CHARLES AUGUSTUS HENRY LUTYENS (BRITISH 1829 - 1915), LADY BIRD & KITTY oil on canvas, signed and dated '80 71.5cm x 91.5cm Framed Note: Charles Augustus Henry Lutyens (CAHL) was a member of an illustrious family with numerous connections to the British Army. His parents were General Charles Lutyens (1773-1848) and Frances Jane Fludger (1789-1850) who married on 6 May 1824. His father was appointed Deputy Commissary General of the Army, a civilian appointment, responsible for military procurement. He also served on the staff of General Moore in the Peninsular campaign and wrote an impressive journal recording the horrors of the ill-fated Retreat on Corunna escaping from Napoleon's General Marshal Soult.CAHL was born at Southgate House, Reading.CAHL married Mary Theresa Gallwey in Montreal Canada in 1852. Mary was born in Killarney in 1833 and died in Surrey in 1906. She was the sister of Sir Thomas Gallwey, the Governor of Montreal. She was a deeply religious woman with few interests outside her evangelical faith. Mary bore Charles 13 children including the celebrated architect Sir Edwin (Ned) Landseer Lutyens.CAHL was a close friend of Sir Edwin Landseer hence the names given to his architect son. He was an infantry officer serving in the XXth Foot, which later became The Lancashire Fusiliers, an artillery officer and later a sculptor and painter of portraits, animals (particularly horses) and of sporting scenes - racing and hunting.He exhibited between 1861 and 1903, showing at the Royal Academy, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, British Institution, Grosvenor Gallery, Dudley Gallery, Royal Hibernian Academy, Manchester City Art Gallery and the Society of British Artists which elected James Whistler its President in 1886. He was a member of the Burlington Fine Arts Society and supported Whistler when he was expelled in 1867.Among the most famous and well-known of his artworks showing his detailed understanding of a horse's musculature is Avontes and Groom in a Stable Interior. Other works included paintings of many of the horses of King Edward, the Duke of Westminster and other notable owners. His portraits of King Lud, Cremorne, Going Forward, Mary Stuart, Doncaster, Galopin, Blair Athol, Blue Green, Spring Field, Sefton, Isonomy, Carrieroy, Janette, Florizell 2, Persimon, Gallinule, and Volodyosky demonstrate his love of horses and artistic talent. He first created clay models of an animal from which he made a drawing and after a quick comparison then produced the final painting.
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Anderson (William). The Pictorial Arts of Japan, With a Brief Historical Sketch of the Associated Arts, and Some Remarks upon the Pictorial Art of the Chinese and Koreans, 1886, 80 mostly black and white plates, original decorative cloth lettered in red and gilt, rebacked, folio (Artist's proof copy, number 38, signed by the author), together with Boxer (C.R.), Fidalgos in the Far East 1550-1770, Fact and Fantasy in the History of Macao, The Hague, 1948, 16 black and white plates, map endpapers, original cloth, partly browned, 8vo, plus Joly (Henri L.), Legend in Japanese Art, A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore, Myths, Religious Symbolism, Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan, reprint, Tokyo, 1967, numerous illustrations including 15 colour plates, original cloth gilt in dust jacket, dust jacket slightly soiled and split on spine, with some surface dirt to book spine, 4to, plus other mostly English language, 20th-century books on Japanese prints and art (3 shelves)
NOTTINGHAM INTEREST: ALFRED STAPLETON: Personal copies of his own published books relating to Nottingham, many with his extensive hand-written corrections and additions: 1. Written with W Stevenson. Some account of the religious institutions of old Nottingham; series 1-3; 1898-99; Plus: Tombs, Chapels, 1902. The four works bound in one volume, with Stapleton’s own extensive manuscript additions, corrections and original art work; 2. Nottingham Crosses. Stapleton’s own made-up volume with his extensive manuscript additions, corrections, etc; 3. By-Gone Nottingham, illustrated. Reprinted from the Nottingham Daily Express, 1903. No author, but written in pencil: by A Stapleton, 25 copies only. 164pp;4. Nottingham Town Wall. 1891, limited edn. to 25 copies, with hand-written list of subscribers, additions and corrections; full leather, VG; Plus: one other copy (poor); 5. Crosses of Nottinghamshire. 1903, with manuscript additions and corrections; 6. Public Crosses of Old Notti
NOTTINGHAM INTEREST: ALFRED STAPLETON:Personal copies of his own published books relating to Nottingham, many with his extensive hand-written corrections and additions:1. Written with W Stevenson. Some account of the religious institutions of old Nottingham; series 1-3; 1898-99; Plus: Tombs, Chapels, 1902. The four works bound in one volume, with Stapleton’s own extensive manuscript additions, corrections and original art work;2. Nottingham Crosses. Stapleton’s own made-up volume with his extensive manuscript additions, corrections, etc;3. By-Gone Nottingham, illustrated. Reprinted from the Nottingham Daily Express, 1903. No author, but written in pencil: by A Stapleton, 25 copies only. 164pp;4. Nottingham Town Wall. 1891, limited edn. to 25 copies, with hand-written list of subscribers, additions and corrections; full leather, VG; Plus: one other copy (poor);5. Crosses of Nottinghamshire. 1903, with manuscript additions and corrections;6. Public Crosses of Old Nott
Ionia, Ephesos (?) EL Stater. Circa 575-560 BC. Forepart of bridled horse left, sunburst before; lotus flower on its back / Rectangular incuse punch between two square incuse punches, all with roughly patterned surfaces. Weidauer 138 (these dies); Mitchiner 135; ACGC 56. 14.30g, 21mm. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. The lotus flower that appears upon the horse's back is an element common to several electrum staters from uncertain mints attributed to Lydia or Ionia, all struck on the Milesian standard: the recumbent lion type (Rosen 245; NAC 72, 16 May 2013, 369), bull kneeling with its head reverted (Rosen 148), and two rampant lions upright on their hind legs with heads reverted and paws extended (Rosen 149). On all of these coins the lotus flower may initially appear incidental, though its commonality to all types indicates otherwise – it is evidently to be seen as the key element of the obverse type that links the different animal designs together. The lotus flower appears only sporadically in Greek mythology, though it had a deep rooted use in Egyptian art and legend, where it was taken as a symbolic representation of the sun on account of its physical behaviour: it closes at night time and descends into the water, rising and flowering again at dawn. In Egyptian creation myth, the lotus was the first thing to spontaneously form from chaos, and it was from the lotus that the sun itself was born on the first day. The eastern coastal areas of the Mediterranean in the sixth century BC had been for a long time familiar with Egyptian religious beliefs that spread as a consequence of trade and population dispersal; the lotus' insinuation in its Egyptian meaning into Greek culture is evident in the lotus-tipped sceptre carried by Zeus on the coinages of Karia, Mysia and Kilikia (among others), being a legacy of the assimilation of an attribute of the major Egyptian solar deity Ra with the principal god of the Greek pantheon Zeus. The lotus' appearance here as a polyvalent symbol can best be understood then in the context of assimilated Egyptian beliefs, representing at once both a solar and divine aspect, as well as a clear allusion to the minting city's location. Interestingly however, the lotus is not the only solar element present on this coin – immediately before the horse's chest we can discern the presence of a sunburst similar in depiction to those found on the contemporary coinage of Alyattes. This element may have been included on account of its being more universally familiar, being well understood to signify what we now refer to as Anatolia, which comes from the Greek Aνατολή (Anatolē) meaning the 'East' or more literally 'sunrise', used to refer to the Ionian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. Moreover the horse was itself considered a solar symbol, not only throughout the East, but also among Celtic and Germanic tribes, suggesting a common ancient root to this association. Such preponderance of solar symbology is indeed only fitting for this metal, and is in fact an overt statement of the coin's composition: ἤλεκτρον, the Greek word for electrum, is derived from the word ἠλέκτωρ (ēlektōr) - 'shining sun'.
AN ANTI-RELIGIOUS POSTER MAQUETTE AND A POSTER BY YURIY VASILYEVICH TRUNYOV (RUSSIAN B. 1921)SLUZHITELI BOGA [God`s Ministers], 1961, comprising:a)An original poster maquette, gouache, India ink, graphite, and collage on paper; inscribed in Cyrillic Editor I. Astapov lower left, bearing miscellaneous editorial comments and inscriptions with publisher`s seal of approval on verso, 43 x 57 cm (16 7/8 x 22 3/8 in.)b) a printed poster made after Trunyov`s design with a poem by V. Alekseyev; color lithograph, published by Izdatelstvo `Khudozhnik RSFSR`, printed in Leningrad, edition of 3500 copiesPLEASE NOTEIf you will be bidding live on auction day, please note that Session I of the Auction (Asian and Russian Fine & Decorative Art), starts at 10:00 AM New York Time and goes from Lot 1 through Lot 254. Session II of the Auction (European, American and International Fine & Decorative Art) starts at 3:00 PM New York Time and goes from Lot 500 through Lot 676. We sell approximately 70 lots per hour.
AN ANTIQUE VELVET AND BROCADE TAPESTRY WITH RELIGIOUS IMAGERYof deep red velvet with a central brocade panel featuring six roundels, each medallion embroidered with religious imagery including the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, St. Andrew, and others, each scene surrounded by scrolling embroidered flowers on a blue velvet ground with a gold brocade border, length: 204 cm (80 1/4 in.)PROVENANCESotheby`s, New York, lot 536, unknown sale date (old label on verso)Acquired circa 1970s-80s from the aboveThence by descent in the familyPLEASE NOTEIf you will be bidding live on auction day, please note that Session I of the Auction (Asian and Russian Fine & Decorative Art), starts at 10:00 AM New York Time and goes from Lot 1 through Lot 254. Session II of the Auction (European, American and International Fine & Decorative Art) starts at 3:00 PM New York Time and goes from Lot 500 through Lot 676. We sell approximately 70 lots per hour.
WORLD COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS, Art Medals, Germany, Augsburg, Religious Box Medal (Schraubmedaille), c.1720, containing 23 hand-coloured roundels, by P P Werner, bust of Christ to right, nimbate and by drapery, rev the angels climb Jacob’s ladder, WANN IACOB IM HERREN RVHT. IST VBER IHN DER ENGEL HUT, 43.5mm, roundels of King Augustus II of Saxony, the Electress Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, a cleric and 20 of biblical scenes, the text marked on each (see Goppel 1151 for reverse; Koch -; Whiting -). Medal and contents very fine, very rare. The roundels probably all designed by Gottfried Rogg and engraved by Abraham Reinshart, though their separate signatures appear on one roundel each.
Russia, St. Petersburg, St Isaac's Cathedral, copper medal, 1858, by Jacques Wiener, exterior and interior views, 60mm. (Reinecke 57), extremely fine St Isaac's Cathedral was built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, and was designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshippers. In 1931 the Antireligious Museum was opened in the building, changing to a museum of history and art and of the Orthodox Church. Since 1990 religious services have been resumed.
Attributed to John Constable (British, 1776 - 1837) Portrait of an elegant lady in Regency dress, oil on canvas, relined, 54 x 46 cm Provenance : Property of a Lady, Dorset John Constable, RA was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home-now known as "Constable Country"-which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling". His most famous paintings include Wivenhoe Park of 1816,[3]Dedham Vale of 1802 and The Hay Wain of 1821. Although his paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in British art, Constable was never financially successful. He did not become a member of the establishment until he was elected to the Royal Academy at the age of 52. His work was embraced in France, where he sold more works than in his native England and inspired the Barbizon school. To make ends meet, Constable took up portraiture, which he found dull, though he executed many fine portraits. He also painted occasional religious pictures but, according to John Walker, "Constable's incapacity as a religious painter cannot be overstated."
10th-12th century AD. A flat-section triangular blade with scooped lower edge, shallow socket and small plate to the rear; hatched borders to the blade enclosing cross-in-circle motifs and clusters of pellets. 5.71 grams, 43mm (1 3/4"). From an old Munich collection; acquired on the German art market before 2000. The pendant axeheads were popular in late Viking age in 10th to 12th century AD, mostly found in the Western Russia and Southern Scandinavia regions. They were identified by some researchers as amulets representing an axe of the highest god of Slavic pantheon, the god of thunder and lightning, called Perun. However, there is still a question mark concerning their origin. There are reasons to believe that axe-pendants originated in Viking culture and were adapted by the Slavs because of their own cultural and religious associations. Fine condition. Very rare.
13th-7th century BC. A bronze openwork bifacial finial comprising a tubular socket, two feline hindlegs, flared skirt and belt, two feline heads flanking a male mask. 203 grams, 10cm (4"). Property of a North West London gentleman; formerly with a central London gallery in 1990. Cf. Godard, F. The Art of Iran, London, 1965, fig.63. Luristan is the mountainous area in western Iran bordered by Iraq on the west and the Susa plain on the south. The Luristan culture produced a distinct range of bronze objects during the first millennium BC with highly stylized human and animal representations. The Master of Animals is an ancient deity that is found in a number of cultures, most notably in the ancient Near East and the archaic Greek cultures; he has a female counterpart in Greece known as Potnia Theron, Mistress of the Animals. The imagery invokes the control of nature and chaotic forces and finials such as this would have topped staffs used in religious rituals. Fine condition.
15th century AD. A solid iconographic ring with ridged bezel of three panels depicting an angel to the right, God the Father holding the infant Christ in the centre and the Virgin Mary to the left, as viewed; the band tapering evenly in width from the shoulders to the narrowest point at the back and decorated all around with six diagonal lines of beading set on the line cusps; in the broad bands adjacent to the bezel, engraved pairs of foliage motifs of flowers on stems with star between; inscribed to the inside of the bezel, a form of 'I AM LOYAL' in black letter script. 14.96 grams, 23.56mm overall, 19.84mm internal diameter (approximate size British T 1/2; USA 10; Europe 20; Japanese 20) (1"). Property of an East Sussex gentleman; acquired in the 1980s by his mother as part of a jewellery collection from a private collector in Theale, Newbury, Berkshire, UK; by descent 2012. See Dalton, O. M., Catalogue of the Finger Rings.....Bequeathed by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, BM 1912, no. 722 (for wording) and nos. 757-760 (for triple bezel panels"). Accompanied by an Art Loss Register certificate. The form of inscription wording 'LOIAL' (for loyal) in black letter is seen on another iconographic ring (Franks 722) of the same period and such rings are typically engraved with depictions of figures of saints, Mother and Child, God and Christ or similar. They combine religious imagery with romantic posies; they often feature the most venerated saints of the Middle Ages typically including Christopher, Catherine, Margaret, Barbara, and John the Baptist amongst others. Very fine condition. A large and wearable man's size.
6th-8th century AD. A flat-section gold hoop with opus interrasile scrolls, piriform plaque with four cabochon gemstone inserts (garnet, emerald, lapis lazuli and rock crystal?) and central pearl, granule detailing to the edges of the plaque. 8.49 grams, 26mm overall, 20.14mm internal diameter (approximate size British U 1/2, USA 10 1/4, Europe 23.15, Japan 22) (1"). From the collection of a noble Russian family by descent, before 1975. Supplied with a positive X-Ray Fluorescence metal analysis certificate. Accompanied by an Art Loss Register certificate. In the form of a Greek cross this ring would have been worn by a wealthy Byzantine nobleman or woman to express their belief in the Christian faith. This ring was made during the iconoclastic period of Byzantine art, one which saw the active destruction of figural images of religious figures such as Christ and the Virgin Mary, and which saw the use of the cross as the main religious image. Extremely fine condition.
Roman Period, 30 BC-323 AD. A D-section gold hoop expanding to a discoid plaque with inset carnelian cloison; intaglio design of the serpent Ourobouros biting its own tail surrounding a Greek magical text '?????????/???????????/???????????/????????CIE?/E??? IERPBHKA/A?CIAIADA?/NI' invoking the help of the spirit Marmarao(?"). 8.16 grams, 25mm overall, 19.37mm internal diameter (approximate size British S 1/2, USA 9 1/4, Europe 20.73, Japan 20) (1"). UK art market, acquired prior to 1980. Cf. Marshall, F.H. Catalogue of the Finger Rings - Greek, Etruscan and Roman - in the Department of Antiquities, British Museum, London, 1968, item 1130 for type; 'Marmarao' or 'Marmaroth' is possibly the name of an ancient Near Eastern 'angel', spirit or minor deity. See Cresswell, J. The Watkins Dictionary of Angels, London, 2011. Accompanied by an Art Loss Register certificate. The Ouroboros was seen in the Greek and Roman worlds as a creature that was without beginning or end and according to Plato it was as the first living thing; a self-eating, circular being—the universe as an immortal, mythologically constructed entity. Due to the circular shape that it formed it was seen as having protective and magical properties and everything that it enclosed was seen as sacred. Magical spells were popular in the Graeco-Roman world and have been found in many parts of the Roman Empire. They take many forms such as writing onto pottery sherds or on papyrus as well as sheets of lead, silver or gold. Many gem stones were carved with magical symbols and spells and display an elaborate syncretism of Greek, Egyptian, Jewish, and even Babylonian and Christian religious influences. These stones were set into rings to protect the owner or help cure a long standing medical condition. The type of stone was also important as many had specific magical connotations. Whilst many of the spells can be translated some are composed of letters that form phonetic sounds with no meaning or are written backwards or even groups of letters that make no sense at all except to the magician who was consulted by the client; very often it was the cryptic form of the letters that was often the most important in harnessing divine help. According to Cresswell, Marmarao is 'an angel invoked in magic to cure bladder trouble'. Very fine condition.
An undated archaistic silver-gilt face mask, carefully modelled and pierced close to the edge for attachment. 42 grams, 22.5cm (8 3/4"). Acquired on the London art market in the late 1990s. The addition of a stephane, or tiara, would indicate that this is a deity. It is possible that the mask was attached to a cult object in a temple and used in the worship of the deity, such as an image that was transported around the town during religious processions. Fine condition.
20th century AD. A rectangular paper panel on a fabric backing with wooden roller; painting of a seated nimbate figure in cloak and cowl with panels of religious iconography to the borders, panel of Sanskrit(?) text above, blocks of text and red chop seals. 509 grams, overall: 171cm x 65cm, image: 100cm x 61cm (67 1/4 x 25 1/2). Acquired on the London art market before 1995. The figure depicted on this scroll is Bodhidharma, also known in Japan by his more popular name of Daruma. He is a semi-legendary figure worshipped by the Chan sect in China and the Zen in Japan. He is claimed to have introduced Indian meditation techniques into China in the sixth century. [No Reserve] Fine condition.
Gandharan, 1st century BC to 1st century AD. An undated archaistic carved discoid plaque with raised border, reclining bearded figure to the bowl. 239 grams, 11 cm (4 1/4). Acquired UK art market, in the 1980s. Schist cups such as these are found at a number of Gandharan sites and would appear to be associated with religious libations. The image on this cup is of the Greek demi-god Silenus, the drunken companion of Dionysus. [No Reserve] Fine condition; repaired.
The Mckell Medical Almanack, - in German, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Alsace, c in German, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Alsace, c .1445] 12 leaves, single gathering, set out as medical-astronomical prognostications followed or proceeded by calendar for each month, most probably wanting a last leaf with the prognostications for December, else complete, double column of 32 lines in a fine prickly German vernacular bookhand, with capitals touched in red, 2-line initials in alternate red and muted turquoise-blue, rubrics and major feasts in red, each column of prognostications headed by an elaborate crocketed golden arch containing the sun or the moon (as a man's face wearing a cowl peeking out from a golden crescent) above a half-page depiction of an astronomer looking skyward or seated reading (11 in total), each calendar leaf with the occupation of the month within a large gold-edged roundel (approximately 50mm. in diameter), above a similarly sized portrait of the zodiac symbol for the month (often partly illuminated), slightly trimmed at outer edges (with small loss to edge of three illustrations), small spots and cockling in places, erased inscription (perhaps Early Modern ex libris) on last leaf, else very good condition, 205mm. by 105mm., eighteenth- or nineteenth-century binding of white vellum over stiff pasteboards, with single gilt-fillet and small ducal coronet in centre of front board, rebacked, fitted gilt-tooled leather case This is the long-lost Mckell Medical Almanack from the workshop of the celebrated artist Dietbold Lauber, last recorded and seen exactly sixty years ago, and previously available to scholarship only in black-and-white facsimile Provenance: (1) Commissioned c .1445 by a patron in the diocese of Strasbourg (the Calendar leaves having the local saints, Erhard, Gangolf, Udalric and Lendelinus amongst others), from the workshop of the artist Dietbold Lauber in Alsace. (2) Col. David McCandless Mckell (1881-1962) of Cillicothe, Ohio, fellow of the Morgan Library and an American friend of the Bodleian, who collected medieval manuscripts and children's books. This volume was exhibited in the library of the University of Kentucky in March 1958, accompanied by a published study by Rosy Schilling and a separate black-and-white facsimile. The manuscript itself has not been seen since then. Saurma-Jeltsch published her study in 2001 and likewise Mackert in 2012 without seeing it, and both list it as 'untraced'. Text and Illumination: Variants of the text here enjoyed great popularity in Germany in the fifteenth century both as part of larger works, or as a work in itself (as here) similar to the later so-called shepherd's calendars. In some manuscripts it is followed by short treatises on the planets, human temperaments and other medical matters, but as Schilling observed in 1958 the individual layout here suggests that this text always stood alone. It opens with predictions on what will happen in the year depending on which day of the week the first day of January falls on (if Monday the weather will be extreme and there will be little honey and much manslaughter ; if a Thursday the weather will be fine, but there will be little wine ; if a Friday many will have sore eyes ), and includes entries for January advising against bleeding but advising for drinking strong wine with ginger, for February advising bleeding only through the thumb and to eat hot food and drink also warm wine , for March advising to eat roast meat and often bathe, this is healthy and to be bled and cupped often, with further months receiving instructions to consume certain medicinal herbs, eat no meat from the feet of animals, abstain from all smoked meats, not go often to women , as well as offer predictions about thunder, weather changes or meteorites bringing war and death in their wake. It was clearly a prestigious commission for a wealthy patron, and Schilling identified the artist as a member of the workshop of the artist and publisher Diebold Lauber in Hagenau, Alsace. As she notes, the same artist also worked on a Legenda Aurea (now in Berlin, Staatsliche Bibl., Germ. Fol.495), and a Book of Chess (now British Library, Addit. MS.21458). Lauber administered a substantial workshop, which produced over 50 surviving illustrated manuscripts in the German language, dating from between c .1427 and 1470, with a combined total of more than 6000 miniatures. They have been comprehensively surveyed by Saurma-Jeltsch (including the present manuscript, see above). They represent a crucial point in the development of illustrated German literature, and stand at the intersection, not only of art and economic history, but also of religious, linguistic, and literary history. Written in the vernacular and endowed with ambitious programmes of pictorial decoration, the books signal a 'coming of age' of vernacular literature (J.F. Hamburger in Medium Aevum , LXXII, 2003, p. 362). The significant illuminations are: (1) fol.1v, enthroned astronomer with golden crown and ermine cloak, gazing at a golden star above; (2) fol.2r, a three-faced king at table and the water-carrier with a golden ewer; (3) fol.2v, a man warming his hands and feet by a fire over which sausages are smoking, and two pale brown fish; (4) fol.3r, a finely detailed portrait of the astronomer with a turban-like headdress with a two flowing tails, again pointing at a golden star; (5) fol.3v, the astronomer again in the same position wearing a red and blue pointed hat; (6) fol.4r, a man pruning vines and a ram with golden horns straining its neck and poking out its tongue to reach leaves of a bush it stands against; (7) fol.4v, a maiden with flowers and a docile-looking red-brown bull; (8) fol.5r, the astronomer pointing to a star; (9) fol.5v, the astronomer in a blue robe seated and reading a book at a desk, with an angular banderole inscribed Es wert ein Zeichen geschehen ; (10) fol.6r, a nobleman with hawk and horse, and the twins naked with a golden harp; (11) fol.6v, a man mowing grass and a bright red lobster; (12) fol.7r, the astronomer crowned and enthroned, holding a book; (13) fol.7v, the same as a robed figure with tight-fitting hat with a tassel on top; (14) fol.8r, a man harvesting corn and a large yellow lion poking his tongue out at the scene above; (15) fol.8v, a man threshing and the Virgin with gold wings pointing at a tree; (16) fol.9r, the astronomer before a book on a lectern; (17) fol.9v, the same seated with a book under his elbow; (18) fol.10r, a man sowing and a pair of gold scales; (19) fol.10v, pressing grapes and a green and brown scorpion; (20) fol.11r, the astronomer with a flowing headdress; (21), fol.11v, the same clean-shaven, seated and reading; (22) fol.12r, the knocking down of the acorns to feed hogs, and a centaur with bow and arrow looking at a magpie in a tree; (23) fol.12v, killing the hog and a seated ram with golden horns, poking his tongue out. Publications: Rosy Schilling, 'A facsimile of an Astronomical medical calendar in German (Studio of Diebolt Lauber at Hagenau, about 1430-1450): from the Library of Colonel David McC. McKell', University of Kentucky Libraries Bulletin 18, 1958; Rosy Schilling, 'Astronomical medical calendar: German, studio of Diebolt Lauber at Hagenau, 15th century, c. 1430-50', University of Kentucky Libraries Bulletin 18, Occ. Contribution 97, 1958; L.E. Saurma-Jeltsch, Spätformen mittelalterlicher Buchherstellung. Bilderhandschriften aus der Werkstatt Diebold Laubers in Hagenau , Bd. 2, 2001, p. 17; C. Mackert, 'Ein typisches Produkt aus der Spätzeit der Lauber-Werkstatt? Zur Handschrift der 'Leipziger Margarethe'', in Aus der Werkstatt Diebold Laubers, 2012, pp. 299-326; and listed on the online Handschriftencensus : Eine Bestandsaufnahme der handschriftlichen Überlieferung deutschsprachiger Texte des Mittelalters , as no.14903
A pair of silk and nué work ecclesiastical panels, each worked with appliqué on a golden ground with scrolling foliage around a central religious panel of the Virgin and of a hermit possibly St. Anthony of Padua, Italian or Spanish, late 16th / early 17th century, 58.5 x 83.5cm, each in a later glazed gilt frame. (2) For a similar set of four panels see Sotheby's, European Sculpture & Works of Art 900-1900, Wednesday 9th April 2003, lot 13.
** Eva Rothschild (b. 1972) - Meta, 2004 4 triangular sheets of polished steel, from the edition of 3 each sheet 106 1/4 x 39 1/2 x 3/4 in., 270 x 100 x 2 cm, overall dimensions variable Provenance: New Art Centre, United Kingdom. Exhibited: Waddesdon Manor, United Kingdom, House of Cards , 26 May - 28 October 2012. More than many of her contemporaries, Rothschild is engaged with enduring sculptural issues.She uses materials more closely related to other disciplines such as craft and architecture (steel, leather, wood and plexiglas), and her concerns seem to be very much to do with how objects can occupy space and volume, and the role of gravity in holding sculpture together. Arguably her best known work is the editioned sculpture Meta, four large triangular sheets of polished steel that fit together to create two pyramid structures, standing side-by-side. The title is an Ancient Greek prefix meaning 'among' or ¾tween', and may simply be an examination of how structures work but the overtly religious form of the resultant piece, and its sense of inclusivity, is not lost on her audience. Rothschild first came to prominence in the landmark Whitechapel Gallery exhibition Early One Morning in 2002, itself a remake of the much-vaunted 1965 exhibition of the same title and venue. She has since gone on to be included in several high profile exhibitions worldwide, famously taking over the Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain with her monumental sculpture ' Cold Corners' in 2011, and most recently at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas in 2013. This is the first time this iconic sculpture has appeared at public auction. IMPORTANT: This lot is sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.
Grayson Perry RA, British b.1960- Detail from "The Walthamstow Tapestry", 2009; cushion, wool and cotton tapestry, 43x43cm, (may be subject to Droit de Suite) Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the present owner Note: The present work was produced as a test for the artist's monumental Walthamstow Tapestry created in 2009. Inspired by antique batik fabrics from Malaysia as well as eastern European folk art, it explores our quasi-religious relationship to consumerism with the names of famous brand names woven into a journey charting the passage through life of man from birth to death. CONDITION REPORT: fastened with beige coloured zip along one edge some minor signs of wear, slightly bobbly in places otherwise in good original condition
Garden Sculpture:Maida Crowe A carved Forest of Dean stone figure 203cm.; 80ins high Maida Crowe was born in Axminster, Devon in 1915. After a private education, she studied at the City and Guilds of London Art School from 1957-1962. She became a member of the Free Painters and Sculpture movement working in both wood and stone. Established in 1952, FPS was originally associated with the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts). Founding members featured many high profile and influential artists, including Roy Rasmussen, Lyall Watson and Maurice Jadot. FPS played a significant part in the establishment of abstract art in the 1950~s and 60~s and was the first of a number of post war movements that freed artists from the orthodoxy of rigid and purely technical judgements. In 1981 there was an exhibition of sculpture by Maida Crowe in Southwark Cathedral. Roy Rasmussen in the preface to the History of Free Painters and Sculptors commented; |Her wood carvings were at home in any modern collection, and graced many FPS exhibitions. But the deeper implication of her sculptures was religious, and for her it was appropriate that they should be shown in the place where she worshipped. She worked mainly on a scale of two to six feet. Her sculptures were not overtly religious, she did not use obvious religious symbols. A woman who was comfortable and tolerant in the company of diverse opinions, she could reveal a sparkling humour.| |She was passionately involved in the endless debate over forms of modern expression. She described her own work as an inward search.| She showed at the RBA as well as in the provinces and had solo exhibitions at the Cockpit and Loggia galleries. A copy of Maida Crowe~s book of her work; First and Last: A Search for Meaning, A Spiritual Journey Through Sculpture in 1994 is included in this lot which gives a full account of the carving of this statue and the placing of it in her garden.
MAGIC LANTERN SLIDES. Two boxes of over 100 glass magic lantern slides relating to art, religious & English history subjects & portraits. Many titled. 3 1/4 inch square. NOTE: In-house shipping not available for this lot. CONDITION REPORTS: Nearly all in good condition, clear, no scratches & damage.
4th-3rd century BC. A diadem wreath comprising projecting sprays of sheet-gold oak leaves with serrated edges and veins, a large central rosette to the centre, each element affixed to a custom-designed display stand. Accompanied by an Art Loss Register and certificate. The most famous of such wreaths is the example from Vergina in the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great (see Andronicos, M. Vergina: The Royal Tombs and the Ancient City, Athens, 1984, figs.137 & 184). Similar wreaths have been found all over the Hellenistic world in funerary contexts, as far apart as Asia Minor, the Black Sea coasts and Magna Graecia. The Greek writer Demosthenes (384-322 BC) noted that gold wreaths were worn for religious ceremonies, and the inventories of Greek temples and sanctuaries record that they were left as dedications by local men and women, foreign visitors, officials approaching the end of their career, as well as foreign powers seeking a favourable relationship. The oak leaves may symbolise the power of Zeus, who was often represented by the oak tree. This is a finely detailed example of the type executed with great skill. Cf. Williams, D. & Ogden, J. Greek Gold: Jewellery of the Classical World, London 1994, pp.106-7, no.60; also cf. Exhibition Catalogue - The Search for Alexander, New York, 1980, pl.36, p.187, no.173. Supplied with a positive X-Ray Fluorescence analysis certificate. 629 grams including stand, total 18.5cm wide, 30cm high (7 1/4"). Property of a London collector; acquired from Alexander Cotton, UK, in late 1970s. Fine condition.
18th century AD. A gold fob seal with scrolled arms to the rear and ribbed loop; inset carved carnelian matrix with intaglio design of a bird in flight with a letter in its beak bearing a cross, the word 'CROYEZ' (believe!), probably a religious motif. 4.20 grams, 15mm (1/2"). Acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. Extremely fine condition.
A COLLECTION OF REFERENCE BOOKS RELATING TO HIMALAYAN ART, including: "Precious Deposits", 5 vols, 2000; "Desire and Devotion Art From India, Nepal and Tibet from the John and Berthe Ford Collection" by Pratapaditya Pal, 2001; "Wooden Wonders: Tibetan Furniture in Secular and Religious Life", 2004; "The Tiger Rugs of Tibet" by Mimi Lipton, 1988; 1997; "The Sculptural Heritage of Tibet: Buddhist Art in the Nyingjei Lam Collection" by Weldon and Singer, 1999; and other works relating to Mongolian Art, Indian Art and Jewellery, and various exhibition and auction catalogues of the subject (a lot)
An Art Nouveau religious pendant, centred with a carved ivory figure of the Virgin Mary on plique~à~jour ground. The gold frame in the classical manner with architectural columns forming the frame. With foliate decoration and set with small diamonds. Acanthus border to the base. 6.5cm high.
Nine Irish/Religious Interest Books/Pamphlets: The Age of Intellect: or Clerical Showfolk and Wonderful Layfolk: A Series of Poetical Epistles Between Bob Blazon in Town, and Jack Jingle in the Country by Francis Moore. London: William Hone, Ludgate Hill, 1819. Paper-covered boards. Binding a/f. Pp. 172 + Index. Engraved frontispeace. Also: The Poetical Epitome; London: Printed for C. Dilly, in the Poultry 1791. The Art of Garnishing Churches at Christmas and Other Festivals by Edward Young Cox. Pub: London 1871, etc (9).
Edgar Maxence (French, 1871-1954) 'Reflection' A young lady in orders holding a book of hours, watercolour on linen, signed centre right, framed and glazed, 37 x 19cm. Edgar Maxence (1871-1954), french painter, pupil of Gustaves Moreau. He exhibited with the Rose+Croix and vulgarised Symbolist themes at the official Salon by exhibiting idealist landscapes usually with medival contexts. Up to 1900, his works involved experiments with his medium, so that his paintings resemble half-sculpted, half-painted icons. Subsequently, his Symbolism became more decorative and superficial. He was a pupil of Jules-Elie Delaunay and Gustave Moreau at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and helped to popularize Symbolism in the 1890s by applying a highly finished academic technique to Symbolist subjects. His best-known paintings, which include Girl with a Peacock (before 1896; Paris, G. Levy priv. col.) the Soul of the Forest (c. 1897; Nantes, Mus. B.-A.), are decorative, vaguely religious or allegorical images of beautiful women in medieval dress, influenced by earlyItalian Renaissance and late English Pre-Raphaelite art. Maxence often enriched the surface of his works with gold or silver foil and gilt plaster relief and mounted them in elaborate frames of his own design. He also painted fashionable portraits such as Woman with an Orchid (1900; Paris, A. Lesieutre priv. col.) and Impressionist landscapes. Though he participated in theavant-garde Salon de la Rose + Croix between 1895 and 1897, Maxence exhibited successfully at the conservative Salon des Artistes Français from 1894 to 1939 and frequently served on its committees and juries. Maxence's work changed little in style and content after the turn of the century and, despite the condemnation of progressive critics, continued to enjoy strong middle-class patronage until the late 1930s.
Mixed works of art to include, Egyptian revival brass oil lamp with snake handle, novelty brass table lighter in the form of a street lamp, large red wax seal in metal case, folding mahogany cased chess set (some pieces missing), pocket watch display case, a boxed Magneto-Electric Machine for self help (or harm) to administer electricity to ones own body ; a bronze figure of a Roman lady ; a spelter figure of a young man ; a late C18th early C19th Hindu religious script on palm leaves, the text in sanskrit
![AN EARLY SOVIET POSTER ILLUSTRATED BY VICTOR DENI PAUK I MUKHI [The Spider and the Flies], anti-religious poster designed by](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/691cce42-88e7-4678-8f8c-a43d00ad548c/c3482457-acdd-416b-d581-2d1316eb2876/468x382.jpg)
AN EARLY SOVIET POSTER ILLUSTRATED BY VICTOR DENI PAUK I MUKHI [The Spider and the Flies], anti-religious poster designed by Viktor Deni with a pamphlet by Demyan Bednyi, 1919; published by Literaturno-izdatel'skiy otdel Politupravleniya Revvoyensoveta Respubliki [R.V.S.R.], Moscow, No. 45; 53 x 35 cm (21 x 13 1/4 in.)LOT NOTES:The spider symbolizes a priest who sucks the blood from his parishioner flies. After this poster was published, this blood-sucking spider became a popular visual idiom in attacking the enemies of the Revolution. Viktor Deni (Viktor Nikolaevich Denisov, 1893-1946) was one of the major agitprop artists of the Soviet graphic art. His collaboration with Demian Bednyi (Yefim Aleksandrovich Pridvorov, 1883-1945) led to many successful pro-Bolshevik poster publications.
A SOVIET AGITLAK TRAVEL CHESS SET SMENA SMENE IDYOT, N. ZINOVIEV, PALEKH, 1929of a rectangular shape, the hinged cover depicting in detail a rural domestic scene, where young pioneers are winning during a chess game against an adult. The players are gathered around the table in a children's room. An interior around them features a Russian oven with a cat sleeping on it, two draped windows, a shelf with the books of fairy tales, and children's toys, such as: a ball, a teddy bear, a truck. With all these details emphasizing the cosiness of the moment, some elements, such as a portrait of Mikhail Kalinin overlooking the tournament from the wall and a lamp with a bright red bulb, carry a clear message - In with the New, out with the Old!. It also is underlined in the main subject of the painting, where the sharp-minded youth, inspired by the new Communist era, wins the old-fashioned rival, featuring an allegorical plea for the rejection of illiteracy, superstition, and devoutness in the name of progress of the Soviet people. Made of Karelian birch, decorated with a gold floral pattern on the body, the inside of the hinged cover features a motto: Smena-Smene-Idyot [A Change Goes for a Change], and a red flag with a hammer and a sickle below it. Inside of the box, there is a set of red and white chess (some figures missing) and a folding board, decorated with checkered pattern of red stars on a black ground and gilt flowers on an unpainted ground; the unfolded board measures 8 x 8.6 cm (3 1/8 x 3 3/8 in.), the box overall measures 7.5 x 10 cm (3 x 3 7/8 in.), signed on the cover N. Zinoviev lower left, inscribed and dated Palekh 1929 lower rightLITERATURE:For comparable items, see Soviet Agitational Lacquered Miniature from the Collection of Alexander Dobrovinsky, (Moscow: Iskusstvo-XXI Vek, 2011), pages 148 and 325.LOT NOTES:Nikolai Mikhailovich Zinoviev (1888-1979) was a teacher and a director of the Palekh Art School, awarded the title of The People`s Artist of the USSR, as well as the author of several books on art of Palekh. He is particularly well-known for featuring children in his lacquer miniature painting. It is entirely possible that Nikolai Zinoviev painted himself as the adult in this scene. It is not only a physical similarity between the character and the artist that hints to this conclusion - there are a pot with paintbrushes and a rack with multiple Palekh keepsake boxes situated in the interior of the room depicted. The present lot also features a great resemblance in the painting style, as well as the subject matter, with the other works by the artist: a famous plaque Pioneers` Trial on Baba Yaga and Evil Spirits (from the Collection of Alexander Dobrovinsky) and numerous scenes featured in a desk set with anti-religious playing cards Pioneers Reforming Baba Yaga and Evil Spirits (sold at Shapiro Auctions, October 25, 2014, lot 70)
THE RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF THE SEVERAL NATIONS OF THE KNOWN WORLD, VOLUMES 1-7PICART, Bernard (German, 1673-1733), The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Several Nations of the Known World. Represented in a Hundred Copper-Plates, designed by the famous Picart. Together with historical explanations, and several curious dissertations.... London: printed for Nicholas Prevost, 1731-1737. 7 volumes in 6 books. Folio (415 x 265 mm). Contemporary calf binding. Spine with gilded embossed letters and six raised bands. First English edition. 225 plates by Bernard Picart on separate pages (some folding). Titles printed in red and black with engraved vignettes.LOT NOTES:Bernard Picart presented to the reader various Catholic and Protestant ceremonies on par with religious rites of the followers of Confucius and Buddhists from China and Japan, Indian Fire-worshipers and Yogi, South American Pagan Indians, and Christian Orthodox sacramentals, as well as aboriginal Shaman spells of Siberia and Canada. He described a wide variety of religious ceremonies that conduct a person throughout life: in birth, marriage, sacrifice, sortilege, and funeral. A separate chapter was dedicated to the Court of the Inquisition. The issue is a valuable historic source that reveals religious and everyday life of the West European Jews in the 17-18 Centuries. Picart's publication had great success thanks to his general religious tolerance and objective judgment.LITERATURE: P. Kristeller, History of European Etching of 15-18 Centuries, (Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1939);A. Sevostianov The Masterpieces of European Illustration, (Moscow: Terra, 1996);M. Shelkunov The Art of Book Printing, (Moscow - Saint Petersburg: GIZ, 1926).
Greek Hellenistic Gold Oak Leaf Wreath 4th-3rd century BC. A Greek Hellenistic diadem wreath comprising numerous projecting sprays of sheet-gold oak leaves in two sizes with serrated edges and veins, a large central rosette with two smaller similar roundels flanking, laurel leaves to the rear with gold Hercules love-knot, the four intersections covered by miniature gold masks modelled in the round with varying expressions, and four more to the bands of the knot; each element affixed to a custom-designed display stand. 745 grams, 31cm tall including stand (wreath diameter: 20cm) (12 1/2 (wreath diameter: 8)"). Property of a London collector; acquired from Alexander Cotton, UK, in late 1970s. The most famous of such wreaths is the example from Vergina in the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great (see Andronicos, M. Vergina: The Royal Tombs and the Ancient City, Athens, 1984, figs.137 & 184"). Similar wreaths have been found all over the Hellenistic world in funerary contexts, as far apart as Asia Minor, the Black Sea coasts and Magna Graecia. The Greek writer Demosthenes (384-322 BC) noted that gold wreaths were worn for religious ceremonies, and the inventories of Greek temples and sanctuaries record that they were left as dedications by local men and women, foreign visitors, officials approaching the end of their career, as well as foreign powers seeking a favourable relationship. The oak leaves may symbolise the power of Zeus, who was often represented by the oak tree. This is a finely detailed example of the type executed with great skill. Cf. Williams, D. & Ogden, J. Greek Gold: Jewellery of the Classical World, London 1994, pp.106-7, no.60; also cf. Exhibition Catalogue - The Search for Alexander, New York, 1980, pl.36, p.187, no.173. Accompanied by an XRF metallurgical and Art Loss Register reports. Very fine condition.
Laura Trowski (Polish, 20th Century - d.1999) - 'Three Religious Icons', oils on panel, each inscribed verso, approx. 17x13cm, 20x14cm and 11x8cm, two framed. NB: Laura Trowski was the wife of the Northern Artist Albin Trowski, they met at the Liverpool School of Art in 1949 whilst working in the textile design studio
A Mixed Lot comprising: four Staffordshire Models to include a flat-back cottage-shaped Moneybox; a female figure riding a goat; a bocage back figure of a young couple and a further religious figure, largest piece 7” high (4) Condition: Goat with repaired horns. Bocage back snapped and re-glued on well couple group. Religous figure group has crack to womans arm and paint flaking. Crazing, minor chips and flaking thoughout. Please note: Keys Fine Art Auctioneers take great care to ensure that any statements as to attribution, age, date, origin, provenance and condition are reliable and accurate but it should be noted that all such statements are skilled opinions prepared with due care, if provenance (written or historical fact) cannot be produced. However, Keys Fine Art Auctioneers do not guarantee that condition reports, whether included in the catalogue, or given at a later time, cover all aspects of an item(s) condition. All clocks, watches and mechanical items are sold on behalf of vendors by Keys Fine Art Auctioneers strictly on an “As Found” basis. No guarantee or warranty is issued or given in anyway, either written or verbal and therefore refunds will not be issued on the basis of the Lot not being “in working order”, “incomplete”, or “not in original condition”. Keys Fine Art Auctioneers would respectfully ask that prospective buyers view Lots in person, wherever issues regarding condition are seen as important to them, satisfying themselves as to the condition, completeness and originality of any Lot on which they intend to bid. Kind Regards Keys I Fine Art Auctioneers LLP
Cannon (Joanna). Religious Poverty, Visual Riches. Art in the Dominican Churches of Central Italy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, Yale, 2013, numerous b & w and colour illustrations, original cloth in d.j., folio, together with Praz (Mario), An Illustrated History of Interior Decoration, from Pompeii to Art Nouveau, Thames & Hudson, 2008, 400 illustrations, original cloth in d.j., folio, plus The Hockemeyer Collection, 20th Century Italian Ceramic Art, 2009, numerous colour plates, original cloth in d.j., including other similar art reference, all modern publications, mostly G/VG (42)
MEM An original 27.7 x 33.3cm poster reading MEM An original 27.7 x 33.3cm poster reading ""Benefit for Survival Research Laboratories. Help defray the hellish costs incurred by SRL due to censorship of their machine performance at Artpark on Sept 1, 1990. Assist in our legal battle against humourless reactionaries"". Black and white illustration including a photomontage, reverse white and black titles, pasted onto card. The poster depicts a King James Bible spiked on Lucifer`s trident with an inset photoportrit of ""David Midland executive director of Artpark and lackey of the religious right"". Four line drawn fists lash out at the Bible. N.p. [San Francisco], n.p. [ Survival Research Laboratories], 1990. Browned and turned edges, some spotting. Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) is a machine performance art group founded in California in 1978 and closely allied with the West Coast Industrial music scene. The aim was to employ technological tools and machines in an artistic context, away from typical practical uses. Performances are carried out by machines and robots, with humans present only as audience and operators.
A GERMAN CROSS-HILTED HUNTING-SWORD WITH EXTREMELY RARE ETCHED CALENDAR BLADE, THE BLADE CIRCA 1620-30, THE HILT AND THE SCABBARD EACH 16TH CENTURY with long broad flat blade double-edged and coming to a very short point, etched in fine detail over almost the entire length of each face with a Gregorian calendar in linear tabulated form, one side bearing the months "IANIARIVS" to "IVNIVS", the other "IVLIVS" to "DECEMBER", giving the days of the week abbreviated to their first letters, each day of the month numbered and with its saints` day or day of religious observance identified, the named months additionally identified by their respective German seasonal names together with the monthly total number of days, the monthly tables punctuated by cartouches filled with the twelve Zodiacal signs together with a cabalistic Greek miniscule letter, the final cartouche inscribed "Mon Esperence En Dieu" ("My Hope in God"), and decorated with rollwerk panels on both sides at the base, fitted with earlier rounded iron crosspiece with button terminals, stopper-shaped pommel, and wooden grip retaining a pair of "Turks` heads" and a portion of the original binding all of patterned brass wire: in an earlier leather-covered wooden scabbard, decorated with tooled moulded bands about the top, with provision for extra-pieces and fitted with pierced U-shaped iron chape (the blade coarsely filed along the edges and over the surface of the base on one side, the scabbard suspension hook and the extra-pieces each missing) 87 cm; 34¼ in blade This blade would appear to be hitherto unrecorded. A sword mounted with a calendar blade tabulated and inscribed in a near identical manner, almost certainly by the same hand, is in the von Kienbusch Collection, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art: see von Kienbusch 1963, cat. no. 439, pl.CII. The von Kienbusch blade is etched additionally with portrait medallions, including that of Maximilian, Count Palatine of the Rhine, the title with which he was invested in 1623. Another closely comparable blade signed by the Solingen bladesmith Clemens Tache was formerly in the armoury of the Grand-Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in the Wartburg: see Diener-Schönberg 1912 (W.-G.-I. Nr. 4456), cat. no. 401, p.110, pl.60. The Gregorian or Christian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. For a general account of extant German and English hunting weapons with calendar blades see Blackmore 1971, pp.17-18. Also see Seiler 1940-42, pp. 11-19, for a detailed survey of the calendar blades of Ambrosius Gemlich of Munich (active circa 1527-42), whose work was most likely the source of inspiration for the present 17th century blade. The scabbard is of the type found on German and Swiss Landesknecht swords in the early 16th century and as such is very rare in its own right. A closely comparable example with sword and extra-pieces, circa 1520, is in the collection of the late Sir James Mann: see Dufty, 1974, pl. 16a.
Medieval Bronze `Gabriel and Mary Annunciation` Vesica Seal Matrix14th century AD. A seal matrix with strap and loop to the reverse; intaglio design of a double arch with central balustered column and abbey buildings above, a winged male figure (Gabriel) in one arch addressing a facing robed female (Mary) in the other, a tonsured supplicant below with hands raised; to the border the Lombardic script legend `MISS:EST GABRIEL AD MARI` (Gabriel is sent to Mary); accompanied by an impression and collector`s relevant data cards. 6.73 grams, 31mm (1 1/4"). An important London collection of ecclesiastical seals, acquired since the 1970s; found near Jervaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, UK. The seal matrix was found close to Jervaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, one of the most important Cistercian abbeys of northern England (founded in 1156); it was dissolved in 1537 under Henry VIII, and its last abbot, Adam Sedbar, was hanged for his part in the `Pilgrimage of Grace`, a local revolt in 1536 protesting against Henry`s break with the Roman Catholic Church. The seal depicts the Annunciation, whereby the archangel Gabriel was sent to Mary to inform her that she was to become the mother of the Son of God; the Annunciation is the subject of a religious motet called `Missus est Gabriel` dating from 1542 and was a key theme in many examples of medieval Christian art. Very fine condition.
Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) LITTLE BOY PLAYING AT GOD, 1945-46 oil on canvas signed and dated lower left; titled on Waddington Galleries [London] label on reverse 20 by 30in. (50.80 by 76.20cm) Waddington Galleries, London;Private collection;Bonhams, 12 August 2014, lot 236;Private collection This early work by Gerard Dillon shows children playing in the West of Ireland. One boy prays while another older one stands as if he has just been brought back to life. A wooden cross in the currach behind him adds to the religious theme. Two girls embrace each other in mock fear as they look on. Another figure, possibly a fisherman, strides off, making a gesture that suggests he does not take their game very seriously. The barren yellow setting adds to the incongruousness of the subject. A puddle of water reflects the praying child, while a large black mass behind the children adds solidity to the composition. Dillon was captivated by the West of Ireland which he first visited on a cycling holiday in 1939 and to which he returned many times in subsequent years. It became a central theme in his work and featured in the first paintings that he exhibited in Dublin and Belfast during World War II when he was embarking on his career as an artist. In many of his paintings of the West, as in this one, Dillon combines his fascination with the region with an astute knowledge of modern art, often making humorous references to the work of other and more famous artists. The latter he knew from visiting museums in London where he lived before being marooned in Ireland during the war. He also gained much knowledge of modern French art through colour reproductions in illustrated art books, then becoming more widely available. Little Boy Playing at God appears to make reference to Puvis de Chavannes`s 1881 painting, The Poor Fisherman. It plays on the simplicity of life in the West of Ireland and on the inherent spirituality of its inhabitants. The children are able to re-enact a powerful religious story through the power of their imagination. But typically of Dillon it also brings in a note of levity that is absent from more established representations of the West as seen in the work of Paul Henry or Sean Keating, two older and more senior artists than he. This novel way of approaching the subject delighted a new generation of Irish art lovers who sought a less reverential way of portraying the West, one that related to their experience of it. Dr. Róisín KennedyOctober 2014
A collection of 19th / 20th Century metalwork, to include a large French 9-litre copper kettle with repoussé crest, sold together with an oval brass repoussé fire insurance plaque `Union No1`, a copper plaque with religious scene, a bronze pestle and mortar, an Indian extensively engraved brass vase, with inscription to inner rim, a Chinese white metal fighting junk, and an Art Deco oval platter, heavily cast with Diana the Huntress, a solid brass weather vane top representing barrel makers and an American Dry Powder Gin by Leggett`s, patented in New York. (Qty)
A bronze standing Buddha, Chola Period, 12th/13th century, from Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, modelled with a flaming ushnisha on tightly curled hair, urna on his forehead, the right hand in abhayamudra (gesture of reassurance/protection), the left hand in varadamudra (gesture of giving), each palm incised with auspicious markings, wearing a close fitting sanghati with incised folds, a serene face with downcast eyes and gentle smile, standing on a round double-lotus base above a stepped rectangular plinth incised with lotus petals around the base, the reverse inscribed in Tamil, some small traces of red pigment, 21.5cm Portable bronze Buddhas such as this served to perpetuate artistic and religious connections between India and South East Asia. The Buddhist Monastic complex in Negapattinam was the largest in Medieval South India. For a similar, but 11th/12th century example, see the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago display unit 409, Samuel M. Nickerson Fund 1940.83., Two smal
A bronze standing Buddha, Chola Period, 12th/13th century, from Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, modelled with a flaming ushnisha on tightly curled hair, urna on his forehead, the right hand in abhayamudra (gesture of reassurance/protection), the left hand in varadamudra (gesture of giving), each palm incised with auspicious markings, wearing a close fitting sanghati with incised folds, a serene face with downcast eyes and gentle smile, standing on a round double-lotus base above a stepped rectangular plinth incised with lotus petals around the base, the reverse inscribed in Tamil, some small traces of red pigment, 21.5cm Portable bronze Buddhas such as this served to perpetuate artistic and religious connections between India and South East Asia. The Buddhist Monastic complex in Negapattinam was the largest in Medieval South India. For a similar, but 11th/12th century example, see the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago display unit 409, Samuel M. Nickerson Fund 1940.83., Two smal
Circa 500BC to 500AD Iron Age. Irish stone head. Limestone; broken at the base, lower part of mouth chipped. Height: 180mm; width: 125mm; depth: 100mm; weight: 3.52kg.The front of the stone is smooth and flat, the back is curved and roughly worked. The flattish facial composition comprises protuberant lentoid eyes with lightly defined eyelids, elongated triangular nose, and narrow open mouth, with minimally defined lips. A small hole (diameter: 4mm) is drilled into the centre of the mouth. The head is oval, with a narrow chin. In addition, the ears have been rendered as a large C-shaped raised outline at either side of the head. The stone is broken at the neck, removing the original base; it may originally have been set into another stone. It is notoriously difficult to be certain about the dating of an isolated stone head. The introduction of the carved stone head in Ireland can be traced to the Iron Age, but representations of the human head continued to be produced into the medieval period and beyond. Lorrha, Co. Tipperary is renowned for the wealth of its medieval heritage. It was a significant ecclesiastical centre, and substantial remains of a monastic complex survive there. The doorway arch in the south wall of St Ruadan`s church, dated to the late twelfth/early thirteenth century, has a carved head at its apex. The late medieval head of a woman is over the doorway of the Augustinian priory. The east wall of the nineteenth-century church incorporates two carved stone heads, believed to have come from the Dominican friary adjacent to it. It might appear at first glance that a stone head associated with a place of such rich ecclesiastical history as Lorrha must date from the medieval period. However, this stone head differs stylistically from the medieval examples at Lorrha, and there are reasonable grounds for regarding it as a prehistoric object.The Iron Age (`Celtic`) carved stone head is characterised by simplicity of form. The simplified representation of the features of the prehistoric stone head contrasts with the more realistic style that was introduced with the Romanesque building tradition. In the words of Barry Raftery, an authority on the Iron Age in Ireland, `the realistic portrayal of the human form was of no great concern to Celtic craftsmen`. This stone head, despite the open mouth, possesses a spare, primitive quality, the lack of embellishment contrasting with the more naturalistic examples from the medieval period. Any suggestion of elaboration, such as an in relation to the hairline, is absent. A number of stone heads provide parallels for this example. A stone head in Wakefield Museum, Yorkshire, dated 600 BC-AD 43, has a similar `long face` style with lentoid eyes, elongated nose and open mouth. A stone head found at Holt, Wrexham in December 2013 can be placed in this group, although there is reluctance in ascribing an Iron Age date as it did not come from a securely dated context (Portable Antiquities Scheme website). An example in the National Museum of Ireland, from Trabolgan, Co. Cork, also has similarities with this stone. It was found in a ringfort, and although it was originally interpreted as an Iron Age find, an early medieval date is a possibility. Another carved stone that provides further comparisons is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The item, listed as `Head of a man wearing a cap or helmet` is a limestone head dated to the second to third centuries. One aspect of the head that is of particular interest is the small hole drilled in the centre of the mouth. This type of hole is present on a number of Iron Age stone heads. Etienne Rynne, writing on the corpus of Celtic stone heads in Ireland in 1972 noted that `the hole in the mouth feature seems to be characteristic of some Celtic stone heads`. Two heads from Armaghbrague, near Newtownhamilton, Co. Armagh each have a circular hole to the side of the mouth; there is a small hole in the mouth of the front face of the famous stone head from Corleck, Co. Cavan; a stone head from Allerton, Bradford, illustrated in Sydney Jackson`s book Celtic and other Stone Heads (1973) has a `cigarette hole` in the centre of the mouth; a stone head from Hendry Head, Anglesey, has a hole at the side of the mouth; and the well-known Celtic head from Mšecké ehrovice, Bohemia, Czech Republic, features a hole drilled into the mouth. The purpose of the hole is a matter of speculation, but it has been suggested that it could be connected to the pouring of a liquid offering or libation into the mouth of the deity represented by the carved stone head during ceremonies.The understated economy of the work suggests that this could well be a stone head dating from the Iron Age, although it must be recognised that such carved heads could be of more recent origin. It is a possibility that the stone head may provide a clue to the existence of a pagan religious centre at Lorrha before the early medieval ecclesiastical enclosure was established there.Ken Wiggins BA MPhil MIAI MIfA In the ownership of a family at Lorrha, Co. Tipperary for c. 100 years. 9 x 5 x 4in. (22.86 x 12.70 x 10
A gilt metal mounted mottled brown agate circular patch box, a seal formed as an Art Nouveau lady, a desk seal formed as a bust of a youth wearing a hat, a gilt metal mounted oval Wedgwood jasperware plaque, designed as the figure of a child with a dog, a rectangular brass devotional plaque depicting religious figures, and another plaque.
A collection of 19th / 20th Century metalwork, to include a large French 9-litre copper kettle with repoussé crest, sold together with an oval brass repoussé fire insurance plaque `Union No1`, a copper plaque with religious scene, a bronze pestle and mortar, an Indian extensively engraved brass vase, with inscription to inner rim, a Chinese white metal fighting junk, and an Art Deco oval platter, heavily cast with Diana the Huntress, a solid brass weather vane top representing barrel makers and an American Dry Powder Gin by Leggett`s, patented in New York. (Qty)
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