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Circa 400 BC. Southern Italian. A beautiful terracotta oinochoe with flaring trefoil rim, elongated neck, sloping shoulder, egg-shaped body, cylindrical stem and ring foot; an applied, ear-shaped handle joins the rim, rising up before descending to re-join the vessel at the shoulder. The neck and handle are painted black with cream-coloured ribbing on the neck. One side of the body presents vegetal motifs while the other shows a female figure in profile with carefully detailed eyes, small, pursed mouth and prominent nose; her elaborate coiffure is bejewelled, and she wears pendular earrings. A wave frieze runs below these scenes. This vessel would have been used for serving wine both in domestic contexts and during religious rituals. Excellent condition. Provenance: Size: L:253mm / W:75mm ; 292gProvenance: From an important British collection of Mr. C.S.; originally acquired in the 1980s on the UK/European art markets.

Circa 300–100 BC. Celtic. A beautiful Iron Age bronze torc in the shape of a crown. Excellent condition. Commonly mentioned as spoils of war and usually made from various metals, torcs were not merely military decorations for men. They could also serve as indications of ranks, status and power. Torcs may also have had religious associations as such objects appear on the figures of Bronze Age and Celtic deities. Designs could vary from very simple to extremely elaborate pieces in various metals, including gold. Some torcs were probably used as rattles during rituals and put on statues as votive offerings. For more information on Celtic torcs and comparison pieces, see Farley, J. (ed.) (2015). Celts: art and identity. The British Museum, 93–96.Size: L:135mm / W:45mm; 560g.Provenance: Property of a European collector, acquired on a European Art market in 2017; formerly in the collection of Mr. D. L., acquired by A. M. in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1977. A copy of the original invoice will accompany this purchase.

An assortment of silver pendant necklaces to include snake chains, curb chains and box chain with a variety of pendants to include a synthetic ruby and white stone set target pendant, a religious Virgin Mary pendant, a white stone set heart shaped pendant and a Art Nouveau style pedant with a blue stone drop to the bottom. Measures 43cm in length. Total weight 68g. 

Castilian school; first half of the XVI century."Santa Lucia".Carved and polychrome wood.Presents repainting and saints in the polychrome.Measurements: 74 x 54 x 31 cm.Due to the iconographic attribute of the eyes on the plate, this sculpture can be identified to Saint Lucia of Syracuse (283-304), who was the daughter of noble parents, who educated her in the Christian faith. She took a vow of chastity and consecrated her life to God, but her mother promised her in marriage to a young pagan. Finally, the engagement was broken, after her mother was cured of her illness by a divine miracle, but the suitor accused her before the proconsul Pascacio, denouncing her as a Christian. St. Lucy was then arrested and, refusing to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods, Pascatius ordered her to be taken to a brothel to be raped. However, the soldiers could not take her away, since the girl remained miraculously rigid as a stone. She was then condemned for witchcraft and taken to the stake, although the fire did not harm her. Her eyes were then gouged out, a symbol in the art of her martyrdom, but she retained her vision nonetheless. Finally, Pascacio ordered her beheading. Patron saint of the blind and protector of the poor and sick children, Saint Lucy is mainly venerated in Syracuse, Venice and Peter of the Mount, although important feasts are also dedicated to her in Scandinavia.Spain is, at the beginning of the 16th century, the European nation best prepared to receive the new humanist concepts of life and art because of its spiritual, political and economic conditions, although from the point of view of plastic forms, its adaptation of those introduced by Italy was slower because of the need to learn the new techniques and to change the taste of the clientele. Sculpture reflects perhaps better than other artistic fields this eagerness to return to the classical Greco-Roman world that exalts in its nudes the individuality of man, creating a new style whose vitality surpasses the mere copy. Soon the anatomy, the movement of the figures, the compositions with a sense of perspective and balance, the naturalistic play of the folds, the classical attitudes of the figures began to be valued; but the strong Gothic tradition maintains the expressiveness as a vehicle of the deep spiritualistic sense that informs our best Renaissance sculptures. This strong and healthy tradition favors the continuity of religious sculpture in polychrome wood that accepts the formal beauty offered by Italian Renaissance art with a sense of balance that avoids its predominance over the immaterial content that animates the forms. In the first years of the century, Italian works arrived in our lands and some of our sculptors went to Italy, where they learned first hand the new norms in the most progressive centers of Italian art, whether in Florence or Rome, and even in Naples. Upon their return, the best of them, such as Berruguete, Diego de Siloe and Ordóñez, revolutionized Spanish sculpture through Castilian sculpture, even advancing the new mannerist, intellectualized and abstract derivation of the Italian Cinquecento, almost at the same time as it was produced in Italy.

Andalusian School; second half of the XVII century."The Good Shepherd.Oil on canvas.Relined in the nineteenth century.Repainting: 5%.Measurements: 125 x 100 cm; 150 x 127 cm (frame).This composition testifies the hand of a skilled painter of Andalusian school. It presents a theme that became popular in the Andalusian religious painting of the Baroque period. Following the iconography that identifies Jesus with the Good Shepherd, and the sheep with humanity, the flock is here crowded around the representation of Christ in full body. A faint celestial light falls on his shoulders, emphasizing the central axis occupied by his figure. Jesus extends a bundle of grass to those closest to him, and the rest of the flock is distributed around him in peaceful attitudes. In the distance, and in contrast with the calm tone of this first scene, a confrontation is taking place: a character (possibly St. Michael) defends himself from a serpent, the incarnation of evil. Due to its formal and compositional characteristics, we can relate this work to the Sevillian school of the Baroque period, belonging to the Murillo circle. Although Murillo favored the characterization of the Good Shepherd as an infant of young age, the way of resolving the landscape, veiled by faint atornasoladas ranges, and also the fluffy and cottony fur of the sheep, denote the influence of the Sevillian master. We can also relate the present canvas to a painting by a Sevillian painter of a later generation, Alonso Miguel de Tovar. We refer to La Divina Pastora (Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection), where two scenes also coexist: the main one, with the Virgin as the Shepherdess and a distant scene of St. Michael the Archangel fighting against a wolf that tries to attack a lamb. The bucolic tone of the landscape and the tenderness of the gestures is also similar to the present painting.The theme of the good shepherd is very old in Christian art, and has its roots in ancient Western art, specifically in the Muscophores of Ancient Greece. Christians will follow these iconographic models for their first representations, as we see in examples such as the catacombs of St. Callixtus. As for its meaning, the good shepherd is a biblical allegory, originally referring to Yahweh and later to Jesus Christ. The good shepherd is interpreted as God, who saves the lost sheep (the sinner). The theme appears in the Old Testament, and in the Gospels the same allegory is applied to Jesus as the Son of God. This iconography shows the Parable of the Good Shepherd that appears in the Gospels (John 10:1-6; Luke 15:3-7), which speaks of the shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep, and which was prefigured in Psalm 23 and in the Book of Ezekiel (34:12), uniting God with the figure of the shepherd who takes care of the sheep, of his flock. In art, the theme is the most represented in Paleochristian iconography, and testimonies can be found from the 2nd century onwards. From the 4th century onwards, its representation declined until it disappeared completely in the Middle Ages, but it finally recovered between the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, it will share the limelight with the Divina Pastora, a theme that became popular during the Baroque period.

Spanish school of the second third of the XVII century."Santo Domingo in Soriano".Oil on canvas. Relined.Spanish frame ca. 1850.Presents faults.Precise restoration, both in the canvas and in the frame.Measurements: 210 x 165 cm; 230 x 184 cm (frame).The present work is about the miracle of Saint Dominic in the Dominican convent of Soriano Calabro in Italy. The scene takes place in an interior with the Virgin holding the portrait of the saint, while Saint Catherine (identified with the distaff, the sword and the palm of martyrdom) rises imposingly next to her. The Magdalena and a visionary religious, who appears kneeling, close the scene on the left side. The work is inspired by the homonymous canvas by Fray Juan Bautista Maíno, today kept in the Prado Museum, dated around 1629. According to the art gallery itself, "The fame of this representation associated with the name of Maíno spread from a painting, now lost, placed in a chapel of the convent of Santo Tomás in Madrid in May 1629. The Dominicans spread the legend of Soriano presenting as miraculous not only the original image but also its copies. These miraculous powers associated with the cult of Saint Dominic in Soriano explain the immediate diffusion in copies and variants of Maíno's composition (Text extracted from Carlos Varona, M. C. de, in: Juan Bautista Maíno: 1581-1649, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2009, pp. 172-176)."

Flemish school of the second half of the seventeenth century. Circle of FRANS SNYDERS (Antwerp, Belgium, 1579 - 1657)."Cockfight".Oil on canvas. Relined.Needs restoration.Measurements: 160 x 225 cm; 190 x 250 cm (frame).During the XVII century, in Flanders there was an increasing demand for paintings to decorate the houses of the bourgeoisie. Apart from portraits and large canvases with religious, historical or mythological themes, artists specialized, painting medium-sized works that gradually increased in format, with still lifes, animals, landscapes and genre scenes. The paintings that reproduce collectors' cabinets of the time are explicit in this respect, to the point of originating a new autonomous pictorial genre. Undoubtedly, the future of this painting would have been different without Rubens, whose art revolutionized the artistic panorama of Flanders, introducing a new fully baroque way and bringing a sense of unity and opulent sumptuousness to the ordered and encyclopedic sample that were the precious descriptions of his countrymen.Debtors of his manner or subordinate to his work, the specialists worked in a new line, adding to their compositions an accessory object, a landscape or a decorative background. Frans Snyders (1579-1657), the great Flemish master of still life and animal painting, the genres most sought after as domestic ornament by Flemish clients, was close to this system of work and its technique. His compositions, like those of his followers, are presided over by a broadness and heroic tone that we can also appreciate in this canvas. The present work represents a confrontation between two roosters. The scene takes place on the outskirts of the corral, with the rest of the hens and small chickens hanging around the place. In the last instance rises the hut of the guardian of the farm, in a markedly horizontal landscape, enclosed by the voluptuous clouds that bathe the scene.

Spanish or Italian school; XVII century."The arrest of Christ".Oil on canvas. Relined.Presents faults and repainting on the pictorial surface.Preserves frame of the nineteenth century, following models of the seventeenth century.Measurements: 103 x 127 cm; 140 x 161 cm (frame).In the darkness of the Mount of Olives, which is not appreciated in the scene, because the author focuses the image in the presence of the body of Christ, Jesus is seized by two soldiers. The body of Christ lies on the ground tied with ropes and a chain around his neck, which one of the captors pulls. Through a pyramidal composition of classic cut, the author structures the three characters in such a way that the body of Christ, is arranged at the base, being this a predominant place in the scene, also noteworthy is the luminosity of the body, which radiates an artificial light, caused by the whiteness of the flesh, which contrasts with the warmer tones, or orange of the characters who are imprisoning him. The scene that highlights a specific moment, where the tensions of the bodies, the foreshortening of the postures, indicate a fleeting moment of dramatic activity. A tension that the author resolves with the second plane, in which, in spite of the aforementioned darkness, we can appreciate the figure of one of the apostles located in the left zone of the composition, surely Saint Peter, who renounced Jesus before the rooster crowed three times, and behind the three sketchy figures that surely allude to a moment prior to the arrest of Christ, leaving a glimpse of a pictorial story of a narrative order.Baroque painting is one of the most authentic and personal examples of art, because its conception and form of expression arose from the people and the deepest feelings that nestled in it. 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 compelled to embody the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when the Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded a realistic language from art so that the faithful would understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervor and devotion of the people.

Flemish school; ca. 1600."Mary Magdalene supported by angels".Oil on copper.Presents frame of the late nineteenth century adapted.Measures: 21 x 16 cm; 32,5 x 17 cm (frame).Influenced by a mannerist aesthetic, the author presents a work of religious theme; Mary Magdalene accompanied by two angels. The lengthening of the canon, the disposition of the corporal postures, added to the cold, almost metallic tonalities, show the influence of the mannerist style in the conception of this piece.Mary Magdalene is mentioned in the New Testament as a distinguished disciple of Christ. According to the Gospels, she housed and materially provided for Jesus and his disciples during their stay in Galilee, and was present at the Crucifixion. She was a witness of the Resurrection, as well as the one in charge of transmitting the news to the apostles. She is also identified with the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with perfumes before his arrival in Jerusalem, so her main iconographic attribute is a knob of essences, like the one shown here. Alone, Mary Magdalene is usually represented, doing penance in the desert, repentant for her past sins. Covered in rags and with a skull, in allusion to her sufferings as a penitent, meditating on the Holy Scriptures. The story of this saint serves as an example of Christ's forgiveness, and conveys the message of the possibility of redemption of the soul through repentance and faith. While Eastern Christianity honors Mary Magdalene especially for her closeness to Jesus, considering her "equal to the apostles," in the West the idea developed, based on her identification with other women in the Gospels, that before meeting Jesus she had engaged in prostitution. Hence the later legend narrates that she spent the rest of her life as a penitent in the desert, mortifying her flesh. In art she was preferably represented in this way, especially in the 17th century, a time when Catholic societies felt a special fascination for the lives of mystics and saints who lived in solitude in wild places, dedicated to prayer and penance. The theme of the Magdalene, moreover, offered the possibility of representing a beautiful woman who shows some parts of the anatomy then considered taboo, such as the feet or the breast, but who in her respects decorum because she is mortified flesh that expresses repentance for her past sins.

BARTOLOMEO MANFREDI (Ostiano, 1582-Rome, 1622) "Judith with the head of Holofernes". Oil on canvas. Attached study of Don Gianni Papi. It has a frame of the nineteenth century. Size: 98 x 89 cm; 116 x 108 cm (frame). This work includes a study by Gianni Papi, Doctor in art history from the University of Florence. His research work focuses especially on the figure of Carvaggio, Ribera and the early Seicento in Rome. The image of this canvas is based on the biblical book of Judith, from the Old Testament. The book tells the story of a Hebrew widow, Judith daughter of Merari, in the midst of Israel's war against the Babylonian army, erroneously called Assyrian. With beautiful features, high education and enormous piety, religious zeal and patriotic passion, Judith discovers that the invading general, Holofernes, has fallen in love with her. Accompanied by her maid, the widow descends from her walled city besieged by the foreign army and, deceiving the soldier into believing that she is in love with him, manages to enter his tent. Once there, instead of yielding to his gallant claims, she intoxicates him. When Holofernes falls asleep, Judith cuts off his head, sowing confusion in the Babylonian army and thus obtaining victory for Israel. This is a frequent theme in the history of art, mainly from the Baroque period onwards. However, if during the 17th century the scene in which Judith kills Holofernes was preferred, the taste of the 19th century determines a less dramatic expression, which is why the author of this canvas has chosen the moment before the assassination. Judith is presented concentrated, sword in hand, already initiating the movement to decapitate the general. The latter appears sleeping peacefully, his weapons abandoned on the ground in a clearly symbolic detail. The painter has focused especially on the depiction of the face of the biblical heroine, who looks directly at the man with hatred and decision. Bartolomeo Manfredi was born in Ostiano, however, it is believed that his initial training took place in Mantua, under the guidance of the artist Cristoforo Roncalli, known as Pomarancio. Bibliographic sources do not reveal exactly when he arrived in Rome, but it is known that he was in the city during the first years of the 17th century. Manfredi was one of the first emulators of Caravaggio's innovative style, with his sustained chiaroscuro and his insistence on naturalism, with a gift for telling a story through the expression and body language of his characters. The Punishment of Cupid (Art Institute of Chicago), clearly shows this ancestry. Despite this influence, Manfredi brought a very personal touch to Caravaggio's themes. He also became the continuator and disseminator of Caravaggio's legacy to foreign painters, who came in particular from France and Utrecht, to study in Italy. Manfredi was, according to his biographer Giulio Mancini, "a man of distinguished appearance and refined behavior". Although he rarely appeared in public, he built his career around easel painting for private clients. He did not seek public commissions that would earn him greater notoriety, but his works entered large collections in the 17th century, a time when he was considered equal, if not superior, to Caravaggio.

Follower of POMPEO GIROLAMO BATONI (Lucca, 1708 - Rome, 1787). "Magdalena". Oil on canvas. It has slight repainting and a patch on the back. Size: 76 x 100,5 cm; 110 x 132 cm (frame). In this devotional image the figure of Maria Magdalena is appreciated, reclining in a landscape, reading a book, with the interlaced hands. The British Museum in London has an engraving of a later period in which this same scene is reproduced, following the composition of Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, whose original work Magdalena penitente en el desierto (Magdalene penitent in the desert) is lost or destroyed. Mary Magdalene is mentioned in the New Testament as a distinguished disciple of Christ. According to the Gospels, she housed and materially provided for Jesus and his disciples during their stay in Galilee, and was present at the Crucifixion. She was a witness of the Resurrection, as well as the one in charge of transmitting the news to the apostles. She is also identified with the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with perfumes before his arrival in Jerusalem, so her main iconographic attribute is a knob of essences. While Eastern Christianity honors Mary Magdalene especially for her closeness to Jesus, considering her "equal to the apostles", in the West, based on her identification with other women in the Gospels, the idea developed that before meeting Jesus she had dedicated herself to prostitution, hence the later legend that narrates her penance in the desert. In art she was preferably represented in this way, especially in the 17th century, a time when Catholic societies felt a special fascination for the lives of mystics and saints who lived in solitude in wild places, dedicated to prayer and penance. The theme of the Magdalene, moreover, offered the possibility of representing a beautiful woman who shows some parts of the anatomy then considered taboo, such as the feet or the breast, but who in her respects decorum in that she is mortified flesh expressing repentance for her past sins. Batoni began his artistic training at the hand of his father, who was a gilder, but later continued his education in Rome, where he moved in 1727, to study at the Academy of the Nude of Sebastiano Conca. At first he began to work as a fan decorator, but in 1730 he began to achieve a certain recognition as a painter, due to his paintings of historical, religious and mythological themes. After a certain failure in the intervention of an altarpiece he began to work on portraits of tourists who came due to the Grand Tour. In 1741 he was elected member of the academy of Saint Luke, where he took on the responsibility of tutoring foreign students.

Castilian school; XVII century."Saint Anthony".Polychrome wood.It presents faults in the carving and advanced woodworm.Measurements: 52 x 27 x 16 cm.Saint Anthony of Padua or Lisbon (Lisbon, ca. 1191 to 1195 - Padua, 1231) was a friar of the Franciscan Order, preacher and theologian, venerated as a saint and Doctor of the Church, canonized a year after his death by Pope Gregory IX. He entered the Order of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, moving in the summer of 1220 to become a Franciscan. Among his numerous miracles and outstanding moments, some have been used for art, above all, such as his preaching to the fish, the miracle of the jealous husband, the miracle of the mule and the Holy Form, the apparition of the Child Jesus, etc.Spain is, at the beginning of the 16th century, the European nation best prepared to receive the new humanist concepts of life and art because of its spiritual, political and economic conditions, although from the point of view of the plastic forms, its adaptation of those implanted by Italy was slower due to the need to learn the new techniques and to change the taste of the clientele. Sculpture reflects perhaps better than other artistic fields this eagerness to return to the classical Greco-Roman world that exalts in its nudes the individuality of man, creating a new style whose vitality surpasses the mere copy. Soon the anatomy, the movement of the figures, the compositions with a sense of perspective and balance, the naturalistic play of the folds, the classical attitudes of the figures began to be valued; but the strong Gothic tradition maintains the expressiveness as a vehicle of the deep spiritualistic sense that informs our best Renaissance sculptures. This strong and healthy tradition favors the continuity of religious sculpture in polychrome wood that accepts the formal beauty offered by Italian Renaissance art with a sense of balance that avoids its predominance over the immaterial content that animates the forms. In the first years of the century, Italian works arrived in our lands and some of our sculptors went to Italy, where they learned first hand the new norms in the most progressive centers of Italian art, whether in Florence or Rome, and even in Naples. On their return, the best of them, such as Berruguete, Diego de Siloe and Ordóñez, would revolutionize Spanish sculpture through Castilian sculpture, even advancing the new mannerist, intellectualized and abstract derivation of the Italian Cinquecento, almost at the same time as it took place in Italy. This development of sculpture, and of the professionals in this field, will provoke a strong artistic legacy that is reflected in the seventeenth century.

VICENTE NAVARRO ROMERO (Valencia, 1888 - Barcelona, 1978)."Pietà".Sculpture in carved and polychrome wood.Signed on the front of the pedestal.Presents faults in the polychrome.Measures: 70 x 39 x 25 cm.Vicente Navarro offers us a religious sculptural group that represents the theme of the Pietà: the Virgin seated with the dead Christ in her lap, a theme of deep dramatism not only because of the subject itself, but also because its composition evokes the images of the Virgin with the Child Jesus in her lap.Sculptor and painter, Vicente Navarro was trained at the School of Fine Arts of San Carlos de Valencia, where he was a disciple of López Mezquita. He was a regular participant in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts, being awarded the first medal in 1915. After traveling to Rome on a scholarship, in 1918 he obtained a teaching post at the Escuela de La Lonja in Barcelona. He was an academician of San Carlos, San Jorge and San Fernando, obtained the National Prize of Painting and Sculpture in 1947 and a medal of honor in the Regional Exhibition of Valencia in 1935. He is represented in several museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art in Madrid and the Army Museum.

Pre-Columbian seated warrior; Jama Coaque Culture; Ecuador, 500 BC - 500 AD.Polychrome terracotta.Measurements: 19 x 10 x 10,5 cm.This sculpture in round bulk is profusely adorned, wearing earrings, nose ring and a rich headdress. The Jama-Coaque culture developed in the area of San Isidro and in the north of the province of Manabí, in Ecuador. In direct commercial relationship with other cultures of Central America and Mexico, its cultural and religious core was in the ceremonial center of San Isidro, where one or more temples were built on a large pyramid, surrounded by a large village. The Jama-Coaque had in pottery its main artistic manifestation, developing a very ornate and markedly figurative style which has a strong Chorrera heritage. Their ceramic pieces are recognized for establishing as a visual document that clearly reflects the life in Jama-Coaque. Their human forms, zoomorphic and mixtures of human and animal forms, along with the details of costumes and ornamental expressions, reveal some aspects of the cult and daily life of the Jama-Coaque culture. Many of these figures wear very colorful attire, becoming an aboriginal fashion that stands out for its large headdresses, tunics that cover legs and arms, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, in addition to a very elaborate feather art. They also worked gold and other metals with a very delicate and artistic technique, an example of which can be seen in their earrings, necklaces and pectorals.

BBC Zig Zag, Ancient myths (Egyptian), Paul Birkbeck 1939-2019, a cow being groomed and prepared for a religious ceremony; 36 x 42 cms.,signed and dated '78 ABOUT PAUL BIRKBECK; an appreciation, written by one of his daughters and published in the Guardian following his death. "My father, Paul Birkbeck, who has died aged 80, was an artist and illustrator whose work is familiar to those of a certain generation brought up on BBC childrens TV programmes such as Crystal Tipps and Alistair, Play School and Jackanory. His distinctive style and keen eye for detail ensured that he became one of the BBCs most-used artists through the 1970s and 80s. Born in Woolwich, south-east London, Paul attended Brighton College and Epsom School ofArt. After completing his national service, he also became the banjo player for the Dedicated Men Jugband, who signed to Pye Records in 1965. The bands single, Boodle Am Shake, did not trouble the charts but Paul soon began designing sleeves for Decca Records. In 1965 working with BBC childrens TV he became a prolific illustrator for its programmes. For Jackanory he illustrated 14 stories, including A Dog So Small (read by Judi Dench) and Peter Pan, (some in this sale), as well as the BBC Sunday afternoon Bible stories series In the Beginning. His work for Jackanory continued for many years. He created the memorable opening titles for The Vikings in 1980, presented by Magnus Magnusson, and the iconic Miss Marple series, starring Joan Hickson. Paul also drew the backgrounds for the ground-breaking TV series Jane, starring Glynis Barber, which mixed cartoon backgrounds with live actors and was based on the 1940s comic strip of the same name. (some in this sale). In 1991, as well as supplying illustrations, he was in front of the camera playing himself each week in the BBCs six-part childrens TV history programme Now Then, an educational show that cleverly brought our ancestors to life. Paul taught illustration at Leicester Polytechnic, Epsom College and the Royal College of Art, but continued to work in TV, including delivering the titles for the Stanley Baxter Show on Channel 4. He branched out into book illustration with Salman Rushdies 1990 childrens fairy tale Haroun and the Sea of Stories, for which his lavish pictures were much lauded, not least by Rushdie. My father spent the latter part of his life on personal commissions. His work appeared at the Keith Chapman Gallery, London, in Royal Academy summer shows and Sunday Times watercolour exhibitions between 2003 and 2008, and in the Mall Galleries Discerning Eye exhibitions. PROVENANCE The artworks in this sale have been consigned by his family. NOTES: The pictures in this sale were prepared in various mediums often used by the artist and often in conjunction with one another, including, pen and ink, crayon, water-colour, gouache, pastel, and oil and acrylic paints on card or on paper. The auctioneers acknowledge the help of his family in cataloguing this collection, and where-ever known each picture has been listed under its broadcast designation. but the vendors do not guarantee that all attributions in this respect are correct. The family do however guarantee that the pictures, both signed and unsigned are the work of Paul Birkbeck. . All sizes are approximate.

JULIO BORRELL PLA (Barcelona, 1877 - 1957)."Young man eating an apple".Oil on canvas.Signed in the upper left corner.Measurements: 69 x 47 cm; 77 x 55 cm (frame).A young woman represented in three quarters is captured in the act of biting an apple while looking mischievously at the viewer, conveying a casual and instantaneous image.Son and disciple of Pere Borrell del Caso, Julio Borrell was trained at the School of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi in Barcelona. From his father he was influenced by the Nazarenes Claudio Lorenzale and Pablo Milà i Fontanals. In 1888, at the age of eleven, he participated with a canvas in the Barcelona competition of the Universal Exposition, together with his brother Ramón, also a painter. From 1894 he took part in almost all the official exhibitions held in Barcelona and Madrid, being awarded an honorary mention in 1897. That same year he won a second medal at the exhibition in Arcachon, France. His name had a special resonance throughout his exhibitions at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, between 1915 and 1920. His wide production includes both oil and pastel works, and covers a wide range of themes. The theme he most cultivated was that of the classic Spanish maja, the women with mantilla and comb, depicted in his personal sensorial style, with extraordinary skill and great mastery of drawing. Among his many paintings, some of which have been widely reproduced, it is worth mentioning "El viático al Liceo", "Lavapiés en Jueves Santo", "Bodas reales" (Royal Wedding), which he painted for King Alfonso XIII, "Luna de miel" (Honeymoon), "El triunfo del cristianismo" (The Triumph of Christianity), etc. He also dedicated himself to decorative painting, making religious murals for the church of San Francisco in Buenos Aires and the dome of the Basilica de la Merced in Barcelona, destroyed in 1936. Throughout his career, Borrell held numerous solo exhibitions in various Barcelona galleries, and participated in group exhibitions and competitions. Many of his works are exhibited at MACBA, as well as at the National Art Museum of Catalonia and others.

JOSÉ CUSACHS Y CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851 - Barcelona, 1908)."Giving water to the horses".Oil on canvas.Signed in the lower left corner.Measurements: 30 x 50 cm; 56 x 70 cm (frame).It is also habitual in the best works of Cusachs the careful work of the landscape, with a subtle and fluid brushstroke that reflects with the fidelity of a watercolor the light and the atmosphere of the scene.José Cusachs was accidentally born in France, as his parents were traveling 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 to pursue a military career. However, in 1882, after a brilliant career that led him to be Captain of the Army for war merits, he asked for retirement to devote himself to painting. Trained in Barcelona under the direction of Simón Gómez, he completed his artistic studies with a stay in Paris, in the studio of Édouard Détaille, one of the greatest experts in military themes, a genre that would be Cusachs' favorite. Within the military themes, this artist was especially inclined to 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 the work of F. Barado 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 condition. It was precisely the success of these early works that prompted him to finally abandon his previous career to focus on art. During these years he would make his work known through individual exhibitions, such as the ones he held regularly from 1884 at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, always obtaining great success in sales and critics. In 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 participated 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 María Cristina ("En el campo de maniobras"). In 1891 he participated in the Berlin Exhibition and won the Gold Medal for his work "Maneuvers of division". Cusachs also stood out as a famous military portraitist, and painted, among others, General Prim, King Alfonso XIII in military uniform and Mexican President Profirio Díaz. Other notable works by his hand are "The Flight to 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 evaluation, study and meditation. Thus, he adopted those aspects he considered of value, and discarded the rest. The bulk of his work is collected in the Museum of Modern Art in Madrid and the National Art Museum of Catalonia, as well as other centers such as the Museum of Montserrat, the National Museum of History, the Captaincy General of Valencia, the Artillery Headquarters of Valladolid, the Gallery of Illustrious Captains of the City of Barcelona and prominent private collections, such as the Santiago Gramunt.

JOSEP MARIA TAMBURINI DALMAU (Barcelona, 1856 - 1932)."Day in the countryside.Oil on canvas.Signed in the lower left corner.It carries a label of Barrachina & Ramoneda.Measurements: 42 x 64 cm; 68 x 89 cm (frame).Tamburini remains in this work halfway between the contemporary costumbrista representation and the symbolist evocation, in a typically fin-de-siècle image that transcends the realistic portrait to enter a lyrical scenario, of poetic echoes both in the feminine figure and in the own way of capturing the landscape.Painter and art critic, and a leading figure of Catalan modernism, Tamburini began his training at the Escuela de La Lonja in Barcelona, and later completed his studies in Paris, with L. Bonnat, and Rome. He collaborated as a cartoonist, art critic and poet with the magazine "L'Avenç", one of the most outstanding artistic publications of Catalonia at the turn of the century. He also wrote for "La Vanguardia". As a painter, he began his career in history painting and anecdotal realism, to later evolve along the lines of symbolism, strongly influenced by English pre-Raphaelism. Recognition came in 1888, when he won a silver medal at the Universal Exposition in Barcelona. He continued to participate in official exhibitions in Barcelona and Madrid, and was again awarded at the Barcelona Exhibition in 1898, where he received the Queen Regent's Extraordinary Prize. In 1911 he received the Prize of the Kings of Spain. As a mature painter, he worked on placidly fantastic, detailed and precious themes, as well as religious themes and some portraits. He was also a member of the Board of Museums of Barcelona, advisor to the Academy of Fine Arts, professor at the School of La Lonja and co-founder of the Artistic and Literary Society of Catalonia (1911). He is represented in the MACBA, the National Museum of Art and the Library of Catalonia, the Royal Academy of Sant Jordi, the Casa Lis Museum in Salamanca and the Fine Arts Museums of Valencia and Seville, as well as in numerous private collections.

Indo-Persian Gouache Assortment (4) items including (3) religious scenes, each having (2) figures; and a scene of a male and female figure seated in a courtyard; each framed under glass Property from: a Chicago, Illinois (Streeterville) estate Height: 6 1/2 inches, Width: 4 5/8 inches (largest sight)Frame Size: 8 3/4 inches by 6 7/8 inches Condition: Very Good to Good, chariot scene having paint losses throughout; paint losses and holes to margin of standing Krishna and Radha scene; creases, stains and tears to courtyard scene Disclaimers: not examined out of the frames Category: Fine Art > Asian Paintings & Prints Estimated Sale Time: 1:21 pm (America/Chicago) Shipping Status: Leonard Auction Shipping Quote Sales Tax (United States Only): Kansas (6.5%), New Jersey (6.625%), Pennsylvania (6%), Washington (10.5%) Download High Resolution Photographs:Photograph #1Photograph #2Photograph #3Photograph #4Photograph #5

Japanese 'Taima Mandala' Block Print 19th century after the 8th century original, paint and gilt-embellished block print on paper mounted on silk scroll, depicting a Buddhist religious scene of multiple figures in a landscape, in a gilt wood frame under glass Property from: a Chicago, Illinois (Andersonville) estate Height: 29 3/4 inches, Width: 26 1/2 inches (image)Frame Size: 71 1/4 inches by 41 7/8 inches Condition: Very Good, vertical cracks and wrinkles to image and silk; discoloration Disclaimers: not examined out of the frame Category: Fine Art > Asian Paintings & Prints Estimated Sale Time: 1:23 pm (America/Chicago) Shipping Status: Leonard Auction Shipping Quote Sales Tax (United States Only): Kansas (6.5%), New Jersey (6.625%), Pennsylvania (6%), Washington (10.5%) Download High Resolution Photographs:Photograph #1Photograph #2Photograph #3

Verre Eglomise Religious Scene Undated and unsigned; reverse painted with gold leaf depiction of the body of Christ being supported by angels; on wavy surfaced glass; in a gold lacquered frame Property from: a Chicago, Illinois (Streeterville) estate Height: 5 inches, Width: 3 5/8 inches (sight)Frame Size: 7 1/2 inches by 6 1/8 inches Condition: Very Good, no cracks noted; a vertical 1-inch scratch from lower edge left of center; chipping at lower edge just visible beneath lip of frame; overall light wear to frame Disclaimers: not examined out of frame Category: Fine Art > Other Estimated Sale Time: 2:01 pm (America/Chicago) Shipping Status: Leonard Auction Shipping Quote Sales Tax (United States Only): Kansas (6.5%), New Jersey (6.625%), Pennsylvania (6%), Washington (10.5%) Download High Resolution Photographs:Photograph #1Photograph #2Photograph #3

Meister der weiblichen Halbfiguren, in den Niederlanden tätig zwischen 1525 und 1550 JUNGE FRAU BEIM SCHREIBEN AM TISCH MIT PRUNKPOKAL Öl auf Holz. Parkettiert. 53 x 43 cm.Expertise von Prof. Dr. Paul Vandenbroeck, Univ. Leuven, mit Literaturverweisen und Einordnung des Gemäldes in den Zeitraum 1535-1540. Bekanntlich konnte der eigentliche Name des Künstlers bis heute noch nicht ermittelt werden. Aufgrund von Bild- und Stilvergleichen prägte Max J. Friedländer (1867-1958) den Notnamen „Meister der weiblichen Halbfiguren“. Der Malstil lässt annehmen, dass der Maler überwiegend in den südlichen Niederlanden, möglicherweise auch in Antwerpen gearbeitet hat. Seine stets unsignierten Bilder zeigen die meist jungen Mädchen elegant gekleidet, vor allem aber mit ausgesprochen anmutigen Gesichtern. Stets werden sie bei einer Betätigung gezeigt, ob beim Musizieren, wie das berühmte Gemälde in Schloss Rohrau aus der Graf Harrach´schen Sammlung zeigt, oder die „Lauternspielerin“ in der Galleria Sabauda in Mailand. Einige Darstellungen, wie in dem vorliegenden Bild, zeigen die Halbfigur beim Schreiben. Nicht selten hat der Meister ein Prunkgefäß ins Bild gesetzt, was dazu geführt hat, bei etlichen dieser Motive die Dargestellte als Heilige Magdalena zu deuten. Gemeint wäre hier also die „weltliche“ Heilige vor ihrer religiösen Sendung. Dies gilt jedoch vor allem bei Darstellung eines Salbgefäßes. Es sei dahingestellt, ob dies auch in unserem Falle zutrifft. In dem hier präsentierten Gemälde trägt die junge Dame ein rotes, mit goldenem Gürtel eng geschnürtes Miederkleid, eine feine Halskette mit Anhänger sowie eine mit Steinen besetzte Kette am Rand der Haube. Auch ihre gerafften Ärmel sind mit Goldreifen geschmückt. Ihre Schreibhand hält eine Feder, die Linke ein Radiermesser. Das könnte zur Interpretation führen, dass sie als unentschlossen bei der Abfassung ihres Briefes gezeigt werden sollte. Ein dunkles Futteral auf der hellen Tischplatte und der dahinterstehende goldene Deckelpokal bereichern die Darstellung. Auffallend jedoch ist der Körperschatten auf der grünlich gemalten Rückwand. In solchen Darstellungen sehen wir bereits den Wandel der Portraitkunst aus dem Mittelalter hin zur Renaissance. Unabhängig von der Frage, ob es sich nun um die Darstellung einer Heiligen handelt, werden die Figuren bereits im Umfeld ihrer Tätigkeiten erfasst, mit Beschäftigungen aus dem Alltagsleben. Wenngleich der Meister für die ihn benennenden halbfigurigen Frauendarstellungen bekannt wurde, so kennen wir auch religiöse Werke seiner Hand, wie etwa die „Kreuzabnahme mit Stiftern“ (Münster LWL-Museum), eine „Versuchung des Heiligen Antonius“ (Dublin, National Gallery) oder die „Landschaft mit der Ruhe auf der Flucht“ (Wien, Kunsthistorisches Museum). Darüber hinaus befinden sich seine Werke in etlichen weiteren, bedeutenden öffentlichen Sammlungen und Museen. A.R. Provenienz: Ehem. Privatsammlung Wien. Dorotheum 1986. Literatur: Max J. Friedländer, Der Meister der weiblichen Halbfiguren, in: Meisterwerke der niederländischen Malerei des XV. und XVI. Jahrhunderts auf der Ausstellung zu Brügge 1902, München 1903, S. 29-30, Abb. auf Tafel 78 und 79. Ellen Konowitz, The Master of the Female Half-Lengths Group, Eclecticism and Novelty, in: Oud-Holland, Bd. 113, Nr. 1/2, 1999. Gordon Campbell, Master of the Female Half-lengths, in: The Grove Encyclopedia of Northern Renaissance Art, Oxford 2009. (12903119) (11)Master of the female half-lengths,active in the Netherlands between 1525 and 1550 YOUNG WOMAN WRITING AT A DESK WITH MAGNIFICENT CUP Oil on panel. Parquetted.53 x 43 cm.An expert‘s report by Professor Dr Paul Vandenbroeck, Leuven University with bibliography and dating of the painting to 1535 - 1540 is enclosed. As is well known, the actual name of the artist has not yet been identified. Based on image and style examples of comparison, Max Jacob Friedländer (1867-1958) coined the notname „Master of Female Half-Lengths“. Although the master became known for the half-length depictions of women naming him, religious works by his hand are also known, such as “The Deposition from the Cross with Donors” (Münster LWL Museum), a “Temptation of Saint Anthony” (Dublin, National Gallery) or the “Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt” (Vienna, Kunsthist. Museum). In addition, his works are held at several other important public collections and museums. Provenance: Formerly private collection, Vienna. Dorotheum 1986. Literature: Max J. Friedländer, Der Meister der weiblichen Halbfiguren, in: Meisterwerke der niederländischen Malerei des XV. u XVI. Jahrhunderts auf der Ausstellung zu Brügge 1902. F. Bruckmann, Munich 1903, pp. 29-30, illustrated on plate 78 and 79. Ellen Konowitz, The Master of the Female Half-Lengths Group, Eclecticism, and Novelty, in: Oud Holland, vol. 113, no. 1/2, 1999.Gordon Campell, Master of the Female Halflength, in: The Grove Encyclopedia of Northern renaissance Art, Oxford 2009.

Evie Hone HRHA (1894-1955)CompositionOil on canvas, 84 x 105.5cm (33 x 41½'')Provenance: Sale, de Vere's, Dublin 15/06/2010, lot 15Every day, Evie Hone’s work is viewed by the pupils of Eton College. In 1948 Hone won the international competition to design a replacement of the huge east window in Eton College Chapel which had been destroyed in the war. In a masterwork of deep colours, Hone depicted the Crucifixion and the Last Supper and it was, according to Anne Crookshank, ‘one of the most exciting commissions of the period in these islands’. And Hone’s stained glass window My Four Green Fields, exhibited at New York’s World Fair in 1939, now illuminates the main staircase in Government Buildings.Eva Sydney Hone was born in Dublin on 22 April 1894 and belongs, in Nicole Arnould’s words, to ‘the Hone family which has provided Ireland with a number of gifted artists [Nathaniel Hone and Nathaniel Hone the Younger] over the centuries’. Tate Britain cites Evie Hone as ‘an outstanding religious painter of modern Ireland and a stained glass artist of international stature’ and her watercolours, oils and gouaches complement the windows she designed for Catholic and Protestant churches and secular institutions throughout the country.Having contracted polio as a child, Hone suffered ill-health throughout her life but she was determined to be an artist. She studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art, an independent art school in London, at Westminster School of Art and was also instructed by Walter Sickert. She worked with Bernard Meninsky who advised her to go to Paris where she and fellow-artist Mainie Jellett, in the early 1920s, were taught by André Lhote, a Cubist, and, later, she worked with Albert Gleizes whom Jellett described as ‘the leader of the most severe type of abstract work without any realistic basis’. Gleizes showed Hone and Jellett what he termed ‘the substantial, rational explainable method of building up a picture without having recourse to representation’.Deeply spiritual, Hone, in 1925, when she was thirty-one, entered an Anglican convent in Truro, Cornwall and spent two years there. Following her time in the convent, Hone converted to Roman Catholicism but returned to painting in early 1928 and in 1931 Hone joined An Túr Gloine [The Tower of Glass] a stained-glass artists’ co-operative, which Sarah Purser had founded in 1903. Hone began concentrating on making stained glass from 1933 and in Marley, in the 1940s, following the closure of An Túr Gloine, Hone set up her stained glass workshop.When Abstraction-Création, was founded by eight artists in Paris, in 1931, to mark non-figurative art, Hone was invited to contribute and write a manifesto. Hone wrote to Gleizes and Bruce Arnold sums up Hone’s manifesto with its three objectives as follows: ‘The first is the satisfaction of the artist’s sense of beauty through colour and form used in harmony and deriving life and rhythm from the painting itself. The second is the justification of the artist’s spiritual nature through an entirely new dependence – on form, on rhythm, on colour. The third was an approach to truth which she related to Irish roots in Celtic art, the abstract motivation of which she saw as a purifying condition.’ These ideas find expression in Evie Hone’s Composition. Though undated there is no doubting that this oil on canvas is a major work of pure form and colour. Within the frame, Hone has outlined her own frame in dark green, deep ochre, black. Within this rectangular shape the work is alive with a dynamic harmonious energy and, as its title suggests, Composition celebrates what Hone identifies as colour and form in what is both a circular and asymmetrical structure. According to Brian Fallon, Hone, ‘courageous and independent-minded’ is ‘gifted with energy’ and that energy is seen here in the circular motion, the assured command and choice of colour, in that delicate, squiggly, playful line lower-right. This painitng would make a brilliant abstract stained-glass window and represents what Dorothy Walker ‘the inimitable pioneering work’ of Evie Hone. Bright colours, yellow, orange, red, dominate but varied blues and greens, purples and browns create a marvellous contrast as the eye follows the composition’s concentric movement and enjoys the many different shapes as Hone builds her picture with rhythmic brushwork.Evie Hone lived in the Dower House, Marlay, Rathfarnham and was one of the founders of the first Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1943. She died on 13 March 1955 and by then this avant-garde artist had created an impressive body of work including this distinctive and unique Composition.Niall MacMonagle, October 2021

Postcards, large album of religious, art, topgraphical and comic cards, approximately 600

A Minoan serpentine blossom bowl Middle Minoan III-Late Minoan I, circa 1750-1450 B.C.With squat piriform body, the broad shoulders tapering to a flat base, the outer walls carved in low relief with six petals, each centrally ribbed, 12cm diam., 6.3cm highFootnotes:Provenance:Private collection, Austria, acquired in the 1960s in Vienna.For a similar example, see the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 26.31.436.Stone carving developed on Crete as early as the 3rd Millennium B.C., when stone vessels are thought to have functioned primarily as tomb goods. With the development of the Minoan palace complex and surrounding settlements, which ignited a societal drive for luxury and refinement, it is likely their usage extended into the domestic and religious spheres. Blossom bowls have been found in both domestic and funerary contexts, and are presumed to have held precious commodities such as perfumes, ointments or spices.Trade connections with Egypt, which were particularly strong during the New Kingdom (16th-15th Century B.C.), likely inspired Minoan stone vessels, as the Egyptian tradition for such was already well-established, and Egyptian examples from as early as the Predynastic Period have been discovered on Crete. Conversely, Minoan stone vessels are believed to have been exported as far east as Byblos and Troy, and blossom bowls were a particularly popular prestige object for use as gift exchange in support of local trading arrangements around the Aegean (Greek Art of the Aegean Islands, exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1979, p. 90; see also P.M. Warren, 'Stone Vessels in Minoan Crete' in Minoan and Greek Civilization from the Mitsotakis Collection, Athens, 1992, p. 151-155).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

An Amlash pottery bull rhyton Circa early 1st Millennium B.C.The hollow vessel with large rump and prominent neck hump, the muzzle extending into a long spout, with crescentic horns, small pierced ears and vertical ridges for the dewlap and tail, on four tapering legs, 20.5cm high, 32cm longFootnotes:Provenance:Mr Theodore Monell collection, Brooklyn, NY, whose collection was mostly formed in the 1970's-1980's. US art market, 2020. Accompanied by an Thermoluminescence Test from Oxford Authentication Ltd.It has been suggested that vessels such as this bull rhyton may have been used in a secular context for the drinking of wine. For a discussion on whether ceramic rhytons were used for the domestic consumption of wine and other fluids or as libation vessels at religious ceremonies see A. C. Gunter, 'The Art of Eating and Drinking in ancient Iran' in Asian Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, vol. 1, no. 2, Spring 1988, pp.11-14. The rhyton first appeared in Iran in the 4th Millennium B.C. and continued to be used throughout the Pre-Islamic period. An 11th Century Persian dictionary gives the definition of the rhyton as 'a bull or cow formed of pottery, gold or other materials used for the drinking of wine'. However Hittite texts found in Turkey (circa 1450-1200 B.C.) refer to the use of animal-shaped rhytons for making ritual libations of wine or beer to certain deities. It is quite possible that rhytons were used for both purposes and that deities were being made offerings of drink in imitation of everyday domestic meals (ibid.).For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

* SIMON LAURIE RSW RGI (SCOTTISH b. 1964),UNTITLEDoil on board, signedimage size 55cm x 60cm, overall size 73cm x 77cm Framed and under glass.Note: Simon Laurie is a contemporary Scottish landscape and still life artist, whose paintings are characterised by references to Scottish life and society, incorporating fish, boats, religious symbols and everyday items. These objects are arranged upon a rich textural ground created by the application of multiple layers of acrylic paint. He has worked with acrylic paint for almost 30 years, developing his own individual style and fundamental visual language. Laurie was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1982 to 1988. He was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW) in 1991 and the Royal Glasgow Institute (RGI) in 2000, where he served as convener for six years. He has had many solo shows, both in the UK and abroad, and has won many prestigious and major awards. His work is held in many public, private and corporate collections including Aberdeen Art Gallery, Contemporary Arts Society, London; Feren Art Gallery, Hull; Freshfields, London; Leicestershire Education Committee; Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie; Nationwide Building Society, London; Royal Bank of Scotland; TSB Headquarters, London; Unilever PLC; William Teacher and Sons Ltd; Wyse Group; Walter Scott Investments Ltd, Edinburgh; Biggart Baillie; Aberdeen Asset Management; The Whisky Society, Edinburgh; Adam and Co Bank; Provident Financial; The Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh.

* ANNE REDPATH OBE RSA ARA LLD ROI RBA (SCOTTISH 1895 - 1965),CABBAGE AND KALEoil on board, signed, titled label versoimage size 51cm x 61cm, overall size 64cm x 74cm Framed. Handwritten artist's label verso.Label verso: Stone Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne.Provenance: Sold by Sotheby's, London, 29th August 1995 lot 954.Note: Anne Redpath was born in Galashiels, Scotland, in 1895, the first daughter of a textile designer. She went on to study at the Edinburgh College of Art, where she was described as the most promising student of her year and won a travel scholarship to Italy. Her time in Italy was to have a profound influence on her career. Having spent her early years as an artist immersed in the respectable Calvinist tradition, the opulent sense of the divine in Roman Catholic art proved to be a revelation, with the religious tranquillity of the early Renaissance masters informing her subsequent paintings. In 1920 she moved to France with her husband, an architect, and her art took a back seat as she focused on raising three sons. She did not revisit painting in earnest until she returned to Scotland when the relationship ended in 1934. When she did so, however, it was with renewed vigour. From 1942 onwards, as her confidence in her abilities returned, her palette became more vibrant. She was a central figure in the group of painters known as The Edinburgh School, sometimes described as the heirs to the Scottish Colourists. Redpath was a habitual traveller in her later years, her journeys across Europe becoming the subject of her work; she was well-known for her landscapes, still lifes and pictures of church interiors. Anne Redpath was president of the Scottish Society of Women Artists from 1944-47, working tirelessly to promote the paintings of women who had been ignored by the British establishment. In 1952 she became the first woman artist to be elected to the Royal Scottish Academy as an Academician. UK Public Collections boast 116 examples of Redpath's work including at The National Galleries of Scotland, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow Museums & Galleries, The Hunterian, The Fleming Collection, The Tate, Kelvingrove, The National Trust and at Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy, Manchester and numerous others.

A 19th century folk art hand stitched patchwork panel, each section interspersed with various religious verse, the centre panel dated 1809, 234x239cmCondition report: No backing.No rips or tears.Slight discolouration, but generally appears in good order for age.

An icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God,c.1900, in 16th century Moscow School style, Russia, tempera and gold on wood, with Tretyakov painted inventory number '5666/' and Cyrillic 'GTG' partly legible, Okhran paper label and further paper labels verso, 35.3 x 29.2cm Provenance: Alexei Vikulevitch Morozov Collection;Tretyakov Gallery;presumably sold by Antikvariat in 1936;'The George R Hann Collection', sold Christie’s, New York, 17 April 1980, lot 6;Iconastas, Piccadilly Arcade, St James's, London, W1.According to the Hann entry, it was exhibited:Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Collection of George R Hann, 12 January - 22 February 1944, no. 27.Syracuse, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Collection of George R Hann, December 1944 - January 1945, no 14 Columbus, Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Collection of George R Hann, 10 February - 10 March 1945, no. 14. Indianapolis, John Herron Art Museum, Collection of George R Hann, 25 March - 29 April 1945, no. 14. Oberlin, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Exhibition of Russian Icons from the Collection of George R. Hann, 29 April - 21 May 1945. St. Louis, The St. Louis Art Museum, Russian Icons and Objects of Ecclesiastical and Decorative Arts, 15 September - 15 October 1945.George Hann (1890-1979) was a pioneer of American aviation who assembled one of the world’s finest private collections of icons, mostly in the 1930s when the Soviet government released Russian treasures for sale abroad. Hann was committed to the study of the historical and religious significance of his collection which was offered in a sale at Christie’s the year after he died.The provenance of this icon is particularly distinguished having once belonged to the famous collector Alexei Vikulevitch Morozov, who bequeathed it to the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. It can be traced to a sale by the Moscow Antikvariat directly to George Hann from whom it was acquired in the landmark Christie’s sale.We are extremely grateful to Ivan Samarine and Richard Temple for their assistance with this catalogue entry.Икона «Успение Пресвятой Богородицы»Около 1900г., в стиле XVI в., Московская школа, Россия Дерево, темпера и золото; на обороте инвентаризационный номер Третьяковской галереи: 5666/ГТГ (частично видимо), бумажная наклейка «Охран» и другие бумажные пометки 35,3 х 29,2см Происхождение:Коллекция Морозова Алексея Викулевича, Третьяковская галереяНаверное проданная Антиквариатом в 1936г.Коллекция Джорджа Р. Ханна, проданная Кристиз, Нью Йорк, 17й Апреля. 1980г., лот 6йИконастас, Аркада Пикадилли, Сент-Джеймс, Лондон, W1По данным Коллекции Ханна, её выставили:Сиракьюс, Музей изобразительного искусства Сиракьюса, Коллекция Джордж Р. Ханн, Декабр 1944г. – Январь 1945г., номер 27Колумбус, Галерея изобразительного искусства Колумбуса, 10й Февраля – 10й Марта, 1945г., номер 14Индианаполис, Музей искусства Джона Херрона, Выставка русских икон из Коллекции Джордж Р. Ханн, 29й Апреля – 21й Мая, 1945г.Сент-Луис, Сент-Луисский художественный музей, Русские иконы и предметы духовных и декоративных искусств, 15й Сентября – 15й Октября, 1945г. Джордж Ханн (1890-1979) был пионером американской авиации, который собирал одну из самых прекрасных в мире коллекций икон, особенно в 1930х годах, когда советское государство разрешал продажу русских сокровищ за границей. Ханн был приверженный изучению исторической и религиозной значимости своей коллекции, который выставили в торгах в Кристиз в году после его смерти. Происхождение этой иконы – исключительно выдающееся, так как она однажды была у известного коллекционера Алексея Викулевича Морозова, который завещал её Третьяковской галерее в Москве. Московский Антиквариат продал её прямо Джордж Ханн, от которого её приобрели в исторических торгах Кристиз.Мы чрезвычайно благодарны Ивану Самарине и Ричарду Темплу за помощь с этой каталогизацией.Condition report: This icon has not been submitted for radiocarbon-dating or other extensive laboratory testing. We are unable to specify if there are any earlier elements or exactly how much restoration has occurred. Crack to the lower part of the panel. Other smaller cracks, splits, knocks and chips. Rubbing and wear to paint and gilt. Evidence of retouching, repainting and possible restoration. Edge stripped back to the gesso since the Christie's sale. Panel slightly bowed. Copper strengthening brackets added to the back. Old holes, knocks and wear to the back. Please view additional photos to supplement the condition report. We strongly advise viewing this lot in person.

A large icon of the Mother of God,c.1900, but in the earlier Novrogod School style, Russia, from a deisis, tempera on wood, with Tretyakov gallery label and painted inventory numbers verso, 84 x 36cmProvenance: From the personal collection of the late Chris Martin-Zakheim, owner of Iconastas.Tretyakov Gallery;The George R Hann Collection, sold Christie’s, New York, 17 April 1980, lot 50. This lot formed part of a deisis, which were sold as lots 49-53.According to the Hann entry, it was exhibited:Carnegie Institute 1944, no.52;The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944.George Hann (1890-1979) was a pioneer of American aviation who assembled one of the world’s finest private collections of icons, mostly in the 1930s when the Soviet government released Russian treasures for sale abroad. Hann was committed to the study of the historical and religious significance of his collection, which was offered in a sale at Christie’s the year after he died.We are extremely grateful to Ivan Samarine and Richard Temple for their assistance with this catalogue entry.Большая икона «Богоматерь» Около 1900 г., в более раннем стиле Новгородской школы, Россия, из деисусаНа обороте клеймо Третьяковской галереи и рисованные инвентаризационные номераДерево, темпера 84 х 36см Происхождение:Третьяковская галереяКоллекция Джордж Р. Хан, проданная Кристис, Нью Йорк, 17 Апрелья, 1980, лот 50йПо данным Ханн, её выставили:Институт Карнеги, 1944, номер 52Метрополитен-музей, 1944Джордж Ханн (1890-1979) был пионером американской авиации, который собирал одну из самых прекрасных в мире коллекций икон, особенно в 1930х годах, когда советское государство разрешал продажу русских сокровищ за границей. Ханн был приверженный изучению исторической и религиозной значимости своей коллекции, которую выставили в торгах в Кристиз в году после его смерти.Мы чрезвычайно благодарны Ивану Самарине и Ричарду Темплу за помощь с этой каталогизацией.Condition report: This icon has not been submitted for radiocarbon-dating or other extensive laboratory testing. We are unable to specify if there are any earlier elements or exactly how much restoration has occurred, if any. Large chips, splits and losses. Knocks, rubbing and wear. Probable overpainting. Panel slightly warped. Has likely seen relatively recent restoration. Knocks, wear and damage to reverse. Please view additional images to supplement the condition report. Viewing in person is strongly advised.

silvered electrotype, inscribed Search The Scriptures, The Monmouthshire Congregational Union Sunday Schools Examination, Inaugurated 1913, Sir W James Thomas Shield, Cariad, Gobaith, Fydd.62cm (24 1/2in) high, 45cm (17 3/4in) wideFootnote: Exhibited: Charles Sargeant Jagger Memorial Exhibition, May 21st to June 20th 1935Literature:McAllister, I. G. Rising British Sculptor: Charles Sargeant Jagger, Studio International, Vol. 54 (Nov. 1914-Feb.1915): pp. 84-99 (illustrated) p.99 captioned 'Design for a Shield by C.S. Jagger'Note:Jagger probably secured this commission through the sculptor W. Goscombe John and chose a Celtic style for the commission because it 'is suitable for any object definitely of Welsh interest and secondly because the Celtic is essentially a "religious art".’ The father and mother mourning their child represents love triumphing over pain. The full-scale model was sent to Wurttemburg, Germany, to be cast in silver. In October 1914 Jagger resigned from the commission because, having enlisted, he felt he could not complete the work. The model sent to Germany is presumed lost, but a bronze cast was listed in the studio inventory at Jagger's death.

4th-10th century AD. A drum-shaped marble chest in the form of a tholos surrounded by eight columns with simple capitals, arcades between the pillars with elegant openwork foliate tracery; each tiered capital with a vertical socket for the attachment of a lid; the interior showing tooling. See Boehm, B.D., 'Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity' in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, New York, 2000; Abou-El-Haj, B., The Medieval Cult of Saints: Foramations and Transformations, Cambridge, 1994; Bagnoli, M. et al. eds., Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe, Cleveland, 2010; Weitzmann, K. ed., Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century, New York, 1979, no.569-575. 22.1 kg, 37.5cm (14 3/4"). Property of a London gentleman; before that in the private collection of a Kensington collector; acquired in Austria in 1993; previously in the Trimbacher collection; formerly acquired in Germany in 1980; accompanied by an academic report by Prof. Neritan Ceka and a scholarly note no.TL05394 by Dr Ronald Bonewitz; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10949-181176. Reliquaries were containers for storing and displaying relics, such as bones, pieces of clothing or an object associated with a saint or other religious figure, in a church from the early Christianity onwards. Starting from the simple forms of chests in late Antiquity, they developed to various types depending on the relics they contained. During the Reformation, a large number of reliquaries were destroyed by Calvinists and as a result the number of original, especially early specimens, is limited. Interestingly, our reliquary has a hole in its bottom, which can be related to the practice of pouring oil into a container of relics of a saint or saints, which was then collected into pilgrim flasks. [A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions Website] Fine condition.

c.2nd-5th century AD. A gold-alloy crescent-shaped pectoral with repoussé openwork serpents and terminals representing masked decapitator god figures in dynamic poses, each holding a Tumi; free-running hanging dangles and raised bosses to the body and costumes, shell and sodalite inlay used decoratively and to highlight elements of costume, weaponry and facial features. See The Metropolitan Museum, accession number 1979.206.1239, for a comparable ornament. 53.12 grams, 25.5cm (10"). From the collection of M. Storsbergen, Netherlands; acquired 1968-1974; accompanied by a signed Yanto Alexander Fine Art catalogue description; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10952-179029. Moche was once a powerful state located on the north coast of modern-day Peru. The pectoral was an essential element of Moche royal costume in this period, worn exclusively by kings and religious figures of high status; an example such as the one offered here would have been placed beneath the chin of the deceased as part of the burial ceremony. The gold used here is a mix of gold alloy, silver and copper (Tumbaga gold); precious metals had many symbolic meaning for the Moche people and this combination may have been intended to express ideas of duality. For this specific lot, 5% import VAT is applicable on the hammer price Fine condition.

6th-4th century BC. A substantial sheet-bronze phiale with squat body, everted rim, central mesomphalos and lotus flower ornament in repoussé technique, with deep petals. Cf. Harvard Art Museums, object number 1979.357, for similar; see Godard, F., The Art of Iran, London, 1965, for discussion. 253 grams, 23cm (9"). From a private family collection formed in London from the mid 1980s to early 1990s; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10957-179742. Phiale mesomphaloi (literally meaning 'bowls with central bosses') were the most popular form of vessel and were produced in a number of materials, including clay, bronze, silver and gold. They are a distinctive type of Achaemenid tableware, made by hammering or raising sheet metal, with decoration added in repoussé. They were used in banquets held by the nobility and for pouring libations at religious festivals. Phiales of this kind were a common gift from the Achaemenid king to the nobility which helped cement alliances among the different tribes of the Empire. The central boss to the underside allowed the user to secure their fingers and ensure a solid grip whilst drinking or pouring. [A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions Website] Very fine condition, exceptional patination.

2nd-3rd century AD. A bronze statuette of Ceres (Greek Demeter), the goddess of agriculture and fertility, depicted standing and wearing a long sleeveless Ionic chiton with himation around the head, fastened on the left side of the body; wearing a tutulus on her head, the right arm raised to hold a staff, the left arm covered by a mantle, the left hand probably originally held a sheaf of wheat, sandalled feet partially visible; finely modelled face; mounted on a custom-made display stand. See Daremberg & Saglio, Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, Paris, 1873-1917, sub voce Ceres; see for a similar Roman statuette Reinach, S., Repertoire de la statuarie grecque et romaine, Paris, 1930, p.242, no.7, 243 no.1; for discussion on the use of such statues as Lares see Sharpe, H.F., ‘Bronze Statuettes from the Athenian Agora: Evidence for Domestic Cults in Roman Greece,’ in Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. 83, no.1, January-March 2014, pp.143-187. 535 grams total, 20cm including stand (8"). From the collection of a Kensington gentleman; previously in the Weber collection, 1980s; accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato and a positive metal test from an Oxford specialist; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10743-177409. The Roman household shrine, or lararium, receives its name from the lares, the guardian spirits of the house and household, who were frequently displayed in the shrine as paintings or sculptures, in every part of the Empire. Studies of bronze statuettes found in Roman provinces have shown how regional variations of lararia figures reflected the mixed religious beliefs of the inhabitants. Domestic shrines with cult imagery comprising similar small statuettes have been found on the island of Kos, inside Roman-era age houses, where groups of statuettes included Aphrodite, Eros, Athena, Asklepios, Tyche, and Cybele. [A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions Website] Fine condition.

6th-7th century AD. A silver-gilt bird with small carinated head, broad disc body and trapezoidal tail; the centre of the back formed as a male face with large eyes and broad moustache enfolded in the bird's overlapping wings; catch and remains of ferrous pin to the reverse; the face probably that of the god Oðinn (Odin"). See Jaenbert, K. The mania of the time. Falconry and bird brooches at Uppåkra and beyond, in On the Road. Studies in Honour of Lars Larsson, Lund, 2007 for a full discussion of the iconography of bird-brooches in relation to the cult-site at Uppåkra. 9.73 grams, 48mm (2"). From the collection of a Tyne & Wear, UK, gentleman; formerly acquired on the Austrian art market in 1992. Examples of this type of bird-brooch have been found at the important religious site of Uppåkra (southern Sweden) where they evidently formed part of the religious iconography of the community. The symbolism of the bird bearing a human face can be deduced from the myth of the gaining of the Mead of Wisdom (recorded first in writing some centuries later reported by Snorri Sturluson in Skáldskaparmál) in which the god transforms himself into a bird of prey. Having managed to drink the magical mead by subterfuge, Oðinn manages to escape in bird form from the hall under the mountain where the giant Suttung had hidden it. This myth is encoded in many artefacts of the Vendel Period and later. Fine condition.

Colonial School. Cuzco. Peru. Early 18th century. "Our Lady of the Sceptre" Oil and gold illuminations on canvas. Dated ex voto 1718. 68 x 49 cm. Painting by an artist influenced by Gerónimo Gutiérrez (Cuzco, active from 1606 to 1618). Gutiérrez has been immortalised as one of the first professional painters active in Cuzco. Only the Mass of Saint Gregory, which has a markedly archaic air and was signed in 1602, was known to be by him - the painting is kept in the Cuzco Museo Histórico Regional and is included among the few remaining foundational pieces of the painting of Cuzco. Recently Lima Art Museum incorporated an important Ecce Homo signed by Gutiérrez in which the painter’s considerable technical progress over 12 years of his career can be appreciated, possibly as a result of the vast influence of painters such as the Jesuit priest Bernardo Bitti in Cuzco. There are few depictions of Our Lady of the Sceptre in Latin America, but we know of the existence of one painted by Bitti which is kept at the Pedro de Osma Museum in Lima. In our painting, in spite of the distance in time, Gutiérrez combines the Italian style with figures with a decidedly Northern European aspect in the same way as in the Ecce Homo. Those figures were probably taken from a Flemish or German religious image and connect us directly with the fathers of the Cuzcan School.

Andalusian school, ca. 1700.Carved and polychrome wood.Measurements: 74,5 x 46 cm.Crucifixions and crucifixes have appeared in the history of art and popular culture since before the era of the pagan Roman Empire. The crucifixion of Jesus has been depicted in religious art since the 4th century. It is one of the most recurrent themes in Christian art and the one with the most obvious iconography. Although Christ is sometimes depicted clothed, it is usual to represent his naked body, albeit with the genitals covered with a purity cloth (perizonium); full nudes are very rare, but prominent (Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Cellini). The conventions of representation of the different attitudes of the crucified Christ are designated by the Latin expressions Christus triumphans ("triumphant" -not to be confused with the Maiestas Domini or the Pantocrator-), Christus patiens ("resigned" -not to be confused with the Christ of patience-) and Christus dolens ("suffering" -not to be confused with the Vir dolorum-). The triumphans is represented alive, with his eyes open and his body erect; the patiens is represented dead, with his will totally emptied (kenosis), his head bowed, his face with a serene expression, his eyes closed and his body arched, showing the five wounds; the dolens is represented in a similar way to the patiens, but with a gesture of pain, particularly in his mouth (curved). The work in question, belonging to the Andalusian school of the eighteenth century, shows us an image full of pathos. A balanced and perfectly studied anatomy denotes the artistic ability of the sculptor, who reflects like no one else the suffering that Christ endured in his last seconds of life.

Crucified Christ; Spanish School; XVIII century.Gilded bronze and lapis lazuli cross.Measurements: 60 x 40 cm.This work shows the viewer a great example of the coexistence between art and craftsmanship. The author leaves no detail to chance and pays the same attention to the modeling of Christ's body as to the lapis lazuli work of the cross. The contrast between the gold and the intense blue of the cross gives an expressive dimension to the piece that connects with the viewer, showing values such as subtlety, elegance and richness, associated with the religion and tradition represented by the crucifixion. The figure of Christ on the cross already came from the Romanesque period, in which there were two types: the colobium (living Christ, dressed in a tunic) and the perizonium (dressed in a cloth of purity). In the Gothic period the colobium disappears definitively, and Christ will always be represented dressed in a purity cloth, nailed to the cross with three or four nails. In the Romanesque it always appeared with four nails, but in the Gothic it will be more and more frequent the model of three nails, with only one for the feet, as we see here. As the Gothic period progressed, the purity cloth became shorter, until the knees were uncovered, and the anatomical treatment became more and more naturalistic. The one we present here already shows a realistic intention in the treatment of the body, thin and slender, although pathos is avoided in its representation.There were examples of free-standing sculpture, such as processional crosses, which presided over religious rites. This type of object was widely used from the 4th century onwards. Before the 8th century, the crosses hung from the altars, however, this arrangement would change, being placed on a point or lower spike of the altar. The processional crosses are the most important pieces of the ecclesiastical trousseau, usually in number of one per parish. They have the shape of a Latin cross, with a single crossbeam and a longer lower arm. Destined to go on the end of a pole or staff, they open the way in the processional procession.

Circle of ANTON RAPHAEL MENGS (Aussig, Bohemia, 1728-Rome, 1779)."St. John the Baptist."Oil on canvas. Relined.It presents restorations.Measurements: 28.5 x 35.5 cm; 39 x 49 cm (frame).The work in question closely follows the aesthetic precepts developed by Mengs, the first chamber painter of Charles III whose art enjoyed great acceptance at court. Thus, we are faced with a Saint John the Baptist of soft and delicate features, which stands out for its naturalness. Although he has been represented beardless, when he usually has long and shaggy beards, there are several attributes that allow us to identify the figure as St. John the Baptist: first, the character points with his right hand a wide rod, topped in the form of a cross, covered by a phylactery. Secondly, and although it is not visible in this composition, the phylactery should read "Agnus dei ...", a reference to the phrase "This is the lamb of God who cleanses the sin of the world". The aforementioned lamb, symbol of Christ and his sacrifice on behalf of humanity, a usual attribute of St. John the Baptist, is not found in this work. The artist is probably inspired by classical images of the "Good Shepherd", bucolic figures of young shepherds caring for their livestock that were adopted at the beginning of Christianity as symbolic figures of Jesus caring for his faithful. This inspiration in classical sources could explain the youthful and beardless appearance of St. John.A painter and theorist of neoclassicism, Anton Raphael Mengs was trained both in the practical aspect of painting and in the theory of art, under the influence of Winckelmann, whose friend and outstanding pupil he was. He trained in Dresden under the direction of his father, Ismael Mengs, a court painter. Later, between 7141 and 1744, he traveled to Rome to further his education with Marco Benefial, studying especially ancient sculpture and the painting of Raphael and the classicists of the seventeenth century. In 1744 he returned to Dresden and was appointed court painter, where he devoted himself mainly to portraits. In 1746 he was appointed painter to King Augustus III of Poland, and subsequently undertook a journey through Italy, ending in Rome, where he settled permanently. In the Italian capital he painted important religious and mythological works in fresco, showing a mature style of a clearly neoclassical character, influenced by the Renaissance and, more specifically, by the work of Raphael. In 1761 he was called to Spain, where he remained until 1769 as the first painter of King Carlos III. For him he painted works destined to decorate the Royal and Aranjuez palaces, and also painted important portraits. His presence in Madrid definitely pushed Tiepolo into a corner, since Mengs represented a new taste that was well accepted by the court. Although he would later return to Rome, he would visit the Spanish court again between 1774 and 1776, shortly before contracting the illness that would lead him to die in Italy in 1779. Works by Mengs are currently preserved in the Prado Museum, the Louvre in Paris, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Metropolitan in New York, the National Gallery and the Royal Collection in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Albertina in Vienna and other leading art galleries in Europe and the United States.

Constantinos Parthenis (Greek, 1878-1967)L' Apothéose de Athanassios Diakos signé 'C. Parthenis' (en bas à gauche) huile sur toile117.5 x 117cm (46 1/4 x 46 1/16in).Peint vers 1927 signed and dated (lower left) oil on canvasFootnotes:ProvenanceSpyros Loverdos collection, Athens.Thence by descent to the present owner. ExposéVienna, Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Foundation for Hellenic Culture, Konstantinos Parthenis, Vienna-Paris-Athens, retrospective exhibition, April 28 - May 14, 1995, no. 20 (discussed, pp. 28-29, 90, and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, p. 91). LittératureI. Chadjiioannou, Panhellenic Album of National Centennial 1821-1921, The Golden Bible of Hellenism, vol. IV, Fine Arts, Nea Elliniki Ios editions, Athens 1927, p. 160 (shown in a photograph with the artist in his home studio).C. Parthenis, 1964 Calendar, Heracles-Olympos General Cement Company, Athens 1963, p. 31 (illustrated).Ellinika Themata magazine, no.2, 1966, p. 105 (illustrated).Eikones magazine, no. 537, February 4, 1966, p. 44 (mentioned).Tachydromos magazine, no. 730, April 5, 1968, pp. 58-59 (illustrated).The Greek Painters, 20th Century, vol. 2, Melissa editions, Athens 1975, no. 33, p. 26 (discussed), p. 48 (illustrated).S. Lydakis, The History of Modern Greek Painting (16th-20th Century),The Greek Painters, vol. III, Melissa editions, Athens 1976, pp. 370-371 (discussed), fig. 634, p. 369 (illustrated).S. Lydakis, Dictionary of Greek Painters and Engravers, vol. IV, Melissa editions, Athens 1976, p. 335 (illustrated).Eleftheri Yenia magazine, no. 11, March 1977 (cover illustration).T. Spiteris, Three Centuries of Modern Greek Art 1660-1967, Athens 1979, vol. II, p. 57 (illustrated). C. Christou, Greek Painting 1832-1922, National Bank of Greece edition, Athens 1981, pp. 111 (mentioned), 161 (listed), 113 (discussed).Modern Greek Culture 1832-1982, Malliaris-Paideia editions, Athens 1983, vol. 1, p. 169 (mentioned). E. Georgiadou-Kountoura, Religious Subjects in Modern Greek Painting 1900-1940, doctoral dissertation, Thessaloniki 1984, p. 108 (mentioned).A. Kotidis, On Parthenis, University Studio Press, Thessaloniki 1984, p. 35, n. 41 (mentioned).L'Art Contemporain et le Monde Grec, Actes du XVIIIe Congrès de l'Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art (AICA), Greece 1984, p. 150 (mentioned).Synchrona Themata magazine, no.35-36-37, December 1988, p. 59 (illustrated).M. Tsikouta, Les Influences dans la Peinture Grecque après 1945, doctoral dissertation, Universite de Paris-Sorbonne, Paris, 1991, illustrations vol. I, fig. 6 (illustrated). A. Kotidis, Modernism and 'Tradition' in Greek Art of the Interwar Period, University Studio Press, Thessaloniki 1993, pp. 228-231 (discussed), p. 231, fig. 162 (illustrated).E. Papaspyrou-Karadimitriou, Thanassis Diakos in Art, Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece edition, Athens 1996, p. 84 (discussed), p. 85, fig. 51 (illustrated).E. Matthiopoulos, Greek Participation in the Venice Biennales 1934-1940, doctoral dissertation, vol. III, Rethymno 1996, pp. 820, 822 (mentioned).C. Christou, Greek Art, 20th Century Painting, Ekdotike Athenon editions, Athens 1996 (cover illustration).A. Saragiotis, Greek Symbolism, (doctoral dissertation), Thessaloniki 1999, p. 109 (discussed), fig, 250, p. 402 (illustrated).C. Christou, Greek Painting in the Twentieth Century, vol. I, 1882-1992, Society for the Dissemination of Useful Books editions, Athens 2000, p. 15 (illustrated). Dictionary of Greek Artists, Melissa editions, vol. III, Athens 1999, p. 476 (mentioned).A. Xydis, Constantinos Parthenis, Ta Nea editions, Athens 2006, pp. 113, 116 (discussed), pp. 86, 122, 123 (illustrated).E. Matthiopoulos, The Life and Work of Costis Parthenis, K. Adam editions, Athens 2008, no. 173, pp. 66, 74, 76 (mentioned), p. 422 (catalogued), pp. 259, 260 (illustrated).A. Voyatzoglou, Ancient Greek Art Themes in Modern Greek Painting of the 1930s, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 2012, p. 104 (illustrated).Realnews newspaper, July 27, 2014, p. 40 (illustrated).https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenis-konstantinos-apotheosis-athanasiou-diakou.jpegOne of the greatest pictures ever painted by a Greek artist, Parthenis's famous L' Apothéose de Athanassios Diakos is a triumphant expression of the master's poetic vision and a glorious recapitulation of his lofty symbolist ideals. Ideologically akin to the poetry of Costis Palamas and Angelos Sikelianos, it is a great work of national exaltation, expressing the resurgence of Hellenism and the efforts to extend Greece and restructure it into a modern state. Loaded with age-old memories and entranced by the dynamism and boldness of the twentieth century, L' Apothéose is a highly accomplished work of audacious modernity that elaborates on avant-garde visions and breakthroughs, carrying the hallmarks of Parthenis's signature style and conveying an enduring sense of spiritual uplift and poetic feel. Captured in fine lines and curvilinear shapes echoing the simplicity of ancient Greek vase painting, this stunning canvas pays homage to Athanasios Diakos (1788-1821), one of the leaders of the 1821 uprising and War of Independence. The hero, who had been obtained deacon, and hence was called Diakos, was a member of the Philiki Hetaireia and had served as a klepht under Odysseus Androutsos. On the outbreak of the Revolution he collected a troop to fight the Turkish forces and opposed Omer Vrionis's army at the bridge of Alamana, not far from the pass of Thermopylae where in 480 BC Kind Leonidas and his handful of Spartans died a heroic death resisting the Persian invadors. On May 5, 1821, Diakos with only seven hundred men fearlessly defended the bridge against a far superior Turkish force, and following a most gallant fighting he was captured and horribly executed.1 Occupying the right hand side of the painting, the Greek hero is depicted in the ascetic cassock of a monk hovering above ground in a diagonal position2 and ascending to heaven through a cluster of highly stylised clouds. His head is rendered in clear-cut profile, with the face turned distinctly to the sky, while his hands are stretched in prayer—a direct reference to the Ascension of Christ, reflecting the artist's strong bonds with religious iconography.3On the left, standing suspended in mid-air, a nude male figure with large outstretched wings and ancient helmet, should be identified with the Spartan king Leonidas, who is symbolically akin to Diakos, since both men chose to die under similar circumstances and in the same location, forever etching their names in the pantheon of Hellenism.4 The hero of the liberation struggle seems to welcome Leonidas, who lowers his head in respect, in a typically idealistic linking of the present and the past, of modern and ancient history,5 demonstrating Parthenis's view of the unbroken continuity of Greek civilization.Drawing from the poetic and inspiring atmosphere of the symbolist era, the winged figure represents a recurrent theme in Parthenis's work throughout his career. Interestingly, when the artist produced works intended for worship, the angel wings were given a small, conventional shape. However, in his secular paintings they were stylised in a geometric Art Deco fashion and equalled or exceeded the figure's height.6 (Compare Prayer in the Mount of Olives, c. 1930, Bonhams, Greek Sale, April 4, 2014, lot 24; Annunciation, Bonhams Greek Sale, November 21, 2018, lot 16.)On the lower part of the composition, a female figure in diaphanous veils reclining on a schematised rocky ledge, her body turned towards the viewer, her right arm raised and her head framed in a semi-circular halo-like fashion, is the allegorical personification of Hellas, a favourite Parthenis ... For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Théodore Jacques Ralli (Greek, 1852-1909)Fille assise sur un mur de pierre, filant la laine signe 'Ralli' (en bas à gauche)huile sur toile55 x 46.5cm (21 5/8 x 18 5/16in).signed (lower left)oil on canvasFootnotes:ProvenancePrivate collection, Canada.Private collection, Athens. This delightful vignette of peaceful rural life evokes a noble sentiment of tenderness and relaxed meditation. Bathed in diffuse light and set against a shallow backdrop of ascetic simplicity, the graceful young sitter strongly contrasts with the dark interior, suggested rather than shown through the opening on the wall. Holding her spindle and distaff, and with downcast eyes, she is completely absorbed in spinning the fibres, conveying to the viewer the era's moral values of modesty and virtue. The dean of Greek orientalist painters, Ralli travelled extensively across Greece, faithfully recording the countenance and traditional costumes of peasant women in secular or religious settings. In his virtuoso technique, deft use of subtle gradations and loving attention to detail, he follows on the footsteps of his great teacher Jean-Léon Gérôme. Here, relying on balanced composition, harmony of colour values, firm modelling and a personal spirit of solemn grandeur and noble elegance, he fuses this rural scene into a seductive work of art.Cette délicieuse vignette de la vie rurale paisible évoque un noble sentiment de tendresse et de méditation tranquille. Baignant dans une lumière diffuse et placée contre un arrière-plan serré d'une simplicité ascétique, cette gracieuse jeune fille contraste fortement avec l'intérieur sombre, suggéré plutôt que montré par l'ouverture dans le mur. Tenant son fuseau et sa quenouille, les yeux baissés, elle semble totalement occupée à filer la laine, et complètement absorbée par sa tâche. L'ensemble suggère immédiatement les valeurs morales de l'époque, faites de modestie et de vertu.Doyen des peintres orientalistes grecs, Ralli a beaucoup voyagé dans toute la Grèce, enregistrant fidèlement les visages et les costumes traditionnels des paysannes, dans des scènes de la vie courante ou des décors religieux. Avec sa technique de virtuose, son utilisation habile de gradations subtiles et l'attention amoureuse qu'il porte au détail, il s'inscrit parfaitement dans la lignée de Jean-Léon Gérôme, dont il fut l'élève. Dans cette œuvre, caractérisée par une composition équilibrée, une belle harmonie de couleurs, une parfaite maîtrise du trait et une interprétation personnelle de la grandeur solennelle et de la noble élégance du sujet, il transforme cette scène rurale en une œuvre d'art séduisante.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A LEAD PLAQUETTE OF CHRIST BEFORE PILATE, VALERIO BELLI (C.1468-1546), 16TH CENTURY trapezoidal, Christ surrounded by soldiers and disciples brought before Pilate sitting on a dais and washing his hands, signed to the side of the platform "VALERIVS BELLV VICETINVS FA", a classical colonnade in the background, pierced 6.5 x 9.5cm Provenance: Collection of Alfred Spero (1886-1973), London, from whom acquired by Bernard Kelly between 1967-1969. *See lot 309 for Introduction to the Bernard Kelly Collection and Selected Bibliography* This scene is one of a series of similarly shaped Belli plaquettes of The Passion of Christ. Bange 766; Kress 14; Belli 56 LOTS 309 - 490: THE BERNARD KELLY COLLECTION OF PLAQUETTES TO BE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE, PART PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT WESTMINSTER ABBEY Every so often, if increasingly rarely these days, a collection emerges onto the market that takes you back to another age. The interesting and varied collection of Renaissance and later plaquettes being offered here is therefore a major event. Although some have a more recent provenance, notably from Sylvia Phyllis Adams, whose collection was sold at Bonham"s in 1995, the nucleus of the collection on offer represents the private collection formed by the dealer Alfred Spero, mainly between 1911 and 1936. Spero began trading in London around the beginning of the twentieth century and his career, which lasted into the 1960s, bridged the late Victorian art world and the modern post-War market. Although today a largely forgotten figure, a glance at almost any marked-up catalogue of European sculpture and decorative arts sales in London from the 1920s to the 1960s will reveal Alfred Spero as one of the most active and consistent presences at the auction. Spero was able to benefit from the abundance of Renaissance small bronze sculptures, maiolica, glass and, of course, plaquettes and medals, that were then available on the market during what, for collectors and museums, must have been a golden age of opportunity. Alfred Spero"s own collection of plaquettes contained works stated to have come from some of the great collections of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Adalbert von Lanna, whose vast collections were sold in Prague in 1911, J.E. Taylor, sold at Christie"s in 1912 and the banker Henry Oppenheimer, a series of sales in 1936, again at Christie"s. There are also plaquettes formerly belonging to two supporters of great museums, Thomas Whitcombe Greene, who gave many of his plaquettes to the British Museum in 1915, and Dr W.L. Hildburgh (1876-1955), one of the Victoria & Albert Museum"s greatest benefactors. Alfred Spero also had a close relationship with the V&A, which as a museum must have been close to his heart. He made a number of gifts to the museum and also sold it various bronzes and other works of art. Purchases and gifts from Spero helped the V&A build its preeminent collection of European Baroque ivories, whilst in 1964 the museum bought from him a masterpiece of Renaissance bronze sculpture, the exquisite figure of Venus removing a thorn from her foot of c. 1560-70 by the French sculptor Ponce Jacquiot. Small-scale, usually single-sided cast metal reliefs, plaquettes began to be made from the mid-fifteenth century and flourished in their purest form only for a limited period of around one hundred years, although they continued to be made into the seventeenth century and beyond. Their subject matter is varied, from designs after the antique to mythological and religious scenes, whilst some plaquettes are important records of designs originally made in precious metal, which have otherwise disappeared. When Alfred Spero began his professional career, plaquettes were eagerly collected and studied, but they have since become a somewhat unjustly neglected art form. At their best, plaquettes are extraordinarily inventive and beautiful works of art, which in their choice and treatment of subject matter are truly emblematic of the Renaissance rebirth of the arts. Dr Jeremy Warren, FSA Honorary Curator of Sculpture, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Selected Bibliography * Attwood - Philip Attwood, "Italian Medals c. 1530-1600 in British Public Collections", 2 vols., London 2003 * Bange - E.F. Bange, "Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Die italienischen Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock. II: Reliefs und Plaketten", Berlin 1922 * Belli - Howard Burns, Marco Collareta and Davide Gasparotto, eds., "Valerio Belli Vicentino 1468c.-1546", Vicenza 2000 * Bernardi 1989 - Valentino Donati, "Pietre Dure e Medaglie del Rinascimento. Giovanni da Castel Bolognese", Ferrara 1989 * Bernardi 2011 - Valentino Donato, "L"Opera del Giovanni Bernardi da Castel Bolognese nel Rinascimento", Faenza 2011 * Bowdoin - Andrea S. Norris and Ingrid Weber, "Medals and Plaquettes from the Molinari Collection at Bowdoin College", Brunswick, Maine 1976 *Jones - Mark Jones, "A Catalogue of the French Medals in the British Museum. II. 1600-1672", London 1988 *Kress - John Pope-Hennessy, "Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Reliefs, Plaquettes, Statuettes, Utensils and Mortars", London 1965 *Molinier - Émile Molinier, "Les Bronzes de la Renaissance. Les Plaquettes. Catalogue Raisonné", 2 vols., Paris 1886 *Norris/Weber - A.S. Norris and I. Weber, "Medals and Plaquettes from the Molinari Collection at Bowdoin College", Brunswick, ME 1976 *Planiscig - Leo Planiscig, "Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien: Die Estensische Kunstsammlung, I: Skulpturen und Plastiken des Mittelalters und der Reanaissance", Vienna 1919 *Scaglia - Francesco Rossi, "La Collezione Mario Scaglia. Placchette", 3 vols., Bergamo 2011 *Toderi Vannel - Giuseppe Toderi and Fiorenza Vannel, "Le Medaglie Italiane del XVI secolo", 3 vols., Florence 20004 *Warren

Ca. 1200–700 BC. Western Asiatic. An attractive ceremonial axe head with a rectangular blade and wide, cylindrical shaft tube. On the back a solid bronze lion climbing the poll of the axe. The diligently worked out muscular body is fixed on the shaft. Custom-made stand included. Bronze weaponry production flourished from the 2nd millennium BC to about 700 BC when it was gradually replaced by iron. Swords, mace heads, spears and arrows were exchanged via trade and war and are discovered in both civic and ritual context. An axe head such as this one would have been an important symbol of rank, and have served a purpose in warfare, but also in religious contexts as mace heads were common votive offerings in shrines. Provenance: Private UK collection; Formerly acquired on the European art market from pre-2000 collections. Size: L:110mm / W:50mm ; 385g

Ca. 1200–700 BC. Western Asiatic. A bronze axe head with a curved blade, triangular cheek and a heavy, circular socket. Bronze weaponry production flourished from the 2nd millennium BC to about 700 BC when it was gradually replaced by iron. Swords, mace heads, spears and arrows were exchanged via trade and war and are discovered in both civic and ritual contexts. An axe head such as this one would have been an important symbol of rank, and have served a purpose in warfare, but also in religious contexts as axe heads were common votive offerings in shrines. Most of the Western-Asiatic bronze items have been recovered in funerary contexts. Custom made stand included. Property of a North London gentleman; previously acquire on the UK/European art market in the 1980s. Size: L:127mm / W:52mm ; 600g

Ca. 800–500 BC. Western Asiatic. An outstanding Western Asiatic / Achaemenid bronze wine bowl with a slightly flaring rim; a beautiful, dark polish enhances the entire surface. This gorgeous piece attests to the highly skilled craftsmanship of ancient Western Asia, where artisans worked to create intricate tableware for use in elaborate banquets. Banqueting was a major part of the aristocratic culture in antiquity and required a range of specialised utensils and vessels such as this one. Such items could also have religious purposes, used when making offerings to the gods. Excellent condition, beautiful patina. Provenance: Property of a West London gentleman; previously in a collection formed on the UK/International art market in the 1980s. Size: L:50mm / W:175mm ; 200g

Ca. 1200–700 BC. Western Asiatic. A fine example of a cast bronze mace head with a flat tip, the cylindrical body- probably placed around a wooden or less decorated metal staff into the socket beneath the mace head- features five neat rows of spikes running horizontally down the piece. The head terminates in a reinforced, rounded socket. The base is flared. Bronze weaponry production flourished from the 2nd millennium BC to about 700 BC when it was gradually replaced by iron. Swords, mace heads, spears and arrows were exchanged via trade and war and are discovered in both civic and ritual contexts. An axe head such as this one would have been an important symbol of rank, and have served a purpose in warfare, but also in religious contexts as mace heads were common votive offerings in shrines. Provenance: Private Oxfordshire collection; Formerly acquired on the European art market from pre-2000 collections. Size: L:140mm / W:55mm ; 605g

Ca. 200–300 AD. A grey chlorite-schist statue of Prince Siddhartha Gautama meditating beneath the Jambu tree. The figure is shown with the body held with a degree of relaxed strength, the head held up and the eyes closed in meditation. Between the brows is he urna and the nose is straight with small mouth and moustache above. The hair is neatly arranged and pulled to the back of the head. To the top of the head is turban with large fan shaped crest to the front and decorated with a small bust of the Buddha. To the black of the head is a large halo. Around the neck are three strands of necklaces, one falling diagonally over the chest with a series of amulet cases known as kavacha. The torso is bare apart from a loose fitting robe that hangs over the left shoulder and falls to the lap. The figure is seated on a low platform supported to either end by Greco-Bactrian columns. To the centre of the platform is a scene depicting Prince Siddartha breaking his fast and receiving an offering of rice from a young girl. To the other side are farmers ploughing with oxen., the two scenes divided by a tree. The sculpture represents Prince Siddartha, who would go on to become the Buddha, or “Enlightened One.” It combines the imagery of two scenes from the life of the Buddha, both taking place under a tree. As a young prince, Siddhartha, was taken into the fields to witness a plowing contest. He observed men sweating and exerting themselves as well as birds swooping down from the sky devouring insects. He soon became overwhelmed by these events, as they reflected the misery of human life and the inevitability of death. He left the contest and wandered until he found a wood apple (jambu) tree. He sat beneath this tree and entered into a trance. This event was a precursor to his subsequent meditation under the bodhi tree, which is symbolised by the young girl giving Siddartha a bowl of rice. After leaving his life of luxury at the palace, the prince joined a group of ascetics, but the future Buddha realised that punishing the body was not the way to find enlightenment and an end to suffering; nor was an indulgent life of pleasure that he experienced as a prince. Nearly at the point of death, the Buddha accepted an offering of food from a young peasant girl and thus broke with the extreme views of the ascetics. After recovering his health the Buddha realised that a middle way was required to find salvation, and so he set off to find a place to meditate and find the answers to the end of suffering. At a royal deer park at Sarnath, near the holy city of Varanasi on the Ganges, the Buddha sat beneath a Bidhi tree and meditated. After several years of mendicancy, meditation, and asceticism, he awakened to understand the mechanism which keeps people trapped in the cycle of rebirth. The Buddha then travelled throughout the Ganges plain teaching and building a religious community. The Buddha taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the Indian shrama?a movement. He taught a training of the mind that included ethical training, self-restraint, and meditative practices such as jhana (meditation) and mindfulness. The Buddha also critiqued the practices of Brahmin priests, such as animal sacrifice and the caste system. The figure can be distinguished from the enlightened images of the Buddha by the sumptuous robes and jewellery. The Buddha as an enlightened being is shown in the simple robes of a monk, no longer requiring the trappings of the material world. The Jambu/Bodhi tree behind the figure is beautifully rendered and forms a canopy protecting the prince whilst he meditates, and is reminiscent of the Naga serpent spreading its protective hood, that is depicted in images when he becomes the Buddha. The face of the prince shows calm resoluteness in his pursuit of the truth. Sometimes the fan shaped crest to the diadem has a lion decoration to it, but in this case it is the figure of the Buddha, a symbol of what the young prince will achieve in the near future. The piece shows the clear and crisp rendering of the robes, that recalls the styles of Hellenistic sculptures. Very often there are architectural elements that hint at the fusion of cultures that took place in the Gandhara region. In this case the columns display a fusion of Greek and Bactrian styles, whilst at other times they can be either purely Greek or Persian. The item was researched by Bret Gaunt. For a similar image see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 2005.314. For more information about Gandharan art, see Jongeward, D. (2019). Buddhist Art Of Gandhara in the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Provenance: From the collection of a London gentleman; formerly acquired in early 2000s in France; previously in 1970s European collection. Size: L:650mm / W:370mm ; 30k+g

Ca. 1200–700 BC. Western Asiatic. A finely modelled Western-Asiatic cast bronze double axe head, composed of a long, tubular socket with four ribbed borders, a convex axe blade and an adze blade to the rear. The socket is decorated with an anthropomorphic face, rendered in an extremely stylised manner with big, wide-open eyes. Bronze weaponry production flourished from the 2nd millennium BC to about 700 BC when it was gradually replaced by iron. Swords, mace heads, spears and arrows were exchanged via trade and war and are discovered in both civic and ritual contexts. An axe head such as this one would have been an important symbol of rank, and have served a purpose in warfare, but also in religious contexts as mace heads were common votive offerings in shrines. Cast spike-butted axes are hallmarks of Western-Asiatic bronze weaponry during the First Iron Age Period, between 1200 and 1000 BC. Most of the Western-Asiatic bronze items have been recovered in funerary contexts. Custom made stand included. Provenance: Private UK collection; Formerly acquired on the European art market from pre-2000 collections. Size: L:120mm / W:47mm ; 335g

Ca. 800–500 BC. Western Asiatic. An outstanding Western Asiatic / Achaemenid bronze wine bowl with a slightly flaring rim; a beautiful polish enhances the entire surface. This gorgeous piece attests to the highly skilled craftsmanship of ancient Western Asia, where artisans worked to create intricate tableware for use in elaborate banquets. Banqueting was a major part of the aristocratic culture in antiquity and required a range of specialised utensils and vessels such as this one. Such items could also have religious purposes, used when making offerings to the gods. Excellent condition, beautiful patina. Provenance: Property of a West London gentleman; previously in a collection formed on the UK/International art market in the 1980s. Size: L:80mm / W:270mm ; 1.2kg

Ca. 1200–700 BC. Western Asiatic. An attractive ceremonial axe head with a slender blade curving downward and cylindrical shaft tube. On the back a stylized animal figure, probably a lion, is climbing the poll of the axe. Custom-made stand included. Bronze weaponry production flourished from the 2nd millennium BC to about 700 BC when it was gradually replaced by iron. Swords, mace heads, spears and arrows were exchanged via trade and war and are discovered in both civic and ritual context. An axe head such as this one would have been an important symbol of rank, and have served a purpose in warfare, but also in religious contexts as mace heads were common votive offerings in shrines. Provenance: Private UK collection; Formerly acquired on the European art market from pre-2000 collections. Size: L:110mm / W:130mm ; 605g

Ca. 1100–700 BC. Western Asiatic. Bronze vessel with globular body, ring foot and short L-shaped, elongated spout. This gorgeous piece attests to the highly skilled craftsmanship of ancient Western Asia, where artisans worked to create intricate tableware for use in elaborate banquets. Banqueting was a major part of the aristocratic culture in antiquity and required a range of specialised utensils and vessels such as this one. Such items could also have religious purposes, used when making offerings to the gods. Excellent condition, beautiful patina. Provenance: Property of an Oxfordshire art professional; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK / International art markets. Size: L:115mm / W:200mm ; 315g

Ca. 300–400 AD. A seated figure of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the Buddha who is believed to be incarnated in the future for the salvation of mankind. Carved from a fine grained grey chlorite-schist, the figure displays sensitive treatment of the carving, particularly in the details of the robes. The head is turned to the left and is crowned by an elaborate headdress composed of a turban with strings of jewels and a characteristic fan shaped piece gathered to the front. The face is expertly carved with a sensitive, slightly smiling mouth, heavy lidded eyes and a straight nose characteristic of Eastern Roman art, and a moustache more commonly associated with indian art. Between the eyes is an Urna, one of the symbols of a great being that depicts the third eye that enabled the Bodhisattva the ability to see past the mundane world of suffering. The ears are pierced and elongated from the heavy earrings commonly worn by aristocrats of India and Central Asia at the time. Behind the head is a large halo.The body is strongly proportioned and across the chest are three strands of necklaces, one running diagonally across the chest and strung with a series of amulet cases known as Kavacha. These amulets are still worn in India today, and they were popular in the Roman Empire, with examples depicted on the famous Faiyum mummy portraits from Egypt. The left hand rests on the knee, whist the right was originally held up to the face in the so-called “pensive” manner that is a characteristic of Maitreya images. The figure sits on a throne with lattice work panels, and on the seat is a large cushion. The right leg is slightly drawn up in the so-called “royal ease pose”. The throne in turn is supported by a lotus flower, with the petals rendered in exceptionally fine realism.Maitreya is believed to be the future Buddha, who currently resides in the Tushita heaven. As a Bodhisattva he has achieved enlightenment, but not entered Nirvana, instead choosing to help living creatures achieve enlightenment too. His name is derived from the Sanskrit word Maitri, meaning “friend” and this in turn may be derived from the Persian deity Mithras, also known as Mithra or Mitra, whose name also meant friend. Indeed, it is possible that the cult of Maitreya may have been influenced by the Persian deity as Central Asia and parts of India were ruled by the Persian Empire prior to its conquest by Alexander the Great. The pensive pose that Maitreya displays, represents him seated in the Tushita heaven contemplating the suffering of living beings, and waiting until the time when he can enter the world for its salvation. This future time is believed to be when the teachings of the Buddha have disappeared and mankind is living in extreme suffering. Maitreya will then be incarnated in the world to save all living beings.The treatment of the robes, jewellery and headdress show that he is represented as a noble of the time from Northern India and Central Asia, and it would have been members of the elite who would have dedicated these reliefs at monasteries and popular sites of pilgrimage. This would have been a meritorious act in the hope of a better rebirth. The practice of offering reliefs seems to have come from Greece and Rome, where it was one of the primary acts of devotion. The production of devotional images, such as this, probably began in the late second century AD. These images were produced for worship by both the laity and the monastic community, and their production coincides with a decline in the popularity of narrative panels, almost all of which illustrate the sacred biography of the Buddha. This shift has often been seen as marking a transition in Buddhist ideology from the earlier Hinayana school of teaching, which emphasized the veneration of relics, to later Mahayana practices centred on the veneration of images of Bodhisattvas and cosmic Buddhas.Compared to the art of peninsular India, Gandharan art can be described as more naturalistic, both in the rendering of the body and in the movement of the garments. The representations of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas were inspired by the representation of Hellenistic and Roman gods and aristocracy. One of the closest parallels of art from the time of the Roman Empire is that from Palmyra, which was a trading hub between India and the west. Here, the religious and funerary reliefs display close similarities in the rendering of the facial features and carving of the folds of the garments, and especially in the decorative elements, such as the jewellery, to those depicted on Gandharan pieces. This clearly demonstrates the close trading ties between the east and the west that resulted in the sharing of cultural motifs and styles. This was not something new however, as the grey chlorite-schist so popular for the creation of Gandharan sculpture, was employed millennia earlier in the production of vases and small sculpture from Mesopotamia, and which were exported across the Near East and the Indus Valley civilisations.The item was researched by Bret Gaunt. For a similar piece see The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia, accession number 7, 1997; Beguin, G. (2009). Buddhist Art. Bangkok: River Books, 212, fig. 23. For more information about Gandharan art, see Jongeward, D. (2019). Buddhist Art Of Gandhara in the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Provenance: From the collection of a London gentleman; formerly acquired in early 2000s in France; previously in 1970s European collection. Size: L:870mm / W:350mm ; 30k+g

Ca. 100-500 AD. Gandharan. A stucco lion on a modern wooden plinth. The lion is seated, rising from the base with its front paws erect. It has a detailed mane of undulating strands of hair, and it has wide open eyes with a tongue dangling from a gaping mouth, maintaining the lion’s threatening nature. The lion was an important symbol in Gandharan art and Buddhist iconography. The region had been conquered by a string of great powers in the preceding centuries who, together with Gandhara’s important location on trade routes, imported many different cultural ideas into the area; the lion had been an important symbol of kingship and power in the Achaemenid Empire, due to its majesty and ferocity, and this idea took root in Gandhara too where thrones were decorated with lion-shaped throne supports in a design very similar to this one. It had important religious associations too, being one of the primary symbols of all Buddhism itself, as a lion was associated with the Shakya Clan from which the Buddha came (Shakyasimha – ‘Lion of the Shakya Clan’). Provenance: From the collection of a London gentleman; formerly acquired in early 2000s in Belgium; previously in 1970s European collection. Size: L:260mm / W:230mm ; 6kg

Ca. 800–500 BC. Western Asiatic. An outstanding, deep Western Asiatic / Achaemenid bronze wine bowl with a high rim; a beautiful patina enhances the entire surface. This gorgeous piece attests to the highly skilled craftsmanship of ancient Western Asia, where artisans worked to create intricate tableware for use in elaborate banquets. Banqueting was a major part of the aristocratic culture in antiquity and required a range of specialised utensils and vessels such as this one. Such items could also have religious purposes, used when making offerings to the gods. Excellent condition, beautiful patina. Provenance: Property of a West London gentleman; previously in a collection formed on the UK/International art market in the 1980s. Size: L:55mm / W:130mm ; 110g

Ca. 1100–700 BC. Western Asiatic. A bronze vessel with a short neck, globular body, ring foot and L-shaped, elongated spout decorated with a band of hemispherical rivets. A U-shaped handle is attached to the body. This gorgeous piece attests to the highly skilled craftsmanship of ancient Western Asia, where artisans worked to create intricate tableware for use in elaborate banquets. Banqueting was a major part of the aristocratic culture in antiquity and required a range of specialised utensils and vessels such as this one. Such items could also have religious purposes, used when making offerings to the gods. Excellent condition, beautiful patina. Provenance: Property of an Oxfordshire art professional; previously in an old British collection, formed in the 1980s on the UK / International art markets. Size: L:210mm / W:380mm ; 830g

Ca. 1200–700 BC. Western Asiatic. A fine example of a cast bronze mace head with a flat tip, the cylindrical body- probably placed around a wooden or less decorated metal staff into the socket beneath the mace head- the upper half is decorated with three vertical registers, each with domed bosses in a row. The lower half is plain and the shaft holes are collared. Bronze weaponry production flourished from the 2nd millennium BC to about 700 BC when it was gradually replaced by iron. Swords, mace heads, spears and arrows were exchanged via trade and war and are discovered in both civic and ritual contexts. An axe head such as this one would have been an important symbol of rank, and have served a purpose in warfare, but also in religious contexts as mace heads were common votive offerings in shrines. Provenance: Private Oxfordshire collection; Formerly acquired on the European art market from pre-2000 collections. Size: L:175mm / W:29mm ; 340g

Ca. 1200–700 BC. Western Asiatic. Cast axe head comprising of a tubular socket with ribbed borders, a scroll to the upper edge and bulb below, a collar can be seen above the lower rim. The asymmetrical swept blade has a convex edge. Bronze weaponry production flourished from the 2nd millennium BC to about 700 BC when it was gradually replaced by iron. Swords, mace heads, spears and arrows were exchanged via trade and war and are discovered in both civic and ritual contexts. An axe head such as this one would have been an important symbol of rank, and have served a purpose in warfare, but also in religious contexts as mace heads were common votive offerings in shrines. Provenance: Private UK collection; Formerly acquired on the European art market from pre-2000 collections. Size: L:95mm / W:70mm ; 260g

Ca. 2000–800 BC. Western Asiatic/ Amlash culture. Beautiful bronze pendant of a standing mother cradling a baby, her sex has been worked out elaborately. The back is flat apart from a suspension loop to the rear of the head for a string to wear around the neck. The Amlash culture, also known as Marlik culture, is found in Northern Iran, enduring for many centuries. It was one of the most distinctive Iranian cultures of the late second and early first millennia BC which had cultural contacts with the Assyrian Empire. Items like this may attest to religious practice in Amlash culture societies. For more information on Amlash culture, see R. Ghirshman (1967). The Arts of Ancient Iran, New York, 31-38. Provenance: Property of a West London gentleman; previously in a collection formed on the UK/International art market in the 1990s. Size: L:62mm / W:25mm ; 15.4g