987, lot 556. See also a vase of similar form attributed to the Yongzheng/Qianlong period, with the branches extending down the foot, sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms: 14th November 1989, lot 266, and 29th October 2001, lot 604. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 877. A fine wucai'Dragon and Phoenix' bowl, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 5 1/8  in., 13 cm. Estimate  50,000 — 70,000 USD. Lot sold 68,750 USD. © Sotheby's

with deep rounded sides, supported on a straight foot sweeping to a gently everted rim, the exterior enameled with alternating iron-red and green dragons and aubergine phoenix against leafy floral stems, below a band of the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems' and ruyi heads, all between line borders, the interior centering a roundel enclosing an iron-red dragon chasing a 'Flaming Pearl' amidst flames, the recessed base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue.

Property from the Collection of Henry H. Arnhold, sold to benefit the Arnhold Foundation.

Provenance: Marchant, London, March 1997.

Literature: Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain, 1710-50, New York, 2008, pl. 354. 

Note: Bowls painted in brilliant wucai enamels with a dragon and phoenix among leafy stems were an innovation of the Kangxi period. This auspicious design, which refers to the Emperor and Empress and conveys the wish for a happy marriage, grew in popularity in the succeeding reigns, and were produced through the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods. 

Similar Kangxi mark and period bowls of three different sizes from the Nanjing Museum, were included in the exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 26; a pair in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 153; a single bowl from the collection of C.P. Lin was included in the exhibition Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, Percival David Foundation, London, 1992, cat. no. 121; and a pair was included in the Hong Kong Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Ch’ing Polychrome Porcelain, Fung Ping Shan Museum, Hong Kong, 1977, cat. no. 32.

For examples sold at auction, see two sold in these rooms, 20th March 2019, lot 531, and 13th September 2017, lot 3. See also one sold in our London rooms, 10th May 2017, lot 228. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 890. A wucai'floral' jar, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Height 9 in., 23 cm. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 USD. Lot sold 8,125 USD. © Sotheby's

of baluster form, rising from a flat base to a waisted neck, the body painted with a continuous floral scroll above a band of upright lappets around the foot, the shoulders with a similar floral scroll below a border of leaf-shaped lappets around the neck, the base inscribed with a six-character mark in underglaze blue.

California Straight Ahead: Property from the Collection of Dr. David Sanders and Prof. Jesse Dukeminie.

Provenance: Duchange-Garmigny, Paris, 13th May 1993. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 891. A wucai'figural' jar and a cover, Qing dynasty, Shunzhi period (1644-1661). Height 11 3/4  in., 31 cm. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 USD. Lot sold 10,000 USD. © Sotheby's

of ovoid form, surmounted by a short straight neck, enameled with a scholar meeting an official in a misty balustraded terrace, accompanied by attendants, all surrounded by lush greenery, craggy rocks, and suggestions of neighboring walls and houses obscured by the mist, inscribed with a poem by the Southern Dynasties poet Lu Kai, the cylindrical cover painted in underglaze blue with jagged rocks and foliage, the base and neck unglazed (2).

Provenance: Acquired between 1960s-1980s, and thence by descent. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 892. A pair of wucai'hundred boys' jars and covers, 17th century. Height 15 3/8  in., 40 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 25,000 USD. Lot sold 10,625 USD. © Sotheby's

each of baluster form rising from a flat base to a slightly waisted neck, one jar decorated with children engaged in playful activities including playing weiqi and the qin, lighting firecrackers, impersonating officials, and riding a wooden horse, the other depicting children enjoying paintings, playing hide and seek, and impersonating opera singers, both below borders of 'cracked ice', further boys to the neck, each of the domed covers similarly painted and surmounted by a lotus bud finial (4).

California Straight Ahead: Property from the Collection of Dr. David Sanders and Prof. Jesse Dukeminie.

Provenance: Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 2nd December, 1996. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 899. A very rare famille-verte'dragon-carp' moonflask, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 10 1/4  in., 26 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Lot sold 37,500 USD. © Sotheby's

elegantly potted with a flattened spherical body rising to a waisted neck and a pear-shaped upper bulb, set with two strap handles each accentuated by a central raised ridge and a leaf-shaped terminal, the convex circular sides each painted with a carp leaping from the turbulent sea and a dragon springing forth from crashing waves, the upper bulb decorated with the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems'.

Provenance: John Sparks Ltd., London (by repute).
English Private Collection. 

Note: The distinctive shape of this vase is thought to have been inspired by Near or Middle Eastern metalware, while the ceramic form was first produced during Yongle and Xuande periods. The moonflask shape is highly unusual in the Kangxi period. 

The form is recorded in a line drawing in Geng Baochang, Mingqing ciqi jiangding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing Porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, p. 189, no. fig. 336, no. 3. For a closely related piece, see Geng Baochang, ibid., p. 21, fig. 31. Compare a related example decorated with chrysanthemum in iron red, sold at Christie's New York, 30th October 2001, lot 801. Another example with two lugs below the handles, painted with deer motifs in underglaze blue, was sold in these rooms, 3rd December 1974, lot 458

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 900.  A quadrangular famille-verte'Landscape' vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 19 in., 48.2 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 25,000 USD. Lot sold 43,750USD. © Sotheby's

the stoutly potted square-section body with tapered rectangular sides supporting a waisted cylindrical neck and everted rim painted brightly with floral sprigs and butterflies, one side of the body painted with two figures conversing in a landscape, another side with dwellings situated among pine trees, the third side with a fisherman in a sampan, and the fourth with figure riding a mule into the mountains, the base with a small recessed square covered in clear glaze .

Provenance: Christie's London, 3rd November 2009, lot 313. 

Note: Compare a Kangxi period blue and white vases of the same shape decorated in the style of literati paintings; see one illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 18; and another in the Shanghai Museum published in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 32. A similar example sold in these rooms, 20th March 2007, lot 804. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 11 September 2019

Chinese porcelain dated famille verte brushpot, Kangxi, 1712; 7 5/8 inches, 19.3 cm diameter. M4474. Price on application. © Marchant

Chinese porcelain dated famille verte brushpot, bitong, painted with a scholar seated in the front of a fishing boat looking up at overhanging rockwork, and seated beside a tiered box with an upright handle and a wine jar, being steered by a fisherman holding the rudder, beneath long branches of overhanging pine, with a mountain range, migrating birds and the moon amongst iron-red clouds, within an underglaze blue double-line rectangular frame with chamfered corners. The reverse with a fifty-six character poem in dedication to the Red Cliff, with the date, renchen year, corresponding to 1712, second month of the summer, Wenyuan Yuan qing fu, signed by Xiuyuan, round seal and square seal, mushi ju.

Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Marcel Proust and by direct descent to his nephew, Patrice Théodore Edmond Marcel Mante-Proust. Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (1871-1922) was a French novelist, critic and essayist, best known for his monumental novel À la Recherche du Temps Perdu, ‘In Search of Lost Time’, published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927. He is considered by critics and writers to be one of the most influential authors of the 20th century.

Note: The poem on this brushpot is inspired by The Red Cliff poem written by Su Shi in 1082 and translates as: ‘(Su Shi) travelled here five hundred years ago, and now the shimmering river still seem to connect to the sky. Wandering alone tonight, the moon above the Dong Mountain reminds me of the autumn of the renxu year (when Su Shi visited the Red Cliff in 1082). A guest catches a fish near the Red Cliff, but nobody carries a wine jar out of Huangzhou (where Su Shi lived during his exile). Now I compose this poem against the silence of the mountains, while a single crane flies above the small boat across the river.’ Written in the second month of summer of the renchen year (1712), Wenyuan Yuan qing fu, (signed) by Xiuyuan, round seal and square seal, mushi ju.

A similar brushpot, also dated 1712, the decoration without stylised waves, migrating birds and the moon, with scholars in a covered fishing boat, was included by Bonhams London in their auction of Fine Chinese Art, 16th May 2013, lot no. 65, pp. 90/91 by repute also from the Proust family collection.

A related famille verte brushpot dated to 1719 was included by Marchant in their exhibition of Qing Porcelain, 2011, no. 5, pp. 12-13 and illustrated on the back cover.

A blue and white brushpot of this subject bearing a Kangxi reign mark but without a date is illustrated by Chen Run Min in Qing Dynasty, Shunzhi Period and Kangxi Period Underglaze Blue in The Gu Gong Museum Collection, 2005, no. 206, pp.312/3.
A related famille verte brushpot from the Collection of W.J. Holt is illustrated by Hobson, Rackham and King in Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, 1931, fig. 241, p.136. 

The painting on this brushpot must have been executed by an artist of some note, the water appears similar in style to an ink painting with linear lines in two colours, the small rocks with bamboo repeated at the water’s edge and issuing from the cliff face are very detailed and the touches of iron-red in the sky complete the composition.

Marchant.

Lot 906. A rare famille-verte'landscape' brushpot, Kangxi period, dated Renchen year, corresponding to 1712. Diameter 7 1/4  in., 18.4 cm. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Lot sold 56,250 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

of slightly waisted cylindrical form, the exterior  enameled to one side with a rectangular panel enclosing a scene depicting the poet Su Shi seated at a table enjoying wine under the canopy of a sampan, an oarsman at the stern guiding the boat by towering boulders and towards the famed rocky prominence, its sheer verticality punctuated by a crooked pine tree jutting out from the cliff, the reverse inscribed with a seven line poetic inscription from Su Shi's Latter Ode to the Red Cliff, signed Xiu Yuan, and with a Mu Shi Ju seal mark, the partially unglazed based centered with a recessed medallion.

Provenance: Collection of Marcel Proust (1871–1922). 

Note: Kangxi period dated examples of brushpots of this large size and bearing inscriptions are exceptionally rare. As with other related pieces of this rarefied group, the inscription on the brushpot ends with a seal mark not of the poet but of a workshop, Mu Shi Ju. This mark appears on other porcelains of superlative quality and belongs to a very select group thought to be associated with one or more small private workshops in Jingdezhen, operating during the late Ming and early Qing dynasty.

A very similar famille-verte brushpot, also dated to 1712 and from the collection of Marcel Proust, was exhibited in Kangxi Famille Verte, Marchant, London, 2017, cat. no. 31. See also another similar example, dated to 1719, included by Marchant in Qing Porcelain, Marchant, London, 2011, cat. no. 5.  There is a Kangxi mark and period blue and white brushpot of the same subject matter in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Chen Runmin, Qing Shunzhi Kangxi chao qinghua ci [Qing blue and white porcelain from the Shunzhi and Kangxi periods], Beijing, 2005, pl. 206. 

From the Collection of Marcel Proust (1871–1922). Chinese porcelain dated famille verte brushpot, Kangxi, 1712; 7 5/8 inches, 19.3 cm diameter. M4474. Price on application. © Marchant

Cf. my post: Chinese porcelain dated famille verte brushpot, Kangxi, 1712

Related brushpots with Mu Shi Ju marks include a large bird and flower decorated famille-verte brushpot, dated to 1709, in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World’s Great Collections, Vol. 8, Musee Guimet, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 53; another of smaller size also inscribed and with bird and flower decoration sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 29th-30th November 2018, lot 324. Another, of smaller size, similarly bird and flower decorated, inscribed and bearing a Mu Shi Ju seal mark, from the Jie Rui Tang Collection sold in these rooms, 20th March 2018, lot 310. 

Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (1871-1922) was a renowned French novelist, author of the famous seven-volume novel À la recherche du temps perdu, written between 1913 and 1927, based on Proust's personal life told from a psychological and allegorical point of view. The novel includes numerous references to Japanese and Chinese works of art. These deliberate references reflect the author’s admiration for Asian art, particularly its reverence for the natural world which he effectively contrasts with the more humanistic approach of European art

Lot 910. A famille-verte'birds and flowers'yenyen vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 17 3/4  in., 45 cm. Estimate 25,000 — 35,000 USD. Lot sold 32,500 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the broad rounded shoulders resting on a spreading foot, surmounted by a tall cylindrical neck and trumpet mouth, all vibrantly enameled, the body with a pair of peacocks perched on rockwork amidst a lush verdant garden with chrysanthemums, coxcombs, further flowers and various insects, the neck similarly painted with a pair of songbirds on a flowering peony branch, above a band of cracked ice and peony.

Provenance: Earle D. Vandekar, New York, 11th January 1985. 

Note: In a vivid palette of blues, reds, greens and gilt accents, this vase presents a complex and beautifully painted scene. The varying sizes of the floral blooms, foliage, fluttering butterflies, and rockwork create a lively sense of depth and perspective, accentuated by the painterly use of black enamels. The presence of pairs of birds suggest that the vase may have been presented in celebration of a wedding.

Related vases include one formerly in the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, sold at Christie's New York, 6th June 1985, lot 406; one sold in our London rooms, 28th June 1983, lot 81; and a third sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 3066. See also a blue and white yenyen vase of similar design, dated 1708, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 68-1.

Lot 912. A famille-verte'Xiwangmu' rouleau vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 17 3/4  in., 45 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Lot sold 68,750 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the cylindrical body set over a low foot and supporting a columnar neck with a galleried rim, richly painted with Xiwangmu arriving from the left on a cloud with an assembly of female musicians and an attendant bearing a dish of peaches, a phoenix soaring nearby, the emperor seated on a tall platform awaiting the goddess's arrival, an official wearing a 'crane' rank badge animatedly gesturing toward the majestic event, additional officials, attendants, and warriors standing by on the platform and on the terrace below, trees and rocks at the perimeter of the scene, the shoulder with iron-red rosettes and shaped cartouches enclosing bamboo all reserved against a green diaper ground, the neck painted with a lone hut in a riverside landscape, keyfret encircling the galleried rim.

Property from the Collection of Arthur and Sara Jo Kobacker.

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 1st May 2000, lot 729.

Lot 916. A famille-verte'Four Accomplishments' rouleau vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 19 in., 48.3 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Lot sold 62,500 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the slightly tapered body rising to a cylindrical neck and everted mouth rim, painted with a continuous scene of women in a large garden pavilion completing the 'Four Accomplishments': reading poetry, playing go, admiring Chinese paintings, and playing musical instruments, surrounded by young boys at play, the shoulder with reserves enclosing flowers symbolizing the four seasons interspersed with chrysanthemums on a diaper ground, the neck with a continuous scene of further boys at play.

Provenance: Collection of Antoinette H. and Frederick J. Van Slyke. 
Sotheby's New York, 31st May 1989, lot 95. 
Sotheby's New York, 12th April 1990, lot 532.

PARIS - Mellerio rend hommage aux îles Borromées, lieu emblématique de l’élégance italienne et fleuron de l’architecture baroque, mais aussi berceau de la famille Mellerio dont le village d’origine se trouve à quelques kilomètres du Lac Majeur.

Après Isola Madre et Isola Bella, le nouvel opus de cette collection en trois actes célèbre « Isola dei Pescatori », la plus petite de ces îles et pourtant la seule àêtre réellement habitée. Le charme et l’authenticité de ce village lacustre ont inspiréà Laure-Isabelle Mellerio trois parures de Haute Joaillerie.

Trois éléments ont particulièrement retenu son attention et ont éveillé son inspiration : l’eau, la maille des filets de pêche et les galets qui pavent les ruelles de l’île. Chacun a donné naissance à une parure. Les neuf pièces ainsi réalisées, contrairement aux deux premières éditions, sont baignées d’une lumière blanche et pure qui fait référence à l'écume et aux reflets brillants du soleil sur l'eau.   

L’eau est le dénominateur commun de toute la collection:

• sa fluidité et sa couleur sont évoquées dans la parure « Ondine » par les volumes courbes des éléments en lapis lazuli et les traces d’écume par les diamants taille brillant ou poire qui les parsèment,
• les filets des pêcheurs ont inspiréà Laure-Isabelle Mellerio l'esthétique « Maglia », tout de diamants sertie, qui retranscrit précieusement leurs fins emmaillements,
• les galets qu’elle polit sont figurés par  la taille cabochon des pierres précieuses de la parure « Ciottoli »

De nombreux savoir-faire et corps de métier ont contribuéà l’élaboration de la collection. Il a même fallu parfois une certaine audace, notamment pour imaginer la parure « Ondine », dont les créations serties de si fins éléments de lapis-lazuli ont nécessité des centaines de manipulations extrêmement délicates. Le lapidaire, de son propre aveu, parle de « prouesse technique », tellement il fut complexe de tailler des courbes si étroites, qui plus est dans un morceau de lapis-lazuli brut aussi exceptionnel. Celui-ci a la particularité de contenir peu de pyrite, gage de qualité supérieure garantissant un bleu profond et soutenu, tel que le souhaitait Laure-Isabelle Mellerio.

La signature de Laure-Isabelle Mellerio se retrouve dans chaque création de la collection « Isola dei Pescatori » :  ce jeu de contrastes des matières, des couleurs et des tailles de pierres précieuses qui lui est si cher.

Comme les charmantes ruelles de l’île, pavées de petits galets, la collection « Ciottoli » est essentiellement sertie de pierres de taille cabochon, boule ou pain de sucre, sélectionnées par Laure-Isabelle Mellerio. Associées aux pierres facettées et aux diamants, l’ensemble étincelle et crée une impression de relief, propre à chacune de ses créations.

Les couleurs se conjuguent avec de nombreuses nuances minutieusement choisies: le vert glacé de la chrysoprase, intense, cristallin de l’émeraude, et le bleu velouté, profond mais aussi clair voire céruléen, azur, ou violet des saphirs.

Mellerio. Collier Ciottoli. Saphir (Ceylan - 8,60 carats), 4 émeraudes cabochon (0,34 carat), 3 émeraudes pain de sucre (0,47 carat), 22 saphirs cabochon (3,14 carats), 40 saphirs (1,63 carat), 18 saphirs violets (1,64 carat), 14 chrysoprases (1,56 carat), 3 tanzanites (0,5 carat),16 diamants (0,95 carat). Pompon : 310 boules saphirs (43,47 carats), 24 boules émeraudes (3,60 carats), 1 diamant taille princesse (0,43 carat), 61 diamants (0,25 carat). Chaîne : 26 diamants (0,75 carat), 5 saphirs boule (1carat). Pendentif transformable en broche. Prix : 190 000 €.

Mellerio. Bague Ciottoli. 1 émeraude taille coussin (Colombie - 4,52 carats), 11 émeraudes (0,75 carat), 9 chrysoprases (0,84 carat), 8 saphirs violets (0,52carat), 15 saphirs cabochon (1,40 carat), 45 saphirs (1,05 carat),16 diamants (0,53 carat), or gris. Prix : 89 500 €.

La parure « Ondine », avec ses courbes délicates et ses volumes façonnés par le lapidaire et le joaillier, représente l’onde formée par les vaguelettes qui s’échouent sur les rives de l’île, et le bleu profond du lapis lazuli est rehaussé par le blanc des diamants taille poire et navette qui viennent s’y déposer tels des gouttes d’écume.

Mellerio. Collier Ondine. Diamant taille coussin (2,52 carats EVS1), 659 diamants (2,07 carats), lapis lazuli, or gris. Chaîne : 99 diamants (0,49 carat), lapis lazuli, or gris. Pendentif transformable en broche. Prix : 165 000 €.

Mellerio. Boucles d'oreilles Ondine. 4 diamants taille poire (0,50 carat EVVS1, 0,51 carat EVVS2, 0,30 carat DVVS2 et 0,31 carat DVVS2), 170 diamants (1,55 carat), lapis lazuli, or gris. Prix : 51 400 €.

Mellerio. Bague Ondine. Diamant taille brillant (1,01 carat EVS1), 647 diamants (1,72 carat), lapis lazuli, or gris. Prix: 55 000 €.

Mellerio. Bague Ondine. Diamant taille brillant (1,03 carat EVS1), 146 diamants (1,89 carat), lapis lazuli, or gris. Prix : 60 000 €.

La parure « Maglia » fut imaginée à la vue des filets de pêche accrochés aux murs des maisons de pêcheurs. Sur la bague, les boucles d’oreilles et le collier, les diamants semblent sertis de manière imperceptible et flotter sur cette résille d’or comme par magie. Chacun est reliéà l’autre par un fil d’or gris, dont le relief ouvragé (or perlé pour les boucles d'oreilles et chaîne boule pour le collier) rappelle les cordes des filets. Tout en légèreté et finesse, chaque pièce a relevé le défi de trouver le juste équilibre entre la tenue et la souplesse.

Mellerio. Boucles d'oreilles Maglia. 64 diamants (3,88 carats), Or gris perlé. Prix: 38 000 €.

Mellerio. Bague Maglia. Diamant taille brillant (1,01 carat EVS1), 104 diamants (1,16 carat), Or gris perlé. Prix: 48 000 €.

Laure-Isabelle Mellerio souhaitait, pour ce dernier opus consacréà Isola dei Pescatori, traduire l’ambiance particulière de l'île des Pêcheurs, au charme pittoresque, et surtout « partager ce que j’ai pu y ressentir avec nos équipes de création et de fabrication, afin que mes idées soient matérialisées le plus fidèlement possible. Cette transformation de la matière, qui évolue au fur et à mesure des étapes de fabrication, provoque toujours une émotion spéciale pour moi. Quand mon dessin prend vie entre les mains de nos artisans. »

Adolphe Block (éditeur) Façade sur la cour d’honneur du palais de SaintCloud Vers 1868 Photographie stéréoscopique Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, inv. 2013.13.15© Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / Gilles Plagnol.

Saint-Cloud - Le musée des Avelines, en partenariat avec le Mobilier national, propose de faire découvrir les intérieurs du palais de Saint-Cloud à son apogée vers 1868, à travers l’exposition intitulée Les derniers feux du palais de Saint-Cloud, qui se tiendra au musée des Avelines du 10 octobre 2019 au 23 février 2020. 

L’exposition Les derniers feux du palais de Saint-Cloud fait revivre les fastes du palais de Saint-Cloud à la fin du règne de Napoléon III. Cette résidence à quelques encablures de Paris, tant appréciée aux beaux jours par l’Empereur, l’impératrice Eugénie et la Cour, a été le témoin des pages majeures de l’histoire de France, comme la proclamation de l’Empire le 18 mai 1804 et le rétablissement de la dignité impériale le 2 décembre 1852. 

L’histoire d’un album de photographies respirant le parfum d’un palais disparu… 

En 2014, le musée des Avelines fait l’acquisition d’un rare album de photographies (tirages sur papier albuminé, obtenus par contact à partir des plaques de verre) de Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg (1810- 1875) consacré au palais de Saint-Cloud sous le Second Empire, et commandéà l’époque par Napoléon III. Dans cet album, comportant 99 photographies de petit format (9,5 cm sur 8 cm) dont 23 vues extérieures et 76 vues intérieures, le photographe réussit à capter le raffinement de l’ameublement du palais vers 1868, deux ans avant sa disparition dans l’incendie qui le ravagea en octobre 1870. Il s’agit d’un exemplaire unique car il est le seul sur le palais de Saint-Cloud, signé du photographe de la Couronne, Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg. 

L’exposition présente près de 100 œuvres et objets provenant du palais de Saint-Cloud, évacués avant l’incendie vers Paris dès août 1870 à la demande de l’impératrice Eugénie et avec le soutien zélé du commandant Armand Schneider, régisseur du palais, ou des équivalences quand ceux-ci ont disparu. La scénographie confronte les photographies intérieures de Richebourg aux nombreux objets sauvés, principalement empruntés ici aux collections du Mobilier national.

Ces rapprochements témoignent de l’élégance et de l’éclectisme du riche ameublement du palais, et particulièrement du goût de l’Impératrice pour le style Louis XVI, associant objets authentiques et belles copies ou interprétations du XIXe siècle dans un souci d’harmonie parfois assez audacieux.

Les différents espaces de l’exposition inviteront les visiteurs à une promenade dans les appartements impériaux de Saint-Cloud, évoqués par de grandes reproductions photographiques avec en contrepoint les meubles, vases, tapisseries, tableaux, sculptures, volontairement choisis par le couple souverain très attachéà cette demeure.

Si l’exposition propose une histoire du goût sous le Second Empire, elle est aussi une invitation à la promenade dans les allées du parc de Saint-Cloud, proche du musée des Avelines, le Domaine national de Saint-Cloud s’associant au projet avec la reproduction en grand format in situ des vues extérieures de l’album Richebourg pour une meilleure appréhension de l’espace.

Cette exposition, sous le commissariat général d’Emmanuelle Le Bail, directrice du musée des Avelines, bénéficie du co-commissariat de Bernard Chevallier, conservateur général honoraire du patrimoine et auteur du livre de référence Saint-Cloud, le palais retrouvé, et d’Arnaud Denis, inspecteur des collections du Mobilier national.

Du 10 octobre 2019 au 23 février 2020.

Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg (1810 – 1875), Vue du grand salon de l’Impératrice. Tirage photographique sur papier albuminé, vers 1868, Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, inv. 2014.5 © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / Gilles Plagnol

Furet (cadran signé : « Furet Horloger du Roi »), Pendule à« l’Étude ». Bronze doré, marbre blanc, fin du XVIIIe siècle (époque Louis XVI), 49 x 70 x 28 cm Paris, Mobilier national, GML 6890 © Mobilier national, Isabelle Bideau

 Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg (1810 – 1875), Le salon de Mars. Tirage photographique sur papier albuminé, vers 1868, Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, inv. 2014.5© Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / Gilles Plagnol.

Joseph-Pierre-François Jeanselme (?-1861), Chaise, en bois sculpté et doré, couverte d’un retissage du début du XXe siècle du meuble aux oiseaux et papillons en tapisseries de Beauvais, posé en 1839, 94 x 52 x 46 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. GMT 7932 /6© Mobilier national, Isabelle Bideau.

Manufacture des Gobelins, d’après Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755-1845), Marie-Antoinette et ses enfants. Tapisserie de haute lisse, laine et soie, 1818-1822, 282 x 212 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. GMTT 347© Mobilier national, Philippe Sébert.

Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg (1810 – 1875), Le salon de Vénus. Tirage photographique sur papier albuminé, vers 1868, Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, inv. 2014.5© Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / Gilles Plagnol Sous la tapisserie du duc d’Anjou, on peut voir la console à tête de Minerve du Ier Empire. 

François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770-1841), Console à tête de Minerve. Bois sculpté et doré, bronze doré, marbre rouge Griotte livré par le marbrier Louis Etienne Hersent (1741-1817), Paris, époque Empire, 1808, 104 x 164,5 x 50 cm, Paris, Galerie Steinitz© Paul Steinitz 

Manufacture des Gobelins, d’après Pierre-Paul Rubens (1577-1640), La Reine s’enfuit du château de Blois dans la nuit du 21 au 22 février 1619. Tapisserie, haute lisse, laine et soie, 1835-1837, 405 x 306 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. GMTT 244/8© Mobilier national, droits réservés.

Paire de vases «étrusque de Naples» décor d’oiseaux et rubans en relief blanc sous émail, Porcelaine de Sèvres, 1853, 48 x 26 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. GML 8876© Mobilier national, Isabelle Bideau.

Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg (1810 – 1875), Le grand salon ou salon blanc de l’appartement de l’Orangerie .Tirage photographique sur papier albuminé, vers 1868, Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, inv. 2014.5© Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / Gilles Plagnol

Michel Victor Cruchet (1815-1899), Écran de cheminée. Hêtre sculpté et doré, 1855, Manufacture de Beauvais, d’après Pierre-Adrien Chabal-Dussurgey (1819-1902). Tapisserie, basse lisse, laine et soie, livré en 1855, 158 x 92 x 55 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. GMT 1169© Mobilier national, Isabelle Bideau.

Pierre Riton, Jules Peyre et Jules Dieterle, Vase à quatre lobes, détail. Porcelaine de Sèvres, 1854, 106 x 42 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. GML 888/1© Mobilier national, Isabelle Bideau.

Vue du grand salon de l’Impératrice, vers 1868. Extraite du film « Restitution virtuelle du palais de Saint-Cloud à la fin du Second Empire » de Philippe Le.

Friefrich Starke (1802-1872) sur un modèle de Claude-Aimé Chenavard (1798-1838), Modèle pour dossier de canapé. Huile sur toile, 1833-1834, 54 x 170 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. Beauvais 40© Mobilier national, Isabelle Bideau.

Henri-Léonard Wassmus (actif de 1840 à 1868), Table de salon. Bois de rose, marqueterie de bois de couleur, bronze doré, 1855, 76 x 156 x 98 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. GME 4289© Mobilier national, Isabelle Bideau. 

Ferdinand Mérigot (1822 - 1884), Vase «potiche chinoise», à fond brun et décor de fleurs de cerisiers du Japon et hérons. Porcelaine de Sèvres, 1868, 85 x 33 cm, Paris, Mobilier national, inv. GML 836/1© Mobilier national, Isabelle Bideau.

 Horace Vernet (1789 –1863), Le Zouave trappiste. Huile sur toile, 1856, Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, en cours d’acquisition. Don de Jacques Foucart et Elisabeth Foucart-Walter en mémoire de Bruno Foucart (1938-2018), dans le cadre du partage successoral de la collection de Bruno Foucart© Ville de Saint-Cloud - Musée des Avelines / Gilles Plagnol. 

Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg (1810 – 1875), Allée du Fer à cheval, montée de la Balustrade, lanterne de Démosthène. Tirage photographique sur papier albuminé, vers 1868, Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, inv. 2014.5© Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / Gilles Plagnol.

Pierre-Ambroise Richebourg (1810-1875), Aile et parterre de l’Orangerie.Tirage photographique sur papier albuminé, vers 1868, Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, inv. 2014.5 © Ville de Saint-Cloud - Musée des Avelines / Gilles Plagnol

Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431-1506), Preparatory drawing for one of the canvases in the Triumphs of Caesar. Estimated to achieve in excess of $12 Million. Courtesy Sotheby's.

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s announced that it will offer one of the most art-historically important drawings ever to appear at auction: Andrea Mantegna’s only known preparatory drawing for one of the canvases in the Triumphs of Caesar, the Italian Renaissance artist’s most influential and revered work. Recently rediscovered, the masterwork will headline Sotheby’s Old Master Drawings auction in New York on the 29th of January 2020, when it is estimated to fetch in excess of $12 million.

Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431-1506) was one of the most innovative, influential and celebrated artists of the Italian Renaissance. His importance was very recently underscored by the major exhibition, Mantegna and Bellini, dedicated to his work and that of his brother-in-law Giovanni Bellini, held at the National Gallery, London, and the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. Approximately 20 drawings by Mantegna are known, all except two (including the present work) are in the collections of major museums, such as the British Museum in London. The sale of this drawing is of enormous significance: only two other drawings by Mantegna have appeared at auction in the last half century.

Dated to the late 1480s, the drawing is the only known preparatory study for Mantegna’s famed and celebrated masterpiece, the Triumphs of Caesar – a series of nine monumental paintings depicting the triumphal procession of Julius Caesar and his army through ancient Rome. The paintings are part of the British Royal Collection at Hampton Court Palace, where they have resided since they were acquired by King Charles I in 1629. The King bought the paintings directly from the Gonzaga family, Dukes of Mantua, who were Mantegna’s most important patrons.

The present pen and ink drawing is a study for ‘The Standard Bearers and the Siege Equipment,’ which is the second canvas in the Triumphs series. The drawing theatrically recreates a section of the processional that includes gigantic statues on carts, a model of the tower of Alexandria, and oversized siege weapons.

Andrea Mantegna, Triumphs of Caesar, II: The Standard Bearers and the Siege Equipment, Royal Collection Trust (© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2019/Bridgeman Images)

Though sold as an autograph work by Mantegna in 1885, the drawing subsequently disappeared into private collections, and was totally unknown to scholars until shortly before the Mantegna and Bellini exhibition in London and Berlin. Its inclusion in that exhibition caused much excitement, but only since the exhibition have other extremely significant aspects of the drawing been identified, following further careful research by Cristiana Romalli, Senior Director and Italian specialist in Sotheby’s Old Master Drawings Department. On the basis of new technical analysis using infrared photography, performed by Sotheby’s Department of Scientific Research, Romalli was able to establish that the main figure on the left side of the composition was altered very significantly during the process of the drawing’s creation. Underneath the figure of Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine, which appears in the finished drawing and the final painted version, there is actually another entirely different figure, identified by Romalli as Helios, the Roman god of the Sun, which the artist chose to obliterate and replace as he developed his composition.

This change conclusively proves that Mantegna himself was the author of the drawing, and this remarkable and unexpected discovery sheds exciting light on Mantegna’s restless working method, in which he continued to edit, refine and perfect his compositions, even in the final stages. Moreover, it is unquestionable proof that this is the only known surviving preparatory study for the Triumphs.

Speaking of the drawing, Cristiana Romalli said: “The discovery of a previously unseen underdrawing, more than five hundred years after it was made, is a moment of considerable importance for the study of this complex, intriguing and highly influential master of the early Italian Renaissance. By examination under special filtered infrared light, we were able to detect the hidden figure of Helios, revealing a major change in the composition that proves Mantegna’s authorship. This change in fact defined his whole approach to the finished painting that we see today. The exceptional and rare opportunity to bring to light this news, obscured for centuries, is what defines the excitement and thrill of the drawings market. It is a great privilege to be handling the sale of a drawing of such extraordinary importance and rarity.”

The drawing will be on view in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London before returning to New York for exhibition beginning 24 January.