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Adam Dix Untitled (1), 2022 Ink and Oil Glaze on Paper Signed on Verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.)   About   The work of Adam Dix (b.1967) explores the history of transmission, and wrestles with components of contemporary communication. His work brings together a world depicting community and ritual, whilst traversing the landscape of analogue and digital medias through a blend of traditional folk customs, religious ceremony and contemporary communication.   Coupling the contemporary instant-ness of a screen shot, with the slower historic ghostly feel of lithography, Adam Dix's work is concerned with communication through the ages, the constant effort of humanity to come together, share, inspire, pass on our narratives. Humanity has communicated for millennia through illustrations, rituals, customs, choreography, music, writing, religion and symbolism in an attempt to understand one another. Pilgrimages to sites both known and unexpected are suggested in Dix's paintings, religious ceremony is referenced. Costume, disguise and the borrowing and interpretation of symbols are prevalent. Timeframes are indistinct, in Dix's work the present assimilates the residue of the past, we are left contemplating whether a scene is contemporary or historic.   Education   2009 - M.A. Fine Art Wimbledon College of Art 1990 - B.A. (Hons) Graphics and Illustration. Middlesex Polytechnic   SELECTED RECENT EXHIBITIONS AND ART FAIRS: 2020 - bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery Papyrophylia, Charlie Smith Gallery 2019 - bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery   2018 - In Search of the Author, Zedes Gallery, Brussels bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery 2016 - New Paintings, Slete Gallery, Los Angeles All are Welcome, Eleven, London Yesterday's Prophets, Eleven, London   SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS   2017 - In Residence, Griffin Gallery, London Relics from the De-Crypt, Gossamer Fog, London   2016 - Telling Tales, Colleyer Bristow, London   2015 - BFAMI Contemporary Art Auction, Sotheby's, London The Mdina Biennale, Malta Strange Cities, Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens and New York London Art Fair Project Space, The Contemporary London, London   2014 - 100 Painters of Tomorrow, Christies and Beers Contemporary, London So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, Lawrie Shabbi, Dubai   2013 - Salon 10. Marine Contemporary, Los Angeles Ici Londres, Galierie Silin, Paris News From The Sun, Phoenix Art Centre, Exeter 2012 - Editions, Other Criteria, London Programming Myth, Sumarria Lunn, London Unobtrusive Measures, Kunstpavillion, Munich On The Horizon, New Generation of British Painters, Marine Contemporary, Los Angeles   2011 - Fraternise, Beaconsfield Gallery, London Exam, Transition Gallery, London   2010 - Transmission, Haunch of Venison, London Keep Me Posted, Julia Royse, London   2009 - Black Dog Yellow House, Trolley Gallery, London   Gallery Representation   Candida Stevens Gallery in the UK, Zedes Art Gallery in Belgium and Obsolete in Los Angeles. You must not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any works. In doing so, you endanger our relationships with artists, and directly jeopardizes the charitable work we do. Anyone found doing will subject to legal action.  

Adam Dix Untitled (2), 2022 Ink and Oil Glaze on Paper Signed on Verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.)   About   The work of Adam Dix (b.1967) explores the history of transmission, and wrestles with components of contemporary communication. His work brings together a world depicting community and ritual, whilst traversing the landscape of analogue and digital medias through a blend of traditional folk customs, religious ceremony and contemporary communication.   Coupling the contemporary instant-ness of a screen shot, with the slower historic ghostly feel of lithography, Adam Dix's work is concerned with communication through the ages, the constant effort of humanity to come together, share, inspire, pass on our narratives. Humanity has communicated for millennia through illustrations, rituals, customs, choreography, music, writing, religion and symbolism in an attempt to understand one another. Pilgrimages to sites both known and unexpected are suggested in Dix's paintings, religious ceremony is referenced. Costume, disguise and the borrowing and interpretation of symbols are prevalent. Timeframes are indistinct, in Dix's work the present assimilates the residue of the past, we are left contemplating whether a scene is contemporary or historic.   Education   2009 - M.A. Fine Art Wimbledon College of Art 1990 - B.A. (Hons) Graphics and Illustration. Middlesex Polytechnic   SELECTED RECENT EXHIBITIONS AND ART FAIRS: 2020 - bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery Papyrophylia, Charlie Smith Gallery 2019 - bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery   2018 - In Search of the Author, Zedes Gallery, Brussels bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery 2016 - New Paintings, Slete Gallery, Los Angeles All are Welcome, Eleven, London Yesterday's Prophets, Eleven, London   SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS   2017 - In Residence, Griffin Gallery, London Relics from the De-Crypt, Gossamer Fog, London   2016 - Telling Tales, Colleyer Bristow, London   2015 - BFAMI Contemporary Art Auction, Sotheby's, London The Mdina Biennale, Malta Strange Cities, Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens and New York London Art Fair Project Space, The Contemporary London, London   2014 - 100 Painters of Tomorrow, Christies and Beers Contemporary, London So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, Lawrie Shabbi, Dubai   2013 - Salon 10. Marine Contemporary, Los Angeles Ici Londres, Galierie Silin, Paris News From The Sun, Phoenix Art Centre, Exeter 2012 - Editions, Other Criteria, London Programming Myth, Sumarria Lunn, London Unobtrusive Measures, Kunstpavillion, Munich On The Horizon, New Generation of British Painters, Marine Contemporary, Los Angeles   2011 - Fraternise, Beaconsfield Gallery, London Exam, Transition Gallery, London   2010 - Transmission, Haunch of Venison, London Keep Me Posted, Julia Royse, London   2009 - Black Dog Yellow House, Trolley Gallery, London   Gallery Representation   Candida Stevens Gallery in the UK, Zedes Art Gallery in Belgium and Obsolete in Los Angeles. You must not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any works. In doing so, you endanger our relationships with artists, and directly jeopardizes the charitable work we do. Anyone found doing will subject to legal action.  

Adam Dix Untitled (3), 2022 Ink and Oil Glaze on Paper Signed on Verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.)   About   The work of Adam Dix (b.1967) explores the history of transmission, and wrestles with components of contemporary communication. His work brings together a world depicting community and ritual, whilst traversing the landscape of analogue and digital medias through a blend of traditional folk customs, religious ceremony and contemporary communication.   Coupling the contemporary instant-ness of a screen shot, with the slower historic ghostly feel of lithography, Adam Dix's work is concerned with communication through the ages, the constant effort of humanity to come together, share, inspire, pass on our narratives. Humanity has communicated for millennia through illustrations, rituals, customs, choreography, music, writing, religion and symbolism in an attempt to understand one another. Pilgrimages to sites both known and unexpected are suggested in Dix's paintings, religious ceremony is referenced. Costume, disguise and the borrowing and interpretation of symbols are prevalent. Timeframes are indistinct, in Dix's work the present assimilates the residue of the past, we are left contemplating whether a scene is contemporary or historic.   Education   2009 - M.A. Fine Art Wimbledon College of Art 1990 - B.A. (Hons) Graphics and Illustration. Middlesex Polytechnic   SELECTED RECENT EXHIBITIONS AND ART FAIRS: 2020 - bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery Papyrophylia, Charlie Smith Gallery 2019 - bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery   2018 - In Search of the Author, Zedes Gallery, Brussels bo.lee gallery at London Art Fair 2020, bo.lee gallery 2016 - New Paintings, Slete Gallery, Los Angeles All are Welcome, Eleven, London Yesterday's Prophets, Eleven, London   SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS   2017 - In Residence, Griffin Gallery, London Relics from the De-Crypt, Gossamer Fog, London   2016 - Telling Tales, Colleyer Bristow, London   2015 - BFAMI Contemporary Art Auction, Sotheby's, London The Mdina Biennale, Malta Strange Cities, Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens and New York London Art Fair Project Space, The Contemporary London, London   2014 - 100 Painters of Tomorrow, Christies and Beers Contemporary, London So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, Lawrie Shabbi, Dubai   2013 - Salon 10. Marine Contemporary, Los Angeles Ici Londres, Galierie Silin, Paris News From The Sun, Phoenix Art Centre, Exeter 2012 - Editions, Other Criteria, London Programming Myth, Sumarria Lunn, London Unobtrusive Measures, Kunstpavillion, Munich On The Horizon, New Generation of British Painters, Marine Contemporary, Los Angeles   2011 - Fraternise, Beaconsfield Gallery, London Exam, Transition Gallery, London   2010 - Transmission, Haunch of Venison, London Keep Me Posted, Julia Royse, London   2009 - Black Dog Yellow House, Trolley Gallery, London   Gallery Representation   Candida Stevens Gallery in the UK, Zedes Art Gallery in Belgium and Obsolete in Los Angeles. You must not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any works. In doing so, you endanger our relationships with artists, and directly jeopardizes the charitable work we do. Anyone found doing will subject to legal action.  

Tamara Jovandić-Everson Untitled 3, 2022 Acrylic and Mixed Media on Paper Signed on Verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.) About   Tamara finished the Academy of Art in Sarajevo and has lived and worked in North London since 1992. She has over thirty group exhibitions in the UK, Ireland, France and the USA, and five solo shows. Tamara has exhibited at prestigious art galleries such as Mall Gallery, Cork Street, Royal College of Art, and many more. Tamara's paintings, for a period of years, were about exploring female sexuality and nudity through expressionistic imagery, highlighting spiritual and religious themes which suggest a paradox. Tamara's preoccupation for dramatic contrast and religious themes, using live models and working quickly and directly onto canvas, comes from a fascination with Italian Baroque and Caravaggio's use of chiaroscuro and his rich and dark palette. Intending to relate to the viewer on the most intimate level, these works are always faceless and express the universality of torment through human emotion. Exploring the human body through suffering, sacrifice, isolation, and emptiness is autobiographical: based on life in exile, and a homeland torn apart in the civil war (former Yugoslavia). The works are generated from studies of life models. Drawings are then enlarged and painted on a larger scale. In recent works, there is further development in growing out of the narrative, investigating 'painting within painting', freeing and enlarging further parts of figurative artworks, bringing dramatic contrasts by using a variety of mediums to build texture including sand, plaster, and resin...   Education   1986-1991 Academy of Art, Sarajevo   Select Exhibitions/Awards   MAIN SOLO SHOWS: 2018: Highgate Gallery - solo show 2002: Mediterraneo Gallery, Chiswick, London 2000: Terra Gallery, Chiswick, London 1999: Workhouse Art Gallery, Chelsea, London 1994: Locus Gallery, Hampstead, London 1991: Zvono Gallery, Sarajevo GROUP EXHIBITIONS: 2017 London Biennale, Chelsea 2015 Royal College of Art, 20/21 International 2014 Arthorp Gallery, Arts Depot Open 2011 Galery 69, Limogue, France 2010 Landmark Art Center, Summer Art Fair 2010 Russian Art Fair, Park Lane, London 2010 Christie's auction, St.Mary's Church, London 2010 The Dissenters Gallery, London 2009 The Bridge, Ladbroke Grove 2007 National Gallery Museum, Croatia 2006 Pro Art Exhibition, Chelsea Town Hal 2004 Salon des Arts, "Religion, Art & War", Knightsbridge, London 2003 Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London2001 Unicorn Gallery, Fulham, London 2001 Terra Gallery, Chiswick, London 2000 Erotica, Olympia, Kensington, London 2000 DFN Gallery, Manhattan, New York, USA 1999 Candid Gallery, Islington, London 1997 Talisman Fine Art Gallery, London 1996 Workhouse Gallery, Chelsea, London 1996 The Octagon, Fulham, London 1995 Sternberg Centre for Judaism, London 1995 The Illaca Gallery, Brighton 1994 Art and Life in Exile Exhibition, University of London 1994 Salama-Caro Gallery, Cork Street, London 1994 The Crypt, St. Martins in the Fields, London 1994 Garter Lane Arts Center, Waterford, Ireland 1993 Leo Baeck Association, London Jewish Community, Hampstead 1991 Group Exhibition of ULUBIH, Collegium Artisticum, Sarajevo 1991 Biennial Exhibition of Student Drawing Gallery of Student City, Belgrade 1991 Exhibition at Foca Museum, Foca 1990 Exhibition (Oil on canvas), Kamerni Theatre Gallery, Sarajevo   Statement about AOAP Submitted Artwork   These works were based on life models and are observational, but expressive. In these works I tried to depict power of emotion by minimal use of colour via dramatic contrast and texture.   You must not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any works. In doing so, you endanger our relationships with artists, and directly jeopardizes the charitable work we do. Anyone found doing will subject to legal action.  

Tamara Jovandić-Everson Untitled 4, 2022 Acrylic and Mixed Media on Paper Signed on Verso 15 x 10cm (5¾ x 3¾ in.) About   Tamara finished the Academy of Art in Sarajevo and has lived and worked in North London since 1992. She has over thirty group exhibitions in the UK, Ireland, France and the USA, and five solo shows. Tamara has exhibited at prestigious art galleries such as Mall Gallery, Cork Street, Royal College of Art, and many more. Tamara's paintings, for a period of years, were about exploring female sexuality and nudity through expressionistic imagery, highlighting spiritual and religious themes which suggest a paradox. Tamara's preoccupation for dramatic contrast and religious themes, using live models and working quickly and directly onto canvas, comes from a fascination with Italian Baroque and Caravaggio's use of chiaroscuro and his rich and dark palette. Intending to relate to the viewer on the most intimate level, these works are always faceless and express the universality of torment through human emotion. Exploring the human body through suffering, sacrifice, isolation, and emptiness is autobiographical: based on life in exile, and a homeland torn apart in the civil war (former Yugoslavia). The works are generated from studies of life models. Drawings are then enlarged and painted on a larger scale. In recent works, there is further development in growing out of the narrative, investigating 'painting within painting', freeing and enlarging further parts of figurative artworks, bringing dramatic contrasts by using a variety of mediums to build texture including sand, plaster, and resin...   Education   1986-1991 Academy of Art, Sarajevo   Select Exhibitions/Awards   MAIN SOLO SHOWS: 2018: Highgate Gallery - solo show 2002: Mediterraneo Gallery, Chiswick, London 2000: Terra Gallery, Chiswick, London 1999: Workhouse Art Gallery, Chelsea, London 1994: Locus Gallery, Hampstead, London 1991: Zvono Gallery, Sarajevo GROUP EXHIBITIONS: 2017 London Biennale, Chelsea 2015 Royal College of Art, 20/21 International 2014 Arthorp Gallery, Arts Depot Open 2011 Galery 69, Limogue, France 2010 Landmark Art Center, Summer Art Fair 2010 Russian Art Fair, Park Lane, London 2010 Christie's auction, St.Mary's Church, London 2010 The Dissenters Gallery, London 2009 The Bridge, Ladbroke Grove 2007 National Gallery Museum, Croatia 2006 Pro Art Exhibition, Chelsea Town Hal 2004 Salon des Arts, "Religion, Art & War", Knightsbridge, London 2003 Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London2001 Unicorn Gallery, Fulham, London 2001 Terra Gallery, Chiswick, London 2000 Erotica, Olympia, Kensington, London 2000 DFN Gallery, Manhattan, New York, USA 1999 Candid Gallery, Islington, London 1997 Talisman Fine Art Gallery, London 1996 Workhouse Gallery, Chelsea, London 1996 The Octagon, Fulham, London 1995 Sternberg Centre for Judaism, London 1995 The Illaca Gallery, Brighton 1994 Art and Life in Exile Exhibition, University of London 1994 Salama-Caro Gallery, Cork Street, London 1994 The Crypt, St. Martins in the Fields, London 1994 Garter Lane Arts Center, Waterford, Ireland 1993 Leo Baeck Association, London Jewish Community, Hampstead 1991 Group Exhibition of ULUBIH, Collegium Artisticum, Sarajevo 1991 Biennial Exhibition of Student Drawing Gallery of Student City, Belgrade 1991 Exhibition at Foca Museum, Foca 1990 Exhibition (Oil on canvas), Kamerni Theatre Gallery, Sarajevo   Statement about AOAP Submitted Artwork   These works were based on life models and are observational, but expressive. In these works I tried to depict power of emotion by minimal use of colour via dramatic contrast and texture.   You must not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any works. In doing so, you endanger our relationships with artists, and directly jeopardizes the charitable work we do. Anyone found doing will subject to legal action.  

JOSEP LLIMONA BRUGUERA (Barcelona, 1864 - 1934)."Modèstia", 1891.Sculpture in polychrome stucco.Signed.With Esteva & Cia. stamp.Work catalogued in "Una passejada per l'obra de Josep Llimona, 150 anys", MEAM, 2015, Barcelona, p. 104.Size: 42 x 36 x 22 cm.The sculpture "Modèstia" is evidence of Josep Llimona's most personal characteristics: naturalistic idealism, an inclination towards the gentle side of reality and, above all, a great delicacy and beauty in his female figures, always slender and innocent, enveloped in a veil of mystery.Josep Limona is remembered as the most important Catalan sculptor of Modernisme. Trained at the Escola de la Llotja in Barcelona, he obtained a pension to go to Rome in 1880. During his stay in Italy he was influenced by Florentine Renaissance sculpture. With the works he sent from there he already won prizes (gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1888), as well as a great reputation. With his brother Joan he founded the Círculo Artístico de Sant Lluc, a Catalan artistic association of a religious nature (the two brothers were deep believers). By the mid-1990s his style was already drifting towards full modernism. He received the prize of honour at the International Exhibition of Fine Arts held in 1907 in Barcelona. From 1900 onwards he concentrated on his famous female nudes, and in 1914 he created, in collaboration with Gaudí, his impressive "Risen Christ". His artistic genius also manifested itself in large public monuments such as the equestrian statue of Saint George in Montjuic Park in Barcelona, as well as in works of funerary imagery, such as the pantheons he created for various cemeteries. In addition to exhibiting in Barcelona and other Catalan cities, he exhibited his work in Madrid, Brussels, Paris, Buenos Aires and Rosario (Argentina). He was president of the Barcelona Museum Board from 1918 to 1924, and again from 1931 until his death in 1934. Throughout his life he received numerous decorations, including those awarded by the French and Italian governments. He was also awarded the Gold Medal of the City of Barcelona in 1932, in recognition of his extraordinary work in the development of museum activity. Llimona's work can be found in the Monastery of Montserrat, the National Art Museum of Catalonia and the Reina Sofia Museum, among others.

INVADER (B. 1969)Rubik Travis Bickle Mohican 2007 signed, titled and dated 007 on the reverseRubik's cubes on Perspex panel83.8 by 122.9 by 5.5 cm.33 by 48 3/8 by 2 3/16 in.Footnotes:ProvenanceLazarides Gallery, LondonAcquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2007ExhibitedLondon, Lazarides Gallery, London Invasion / Bad Men Part II, 2007, p. 34-35, illustrated in colourInvader is one of the world's most prolific and esteemed street artists. He has been one of the leading pioneers of the Street Art movement to have emerged in the last thirty years, standing alongside Banksy, STIK, and Shepard Fairey as a creator of some of the most iconic and beloved public works of art in the world. His style is utterly unique, and the present work, Rubik Travis Bickle Mohican, captures the punkish, analogue methods that typify his career. Growing up in the 1970's and 80's, Invader's work has drawn inspiration from the popular culture of this period. After graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, he began the street art project that would launch him into the public eye in 1998, installing mosaic pieces that resembled the pixelated, '8-bit' style of Space Invader villains across his home city. He almost instantly became beloved by a global public for whom his works were an essential part of the urban landscape, 'invading' city spaces with iconic characters and emblems that were craftily installed often without notice. To this day, he has thousands of mosaics on view in the public spaces of world cities, beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean, and even aboard the International Space Station. The impact of his career for Street Art and contemporary art at large is immeasurable, and such works as Rubik Travis Bickle Mohican represent the pinnacle of his artistic output. Using his original technique dubbed 'Rubikcubism', Invader takes this fascination with nostalgia and mainstream culture further by using the Rubik's Cube as a medium. The present work combines Invader's instantly recognisable pixelated, pointillist style with one of the most iconic antiheroes from 1970's American cinema - Travis Bickle from Martin Scorsese's 1976 drama Taxi Driver. Through the careful and masterfully obsessive manipulation of the 330 Rubik's Cubes, Invader forms the image of Bickle at the apex of his character arc.Invader's street art is composed of tile mosaics, and depict characters from wildly popular retro arcade games such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man. However, for Invader's studio works he expands the possibilities of pixelation by appropriating a popular image and converting small areas of the image from its native colours into exacting configurations of white, yellow, red, blue, orange, and green tiles on each corresponding Rubik's Cube. The finished artwork simultaneously alludes to the Pointillist principles of Georges Seurat, as well as Picasso and Braques' preoccupation with Cubism which occurred a century before this present work was created. Viewed up close, the present work appears as an abstract cacophony of colours; viewed from afar, however, the image of Bickle with his anarchic mohawk hairstyle materialises. The somewhat grainy and fragmented nature the individual tiles imbue the portrait with nostalgic memories of the filmmaking process. The speckles of white on the top left evoke flecks of overexposed 35mm film. The subject matter reveals not only Invader's interest in mainstream pop culture and nostalgia, but also hints at Invader's humorous, satirical, even philosophical perspectives. The innocence of an iconic game is juxtaposed with the complex and internally tormented nature of Travis Bickle. The nigh infinite number of algorithmic configurations of the Rubik's Cube mirrors the plurality of pop culture and its ubiquitous nature. In the late 2000's, Invader reflected on spirituality as a theme; amongst the same series as the present work, one finds Rubikcubist portraits of the 14th Dalai Lama and Jesus. Travis Bickle, and by extension Robert De Niro who portrays Bickle, are iconified via Invader's laborious yet reverent technique. Rubik Travis Bickle Mohican was exhibited at Invader's first London exhibition London Invasion / Bad Men Part II at Lazarides Gallery in 2007 and has remained in the same private collection ever since. In direct contrast to the serene portraits of religious leaders and famous musicians, or reimagining of iconic masterpieces from the Western canon, the works from the Bad Men Part II series showcase the brazen attitude, grit, and omnipotent hold over the public's attention of these antithetical characters. They point to Invader's quick-witted and humorous qualities as the artist himself has remained anonymous, evading the authorities and the public life throughout his career. Through this choice of subject matter, methods of abstraction and the integration of a cult classic game as a material, Invader's works are revolutionary and iconoclastic. Rubik Travis Bickle Mohican is an exceptional example of the street artist's seamless foray into a unique and technically sophisticated series of studio works which rarely come to market.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Tony Cragg (B. 1949)Pair 2018 incised with the artist's signature and stamped with the foundry mark SCHMAKE DUSSELDORFbronze100 by 50.4 by 24.5 cm. 39 3/8 by 19 13/16 by 9 5/8 in. This work was executed in 2018, and is from an edition of 6. Footnotes:ProvenanceGalleri Andersson/Sandström, Stockholm (#7924)Acquired directly from the above by the present ownerTony Cragg is one of Britain's greatest living artists. His pieces are transcendent and beautiful. They capture radical bodies that are at once both mathematic and corporeal. These jettisoned figures are precise and defy the human hand yet remain some of the most compelling abstract sculptures to have ever been produced. Pair, presented here, from 2018, is an elegant example of the British artist's work. Impressive in its scale and wonderfully finished in a rich brown patina that gives incredible depth to the bronze surface, it is a remarkable example of Cragg's Rational Beings series that has become so beloved by collectors around the world. There is an intriguing dialecticism in Cragg's practice. Dealing with organic forms, and often being inspired by the human body in flux, facial expressions and raw emotion, the artist has been a pioneer of sculptural techniques and technologies that isolate, manipulate, and render impossible objects in breath-taking exactitude. Like the pair of towering forms presented here, the artist is consistently placing meaning in dialogue with process – colliding and balancing these two key tenets to his practice. Cragg is one of those rare artists for whom the immaculate finish and refinery of his work only stands to heighten the power of its impression upon a spectator. 'There is this idea that sculpture is static, or maybe even dead, but I feel absolutely contrary to that,' Cragg has stated in a 2007 interview. 'I'm not a religious person – I'm an absolute materialist – and for me material is exciting and ultimately sublime. When I'm involved in making sculpture, I'm looking for a system of belief or ethics in the material. I want that material to have a dynamic, to push and move and grow,' (the artist in: Robert Ayers, 'The AI Interview: Tony Cragg', Art Info, 10 May 2007, online).Cragg has been one of the world's foremost sculptors for more than three decades, bursting to prominence in 1988, the year in which he won both the Turner Prize and was selected to represent the UK at the Venice Biennale. Not only has his work helped to define the plastic arts in museums and within the art market for the past quarter century, but his profound engagement with sculpture has also served to influence subsequent generations of artists as a result of his roles as Professor at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, France (1999-2009) and Professor at Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf, Germany (2009 to present). He has shown in many of the world's most prestigious and important museums and his works are in many of the world's major collections including the Tate London, MoMA New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and many more. The present work, Pair, is a bronze that is uniquely liveable as an indoor sculpture. It demonstrates the perfectionism and incomparable achievements of Cragg's sculptural output, producing works that are completely singular in their approach to humanity and technology. It is an exceptional example, finished in a rarely seen patina, and a centrepiece for any discerning collector.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * AR* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A SANDSTONE LINTEL CENTERPIECE DEPICTING A KALA, BANTEAY SREI STYLE, ANGKOR PERIODKhmer Empire, Siem Reap, 10th century. Boldly and deeply carved with the head of a fierce kala with bulging eyes and prominent nose, three lotus flowers borne on beaded leafy stems issuing from its wide-open mouth, surrounded by scrolling foliage.Provenance: From an old private collection in California, USA.Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, weathering, losses, nicks, chips, and surface scratches.Weight: 14.4 kg (incl. stand)Dimensions: Height 43 cm (excl. stand) and 49.3 cm (incl. stand)Mounted to an associated metal stand. (2)Banteay Srei, the 'citadel of beauty', is a 10th-century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, consecrated on 22 April 967 AD, and the only major temple at Angkor not built by a monarch but credited to two important courtiers, Vishnukumara and Yajnavaraha. It lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, 25 km northeast of the main temple group that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapura and Angkor Thom. Originally, it carried the name Tribhuvanamaheshvara—great lord of the threefold world—in reference to the Shaivite linga that served as its central religious image. The temple's modern name, Banteay Srei, means 'citadel of women' or 'citadel of beauty'.Literature comparison: Compare a sandstone lintel with a central kala head, dated ca. mid-10th century, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1994.111.

AN INDIAN MINIATURE PAINTING OF A SADHUIndia, 19th century. Watercolors on paper. The long-haired holy woman seated beside two dervishes engaged in conversation at a fire under a towering tree and the dark night sky, adorned with earrings and a necklace, holding a rosary in one hand.Provenance: From an English private collection. The upper margin with an old inscription, 'This is a gift from my friend Mrs. Heathcote who lived in this street'.Condition: Good condition with minor wear, soiling, staining, foxing, and creasing, few minuscule losses, possibly microscopic touchups.Dimensions: Image size 20 x 15.5 cm. Mounted and framed behind glass.Sadhu is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively referred to as yogi, sannyasi or vairagi. Literally, it means one who practices a ″sadhana″ or keenly follows a path of spiritual discipline.Auction result comparison: Compare a related Indian miniature painting of a sadhu and a mynah bird at Sotheby's New York in Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works Of Art on 15 March 2017, lot 315, sold for USD 12,500. Compare also another related Indian miniature painting of a princess visiting a sadhu in the same auction, lot 296, sold for USD 3,000.

Christopher Wood (British, 1901-1930)Drying Sails, Mousehole, Cornwall oil on board40.6 x 50.8 cm. (16 x 20 in.)Painted in 1930Footnotes:ProvenanceMr and Mrs L.K. Elmhirst, thence by descentPrivate Collection, U.K.ExhibitedLondon, The New Burlington Galleries, Christopher Wood, Exhibition of Complete Works, 3 March-2 April 1938, cat.no.37London, The Arts Council of Great Britain, English Contemporaries, 1949, cat.no.2Copenhagen, Kunstforeninger, British Arts 1900-1955, 10-29 April 1956, cat.no.48; this exhibition travelled to Oslo, Kunstnernes Hus, 12 May-10 JuneLiteratureEric Newton, Christopher Wood, The Redfern Gallery, London, 1938, cat.no.437In 1928 Christopher Wood made the decision to join Ben and Winifred Nicholson in Cornwall, rather than return to Paris. He had first travelled to the French capital in 1921 at the age of 20 and his visits had provided invaluable opportunities to observe the finest examples of Post-Impressionism, Cubism and Fauvism. As a result he was familiar with the work of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse and of course Picasso and Jean Cocteau, both of whom he had known and taken lessons with. This time on the continent taught Wood that simplicity and refinement were the essential characteristics of modern art, and it brought a deep understanding of and appreciation for the Primitive movement, which he strove to emulate in his work over the following years in a very English manner. It was during this initial trip to Cornwall, far from the avant-garde artists of Europe, that Christopher Wood and Ben Nicholson were to find their ultimate expression of primitive painting in the form of Alfred Wallis, an 80-year-old retired fisherman and self-taught artist who lived at Number 3 Back Road West in St Ives. Within his home were numerous pictures of ships, lighthouses and harbours painted on a variety of irregular cardboard, paper and other salvaged material with distinctive naivety. This now legendary 'discovery' was to have a profound effect and invigorated both artists who sought to absorb the lessons of the elderly mariner by leaving their lodgings in Feock to move closer to St Ives, with Wood settling at Meadow Cottage overlooking Porthmeor Beach. It was from this location and following almost daily trips to Wallis that Wood wrote to his mother, 'I feel my things are becoming really vital and the studentship has passed, my work is forming something quite personal and sure, unlike anybody else's, and I don't think anyone can paint the pictures I am doing.' (Christopher Wood quoted in Katy Norris, Christopher Wood, Lund Humphries in association with Pallant House Gallery, London, 2016, p.109). Having immersed himself in a seafaring culture which spoke to him, Wood crossed the Channel and spent several months in the fishing village of Treboul in Brittany during 1929. As well as the everyday lives of its inhabitants, many of the images he created are deeply personal and reflect on local customs of the maritime community, observing instances of religious contemplation and festive celebration with both intensity and dignity. The epiphany that had occurred upon meeting Alfred Wallis and the lessons learnt from the nautical communities of northern France were developed in the artist's final visit to Cornwall prior to his untimely death, where he based himself in the tiny village of Mousehole. During March 1930 he worked solidly here for two weeks and described himself to Ben Nicholson as being 'absolutely deliriously happy painting' amongst the narrow grey streets and fishing boats (Christopher Wood quoted in Richard Ingleby, Christopher Wood: An English Painter, Allison & Busby, London, 1995, p.231). Drying Sails, Mousehole, Cornwall belongs to the group of works painted during this busy time and shows the progression of the artist's naïve, figurative style which is entirely unique. It exudes a sense of calm as groups of figures amble along the quay past the Ship Inn, which remains to this day. There can be little doubt this is a fishing community with the large sail strewn across the wall, drying from a recent fishing trip, possibly treacherous given the time of year and in stark contrast to the current atmosphere. The carefully observed structure of the boats is a technique that had been honed on a previous visit to Dieppe, along with the scratching and incising of the painted surface. The flashes of colour both here and in other selected passages of the composition act in contrast to the black, white, grey and brown palette that pervades. This simple clarity of colour and form came from the artist's immediate instinct for his subjects and also the teachings of Wallis who conveyed the essential reduction of these components. Drying Sails, Mousehole, Cornwall is closely related to Ship Inn, Mousehole, completed at the same time and in the collection of Manchester City Galleries.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Andalusian school, possibly from Seville, ca. 1700."Infant Jesus".Carved and polychrome wood. Eyes in vitreous paste. Hair. Silver base and cross.Measurements: 28 cm (height); 35 cm (total height).Polychrome wood carving representing the Child Jesus full-length and naked, which indicates that he was originally dressed in royal robes. It is a magnificently anatomically worked carving, of extraordinary naturalism, following the baroque canons of the Spanish school. The Child stands on a chiselled silver base, with its upper part reticulated and the corners ornamented with plant motifs. The cross and the child's shoes are made of the same material.Spanish Baroque sculpture is one of the most authentic and personal examples of our art, because its conception and form of expression arose from the people and their deepest feelings. With the economy of the State in ruins, the nobility in decline and the high clergy burdened with heavy taxes, it was the monasteries, parishes and confraternities of clerics and laymen who promoted its development, the works sometimes being financed by popular subscription. Sculpture was thus obliged to express the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded a realistic language from art so that the faithful could understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content in order to increase the fervour and devotion of the people. Religious themes were therefore the preferred subject matter of Spanish sculpture of this period, which in the early decades of the century was based on a priority interest in capturing the natural world, gradually intensifying over the course of the century in the depiction of expressive values, which it achieved through movement and the variety of gestures, the use of light resources and the representation of moods and feelings.

Full title: A rare large Flemish oak four-door cupboard with carved X-panels and wrought iron mounts, 1st half 16th C.Description:H 210 x L 205 x D 90,5 cmÊ Provenance: - The Karmelklooster convent in the Schutterstraat in Bruges, where it has likely resided for centuries.- Acquired directly from the religious order by Mr. De Grande.Ê Ref.: A closely related example is in the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, inv. 2037. (link available on rm-auctions.com)Ê Expert: Cabinet Benoit BertrandAbout this sale: Paul De Grande is one of the major dealers of antique furniture, fine sculptures and decorative arts in Europe. In 1974, he moved to the Castle of Snellegem near Bruges. From there, he catered to the rich and famous, important decorators and museums around the world. Entering a new chapter, Paul has decided it is time to part with his private collection and part of his trade stock. This sale presents a unique opportunity to clinch a piece of this wonderful personality's history. Paul's main focus has always been on Renaissance sculpture, French and Italian furniture and pieces of museal quality. He has had sales with Christies and Sotheby's in the past. He's also an important personality on various Belgian tv shows.

William Griffin of Hull (British fl.1837-1883): 'Whaling Ships Jane and Harmony off the Port of Hull with Holy Trinity Church in the distance', oil on panel signed and indistinctly dated 1837 l.l., labelled verso with history of ships 50cm x 79cmProvenance: private collection purchased Christies 26th May 2004 Lot 603; with Colin Denny Ltd. Specialists in marine works of Art, Chelsea Green, London; probably painted to celebrate the end of the Jane's whaling career and the survival of both vessels from the severe conditions of the 1836 season where the 'Middleton' was wrecked, the 'Jane' was known as a Bethel ship having frequent religious services on board conducted the mate/preacher Stephen Wilson. Illustrated in Marine Painting in Hull Through Three Centuries' by Arthur Credland pub. Hull City Museums 1993, pp. 168Condition Report:Overall good condition, shows some minor over-painting under UV light. Two or three minor surface marks

Ushebti. Egypt, Saita period, Dynasties XXVI to XXX (663-341 BC).Greenish-brown faience.In very good condition.Attached is a report issued in the 1970s by Ricardo Batista Noguera, former director of the Archaeological Museum of Barcelona, of the Archaeological Museum of Olérdola (Barcelona), of the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia and municipal archaeologist of Tossa de Mar.Attached is a photocopy of the purchase invoice from 1984.Measurements: 13.5 x 4 x 2.5 cm.Ushebti with a mummiform body, as they were never represented in the clothes of the living. It has inscriptions along the front related to agricultural work, as these figures were used as servants in the fields of the divinities. They replaced the deceased in these duties and were therefore represented with the most common tools: the hoe and the hatchet. The piece we present here shows the typical smooth tripartite wig, braided beard and arms crossed over the chest, with the aforementioned tools. The feet rest on a base.Ushebtis, an Egyptian term meaning 'those who respond', are small statuettes that in ancient Egypt were placed in tombs as part of the grave goods of the deceased, and whose function was to replace them in the work they were to perform in the afterlife. Most were made of ceramic, wood or stone, although in the richest tombs they could be found carved in lapis lazuli. The oldest surviving examples come from the Middle Kingdom, although references to them can be found in texts from the end of the Old Kingdom. After the sacred scarabs, ushebtis are the most numerous and possibly the most characteristic pieces of Egyptian art that have survived to the present day. Throughout the ages they have always had the same function in the religious sphere, but while during the Middle Kingdom they were conceived as a representation of their owner before Osiris in the work of tilling the kingdom of the shadows, replicas of the deceased, from the New Kingdom onwards they came to be seen as his servants or slaves, and were produced in large numbers.

Italian school, ca.1600. Following models by ANDREA DEL SARTO (Florence, 1486 - 1531)."Madonna and Child with Saint John Child".Oil on copper.Spanish frame-cornucopia of the 18th century.Defects and restorations.Measurements: 22 x 16,3 cm; 63 x 51 cm (frame).In this canvas the author represents a scene very repeated in the History of Art especially since the Renaissance: the Virgin with the Child Jesus in her arms, accompanied by Saint John the Baptist, also a child. It emphasised the human aspect of Christ, the innocence and happiness of his childhood, in dramatic contrast to his destiny. The grape branches that John gives to the Virgin symbolise Christ, his sacrifice and his love for humanity. The Saviour and the Baptist are depicted as tender children of delicate beauty and soft anatomy, protected by the maternal figure of Mary, whose face conveys a certain melancholy, knowing the sorrows she will suffer. Except for the drapery that theatricalises the composition (a typically Baroque device), formally this work is very close to the Virgins of the Renaissance painter Andrea del Sarto, who also produced numerous paintings of Mary with the two children. The strong chromatic contrast, the modelling of the faces, the absence of any superfluous elements and the excellent quality of the work show the direct influence of the Florentine painter.The son of a tailor - hence his nickname (sarto) - according to Giorgio Vasari Andrea del Sarto began in the workshop of a goldsmith, but his skill in drawing soon led him to devote himself to painting. His artistic education took place alongside Piero di Cosimo and in 1508 he established himself as an independent artist. After an initial period of collaboration with Franciabigio, he soon began to undertake numerous commissions on his own, particularly for religious orders. His growing prestige earned him an invitation from François I in 1518 to move to Paris and he returned to Florence the following year. There, during the second decade of the 15th century, his works had a decisive influence on the more experimental young artists such as Rosso and Pontormo, but their achievements were to be echoed in Sarto's work from the 1920s onwards. Moreover, Sarto always took into account and applied the lessons of the great masters of the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci's treatment of light and colour, Raphael's formal perfection and Michelangelo's sculptural volume and inventiveness. To all this he added a poetics of refined sensibility, which permanently influenced Tuscan art for decades.

Spanish school; circa 1600."Calvary".Oil on canvas. Re-drawn.It presents faults on the pictorial surface.It has a 19th century frame with faults.Measurements: 128 x 89 cm; 141 x 103 cm (frame).This piece follows the models of the Calvary painted by Michelangelo Bounarroti, which was later collected in the engraving by Domenico Custos (1560-162). Michelangelo was inspired by the Laocoön to create the face of Christ, so that he endowed the figure of the Redeemer with the same exacerbated posture. The original work is in Logroño Cathedral.This canvas shows the Crucifixion with the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Evangelist at her feet. In Western art, the representation of Christ on the cross was preferred, as a narrative scene, and the figure of Saint John the Baptist was replaced by that of John the Evangelist. An image whose conception and form are the result of the expression of the people and their deepest feelings. With the economy of the state in ruins, the nobility in decline and the clergy heavily taxed, it was the monasteries, parishes and confraternities of clerics and laymen who were the driving force behind its development, and the works were sometimes financed by popular subscription. Painting was thus obliged to express the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded a realistic language from art so that the faithful could understand and identify with what was depicted, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervour and devotion of the people. Religious themes were therefore the preferred subject matter of Spanish sculpture of this period, which in the early decades of the century was based on a priority interest in capturing the natural world, gradually intensifying over the course of the century in the depiction of expressive values, which it achieved through movement and the variety of gestures, the use of light resources and the representation of moods and feelings.

STÈLE DE SURYA EN GRÈSUTTAR PRADESH, CIRCA XE SIÈCLE76.2 cm (30 in.) highFootnotes:A SANDSTONE STELE OF SURYAUTTAR PRADESH, CIRCA 10TH CENTURY北方邦 約十世紀 砂岩太陽神石碑Provenance:With Claude de Marteau, New York, by 1967Richard B. Gump, San FranciscoSotheby's, New York, 6 October 1990, lot 290Identified by his characteristic boots, breast plate, and tall cylindrical crown—as well as by the two fully-blown lotuses he wields—this stele is devoted to the ancient Vedic sun god Surya, whose cult at one time rivaled that of Shiva and Vishnu, and who became prominently incorporated into the Vaishnavite tradition in northern India. He is dressed according to traditional conventions that depict him as a king. His 'northern' garb is thought to resemble that of Central Asian Indo-Scythian tribesmen, such as the Kushans, who ruled northern India in the first centuries of the common era. It is also thought to reflect the influence of ancient Iranian religious ideas, where the worship of the sun in personified form is through to derive (Rosenfield, The Arts of India and Nepal, 1966, p. 43). This near-complete composition includes Surya's wife, Ushas, the goddess of dawn, standing immediately before him as the herald of each new day. Either side of his feet are Surya's clerk and measurer, Pingala and Danda, carved in complementary tribhangha poses. Behind them are two further wives of Surya, possibly the shapelier Sarenu, daughter of Heaven, on the right, and her shadow, Chaya, on the left (although his wives Rajni and Nikshubha are also possible). Above them, by Surya's elbows, the two archers Usha and Pratyusha defend dawn and dusk from the darkness. At the very sides of the stele's lower half are yakshas squatting below celestial attendants carrying Brahmanic waterpots and offering gestures of reassurance, both pairs representing additional helpers in Surya's benign entourage. As Dye once deftly noted, Surya's bold lotus blossoms and crisp lotus halo, 'suggest both the sun itself and the boundless life it nurtures.' (Dye III, The Arts of India, Richmond, 2001, p.136). Such vitality is further evoked by virile youths wrestling the oversized makaras either side, whose conjoined tails carved with foliate motifs frame the radiant halo. Surya's proliferous benevolence is praised by pairs of celestial adorants flanking the halo, offering him garlands. The softly modeled fleshy cheeks and prominent lips that harken back to Gupta period point to the regional style of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. So too does the buff-to-reddish colored sandstone, the less extravagant array of regalia (in contrast to neighboring Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh), and the treatment of the lotus halo with broad, plain leaves arranged in a circle, bordered by a rim. Compare these various idioms with examples attributed to Uttar Pradesh in Desai & Mason (eds.), Gods, Guardians, and Lovers, 1993, pp. 187-8, 244-7 & 262-3, nos. 28, 62, & 70. Also see a Vamana in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (25.260).For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

STATUETTE DE BOUDDHA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE INCRUSTÉ D'ARGENTVALLÉE DE SWAT, VIIE SIÈCLEHimalayan Art Resources item no. 4833 10.5 cm (4 1/8 in.) highFootnotes:A SILVER INLAID COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA SWAT VALLEY, 7TH CENTURY 斯瓦特 七世紀 銅錯銀佛陀像 Published: Arman Neven, Sculpture des Indes, Brussels, 1978, p. 72, no. 30. Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p.70, pl. 3E. Jan van Alphen, Cast for Eternity, Antwerp, 2003, pp. 70-1, no. 14. Exhibited: Sculpture des Indes, Société Générale de Banque, Brussels, 8 December 1978 - 31 January 1979.Cast for Eternity, Antwerp Ethnographic Museum, Belgium, 12 April 2005 - 26 June 2005. Provenance:With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s The bronze-caster has skillfully conveyed the Buddha's enlightened consciousness with a compassionate expression illumined by silver-inlaid eyes and urna. The iconography of the Seated Buddha raising his right hand in the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra) is rather unusual for sculptures of the Swat Valley, most of which depict him extending his right hand in the gesture of charity (varada mudra) instead. The iconography derives from earlier Gandharan sculptures (see for example, a 6th-century Gandharan standing Buddha at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981.188a,b), suggesting that the present work is likely among earlier sculptures created in the Swat Valley around the 7th century. In the 5th century, the Swat Valley, located in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains in modern-day Pakistan, served as a refuge for Buddhist practitioners, as Huns raided the monasteries scattered throughout ancient Gandhara's lush plains. Buddhist bronzes from the Swat Valley therefore constitute an important artistic and religious link between the former civilization of Gandhara, the Gupta period of Northern India, and the rising states of Kashmir, Gilgit, and Western Tibet. Here, the pronounced parallel folds of Buddha's robe are clearly inspired by the Gandharan style, which was in turn influenced by Hellenistic traditions. On the other hand, his pronounced eyes, fleshy cheeks, incised long eyebrows, and small hair curls are all congruent with the Gupta idiom. While, the thick, V-shaped pleats around his neck are commonly seen in later Kashmiri bronzes. Several stylistic features of the present sculpture are consistent with other early Swat Valley images attributed to the 7th century. The treatment of Buddha's robe, using parallel folds to emphasize volume while revealing supple musculature around the chest, is closely related to two other 7th-century bronzes – one formerly in the Lahiri Collection (Christie's, New York, 14 March 2016, lot 44), the other in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Pal, Bronzes of Kashmir, 1975, pp. 88-9, no. 20). The three bronzes also share the same facial and lotus petal types. The distinctive, tightly-waisted lotus base, with artichoke-shaped petals covering the lower half and a plain, conical upper half, compares closely to another Swat Buddha at the Harvard Art Museums (1989.57). Also see other Swat bronzes made during the 7th-8th centuries published in von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. 1, 2001, pp. 32-3, nos. 2A-E.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

STATUE DE VAJRADHARA EN ALLIAGE DE CUIVRE DORÉTIBET, XIVE SIÈCLEHimalayan Art Resources item no. 4856 22.5 cm (8 7/8 in.) high Footnotes:A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF VAJRADHARA TIBET, 14TH CENTURY 西藏 十四世紀 銅鎏金金剛總持像 Provenance: With Claude de Marteau, Brussels, by 1970s Vajradhara is the primordial source from which all wisdom and compassion originate, and is here nobly depicted in the upright-seated, 'adamantine-throne' position (vajraparyankasana). Since his true, dharmakaya form is empty and ineffable to the unenlightened mind, Vajradhara is represented with an appealing 'reward body' (sambhogakaya), which portrays the bliss that comes from experiencing the dharma for oneself, while also offering a supple body adorned with resplendent jewelry and sumptuous clothing for the enjoyment and contemplation of practitioners. Vajradhara crosses his hands over his heart in vajrahumkara mudra, which symbolizes the perfect unity of wisdom and compassion needed to understand—and dissolve into—his true dharmakaya existence. There are many characteristics of this inviting gilt bronze that reflect the Nepalese tradition of image-making from the Kathmandu Valley. For example, Vajradhara's wide forehead and broad shoulders, combined with the delicate modelling of his fingers and toes, are classic elements of Newari sculpture. The relatively modest application of jewelry and the mostly un-patterned sheer lower garment both allow large swathes of his sensuous physique to be admired without visual obstruction, epitomizing a core Newari aesthetic rooted in Indian devotional art. More specifically, the incised floral scroll decoration that is applied to the hems of his garment, in addition to the looped sash wrapped around his tapered waist, are characteristic of Newari sculptures produced for worship in Nepal in the 14th century, such as an Indra sold at Christie's, New York, 17 March 2015, lot 11. On the other hand, the construction of the lotus base to accommodate and seal inserted consecrations, the lapis painted within the hair, and the choice of opaque turquoise settings instead of translucent gemstones betray Tibetan religious beliefs and practices, indicating that the Newari master-craftsman produced this handsome sculpture for a Tibetan patron. A group of similar 14th-century Newari-Tibetan bronzes located in Shalu Monastery are published in von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, 2001, pp. 959-63, nos. 229C, 230B-C, & 231E). Additionally, see a gilt-bronze image of Manjushri sold at Sotheby's, New York, 23 March 2007, lot 55.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

ARTIST: - (Europe, 18/19 century)NAME: Religious SceneMEDIUM: oil on canvas. Canvas applied to board.CONDITION: Some scrathes/paint losses. Some craquelure. No visible inpaint under UV light. AS IS (see pictures carefully) SIGHT SIZE: 29 x 23 inches / 73 x 58 cmFRAME SIZE: 34 x 28 inches / 86 x 71 cmSIGNATURE: unsignedCATEGORY: antique vintage paintingAD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT USSKU#: 121036US Shipping $90 + insurance.

ARTIST: - (Europe, 18/19 century)NAME: Religious SceneMEDIUM: oil on canvas. Canvas applied to board.CONDITION: Some scrathes/paint losses. Some craquelure. Some scattered inpaintings. AS IS (see pictures carefully) SIGHT SIZE: 29 x 23 inches / 73 x 58 cmFRAME SIZE: 34 x 27 inches / 86 x 68 cmSIGNATURE: unsignedCATEGORY: antique vintage paintingAD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT USSKU#: 121038US Shipping $90 + insurance.

JOSÉ CUSACHS Y CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851 - Barcelona, 1908)."Soldier", 1880.Oil on panel.Signed and dated in the lower right corner.Size: 35 x 26,5 cm.José Cusachs was born accidentally in France, as his parents were travelling there, but his art and his life were always linked to two places: Barcelona and Mataró. In 1865, after passing a competitive examination, he entered the Artillery Academy for a military career. However, in 1882, after a brilliant career that led him to become a captain in the army for war merits, he asked for retirement to devote himself to painting. Trained in Barcelona under the guidance of Simón Gómez, he completed his artistic studies with a stay in Paris at the studio of Édouard Détaille, one of the greatest experts in military themes, a genre that Cusachs favoured. Among military themes, this artist was particularly fond of cavalry, owing to his passion for horses. In 1880 he settled in Barcelona and began an extensive production of military studies, which were reproduced in F. Barado's work entitled "La vida militar en España" ("Military Life in Spain"). Previously, before leaving the army, he had worked as a caricaturist and chronicler of a Spain immersed in a maelstrom of political events, in which he was immersed due to his military status. It was precisely the success of these early works that prompted him to finally abandon his previous career to concentrate on art. During these years he made his work known through individual exhibitions, such as those he held regularly from 1884 onwards at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, which were always a great success in terms of sales and critical acclaim. By 1890 he was already a regular exhibitor at the gallery, where he showed new works every week. The bond between Cusachs and the Sala Parés was so deep, in fact, that after the painter's death the gallery fell into a period of absolute decadence. Cusachs also took part in official competitions; in 1887 he obtained notable recognition at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid with three paintings, one of which was acquired by the regent Maria Cristina ("En el campo de maniobras" ("On the Manoeuvre Field"). In 1891 he took part in the Berlin Exhibition and won the Gold Medal for his work "Division Manoeuvres". Cusachs was also a celebrated military portraitist, and painted General Prim, King Alfonso XIII in military uniform and Mexican President Profirio Díaz, among others. Other notable works by his hand include "Flight into Egypt" (1904) from the monastery of Montserrat, one of his few religious canvases, and "Abnegation" and "Distant Thought". Stylistically, Cusachs was a man open to innovation, although his work was always filtered through the filter of appreciation, study and meditation. Thus, he adopted those aspects he considered to be of value and discarded the rest. The bulk of his work is in the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid and the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, as well as other centres such as the Museo de Montserrat, the Museo Nacional de Historia, the Capitanía General de Valencia, the Jefatura de Artillería de Valladolid, the Galería de Capitanes Ilustres of Barcelona City Council and important private collections, such as the Santiago Gramunt collection.

JOSÉ CUSACHS Y CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851 - Barcelona, 1908)."Amazona".Oil on canvas.Signed in the lower left corner.Attached label of the Barbié Gallery and Barrachina's label.It presents light Greek in the upper right corner.Measurements: 56 x 45 cm; 85 x 74 cm (frame).Cusachs captures here an equestrian portrait far from the rigour of the genre, seeking to transfer to the canvas a piece of everyday life, of reality. This is particularly reflected in the way he captures the movement of the horse, at a walk, with two legs raised and its head lowered to form an elegant curve. The lady, dressed in the clothes of a mid-19th century horsewoman, elegantly maintains her composure.José Cusachs was accidentally born in France, as his parents were travelling there, but his art and his life were always linked to two places: Barcelona and Mataró. In 1865, after passing a competitive examination, he entered the Artillery Academy for a military career. However, in 1882, after a brilliant career that led him to become a captain in the army for war merits, he asked for retirement to devote himself to painting. Trained in Barcelona under the guidance of Simón Gómez, he completed his artistic studies with a stay in Paris at the studio of Édouard Détaille, one of the greatest experts in military themes, a genre that became Cusachs's favourite. Among military themes, this artist was particularly fond of cavalry, due to his passion for horses. In 1880 he settled in Barcelona and began an extensive production of military studies, which were reproduced in F. Barado's work entitled "La vida militar en España" ("Military Life in Spain"). Previously, before leaving the army, he had worked as a caricaturist and chronicler of a Spain immersed in a maelstrom of political events, in which he was immersed due to his military status. It was precisely the success of these early works that prompted him to finally abandon his previous career to concentrate on art. During these years he made his work known through individual exhibitions, such as those he held regularly from 1884 onwards at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, always obtaining great success in terms of sales and critical acclaim. By 1890 he was already a regular exhibitor at the gallery, where he showed new works every week. The bond between Cusachs and the Sala Parés was so deep, in fact, that after the painter's death the gallery fell into a period of absolute decadence. Cusachs also took part in official competitions; in 1887 he obtained notable recognition at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid with three paintings, one of which was acquired by the regent Maria Cristina ("En el campo de maniobras" ("On the Manoeuvre Field"). In 1891 he took part in the Berlin Exhibition and won the Gold Medal for his work "Division Manoeuvres". Cusachs was also a celebrated military portraitist, and painted General Prim, King Alfonso XIII in military uniform and Mexican President Profirio Díaz, among others. Other notable works by his hand include "Flight into Egypt" (1904) from the monastery of Montserrat, one of his few religious canvases, and "Abnegation" and "Distant Thought". Stylistically, Cusachs was a man open to innovation, although his work was always filtered through the filter of appreciation, study and meditation. Thus, he adopted those aspects he considered to be of value and discarded the rest. The bulk of his work is housed in the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid and the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, as well as other centres such as the Museo de Montserrat, the Museo Nacional de Historia, the Capitanía General de Valencia, the Jefatura de Artillería de Valladolid, the Galería de Capitanes Ilustres of Barcelona City Council and prominent private collections, such as the Santiago Gramunt collection.

ISAACS, JOHN1968 Lancaster/EnglandTitel: Fat Man. Datierung: 1997. Technik: Gelatinesilberabzug. Darstellungsmaß: 28 x 37,5cm. Blattmaß: 30,5 x 40,5cm. Bezeichnung: Signiert, nummeriert und datiert verso. Exemplar: 1/1. Rahmen: Rahmen. Ausstellungen:- Center for Religious Art and Culture, Herverlee 2006. John Isaacs England Zeitgenössische Kunst Fotografie 1990er Mann Fotografie Gelatinesilberabzug StraßenansichtErläuterungen zum Katalog

A pair of silver-gilt rosewater sprinklers India, possibly Lucknow, 19th Centuryof tall slender form on hexagonal feet, the bodies of rounded form with flattened sides, the necks in the form of confronting elephant heads with trunks intertwined, the spouts in the form of floral sprays, decorated in repoussé with elaborate floral motifs, the shoulders and feet with acanthus leaves, the bodies with lion heads, the sides with peris, each with engraved inscription to one 35.3 cm. high; total weight 1217 g.(2)Footnotes:Long necked bottles, such as the present lot, are used to sprinkle rosewater (gulab) on and around guests at both social and ceremonial or religious functions, the custom often indicating a mark of favour or hospitality. They had their origins in Persia but became popular throughout the Mughal Empire. The Emperor Jahangir (1605-27) refers to the custom in his memoirs, stating, 'the assembly of gulab-pashi (sprinkling of rose water) took place; from former times this has been known as ab-pashi (water sprinkling) and has become established from amongst customs of former days' (quoted in M. Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, p.69).For a similar pair of silver-gilt rosewater sprinklers sold in these rooms, see Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art Including the Lion and the Sun, Art from Qajar Persia, 30 April 2019, lot 155.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Basil Bradley (1842-1904)Irish Cabin Interior Showing a Man and Girl Making Súgán RopeOil on canvas laid down on panel 34.5 x 44.5cm (13½ x 17½”)SignedStraw was one of the most important organic materials in the economy of Irish rural life, and was used in fields as various – and vital – as clothing, building and agriculture. It also accrued religious, ritual and magical significance as well as developing rich linguistic associations. Straw was used for the fabrication of St Brigid’s crosses, for mummers’ costumes, fishing nets, toys and, as is shown here, rope – in Irish súgán or súgán cotháin.Basil Bradley portrays the weaving process as a collaborative effort between different generations of the family with the household’s two dogs noticeably indifferent to the task at hand. The artist’s ‘meticulous observation’ of detail has   been noted and here the furniture, interior setting and costume are rendered accurately giving the painting great documentary value (Claudia Kinmonth, Irish Rural Interiors in Art (2006) p. 88).The work is closely comparable, especially in its earth-based colour scheme, to Bradley’s, Irish Cabin, Spinning and, as is in that work, the  ‘women’s red petticoats’, which provide the one chromatic highlight, ‘suggest that the home is a western one’ (ibid.). In addition to its harmoniously controlled palette, there is a subtle deployment of light effects to evoke presence. Clearly, two sources of illumination are in play. The light from the window which silhouettes the standing girl’s profile is the most obvious. But there is also a secondary source from which light floods the left foreground of the image, bathing the seated man in its rays. This can only be from the cabin’s door and it is easy to imagine that this is the spot where Bradley has set up his easel. This makes him simultaneously a, literally, liminal presence – but also, rather suggestively, a witness as to the scene’s verisimilitude – standing very close by, just on the other side of the picture plane.Also enhancing the veracity of the scene is the way in which Bradley crops into the body of the bare-footed girl at the right-hand edge, rather than composing the scene into a balanced, classically-conceived composition. This is a technique more associated with the advanced Parisian modernity of Degas, than the stylistically retardataire tradition within which most painters of Irish rural life worked.While Bradley is careful to depict very scrupulously what he saw before him when visiting this particular cabin, his analytical viewpoint is not merely ethnographic, or at the expense of human interest. Instead, the image is both an endearing depiction of familial life and shared endeavour and an unmediated testament to the hardness of existence in the rural communities of the West of Ireland.Born in England, and excelling from an early date as an animal painter, Bradley was a careful recorder of the Irish landscape (for example in his View Of The Nine Pins, Connemara, 1873) and sympathetic chronicler of rural life (in for instance his Interior of an Irish Cabin in Connemara, 1879). Bradley exhibited with the Old Watercolour Society and, between 1873-99, with the Royal Academy.  His Irish work is rare but examples of his art can be found in leading museum collections internationally including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Manchester Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931)St Hubert, St Luke and St George (1927) Colour Scheme for the memorial window, St. Brigid's Church of Ireland, CastleknockWatercolour, 34.5 x 22cm (13½ x 8¾'')Provenance: With Grants Fine Art Gallery, label verso; with The Fine Art Society, label verso.Exhibited: 'The Stained Glass of Harry Clarke', The fine Art Society, 1988, catalogue no.46.In May 1927 when the commission for the Brooke memorial window for St Brigid’s Church of Ireland, Castleknock had been confirmed Harry Clarke noted in his diary ‘…bear in mind to give the maximum light and rich colour. Excellent light and position. Will stand rich colour and treatment… Subjects in base could be seen.’(1) When Harry Clarke and other stained glass artists of the period were in the process of designing a window, a key aspect was the creation of small-scale designs (usually made at the scale of one inch to the foot) to establish the composition and to determine the colour scheme; this example falls into the latter category.Raymond Brooke had commissioned Clarke to create a window to commemorate military, hunting and artistic members of his family. Three male saints were selected: St Hubert is depicted in the centre light and is in memory of Sir George Frederick Brooke, 1st Baronet of Summerton (the name of their home in Castleknock) who although a wine merchant and banker preferred to spend his time hunting, maintaining a prestigious pack of harriers that later became the North Kildare Harriers, and hence the choice of St Hubert, patron saint of hunters (note also Clarke’s inclusion of a poised hunting dog in profile). According to his daughter Rose Brooke, Sir George was a great admirer of Harry Clarke’s work and often used to go into his studio.’(2)The left light depicts St George, and it was in memory of the only son from Sir George’s first marriage, also named George, who was a member of the Irish Guards and who died at the Battle of Aisne in 1914. The choice of St George being appropriate not only as it is the deceased soldier’s name but also of course as he is a notable soldier saint, who along with St Michael, is one of the most popular saints for war memorial depictions. The right light was erected in memory of Sir George’s second wife Emily Alma (née Barton) a deeply religious and artistic individual who died several years ahead of both her husband and step-son. In addition to the full-length depictions of the three saints, each of the lights contain a predella panel at the base, and the one beneath St Luke shows the saint in his role as patron saint of artists, standing at an easel painting a portrait of the Virgin and Child.The apex of each light accommodates an angel bearing an heraldic shield, and behind and above them, in the three spandrels which comprise the tracery, is what the late Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe (the leading authority on Harry Clarke), referred to as ‘a deep blue sky threaded with gossamer and brightly coloured galactic phenomena’, a visual device she noted that Clarke had employed in his previous window for Tullycross Church but used here, in her opinion, to even greater effect.(3)Dr David CaronQuoted in Nicola Gordon Bowe, ‘Harry Clarke 1889–1931: His Life and Work’, PhD thesis, University of Dublin, 1991, vol. 2, p. 743.Ibid, vol. 2, p. 769 (quoting a letter from Rose Brooke to Nicola Gordon Bowe, 24 February 1974).Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke, The Life and Work (Dublin: The History Press, 2018), p. 268.  

Lucas Price (British, b. 1975) Telepathik Heights 18 Screen print on woven paper Signed in pencil Framed & glazed  72 x 53 cm (28 x 20 in) Contemporary artist Lucas Price, formerly known as Cyclops, blends the traditional and the modern, merging contemporary photo realism with antiquated styles and religious iconography. Price completed a Masters degree at the Royal College of Art, London. In 2008, he exhibited at the Tate Modern as part of their exhibition ‘Art on the Street’ and, in 2015, appeared in Bonhams’ contemporary auction. As well as working as a fine artist, Lucas Price founded the postmodernist menswear label ‘A.Four Labs’, with Tokyo-based designer Kazuki Kuraishi. This lot is also sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

K-Guy (British, b. 1968)Tr*ash - Politicians Kill, 2007Rare 3 colour screen GIFT print on textured gold paperSigned and dated in pencil and marked GIFTPublished by Souled Out Studios, with their blind stampProfessionally framed70 x 51 cm (27 x 20 in) K-Guy is a visual artist who lives and works in the epicentre of the street art scene, London.  The artist is best known for his sharp analyses and off-the-mark responses to what goes on around him, politicians, religious leaders, fast food outlets and entire economic systems have all been examined in K-Guy’s work. His controversial and quirky works in the streets of London have received worldwide media attention several times, for example with his installation ‘In Loving Memory to the Boom Economy', which was created in front of The Bank of England and depicted the burial of the flourishing economy.  Another example is his mural ‘Primate Pontificate’ as a reaction of the Pope’s visit to London. Renowned works from the artist include his collaboration with the Prodigy on a limited edition print which sold out instantly and his iconic best sellers ‘Coke Moss’, ‘Naomi Campbell’s, ‘Pepsi Cara and Linda EVANGELISTa’.This lot is also sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

K-Guy (British, b. 1968)Tr*ash - Religion Can Seriously Harm You And Others Around You, 2007Rare 3 colour screen GIFT print on textured gold paperSigned and dated in pencil and marked GIFTPublished by Souled Out Studios, with their blind stampProfessionally framed70 x 51 cm (27 x 20 in) K-Guy is a visual artist who lives and works in the epicentre of the street art scene, London.  The artist is best known for his sharp analyses and off-the-mark responses to what goes on around him, politicians, religious leaders, fast food outlets and entire economic systems have all been examined in K-Guy’s work. His controversial and quirky works in the streets of London have received worldwide media attention several times, for example with his installation ‘In Loving Memory to the Boom Economy', which was created in front of The Bank of England and depicted the burial of the flourishing economy.  Another example is his mural ‘Primate Pontificate’ as a reaction of the Pope’s visit to London. Renowned works from the artist include his collaboration with the Prodigy on a limited edition print which sold out instantly and his iconic best sellers ‘Coke Moss’, ‘Naomi Campbell’s, ‘Pepsi Cara and Linda EVANGELISTa’.This lot is also sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

K-Guy (British, b. 1968)Tr*ash - Poverty Can Seriously Damage Your Wealth, 2007Rare 3 colour screen GIFT print on textured gold paperSigned and dated in pencil and marked GIFTPublished by Souled Out Studios, with their blind stampProfessionally framed70 x 51 cm (27 x 20 in) K-Guy is a visual artist who lives and works in the epicentre of the street art scene, London.  The artist is best known for his sharp analyses and off-the-mark responses to what goes on around him, politicians, religious leaders, fast food outlets and entire economic systems have all been examined in K-Guy’s work. His controversial and quirky works in the streets of London have received worldwide media attention several times, for example with his installation ‘In Loving Memory to the Boom Economy', which was created in front of The Bank of England and depicted the burial of the flourishing economy.  Another example is his mural ‘Primate Pontificate’ as a reaction of the Pope’s visit to London. Renowned works from the artist include his collaboration with the Prodigy on a limited edition print which sold out instantly and his iconic best sellers ‘Coke Moss’, ‘Naomi Campbell’s, ‘Pepsi Cara and Linda EVANGELISTa’.This lot is also sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

Marc Chagall (1887 Witebsk - 1985 Saint-Paul-de-Vence) (F)'Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat', Farblithografie auf Velin, 1952, 68 cm x 49,5 cm Plattenmaß, 74,5 cm x 53,5 cm Passepartoutinnenmaß, signiert, Epreuves d'artiste nummeriert, im Druck signiert, 1949 datiert, leicht gewellt, leicht gebräunt, Literatur: WVZ. Solier VI, CS 4.Bereits um 1910-1914 löste sich Marc Chagall während seines Parisaufenthaltes vom Impressionismus, den er an der St. Petersburger Akademie erlernte. Dabei integrierte er Stilmerkmale des gerade durch Pablo Picasso und Georges Braque aufkommende Kubismus und farbstarken Fauvismus in seiner Malerei. Nach Russland zurückgekehrt entwickelte Marc Chagall seinen eigenen Stil aus Elementen der russischen Volkskunst und der jüdisch-religiösen Erlebniswelt seiner Kindheit. Über Berlin emigrierte der Künstler nach Paris, wo er von 1920 an lebte und arbeitete. Das Werk Chagalls ist durch farbenprächtige Zusammenfügung symbolischer Bildmotive geprägt. Neben Gemälden fertigte er ein umfangreiches grafisches Oeuvre an und gestaltete Glasfensterentwürfe ebenso wie Keramik und Plastik. Ab 1950 lebte der Künstler in Vence, das über Nizza lediglich ca. 30 Kilometer von der Gemeinde Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat an der Côte d ́Azur entfernt liegt und diese Farblithografie betitelt. Marc Chagall (1887 Vitebsk - 1985 Saint-Paul-de-Vence) (F)'Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat', colour lithograph on Velin, 1952, 68 cm x 49.5 cm panel dimension, 74.5 cm x 53.5 cm inner passepartout dimension, signed, Epreuves d'artiste numbered, signed in print, dated 1949, slightly wavy, slightly browned paper, literature: WVZ. Solier VI, CS 4.As early as around 1910-1914, Marc Chagall broke away from Impressionism, which he had learned at the St. Petersburg Academy, during his stay in Paris. In the process, he integrated stylistic features of Cubism and colourful Fauvism, which were just emerging through Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, into his painting. After returning to Russia, Marc Chagall developed his own style from elements of Russian folk art and the Jewish religious experience of his childhood. Via Berlin, the artist emigrated to Paris, where he lived and worked from 1920 onwards. Chagall's work is characterised by a colourful combination of symbolic pictorial motifs. In addition to paintings, he produced an extensive graphic oeuvre and designed stained glass windows as well as ceramics and sculpture. From 1950 onwards, the artist lived in Vence, which is only about 30 kilometres from the municipality of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the Côte d ́Azur via Nice and is the title of this colour lithograph.

Enrico Arcioni, 1875 Spoleto - 1954 Rom, Studium an den Akademien Rom und Perugio, lebte ab 1892 in Paris und von 1900-1915 in St. Petersburg, malte vorwiegend Porträts des französischen und russischen Adels sowie einige religiöse Themen, hier: Salome mit dem Haupt Johannes des Täufers, stimmungsvolle Jugendstilmalerei mit gekonnter Führung des Lichts aus unterschiedlichen Quellen: von hinten und Feuerschein von vorne, attributive Funktion des Johanneshauptes zugunsten der ekstatisch-erotisierenden Darst. Salomes stark reduziert, rechts unten signiert und bez., Öl/Lwd, rest., doubliert, ca. 87x67cm, R. ca. 95x74cmEnrico Arcioni, 1875 Spoleto - 1954 Rome, Studies at the Academies Rom and Perugio, lived in Paris from 1892 and of 1900-1915 in St. Petersburg, mainly painted portraits of the French and Russian nobility and some religious subjects, here: Salome with dem Headof John the Baptist, atmospheric Art Nouveau painting with skillful use of light from different sources: from behind and firelight from front, attributive function of the head of John in favor of the ecstatic-eroticizing depiction of Salome, greatly reduced, signed lower right and inscribed, oil/canvas, restored, relined, approx. 87x67cm, frame approx. 95x74cm

Works on religious history, ecclesiastical architecture, poetry, art and bibliography, including bound transactions of the Bibliographical Society (12 boxes)

AUGUSTUS VINCENT TACK (AMERICAN 1870-1949)THREE SISTERS SEATED IN A LOGGIA WITH A GARDEN BEYONDOil on canvas114 x 129cm (44¾ x 50¾ in.)In a Whistler type frameProvenance:Messum's Fine Art, LondonElibank House, Taplow- a Grade II Listed Queen Anne houseExhibited:Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts: Sixty-Fourth Annual Exhibition, 1895-1896Augustus Vincent Tack was a painter of portraits, religious murals and, latterly, of abstractions recalling the work of Georgia O' Keefe and Clyfford Still. Born in Pittsburgh, he received the highest rating and a place of honour at the Society of American Artists in 1889. Following a training with John La Farge, he travelled to France in the early 1890's, which led to a brief flirtation with a more impressionist technique than is more usually to be found in his realist portraiture. While the present painting perhaps owes something to the free brushwork of the painters he may have encountered during his visit, the composition itself sits firmly within the Anglo-American tradition of the conversation piece. His later career followed two widely divergent courses. Starting in the 1920s he painted fifteen murals for various Catholic churches and several government buildings in the United States and Canada. His landscape work, in the meantime, took on increasingly mystical overtones. Following the Second World War these increasingly abstract works were much sought after and collected particularly by Duncan Phillips, housed in the Phillips Collection, Washington D. C. Please note added line to provenance: Elibank House, Taplow- a Grade II Listed Queen Anne houseCondition Report: The canvas is unlined and on it's original stretcher which is providing good support. There are some very minor spots of paint loss in background areas and abrasions to the edges. The paint surface is quite thin on the left hand girls hair. Under UV light there is a small spot of retouching (approx 2 x 2 cm) near the edge of the rug (lower right). It has a layer of surface dirt and some uneven and discoloured varnish. There are some minor chips and abrasions to the frame. Condition Report Disclaimer

Cuban school; first half of the 19th century."Virgin and Child".Wood and polychrome stucco with brass crown.It presents restorations and faults in the carving.Measurements: 36 x 22 x 14 cm.Devotional carving in which the Virgin is represented with the Child, standing out in both cases her black complexion. The theme of the Virgin represented with the Child Jesus, and more specifically with the Child Jesus on her lap, seated or standing, has its origin in the oriental religions of Antiquity, in images such as that of Isis with her son Horus, but the most direct reference is that of the Virgin as "Sedes Sapientiae", or throne of God, in medieval Christian art. Gradually, with the advance of naturalism, the Virgin will pass from being a simple "throne" of the Child to revealing a relationship of affection, beginning in the Gothic period. From then on, the figures would acquire movement, moving closer to each other, and finally the concept of the throne would disappear, and with it the secondary role of the Virgin. In this way, the image became an example of the love between Mary and her Son, an image of tenderness, close, designed to move the soul of the faithful.It is worth mentioning that during Spanish colonial rule, a mainly religious painting was developed, aimed at Christianising the indigenous peoples. Local painters were modelled on Spanish works, which they followed literally in terms of type and iconography. The most frequent models were harquebusier angels and triangular virgins; however, in the early years of the 19th century, at the time of independence and political openness in some of the colonies, several artists began to depict a new model of painting with its own identity.

Ibrahim El-Salahi (Sudan, born 1930)Head I oil, enamel and mixed media on canvassigned 'EL SALAHI' and inscribed 'Head I' on the verso, executed circa late 1960's34 x 40cm (13 3/8 x 15 3/4in).Footnotes:Provenance:Property from a private collection, London Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner's aunt, circa late 1960'sNote:The authenticity of the present work has been confirmed by the artist and the present work is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity LOTS 18 & 19:TWO RARE AND HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT 1960'S OIL PAINTINGS BY IBRAHIM EL SALAHI'With the colours I was trying very hard to create something that appealed to the Sudanese public. You can almost smell the air and the dust in it. It's the colour of the savanna, the desert. Apart from the Nile, there is not much green in Sudan. I was trying to create a work that reflects the country's actual colours. I was keen to link it with people because I don't think an artist should live in isolation from his audience. I tried to use what they appreciate: a dark brown, which is burnt sienna, and black. I just tried to be as close as possible to nature, and to the people I live with and love'-Ibrahim El Salahi'To me the bird represents a sense of freedom. I am thinking of the people and their nomadic lives – they reject authority and they are all by themselves'-Ibrahim El SalahiBonham's is immensely privileged to present two astounding 1960's oil paintings by the doyen Sudanese modernism, Ibrahim El Salahi, the first canvas paintings by the artist to ever appear at international auction. In Head I, Salahi weaves together the modernist visual language absorbed during his European studies with local colours and symbolism. A large, almost primitive head is seen interlaced with folk animal motifs, the most important of which is the bird, a powerful symbol with both personal and religious meaning for the artist. For Salahi, the bird represents artistic freedom, as well as the nomadic freedom of Sudanese tribal life. In its religious and Quranic interpretation, the Sufi's believe that birds speak a mystical tongue which is said to be understood only by winged creatures as an indication of their favour in the eyes of the Divine.Both works are painted in tar-like mixed media and enamel that would comprise Salahi's signature technique upon the artists return to Sudan, representing the commencement of Salahi's mature period. Salahi's use of colour and media was very much a concerted effort on his part to reflect the tonal and environmental characteristics of his native land, and the artist notes of these series of works that you can 'almost smell the air and the dust in them' On this particular period of his oeuvre, Salahi states that he returned to Sudan 'a conceited young artist fresh from London' but, 'Over time I came to see that conditions in Sudan required a very different approach on the part of the artist... If I was to have a relationship with an audience, I had to examine the Sudanese environment, identify what it offered.... As an artistic resource...'. Accordingly El-Salahi stopped painting for two years embarked on a long and open ended exploration of 'what kinds of art were shown, and therefore appreciated, in typical Sudanese homes and public places... I was amazed to rediscover the riches I had seen all around me during my childhood, and whose value and rich meanings I had for years abysmally failed to grasp'.This search for a style culminated in the foundation a movement that became known as the Khartoum School, 'hoping to fill the gap between the artist and his audience, the cumulative outcome of different historical, social and political factors, I began an experiment later called 'the Khartoum School'. The common factor in the Khartoum School work was the abstract and representational symbolic potential of the Arabic letter'. Developed along with fellow artists such as Ahmed Shibrain and Kamala Ishag, the Khartoum school became then the foundational, visual language of Sudanese ModernismIbrahim Salahi is widely considered the founding father of Sudanese Modernism. In 1953 the Sudan government sent Salahi to the Slade School of Art for three years, where he specialised in painting and drawing. Returning to Sudan in 1957, Salahi taught for a number of years at the School of Fine and Applied Art, Khartoum Polytechnic, now Sudan University. UNESCO and Rockefeller Foundation scholarships gave him the opportunity to work and travel in the US twice in the 1960s. After a short period back in London as assistant cultural attaché at the Sudanese Embassy, in 1972 he became the Sudan government's undersecretary for culture and information, a job which landed him in jail as a political prisoner, having been wrongly suspected of anti-government activities. In 1977, he went into voluntary exile in the Gulf State of Qatar, where he worked as an adviser and translator for the government, and in the UK. He is now based in Oxford. Salahi's work is held in several major institutions including The British Museum, London; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, DohaThis lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Mahmoud Said (Egypt, 1897-1964)La Mise Au Tombeau (The Entombment) oil on board, framedsigned and dated 'M. SAID 1926' (lower left), executed in 192657 x 75cm (22 7/16 x 29 1/2in).Footnotes:LE MISE AU TOMBEAU, A MASTERPIECE BY MAHMOUD SAID DESCRIBED AS 'ONE OF HIS MOST STRIKING PAINTINGS' BY THE ARTISTS CATALOGUE RAISONEE, FORMERLY ON LOAN TO THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, ALEXANDRIA'For the Primitive artist, the problem is not to conquer the form but rather to renounce form in favour of a spectacular orchestration of the figures and colours. La Mise Au Tombeau established the wave of Primitivism that shaped itself around Mahmoud Said's core work. '-Henri El Kayem, La Revue du Caire, No.43, Cairo, June 1942 pp.112'The penetrating humanity of the Flemish Primitives had a strong effect on him, and one of his most striking paintings capturing this deep emotion was La Mise au Tombeau'- Valerie Didier, Mahmoud Said, Catalogue Raisonne Provenance:Property from a private collection, Cairoin the artists collection until 1964 (on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts of Alexandria in 1964), With Nadia Mahmoud Said (the artists daughter), until at least June 1977, Collection of Fazlulah Mirza, CairoCollection of Omar Koreish, AlexandriaProperty from a private collection, CairoAcquired directly from the above by the present ownerExhibitions:Cairo, Premier Salon de la Chimere, Roger Brevals Studio, February 1927Alexandria, Museum of Fine Arts, Mahmoud Said, 1960, No.40Alexandria, Museum of Fine Arts, 1964, Mahmoud Said, No.126Literature:Al Ahram, In the Egyptian Exhibition of the Chimere Group, Cairo, March 1927, p1Ahmed Rassem, Un peintre pour les peintres, La Semaine Egyptienne, October 1927 La Semaine Egyptienne, January 1936 a, p. 21, illustratedAhmed Rassem, Mahmoud Said, Al Mahallah Al-Jadida, July 1936 a, illustratedAhmed Rassem, Mahmoud Said, The Painter, El-Zelaal: A Page from Art in Egypt, 1936 b, p43 illustratedExhibition Catalogue, Alexandria, Museum of Fine Arts, Mahmoud Said, 1960, No.40Exhibition Catalogue, Alexandria, Museum of Fine Arts, 1964, Mahmoud Said, No.126Dawastashy, Esmat. Mahmoud Saïd: Memorial Book on the Pioneer of Contemporary Egyptian Painting – On the 100th Anniversary of his Birth, Cairo: Ministry of Culture - The Cultural Development Fund. 1997, no. 40, illustratedAl-Shafei, Rawya Ossama. Artist Mahmoud Saïd: An Artistic and Analytical Study. MA Thesis. Faculty of Fine Arts of Alexandria, 2012, illustrated fig 44Note:The present work is included in the Artists Catalogue Raisonne; Valerie Didier Hess and Hussam Rashwan, Mahmoud Said: Catalogue Raisonne Volume 1, Paintings, Skira Editore, 2016, numbered P91Bonhams are proud to present one of the most important and emotive works by the doyen of Egyptian art, Mahmoud Said, ever to come to the market. Described as one of the artists most 'striking paintings' by the artists catalogue raisonne, and a work central to 'shaping' the artists 'core work' by critics at the time, La Mise Au Tombaeu, painted in 1926, comes from a critical period in Said's artistic development, when the artist was transitioning from academic portraiture and landscape painting to his signature empathetic renderings of Egyptian daily life. Said's stylized representations of Egyptian life, pronounced so touchingly in the present work, would later be regarded as the supreme expression of Egyptian artistic heritage in the twentieth century. The present work is widely recognised as his first painting with a religious or spiritual subject matter and sparked a period of creativity in the late 1920's when the artists most significant and iconic paintings were produced. Most likely depicting the famous Cairo necropolis (al-Qarafa), a sprawling centuries old cemetery home to elaborate tombs and mausoleums from the Mamluk and Fatimid empires, Said's work is part of a long and illustrious tradition of Egyptian funerary art stretching back millennia when ancient Egyptian society had a distinct preoccupation with funerary rites and the afterlife.Said however, identifies more immediate inspiration pointing to the Western canon of Christian entombment paintings and specifically the Flemish Primitive painters and Tintoretto, whose visual schema Said incorporates into a distinctly Egyptian scene imbuing a sense of heroism and grandeur to the suffering of his essentially anonymous characters.The present work comes to market with a distinguished provenance; originally in the collection of the artist's daughter, it was on loan for a period to the museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria and exhibited there twice during Said's major retrospectives in the 1960's. Published in nearly a dozen books and journals, and exhibited on numerous occasions, La Mise au Tombeau's immense significance is underscored by its extensive commentary in both contemporary and present sources.Never before presented at auction, La Mise au Tombeau is an extremely rare example of a major narrative scene coming to market. With the majority of Said's work held by institutions or in permanent collections, the current sale presents collectors with one of the few remaining opportunities to acquire a pivotal work by the artist.--------------------------------------------------''The penetrating humanity of the Flemish Primitives had a strong effect on him, and one of his most striking paintings capturing this deep emotion was La Mise au Tombeau. The expressive body language of the figures, depicted with such emotional intensity, communicates the tragedy of the scene and the characters distress in a similar way as achieved by Rogier van der Weyden in his renowned panel painting the Descent of the Cross. To some extent, Said's entombment scene, which appears to be taking place in a Muslim cemetery, unmistakably in Egypt and most likely in Alexandria, can be viewed as the quintessentially Egyptian counterpart to the Christian representations of a scene from the Passion of Christ, that of the Entombment of Christ, as painted by Trecento and Quattrocento Italian masters such as Simone Martini and Giotto. This particular biblical subject seems to have struck Said, as he wrote to Beppi Martin that although the 'baroque' Venetian painters such as Verone and Tintoretto did not appeal much to him, Tintoretto's interpretation of the Entombment of Christ that he saw in the Capella dei Morti in the church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice 'caught my eye because of its wide range of colours, although subtle'. Once again, Said innovatively adapted the traditional Christian iconography of Christ's entombment by interpreting it with his very own Egyptian vernacular in La Mise au Tombeau, setting the scene in a familiar Egyptian environment with a sky invaded by his signature black birds, the messengers of death. Rather than making it a 'pastiche' of European Primitive art, that seemed to bother some art critics such as Jean Moscatelli, Said revolutionized the stylistic and iconographic Western conventions by answering them with a common yet emotionally charged scene of everyday life in Egypt'Valerie Didier, Mahmoud Said Catalogue Riasonne, Vol 1, P.129-----------------------------------------------------La Mise Au Tombeau is part of a long and illustrious tradition of Egyptian funerary art stretching back millennia when ancient Egyptian society had a distinct preoccupation with funerary rites and the afterlife.The funerary practises that Said depicts are principally Islamic, with the body wrapped in a white kafan prior to being buried, and the funerary procession leading from the mosque to the burial ground after t... This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Charles Hossein Zenderoudi (Iran, born 1937)WHO'S WATCHING oil on canvassigned 'Hossein Zenderoudi' and dated '74', executed in 197485 x 132cm (33 7/16 x 51 15/16in).Footnotes:Provenance:Property from a private collection, New York'To create a painting, I begin with the preliminary study, which consists of sketches on paper, followed immediately by the painting of letters and colouring on canvas... I am thus able to immediately express my spontaneous feelings on canvas. Sometimes I leave a canvas to work on another, this is like improvisation in music, for I treasure freedom more than anything else. I couldn't be what I am if I didn't have freedom to express my lyricism. I don't believe in teaching painting, since I do not believe that technical training is required to make one a great painter. Painting can be done with any tool or any piece of equipment, I believe all schools of fine art, all over the world, should be shut down'- Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, Midi Libre, No 9401, 9 April 1971Provenance:Property from a private French collectionCharles Hossein Zenderoudi is one of Iran's most accomplished modern artists, as a founding father Iranian neo-traditionalism Zenderoudi is a master of blending traditional Persian motif's within a distinctly avant-garde aesthetic.His choice of subject matter, calligraphy, has historically been the most established mode of formal artistic expression prevalent in Iran, but, by emphasising form over meaning, and by stripping the written word down to its aesthetic, structural, fundaments, Zenderoudi subverts the traditional values of Persian calligraphy. Zenderoudi's text is intentionally illegible and carries no literal meaning, freeing it from the constraint of linguistic limitation, and imbuing it with a sense of universality which rescues the archaic practice of calligraphy from obscurity, giving it renewed relevance in a contemporary context.Zenderoudi's compositions pay homage to centuries of Persian religious imagery and employ a systematic repetition of letter-forms that finds its genesis in the mystical practice of Sufi numerologists, who believed in the spiritual significance of singular letters and worked these principles into hugely intricate talismanic charts. Zenderoudi's methodical compositions, whilst not accurately following the grammar or axioms of numerology, capture the aesthetic and conceptual qualities of its cryptic nature.Zenderoudi's early works focused on dense talismanic imagery, mixing iconography, freehand script and numerals. The density of these compositions sought to capture the visual intensity of popular religious expression in Iran, where banners, standards, altars, murals and mosques exuberantly adorn the urban landscape.Works from the present series, composed in the 1970's, mark a shift towards a more avant-garde, patterned, technical and measured approach to calligraphy. The crowded iconography of the early works is replaced by a greater focus on singular and recurring letter-forms, which exhibit a formal refinement lacking in their earlier counterparts. The present work also marks a conceptual shift away from the more overtly traditional subject matters and more towards a pure, patterned aesthetic which emphasises the meditative and visual elements of letter depiction over their linguistic connotation.Measured but spontaneous, technical yet effuse, Zenderoudi' manipulates Persian calligraphy with effortless ease, boasting a visual scope which faithfully captures the salient elements of Iran's traditional popular religious aesthetic. Rendered with the use of rich and vibrant colours, his canvases replicate the tonal and textural qualities of the votive art so common to the Iranian urban landscape.Almost rhythmic in its grace, balance and composition, the present work is one of the finest examples of Zenderoudi's work from this period.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

JOEL PETER WITKIN (Brooklyn, 1939)."Side Show, Budapest, 1993.Gelatin silver photography.Edition 1/12.Signed on the back.Size: 99 x 106 cm, 108 x 111 cm (frame).Peter Witkin is one of the most prominent and controversial photographers of our time, famous for his provocative works revolving around death, religion, myth and allegory.During the 1950s he obtained his first camera, using it without any prior training in photography. Already at that time, his first pictures showed quite unusual scenes, which began to reflect his concerns and experiences related to his past experiences. The repetition of scenes in which corpses, transsexuals, dwarfs, hermaphrodites or deformed people are present is related to an accident he witnessed as a child. His photographs, since then, are generally based on metaphors about life and death, some of them inspired by ancient works of art and religious passages, where he acknowledges Giotto as an influence, as well as artistic nods to the works of Goya or El Bosco, making use of the iconography of art history as a backdrop for his subjects. His main objective is to bring out that hidden side of society in general, that somewhat disturbing side that few dare to explore for themselves at some point in their lives, many do not even get to know it.Today, his works can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the National Gallery in Washington, DC, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. The artist currently lives and works in Albuquerque, NM.

MANOLO VALDÉS (Valencia, 1942)."Eva III", 1993.Etching and collage on paper. Copy 51/51.Signed and justified in pencil at the bottom.Measurements: 165 x 65,5 cm.In this engraving intervened by the artist, the figure of Eve is shown, inspired by the painting of the same title, painted in 1507 by Dürer, which belongs to the Museo del Prado Collection. Valdés rescues this figure from the Old Testament, bringing her body into the contemporary world, reducing it to an aesthetic language of synthetic and schematic forms that preserve the devotional and iconographic expression of the religious figure, who maintains her nimbus of sanctity and her modest posture. Valdés dispenses with the iconic apple and in its place introduces the image of a flower, which he arranges over the sex of the protagonist. This reference also alludes to the work of Dürer, who made numerous drawings inspired by flora and fauna, but the image of the flower also adds a conceptual and metaphorical reading to the piece, which in a veiled way conveys the idea of birth.Manolo Valdés introduced in Spain a form of artistic expression that combines political and social commitment with humour and irony. He began his training in 1957, when he entered the San Carlos School of Fine Arts in Valencia. However, two years later he abandoned his studies to devote himself fully to painting. In 1964 he founded the artistic group Equipo Crónica, together with Juan Antonio Toledo and Rafael Solbes, in which he remained until the latter's death in 1981, despite the fact that Toledo had left the group two years after its foundation. Since then he has settled in New York, where he currently lives and where he has continued to experiment with new forms of expression, including sculpture. Among the numerous awards Manolo Valdés has won are the Lissone and Biella awards in Milan (1965), the silver medal at the II International Biennial of Engravings in Tokyo (1979), the Bridgestone Art Museum prize in Lisbon (1979), the National Plastic Arts Prize (1983), the medal at the International Festival of Plastic Artists in Baghdad (1986), the Decoration of the Order of Andrés Bello in Venezuela (1993), the prize of the National Council of Monaco (1997), the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts (1998), the Prize of the Spanish Association of Art Critics (2000) and the Prize for the Best Print Artist (2002), among others. With Equipo Crónica, Valdés used figuration as a vehicle of expression for his approaches, for his criticisms of art, society and politics, but prioritising above all other content the pure act of painting. From the thematic point of view, Valdés was inspired by the art of the great masters of painting: Goya, Velázquez, El Greco, Ribera and Zurbarán, and he never concealed his models, but rather emphasised them, even in the titles of his works. Formally, he produces a large-format work in which the lights and colours express tactile values, due to the treatment given to the materials. His work forces the observer to delve into memory and search for significant images from the history of art. Valdés is represented in some of the world's leading museums, such as the Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Metropolitan, the MoMA and the Guggenheim in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Fons National d'Arts Plastiques in Paris, the Kusnthalle in Hamburg, the Kunstmuseum in Berlin and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao, among many others.

c.1400 A.D. A gilt-bronze ciborium with hinged spherical body and conical finial imitating the spire of a church, trace remnant of the former cross once surmounting the ciborium to the top; tall knobbed stem with polylobed base supported by three later crouching lions. Cf. a similar ciborium from Lower Saxony in the Metropolitan Museum, accession number 1983.410; for the discussion on such religious artworks see Sam Fogg, Treasury Objects of Middle Ages, 24 June-30 July 2021, London, 2021. 856 grams, 30.5 cm high (12 in). Frits Philips, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; his sale, Sotheby's Amsterdam, 4 December 2006, lot 347. Accompanied by a previous Sotheby's lot tag. Accompanied by an archaeological report by Dr. Raffaele D'Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate no.11216-188582. A ciborium is a covered container that holds the consecrated bred used in the Catholic Christian ritual of Holy Eucharist and is one of the most significant of all liturgical vessels. The simply and elegantly designed ciborium relates it to the Gothic metal workers of Lower Saxony from the early 15th century. It is unclear whether our structure was intended as a monstrance, typically used to display the Host on the altar and during processions, as a ciborium (Latin for a covered receptacle or cup), in which the Host was contained without being visible, or as a reliquary for the safeguarding of holy relics; the German term for ciboria, Speisekelch or ‘food chalice’, reveals the connection between ciboria and chalices and points more to the second possibility. [No Reserve] [A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions Website] Fine condition.

Two boxes of books to include Religious books and Art books, etc.

A framed piece of 925 silver art copied from Byzantine art of Mother and Child with printed faces and silver bodies, together with a plaque having four religious icons on gold leaf ground.

Ernesto Shikhani (Mozambique, 1934-2010)The Last Supper, 1977 signé et daté en bas à droite 'Shikhani, 1977'huile sur toilesigned and dated 'Shikhani, 1977' to the lower rightoil on canvas100 x 200cm.39 3/8 x 78 3/4in.Footnotes:ProvenanceHotel Pinhal Ofir - Esposende, Portugal (don de l'artiste)Collection privée, PortugalPuis par descendance au propriétaire actuelErnesto Shikhani est né en 1934 dans la région de Muvesha au Mozambique. Dès le début de son apprentissage artistique il se consacre à la sculpture, guidé par le maître portugais Lobo Fernandes alors enseignant au Núcleo de Arte, à Maputo. Son travail est empreint d'un mélange audacieux, à mi-chemin entre les pratiques artistiques traditionnelles mozambicaines et les propositions plastiques contemporaines de l'époque. Cette toile est réalisée en 1977, trois ans après la signature du traité d'indépendance du Mozambique. Accord précédé d'une lutte pour la liberté qui entraina dix années de guerre civile avec le Portugal, laissant derrière elle un pays profondément marqué par la violence. Ernesto Shikhani, comme d'autres artistes mozambicains témoins de l'injustice sociale des anciennes colonies portugaises, met son art au service d'un nationalisme mozambicain naissant et assumé. Beaucoup d'entre eux seront cependant censurés par la Police de renseignement portugaise (PIDE) sous l'égide d'un gouvernement encore en proie aux maximes religieuses et racistes de l'époque. Cette œuvre représente une des plus célèbres scènes bibliques, la Cène, illustrant Jésus entouré de ses apôtres. À la seule différence que les personnages sont ici de couleur noire, une attaque évidente à la mentalité suprémaciste blanche qui imprégnait alors les mœurs coloniales portugaises au Mozambique.Lors d'un séjour au Portugal à l'été 1977, il fait cadeau de cette toile à l'hôtel de Pinhal Ofir – Esposende, où il réside. L'Hôtel confie alors la toile à une société d'encadrement, appartenant à la famille de l'actuel propriétaire. Dans le contrat, chose assez classique à l'époque, est mentionné que si l'œuvre n'est pas récupérée au bout d'un an elle deviendrait la propriété de l'encadreur.L'Hôtel Pinhal Ofir n'alla jamais chercher l'œuvre, jugée trop polémique par le gouvernement portugais.When commencing his artistic training in Mozambique, Ernesto Shikhani first dedicated himself to sculpture, guided by the Portuguese master Lobo Fernandes who was then a teacher at the Núcleo de Arte school of Maputo. From 1970, he expanded his practice to also focus on painting. Shikhani's work is marked by a bold hybridity – he fuses traditional Mozambican artistic practices with contemporary approaches to artmaking. The present work was created in 1977, three years after Mozambique secured independence from Portuguese colonial rule. This liberation was preceded by a struggle for freedom that had resulted in a decade-long civil war, leaving behind a country deeply marked by violence.Ernesto Shikhani, like other Mozambican artists who witnessed the social injustices of the former Portuguese colonial rule, put his art to the service of a nascent nationalism. Many of his works were censored by the Portuguese Intelligence Police (PIDE) who worked under the aegis of a government still caught in the grip of the religious and racist maxims prevalent in this period. The work represents one of the best-known biblical scenes, The Last Supper, and portrays Jesus and his apostles gathered around a table. The only difference in Shikhani's work is that the characters are portrayed as black, a provocation to the white supremacist mentality that impregnated the lingering colonial ideologies prevalent in Mozambique at the time. During his visit to Portugal in the summer of 1977, Shikhani donated the present work to the Hotel de Pinhal Ofir-Esposende, where he stayed. The hotel entrusted the painting to a framing company belonging to the family of the current owner. In the framing contract it was written that if the work was not recovered within a year, it would become the property of the framer – a stipulation common at the time. The Hotel Pinhal Ofir-Esposende never sent for the work, which was considered too controversial by the Portuguese government who had threatened to close the establishment if they decided to exhibit the painting.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Godfried Donkor (Ghana, né en 1964)From slave to the champ III, 1998 signé, daté et titré 'From slave to the champ III, Godfried Donkor, 1998' au revers huile et acrylique sur toilesigned, dated and titled 'From slave to the champ III, Godfried Donkor, 1998' on the reverseoil and acrylic on canvas182 x 122cm.71 5/8 x 48 1/16in.Footnotes:ProvenanceAfronova, JohannesburgCollection privée, FranceEn réponse à son héritage britannique et ghanéen, Godfried Donkor utilise l'art pour explorer les relations socio-historiques établies entre l'Afrique et l'Europe. Né à Kumasi en 1964, il quitte le Ghana pour Londres à l'âge de huit ans. Déterminé à exploiter les talents artistiques dont il fait rapidement preuve, Donkor obtient une licence en beaux-arts au prestigieux Central St Martins College of Art de Londres puis entreprend des études de troisième cycle à Barcelone. En 1995, il termine une maîtrise en art africain à la School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) de Londres. Grâce à la curiosité technique dont il fait preuve, Donkor s'est imposé comme un artiste multimédia travaillant avec la peinture, les collages mixtes, la gravure et le cinéma.L'œuvre de Godfried Donkor témoigne de son intérêt pour l'héritage du colonialisme, de l'esclavage et des relations commerciales intercontinentales qui ont fortement contribué à façonner l'Europe et l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Le pugilisme (la boxe amateur et professionnelle) est un moyen convaincant d'explorer ces thèmes. La boxe a été introduite sur la côte ouest de l'Afrique au 18e siècle par les combattants amateurs de l'armée britannique. Dans son œuvre, Donkor présente des images puissantes de boxeurs noirs émergeant triomphalement des navires négriers et des vaisseaux coloniaux comme celui représenté dans l'œuvre From slave to the champ III. Alors que les colonisateurs européens ont souvent contraint les boxeurs esclaves à se battre entre eux, Donkor rend à ces hommes leur force, symbolisant à la fois l'autonomie corporelle et l'autodéfense contre les forces coloniales oppressives. Comme il l'explique, ' le seul moment où les boxeurs parlent d'être libres, c'est quand ils sont sur le ring, en train de se battre ' (cité par Ben Luke, 2018). La présentation glorifiante des sujets noirs dont il fait preuve est également visible dans la série People of Utopia. Ici, il emprunte le langage visuel des icônes religieuses russes et éthiopiennes pour encadrer ses personnages d'auréoles dorées brillantes. Conçues comme un processus de déification, des œuvres telles que Browning Madonna réalisée en 2009, reconfigurent les dynamiques de pouvoir raciales et sexuées à travers le langage visuel du Pop Art. Salué par la critique et les institutions, le travail de Godfried Donkor fait partie d'importantes collections internationales, dont le Stedelijk Museum d'Amsterdam, le Smithsonian Museum of African Art de Washington D.C., le Studio Museum Harlem de New York et la Whitworth Art Gallery de Manchester. Il fait l'objet de nombreuses expositions personnelles au Royaume-Uni, en Europe, aux États-Unis et en Afrique. Reflétant le large impact de sa prolifique production artistique, il a également représenté le Ghana à la Biennale de Venise en 2001. Aujourd'hui, Donkor vit et travaille entre Londres, au Royaume-Uni, et Accra, au Ghana. BibliographieBen Luke, 'Godfried Donkor interview: 'I was probably the first black boy from Battersea that ever went to art school', Evening Standard, 14 August 2018, en ligneResponding to his British-Ghanaian heritage, Godfried Donkor uses his artmaking practice to explore the socio-historic relations established between Africa and Europe. Born in Kumasi in 1964, he left Ghana for London when he was eight years old. Determined to pursue his artistic talents, Donkor completed a BA in Fine Art at the prestigious Central St Martins College of Art, London before undertaking postgraduate study in Barcelona. In 1995, he graduated with an MA in African Art from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London. Through his ever-evolving practice, Donkor has established himself as a multimedia artist working in paint, mixed-media collages, printmaking, and film.Donkor's oeuvre evidences the artist's interest in the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and the intercontinental trade relationships that played a powerful role in shaping both Europe and West Africa. Pugilism (amateur and professional boxing) stands as a compelling vehicle through which to explore these themes. Boxing was brought to the West Coast of Africa in the 18th century by amateur fighters in the British Army. In his work, Donkor draws upon extensive research to present powerful images of black boxers as they emerge triumphantly from the slave ships and colonial vessels depicted below. While enslaved black men were often forced to fight each other by European colonisers, in Donkor's work these individuals become figures of strength that symbolise both bodily autonomy and self-defence against these oppressive colonial forces. As he explains, '[t]he only time when boxers talk about being free is when they're in the ring, fighting' (quoted in Ben Luke, 2018). The artist's empowering presentation of black subjects is extended to his People of Utopia series. Here, he borrows the visual language of Russian and Ethiopian religious icons to frame his figures with glowing gold halos. Understood as a process of deification, works such as Browning Madonna (2009) reconfigure racial and gendered power dynamics through the visual language of Pop Art. Met with significant critical and institutional acclaim, Godfried Donkor's work is held in prominent international collections including the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, Washington D.C.; the Studio Museum Harlem, New York; and the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. He has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions in the UK, Europe, the United States, and Africa. Reflecting the wide-ranging impact of his prolific artistic output, he has also acted as Ghana's representative in the 2001 Venice Biennale. Today, Donkor lives and works between London, UK and Accra, Ghana.BibliographyBen Luke, 'Godfried Donkor interview: 'I was probably the first black boy from Battersea that ever went to art school', Evening Standard, 14 August 2018, onlineFor further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A MASSIVE CHINESE NORTHERN WEI STYLE GREY LIMESTONE STELE PROBABLY TANG DYNASTY Carved with Guanyin standing barefoot on a lotus pedestal with her two attendants, each holding a willow branch and a vase, the robes festooned with sashes crossed over the body and skirt, with ribbons hanging down over the shoulders, backed by a tall peaked mandorla, carved with mirrored feitian holding a sacred pearl, the whole supported by the rectangular base with ruyi and lotus buds, the reverse inscribed with a long religious inscription and with an apocryphal date for the fourth year of the yan chang period (515 AD), 29kg, 58cm. Provenance: from an English private collection, West Sussex, purchased 1970s in London. Cf. National Musuem Scotland, Edinburgh, museum reference A.1951.2, for a related Tang dynasty stele with Guanyin and attendant bodhisattvas; see also The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession number: 19.16, for another related Northern Wei dynasty stele with Maitreya.

Ca. 100-300 ADA heavy bronze armilla bracelet with sub-elliptical terminals. Armillae were armband-style bracelets awarded as a military decoration. The rank of the soldier in question determined the metal from which the bracelet was made either gold, silver or bronze. These bracelets were not for everyday wear but were occasion pieces worn at special military and civic events such as triumphs, religious ceremonies, and games.Size: L:62mm / W:68mm ; 38.4gProvenance: Property of an Oxfordshire art professional; previously in a private Oxford Estate.

Ca. 2000-700 BC A bronze Master of Animals Sceptre comprised of a central tube terminating into a human head. Flanked by animals on either side, with curving haunches and tails below. It was probably used during religious rituals. The Master of Animals or Lord of Animals is a motif in ancient art showing a human between and grasping two confronted animals. It is very widespread in the art of the Ancient Near East. The figure is normally male, but not always, the animals may be realistic or fantastical, and the figure may have animal elements such as horns, or an animal's upper body. Unless he is shown with specific divine attributes, he is typically described as a hero. In Western Asiatic Art the motif is extremely common, and often highly stylized. In terms of its composition the Master of Animals motif compares with another very common motif in the art of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean, that of two confronted animals flanking and grazing on a Tree of Life. Size: L:374mm / W:70mm ; 455g Provenance: From the private collection of an Oxford gentleman; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1990s on the UK / International art markets.

Ca. 2000-700 BC A bronze Master of Animals Sceptre comprised of a central openwork design terminating into a head. Flanked by animals on either side, with wide open mouths.It was probably used during religious rituals. The Master of Animals or Lord of Animals is a motif in ancient art showing a human between and grasping two confronted animals. It is very widespread in the art of the Ancient Near East. Size: L:310mm / W:98mm ; 360g Provenance: From the private collection of an Oxford gentleman; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1990s on the UK / International art markets.

A RARE PAIR OF LARGE GILT-LACQUERED WOOD FIGURES OF BODDHISATTVAS17th/18th centuryEach figure carved seated in dyhanasana, the hand in auspicious mudras, clad in long flowing robes worn over rounded shoulders and falling in gentle folds around around the legs, and tied on neat bows at mid-bellies framing exposed chests, both with serene expression framed by wide-lobed pendant ears, one with an elaborate tiara around high chignon, covered overall with gilt lacquer. Each 61cm (24in) high. (2).Footnotes:十七/十八世紀 木漆金菩薩像一對Provenance: Dr Walter Rieder (1890-1986)Dr Walter Rieder (1890-1986) served in the Swiss East Asia Mission (SOAM) in Qingdao, Shandong Province, between October 1930 and December 1951. The mission specialised in educational, literary and philanthropic work and Dr Rieder was in fact, not a theologian or missionary, but a teacher of mathematics, physics and science to high school students attached to the SOAM. His guiding principles were 'Creating understanding between different cultures' and 'Building bridges between East and West'. While in Qingdao, Dr Rieder collected a wide variety of Chinese art. The objects in the collection thus offer a unique window into the type of antiques that were on the market in Qingdao in the second quarter of the 20th century. As well as demonstrating his passion for Chinese art, his collection also reveals the personal friendships Dr Rieder forged with local artists, some of whom he knew from his teaching activities. Dr Rieder had a scholarly approach to studying his collection. Alongside many of his objects, meticulous notes can sometimes be found detailing his art historical commentaries. The collection was hence Dr Rieder's gateway to the history and culture of China. Objects from the collection were exhibited at the Kunsthaus in Interlaken, Switzerland in 2006 and 2018.來源：Walter Rieder博士（1890-1986）舊藏1930年10月至1951年12月間，Walter Rieder博士（1890-1986）於山東青島的瑞士東亞使團 (SOAM) 任職。該組織專注於教育、文學和慈善工作，但Rieder博士並非作為傳教士，而是作為一名教師，教授高中數學、物理及科學科目，並以促進'文化間交流理解'和'搭建東西方文化的橋樑'為己任。在其旅居青島期間，Rieder博士大量收藏了各類中國藝術品。通過本次拍賣所呈現的拍品，我們得以一窺二十世紀後半葉的青島古董市場。Rieder博士的藏品不僅展示了他對中國藝術的熱情，還反應了其任教期間與當地的文人逸士建立的個人友誼。 Rieder博士還對其藏品進行了學術研究，並對很多物品留下了詳細筆記。也因為此，這些藏品也成為了Rieder博士了解中國歷史和文化的門戶。本次上拍的拍品曾於2006年與2018年於瑞士因特拉肯的美術館展出。The striking pair of gilt-lacquered wood figures of Bodhisattvas are expertly carved demonstrating superb craftsmanship, naturalistically rendering the soft folds of the robe cascading over the shoulders, the contemplative faces gracefully conveying their benevolence. The benevolent facial expressions, shown in the plump cheeks, downcast eyes and gentle smiles, together with free flowing draperies intricately sculpted by fine folds and contours, suggest that the present pair of figures depict Avalokiteshvara, also known as Guanyin, the benevolent Goddess of Mercy. Venerated in Indian Buddhism as the embodiment of the Compassion of the Buddha, Avalokiteshvara (known as Guanyin in China) is described in the 'Lotus Sutra', as capable of hearing all mankind, striving endlessly to help those offering prayers, transforming at will and appearing in more than thirty human guises to expound Buddhist teaching to devotees.The present pair of figures would most likely have stood on an altar, venerated in connection with religious beliefs concerning the devotee's rebirth in the blissful Pure Land presided over by Amithaba Buddha. Introduced into China from India during the 2nd century AD, 'Pure Land' Buddhism was based on the belief that Amitabha granted rebirth of the dead in his wondrous realm to whoever meditated on him through chanting and prostration. The three main scriptures forming the core of the Pure Land teachings, namely the 'Sutra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life', the 'Sutra of Visualizing the Buddha of Immeasurable Life', and the 'Amitabha Sutra', all refer to Amitabha and Guanyin as capable of liberating the devotees from the Wheel of Samsara and allowing them entry into the Pure Land where they finally attained enlightenment.Compare with a related rare and large gilt-lacquered wood figure of Guanyin, 17th/18th century, which was sold at Bonhams London, 14 May 2015, lot 64. See also a rare set of three gilt-lacquered wood figures of the Buddha, 17th/18th century, which was sold at Bonhams London, 16 May 2019, lot 169.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

STONE FIGURE36 cm. highProvenanceCollected in situ by Jim Erkilla, a missionary in the Southern Highlands in the late 1950s/1960s. The figure was found during excavations to build a road.A similar stone fgure, donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1984 (1984.123.1), was collected in the Mendi region. Its website entry states that one example, through its associated organic material, has been dated to circa 1500B.C. The figure may depict an echidna, an egg-laying mammal native to New Guinea and Australia. Their original significance is unknown but when such figures are unearthed today they are considered supernaturally powerful and play an important role in religious life.

Ceremonial costume accessory. Feather art. Lichiwayus Chakana. Aymara people, Bolivia Department of La Paz. 1750-1800. 21 x 66,5 cm.This delicate piece of feather art is part of a festive attire from the Bolivian Andes used during the Viceroyalty period and which is still in force until modern times. This “Chakana” is part of the attire of a ritual dance called “Lichiwayus” associated with the call of the snow before starting to work the land. The moisture produced by thawing penetrates the soil and eases the work of the plough. Due to the brittle nature of the material, most of the surviving feather mosaics are fairly modern creations, but archaeological excavations of high-altitude burial sites with little annual rainfall uncovered well-preserved centuries-old feathers as in the case of the specimen here. The Museum of Archeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Bowers Museum in California, and the Robert Institute of Archaeology. S. Peabody preserve Chakanas and body attire dating from the 18th and 19th centuries to the 20th century. Among the inventoried works, those of the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore of Bolivia also stand out. The iconography represented by zoomorphic forms of lions and snakes dates back to colonial times where they appear on coats of arms assigned to noble families descended from the Incas. We could be talking about heraldic emblems with which certain families were identified. This type of Lichiwayus Chakanas is made with 17 flat wooden slats placed horizontally and joined by strings that go through perforations in the upper and middle part of each of the slats. The raw materials identified are feathers, wood, animal fibre and cotton, while the plumage normally used in this type of work varies, using the following bird species; White Heron, Amazon Parrot, Purple-throated Cotinga, Collared Aurora, Blue-Yellow Macaw and Red Macaw. Guaman Poma de Ayala describes in his work Nueva Crónica y buen gobierno (New Chronicle and Good Government) the role and interaction of birds with human beings, highlighting the birds of the Andean region that were used as tribute payment to the Inca (...) while young people from twelve to eighteen years old took care of the herds of llamas or alpacas, 'they caught the birds called auchiua, yutu, quiuyo, tacami, auas, with ties or garters for entertainment and cut up the meat, and the feathers they kept for trading with the Incas, the “capac apocuna” and captains. Some time ago they had trained (between the ages of nine and twelve) in catching little birds... which they call polished birds, quinte, uaychau, chayna, urpay, and other birds that exist; The meat was made into “charqui petaquillas” and the feathers were kept for “pluma” and “cunpi de pluma” and other gallantries of the Inca, heads and captains of the Aucamayoc Cuna…” (Millones and Schaedel, 1980: 61-65). In the work Arte Plumario en el Altiplano Paceño: Historia, danza y técnicas de los plumajes en las comunidades Aymara del departamento de la Paz, Bolivia (Featherwork art in the Altiplano Paceño: History, dance and plumage techniques in the Aymara communities of the department of La Paz, Bolivia), they explain that the description of South American fauna, and in some cases of the flora, was a task that some explorers, soldiers, civil servants and religious carried out in response to the request for information from the authorities, eager to learn about and make the most of the advantages offered by the new continent. In the descriptions made by chroniclers and travellers about the animals that inhabited the new continent, they made much of whether they lived in water, either lakes, rivers or seas, were land animals or those of the air. In these various scenarios, birds are the only animals that could be found in the three environments —water, land, and sky—, and from this, be recognized as messengers of the divine and have certain supernatural characteristics. In this regard, Andrés Gutiérrez Usillos mentioned that “birds are usually associated with the sacred, since the ability to fly and ascend to the heavens is only possessed by divinities. The bird can be an incarnation of divinity or an epiphany, that is, the vehicle through which the gods manifest themselves, a messenger between the gods and human beings” (Gutiérrez Usillos, 2002: 313). Bibliography:BETANCOURT Carla Jaimes. EL PODER DE LAS PLUMAS Colección de arte plumario del Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore, según la cadena de producción. Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia La Paz, Bolivia. 2015 GISBERT, Teresa. 2008. El paraíso de los pájaros parlantes: la imagen del otro en la cultura andina. 3ra ed. La Paz: Plural Editores. GISBERT, Teresa. 2008. Iconografía y mitos indígenas en el arte. 4th ed. (Ed.) Editorial Gisbert y Cia. La Paz. GISBERT, Teresa, Silvia ARZE y Martha CAJÍAS. 2008. Arte textil y mundo andino. La Paz: Gisbert y Cía. GUTIÉRREZ Usillos, Andrés. 2002. Dioses, símbolos y alimentación en los Andes: interrelación hombre-fauna en el Ecuador prehispánico. (Ed.) Ediciones Abya Yala. Quito. GUAMÁN Poma de Ayala, Felipe. [1615]1980. El Primer Nueva Coronica y Buen Gobierno. 21st century. Mexico. MILLONES, Luis y R. P. SCHAEDEL. 1980. Plumas para el sol: comentarios a un documento sobre cazadores y cotos de zada en el antiguo Peru. Boletín del Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos 9 (1-2):59-88. VILLAROEL Salguerio Gloria, GUERREROS Burgoa Johnny and MUJICA Angulo Richard. Bolivia, La Paz, 2015. La Rebelión de los objetos. Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore. Reunión Anual de Etnología, 29. Bolivia. (Anales de la Reunión Anual de Etnología) This lot already has a permit for exportation as a cultural asset.

Imposing carved, polychromed and gilded cupboard. Viceroyalty work. Peru. Late 17th century.227 x 119 x 77 cm. Structurally, it has four doors at the front that are divided by two drawers at the middle. The decoration of the doors comprises large vases with sunflowers and foliage in each four of the panels. The sides are embellished with flat carving and a moulded cornice.The interior walls and dome-like ceiling are painted red with gold leaf decoration of geometric motifs. The upper and lower bodies have carved and polychromed shelves in red, which are supported by corbels also carved and polychromed. The inner wall of the four doors is decorated with paintings representing country life and hunting, and two curious scenes depicting anthropomorphic animals, one of them resembles a trial and a hanging.An example comparable to ours is the one kept in the Lima Art Museum, and is, as María Campos Carlés indicates in “Un legado que pervive en Hispanoamérica. El mobiliario del Virreinato del Perú de los siglos XVII y XVIII”: (A legacy that survives in Latin America. The furniture of the Viceroyalty of Peru in the 17th and 18th centuries): “A dazzling and majestic wardrobe for secular use. This piece was built in the last quarter of the 17th century by anonymous artisans from Cusco with Italian influence. One of the outstanding features of this large-format container is its classic morphology. It has four doors, two drawers in the middle and is supported by four legs decorated with a phytomorphic design. Its roof has the architectural profile of a hipped roof, following the local tradition, and is concealed by an imposing frontal and lateral crown in the form of a comb (which this one does not have) that rests on an imposing carved cornice. Inside the upper body, there is a pair of shallow shelves, contained by a turned wood balustrade and a third one with a hexagonal shape under a ceiling adorned with floral motifs.”In this example, the inside of the doors is decorated with the same type of flat carving as the outside, and it is interesting to note that our wardrobe, however, has wonderful painted decoration of scenes with period characters in a gallant attitude, scenes of daily life etc. We find this type of interior ornamentation, for example, in the cabinet that is preserved in the collection at the Pedro de Osma Museum in Lima, although in varied colours. This one is based on sepia or sanguine tones.Another example comparable to our wardrobe is the one that is part of the Vivian and Jaime Liébana collection in Lima, dating from the 18th century. Regarding this example, Carlés highlights: “Anonymous hands designed this large cabinet with ornamental exuberance, unprecedented expressiveness and harmonic distribution of compositional weight. With remarkable aesthetic sense, they focused on pouring the decorative elements over the entire piece with rigorous symmetry."Regarding the origin and style of this type of baroque furniture, we highly recommended reading chapter VI of the aforementioned book by Carlés, "Mobiliario de estilo barroco madera con talla plana, desnuda, dorada y policromada. Uso civil y religioso utilitario y ornamental. Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Puno y Trujillo” (Baroque-style wood furniture with flat, bare, gilded and polychrome carvings. Civil and religious utilitarian and ornamental use. Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Puno and Trujillo), in which she explains how: “the local craftsman extracted artistic patterns from books of engravings and drawings of European art. These valuable data allowed them to decorate furniture with a Europeanizing morphology, yet inserting juxtaposed autochthonous elements. The Spanish baroque underwent changes in the Viceroyalty of Peru as a result of the added ornamental fantasy that was typical of the Andean identity, which is eager for creativity….The three-dimensional volumetry was achieved by roughing in bevel on hard and soft woods…It is relevant that on some occasions furniture the carved wood was gilded totally or partially with gold leaf, as well as being covered with patinas and polychrome, as in this way the piece was given an unprecedented expressiveness."Bibliographic reference:- María Campos Carlés. "Un legado que pervive en Hispanoamérica. El mobiliario del Virreinato del Perú de los siglos XVII y XVIII. Ediciones El Viso.

"Christ Child". Carved and polychromed wooden sculpture. Sevillian School. First third of the 17th century. On its original carved, gilded and polychromed wooden plinth. Child measurements: 70,5 x 29 x 22,5 cm. Total measurements: 86 x 34 x 30,5 cm. The sculptural depiction of the Christ Child enjoyed a great boost in 13th and 14th century Germany, especially in convents, where nuns looked after them as if they were real children. In the Renaissance, and especially in the Baroque period, this type of depiction of the Infant reached its zenith in popularity in Spain, thanks to the fervour around the childhood of Christ that the Council of Trent awakened. These Christs were made mostly for chapels and private residences and for convents, where the nuns treated them as if they were their children, making their clothes and hanging all sorts of jewels on them. On occasions the affection that these religious women had towards their “artificial sons” reached such a level that they referred to them as their “boyfriend” or “husband”. The small Christ Child that we have here is a copy of the famous Christ Child made by Juan Martínez Montañés (1568-1649), who, in his turn, seems to have been inspired by engravings by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and Martín de Vos (1532-1603). In fact, on the 30th August 1606 Pedro de Cuenca, the administrator of the Sacramental del Sagrario Fraternity in Seville, commissioned the “God of Wood” to sculpt a triumphant Christ Child “of a convenient size for some silver jewellery that the Cofraternity has, which would be a short “vara”, more or less… in cedar wood from Havana planted in a small cushion which comes out of the length of the wood itself and on wooden urn.” The work was concluded on the 2nd February 1607, for which he was paid 1,300 reals, it was then polychromed by the painter Gaspar de Raxis. This model by Montañes, which was continued by his disciple Juan de Mesa (1583-1627), and many other sculptors from Seville and other parts of Andalusia (los Ribas, Alonso Cano (1601-1667), etc), was enormously successful, leading it to be mass produced both in wood and metal, especially in pewter, in which form we can find huge numbers of copies over the length and breadth of Spain and Latin America. Professor Hernández Díaz notes that “the marvellous Christ Child in the Sacramental del Sagrario, is one of the most fortunate depictions of the theme in Spanish art, where the master tries and succeeds in highlighting the supernatural. In this brilliant version Montañés was able to combine the charm of childhood with the majestic appearance of God the Redeemer,” and with “this image he reached the heights of the representation of this theme, showing the depth of theological deification with singular theodicy, offering a statue of enormous tenderness and profound spirit, which magnetises the beholder.” Our example stands on a rectangular plinth with the upper part lined with lace-edged material with curly dead leaves decoration in the corners. The Child is naked, although he could have been dressed, showing stylised anatomy, but with the muscles and bones strongly marked. The arms are slightly separated from the torso, at 45º angles. Also, he gives blessing with his right hand, while it looks as if he would have held some element in the left. The original Christ Child by Montañés first held a cross and later, in 1629, the artist Pablo Legot changed the hands for other lead ones so that the statue could hold a chalice to bring in the allegory of the eucharist. His head, with a smiling face and swollen cheeks, has a prominent mane of hair composed of a mass of curls which create play with chiaroscuro, the central bun stands out, a typical characteristic of Montañés’ creations, and so for all their copies. The differences in the style, specifically from the famous example by Montañés, are absolutely clear. In our example, the canon is more elongated; the anatomy, which denotes a certain stiffness, has quite articulated modelling, the head tends towards an oval shape and has very swollen cheeks and hair with a rather more voluminous bun. Also, the left hand is held low, and the legs, rather than being separated, are almost together, making a slight counterpose perceptible in the wrinkles that the left knee forms. We must point out the extremely beautiful face, which leans to watch the worshippers which he blesses, as well as the very meticulously worked hair which is splendidly trepanned, capturing each of the infinite curls of which the hair is composed. The face has a slight smile, which is, however, charged with a certain melancholy. The slanting eyes, with strongly marked eyelids, are painted onto the wood itself, as are the eyebrows, whilst the mouth, with fine lips, is barely open. We would like to thank Javier Baladrón, doctor in History of Art, for cataloguing this piece.

Attributed to Luis Juárez (Mexico, circa 1585 - 1639)."The Annunciation with Saint Jerome and Saint Francis of Assisi"Nun’s badge. Oil on copper. 13 x 10,5 cm.The LACMA in Los Angeles, has a nun’s badge in its collection by the Mexican painter Francisco Martínez (Mexico, 1687-1758) dated circa 1750, with the central theme of The Annunciation surrounded by Saints. (Inv. M.2015.142.1)As Professor Ilona Katzew, Curator and Head of the Latin American Art Department at the LACMA in Los Angeles, notes with respect to these nun’s shields:"This small-scale painting is a badge worn by nuns of the Order of the Immaculate Conception (also known as Conceptionists) in Mexico as part of their dress. Painted badges originated in Mexico in response to religious reforms introduced by the archbishop Francisco Manso y Zúñiga (ruled 1629-1635), who attempted to curtail the luxury and privilege of the convent lifestyle. He forbade nuns to wear shields made of gold, precious stones, and enamel. The nuns circumvented this rule by commissioning shields painted on copper or parchment, and set into frames made of tortoiseshell. Many of the badges were painted by the best artists of the day."This genre of devotional art was widespread during the 17th and 18th centuries in Spain and the New Hispanic world.They tended to be small pictures painted or embroidered with religious scenes, which nuns wore on their chests as they took their vows.It is in the classic portraits of crowned nuns, also with flowers, veils and other ornaments, where we can see the relevance these badges had.On occasions, artists of the calibre of José de Páez, Miguel Cabrera and Luís Juárez, who was, it seems to us, the painter of this shield, made some of these badges.

Ernest Procter A.R.A. (British 1885-1935) The Long Range Bombardment of Dunkirk, circa 1918 signed, indisctinctly dated and inscribed 'FRANCE' (lower right), oil on canvas(49cm x 59.5cm (19.3in x 23.4in))Footnote: Literature: TIS, 'About Dod & Ernest Procter', Colour, April 1919, vol. 10, no.3, p. 51 (illustrated) This major work is the long-lost The Long Range Bombardment of Dunkirk which has recently come to light in a private collection. As Elizabeth Knowles has explained ‘Ernest [Procter] made relatively few major oil paintings of war subjects, perhaps the most notable being The Long Range Bombardment of Dunkirk from sketches and notes made on the spot. (Elizabeth Knowles, ‘Ernest Procter ARA 1886-1935’, Dod Procter RA 1892-1982 and Ernest Procter ARA 1886-1935, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1990, p. 32). Ernest Procter was born in Tynemouth, Northumberland into a Quaker family. He trained at Leeds Art School and then under Stanhope Forbes in Newlyn, where he met the artist Doris ‘Dod’ Shaw (1890-1972). They furthered their studies at the Académie Colarossi in Paris and married in 1912; Dod was thereafter known by her married name and their son Bill was born the following year. The couple worked and exhibited together, most significantly on the decoration of the Kokine Palace, Rangoon, Burma in 1919-20 and in joint exhibitions held at The Fine Art Society and the Leicester Galleries in 1913 and 1926 respectively. Following the Procters’ return from Burma, Ernest established an art school in Newlyn with Harold Harvey (1874-1971), which they ran until the mid-1920s. Procter played a leading role in the Cornish art world, whilst maintaining a high profile in London. He was a member of the St Ives Society of Arts and Newlyn Society of Artists, joined the New English Art Club in 1929 and was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Academy three years later. He was best known for the allegorical figure compositions and landscapes which were regularly shown in group exhibitions such as those at the Royal Glasgow Institute, Royal Hibernian Academy and the International Society of Sculptors, Painters & Gravers. In 1934, Procter was appointed Director of Studies in Design and Craft at Glasgow School of Art, but he died the following year. Memorial exhibitions were mounted at the Leicester Galleries and Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle. In line with his religious beliefs, Procter declared himself a conscientious objector on the outbreak of World War One. The Friends' Ambulance Unit was established soon afterwards by a group of young Quakers, as a means for civilian volunteers to contribute to the war effort in a non-violent way. The Unit travelled to Dunkirk in October 1914 under the auspices of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John of Jerusalem. Procter’s personnel records reveal that he joined it on 11 April 1916, arrived in Dunkirk on 12 June 1916 and served until his demobilisation on 2 February 1919. His duties included care of the wounded, ambulance maintenance and quartermaster tasks. He also designed and decorated Red Cross huts and camp entertainment, whilst recording his experiences in sketches, drawings and paintings as circumstances permitted. Towards the end of the war, Procter applied to the Ministry of Information for a permit to depict the work of the Red Cross on the Western Front. He was engaged under Scheme 3 of the British War Memorials Committee, whereby in return for facilities, Procter was to offer the first option on all the work he made to the committee, with no salary or expenses. His permit was granted in November 1918. This gave him just a few months before demobilisation to produce the work he carried out for the Royal Army Medical Corps section and was presented for approval in February 1919; six watercolours were acquired and are now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum. They are held alongside a significant number of Procter’s World War One drawings and one of his sketchbooks from the period (see https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?query=ernest+procter&pageSize=30&media-records=all-records&style=list accessed 1 April 2022). Long Range Bombardment of Dunkirk is thought to be an extraordinarily personal and direct account of the major German offensive against the French city which took place over 20 to 23 March 1918, culminating in the use of a German long-range gun situated twenty miles away. Indeed, the painting could act as an illustration of the diary entry for 24 March 1918 written by Procter’s friend Molly Evans (1890-1974), who served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse with the Friends’ Ambulance Unit based in the local Queen Alexandra Hospital. This concludes ‘unending stream of sorting people, carrying bedsteads, personal belongings, mixed up. Glorious sunny day. Queer scene. Frenchmen, lunatics, Chinese carrying things on bamboo sticks, nuns, English sisters, patients, officers, orderlies, all collecting ‘goods’, a procession of Chinese carrying 7 coffins through it all. Crashing shells at intervals. A weary & never-to-be-forgotten day.’ (see https://www.morganfourman.com/articles/hospital-evacuation-under-fire-dunkirk-20-23-mar-1918/ accessed 26 March 2022). Seen from the point of view of the fleeing civilians whom Procter was in the region to aid, he depicts the nearby dunes strewn with refugees and members of the military, streaming away from the city which burns in the background. The towers of the church of Saint Éloi and the town hall are visible in the skyline – of which an annotated sketch is in the Imperial War Museum’s archive (War Artist Archive: Ernest Procter, ART/WA1/298, 'Belgium misc’ portfolio). The image is full of sensitively observed human relationships, between adults and children of all ages, interspersed with animals. Children play whilst grown-ups survey the scene before them, overlooked by a cross on a dune to the upper left, which may refer to Christ’s crucifixion at Calvary. Sunshine and shadow are captured over the flow of the dunes, whilst a use of bold colour, including red, green, pink and orange, attracts the eye throughout the complex composition. The importance of Long Range Bombardment of Dunkirk was recognised immediately. It was reproduced in colour and singled out for extensive praise in an article about Ernest and Dod Procter in Colour of April 1919, in which its author wrote that, despite the tragedy of its subject matter: ‘I…consider his “Long Range Bombardment of Dunkirk” a really remarkable picture…To begin with, it is extraordinarily attractive at the first glance. The eye taking in the whole picture at once is fascinated by its arrangement of colour patterns: there is something Japanese in its composition and even in its colour. Once attracted the eye begins to inform the mind and the mind browses over every square inch, taking in every anecdote, every pictorial detail, wondering how it was possible to combine so much pure art with so much pure story – and every artist must be delighted with the ingenious manner in which he has contrived to make the many-figured whole hang together as one thing. He comes near to Peter Brueghel in his incidents, but Peter Brueghel could not have reached him in composition. This Bombardment I say again is a remarkable picture.’ (“TIS”, 'About Dod & Ernest Procter', Colour, April 1919, vol. 10, no.3, p. 51 (illustrated) & p.52). Procter was to develop the narrative richness, orchestration of complex figure groups and skilful use of colour seen in this work in further major paintings created after his return to Cornwall, including On the Beach at Newlyn, 1919 and Cornish Beach Scene, c.1922, both in private collections. His work is held in numerous public collections.Provenance:Private Collection, Scotland.Believed to have been purchased in 1948, and by descent in the same family to the current owner.

Richard Lin (Taiwanese/British, 1933-2011). Aluminum and oil on canvas titled "Vermillion and Yellow," 1969, depicting a minimalist composition of thin bands of color and aluminum on a white and gray ground. Signed, titled, and inscribed with the medium along the verso. A label from Marlborough Gallery, London, England, is affixed to the verso."Stillness is very important to me. Painting is my religious expression. It's my altarpiece, something untouched by human hands. Therefore, all gestures disappeared." - Richard LinRichard Linís bold style of minimalism took the mid-20th century art world by storm, throughout Europe and Asia. Born in Taiwan in 1933 to a wealthy family, Lin was raised with the expectation that he would one day become heir to the fortune. As a child, he was trained in the traditional arts of calligraphy and garden design, at which he excelled. When he came of age, his family sent him to England for college. While he studied architecture during the day, he was unwilling to give up art, and studied painting by night. Upon his graduation in 1958, he shocked his family by renouncing his fortune and deciding to paint full time.He soon found success as an artist, first within Britain and soon internationally. He had his first solo show within a year of graduating, at Gimpel Fils. His work drew the respect and praise of his contemporaries, such as Joan Miro. While his work bears some similarities to the American Minimalism Movement of the time, his philosophical grounding was based in Taoist spirituality, which informed many of his choices. After several decades of success in London, Lin moved to the countryside of Wales, where the tranquility and beautiful landscape inspired him.The present artwork shows Linís mastery of serenity and simplicity. The narrow lines of red and yellow mirror the applied piece of aluminum, standing out from the white and pale gray ground. His use of space and of unusual materials such as aluminum reflect his background in architecture. However, his choice of colors has its roots in something far less industrial: his minimalist compositions are often evocations of the landscapes around him. The bright yellow and vermilion are more than simply pigments; they are the color of the autumn leaves or perhaps vibrant summer flowers in Linís adopted home in Wales. With incredibly subtlety and restraint, Lin renders his religious expression in his art and the world around him.Sight; Height: 14 in x width: 11 3/4 in. Framed; Height: 18 1/4 in x width: 16 1/4 in.

Mexican school of the 18th century."Saint Anthony of Padua".Watercolour and fine gold on parchment.Drawing with illegible signature on the back.Measurements: 11,5 x 7 cm.This set of votive offerings is an example of the painting of the epoch in Mexico, developed in the moment of greater political and economic solidity. Thus, the fine arts enjoyed a unique flowering, since the artistic tradition was located between the style of the grandiosity and the scenographic taste typical of the stylistic patterns of the European art of the Catholic countries and the birth of an own and personal style. Thus, the generations of painters born in Mexico would be the offspring of the previous generations and, like them, would receive eminently religious commissions, given that this was a time when the main clientele was made up of the clerical class.