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Lot 58
Théodore Jacques Ralli (Greek, 1852-1909)La Captive signé et daté 'Ralli 85' (en bas à droite)huile sur toile60 x 81.5cm (23 5/8 x 32 1/16in).Peint en 1885signed and dated (lower right) oil on canvasFootnotes:ProvenancePalais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 18 November 1970, lot 14 (as La jolie prisonnière)Galerie Kourd, Athens.Private Collection, New York (purchased from the above).Sotheby's London, The Greek Sale, 14 November 2007, lot 19.Purchased at the above sale by the present owner.ExposéLiverpool, Liverpool Autumn Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, 1885, no. 414, under the title Turkish Plunder.London, Hollender and Cremetti gallery, 1886 (based on the artist's notebook entry).Newcastle, 1886 (based on the artist's notebook entry).LittératureThe artist's notebook.M. Katsanaki, Le Peintre Théodore Ralli (1852-1909) et son Œuvre, doctoral dissertation, Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2007, no. 70, pp. 130, 168, 171, 172, 176, 177, 286, 287 (mentioned and discussed), fig. 82 (illustrated).M. Palioura, The Painting Oeuvre of Theodoros Ralli (1852-1909), doctoral dissertation, University of Athens, Athens 2008, vol. I, p. 200 (discussed), vol. II, fig. 66 (illustrated).M. Katsanaki, Theodore Ralli, A.G. Leventis Foundation - A.G. Leventis Gallery, Athens 2018, no. 57, pp. 135-139 (discussed), p. 350 (catalogued), p. 137 (illustrated).A museum-worthy masterpiece whose auction appearance happily coincides with this year's bicentennial celebrations of the Greek Revolution, this exquisite large-scale painting of superb craftsmanship and solemn restraint captures the hearts and minds of Greeks and philhellenes alike.Inspired by the Ottoman Occupation era, when Greece was in shackles, the scene unfolds in an old Greek Orthodox church. As noted by Athens National Gallery curator M. Katsanaki, who provides a full description of the work in her monograph on the artist,1 the protagonist is a beautiful young peasant woman in her traditional costume who has been taken captive. With her hands tied, she stands on a slate-paved floor next to a wooden church pew. Flooded by an invading light, her glowing figure strongly contrasts with the dark interior on the left side and the dimly lit sacred images on the weathered wall behind her, which, faintly portrayed, loom as transcendental presences. Next to her, on the floor, we see her overcoat, her betel bag and her distaff with the wool she was apparently spinning at the moment of her abduction. To the right, a multitude of looted items and valuable objects—fabrics, slippers, jewellery and a mother-of-pearl box—are lying in heaps. The young woman is the living plunder of the Ottoman conquerors, who are depicted sitting on overturned stools around the fire they have lit to complete the desecration of this place of worship. As they sit smoking under the arch with the symbol of the cross, the unholiness of their act is emphasised even further.2 Heavily armed and looking relaxed, they have propped up against the wall the banner with the crescent moon, which serves to define space and isolate the young victim, who is obviously doomed to be sent to some slave market in the East.Here, Ralli tackled a subject which touched a chord and lent itself to stirring the Greek and philhellenic hearts, while allowing him to meticulously concentrate on ethnographic detail and focus on features, appearances and outfits, endowing them with a monumental quality. Contrasts are underscored and invested with meaning: female-male, sacred-sacrilegious, Christian-infidel, Greek-Turk, cross-crescent, purity-barbarity, chastity-ignominy, weakness-power. These dot not, however, affect the artist's handling of pictorial issues. His distinctive elegance, discretion and refined palette are amply displayed. In his astonishing virtuosity, skilful use of subtle chiaroscuro and painstaking attention to detail (note the diligently rendered loot, the glowing firewood, and the flickering highlights caught on the Turk's garments and face) Ralli follows on the footsteps of his teacher Jean-Léon Gérôme, while showing an appreciation for the achievements of 17th c. Dutch realists, mainly in the organization and handling of pictorial space. Relying on balanced composition, harmony of colour values, tonal effect, solidity of form and an entirely personal spirit of discreet elegance that permeates the whole painting, Ralli achieves unity and fuses his narrative material into a refined and seductive work of art.Equally evident is his aim to avoid causing any extreme reaction on the part of the viewer. Nothing in the young woman's face or posture betrays the horror of disrepute; nothing in her flawless appearance and well-fitting clothes indicates that she is enraged or trying to resist and free herself. Her nobility and dignity are not shaken by fear or desperation. Instead, she has a sculptural immobility, recalling the timeless, idealised beauty of ancient Greek statues. Even at this moment of grave peril, the young Greek kore retains her humanity, transcending her individual specificity and venturing towards the archetypal and collective to take on a symbolic quality: the eternal struggle between liberty and oppression. For the European philhellene, the Greek cause represented not only the struggle for freedom, human rights and nationality, but also the struggle of the 'mother' of Western civilization to restore her former glory and carry the torch of enlightenment and reason. The look in the young woman's eyes, which silently seek out the viewer's compassion and support, establishes a subtle connection with the outside, free world, conveying the message that the Greek cause was ultimately a European cause. Instead of offering a mere spectacle to be passively looked upon, Ralli ingeniously invites the viewer to participate and emotionally engage in the scene, demonstrating his great skill as a genre painter. The theme of the female captive, and indeed the Greek woman who falls into the hands of the Turks, reappeared much late in Ralli's work, in a composition painted for the 1906 Salon titled The Booty, now in the collection of the National Gallery in Athens. With Turkish plunder (La Captive), Ralli offered a Greek version of the 19th century orientalist themes showing women in states of pain and despair, prey to the appetites of men in positions of power, as is the case with Hiram Powers' Greek slave, one of the most famous sculptures of the Victorian age. Very often such works were supposed to be representing scenes which had taken place in the distant past or at an unspecified time. On the contrary, Ralli was inspired by Greece's fairly recent history, echoing Delacroix and the philhellenic movement of the 1820s, and alluding to Nikiforos Lytras's famous Abducted maid (Y. Perdios collection, Athens) painted in 1873. When Ralli showed Turkish plunder there already existed in Europe a favourable climate for the reception of subjects inspired by the Ottoman occupation and the 1821 Uprising: 'Honour the heroes who through their epic valour inflicted, in this century, the first blows to the Muslim savagery and who, while delivering their homeland, helped to free Europe ... Also honour the artists who, with a throbbing heart and a paintbrush, know how to move us by retracing the noble boldness of their forefathers.'3 Recog... This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a reduced rate of 5.5% on the hammer price and the prevailing rate on buyer's premium if the car remains in EU.TVA sur les objets importés à un taux réduit de 5.5% sur le prix d'adjudication et un taux en vigueur sur la prime d'achat dans le cas où la voiture reste dans l'Union Européenne.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 311
A quantity of vintage and modern costume jewellery to include a silver St Christopher pendant, a mother of pearl brooch with a Sphinx head to the centre in white metal, silver and onyx cufflinks together with three watches to include a Corvette cocktail watch with marcasite illusion set strap and other items including a green glass cheroot and monodies
Lot 341
A white metal and enamelled cigarette case with floral ornament to the lid together with a silver plated sugar spoon, miniature silver ornaments, a white metal propelling pencil and a small quantity of silver and white metal costume jewellery and a silver stamp case, total weight 265gLocation: Porters
Lot 200
Assorted jewellery comprising a 9ct gold chain, a hallmarked 9ct gold ring, a yellow metal bangle, a hallmarked 9ct gold signet ring, a hallmarked 22ct gold ring set with a shamrock of three rubies, a ring set with a garnet marked 'silver', a scottie dog brooch and other costume jewellery. gross weight of gold and yellow metal 9.91g.
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