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Lot 12
A Scale Model Of The RFA Landing Ship 'Sir Galahad', English, late 20th century,the grey, black and red painted hull, the deck with two helipads, raised bridge and living quarters, with various anti-aircraft armaments and communication aerials, three lifeboats on davits, with two landing platforms mounted to the side, in glazed modern case, the model 57in (145cm) longthe case 23in x 64in x 16in (58.5cm x 162.5cm x 40.5cm) overallFootnotes:RFA Sir Galahad (L3005) was a Round Table-class landing ship logistics vessel belonging to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary of the United Kingdom. The ship saw service in the Falklands War of 1982, where she was bombed and set afire at Fitzroy on 8 June.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: WW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 7
A Large Shipbuilder's Scale Model of the Tanker Halcyon the Great, Swedish, Circa 1970,the 1:50 shipbuilder's scale model with two maker's plaques detailing that this model was delivered to Court Line, London, and built by A.B. Sverre, the maroon and blue-painted hull with deck details including raised bridge and living quarters, single funnel, two lifeboats on davits, and helipad, in glazed case on wood and metal stand, the model 87 3/8in (222cm) overall; the case with stand 54in x 92in x 50in (137cm x 234cm x 127cm) overallThis lot is subject to the following lot symbols: WW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 10
A Fine Scale Model Of The White Star Liner S.S. 'Titanic', English, Modern,the maroon and black painted hull with three bronze screws, the decking with fine details including winches, cranes, sixteen lifeboats on davits, four raked funnels, deck benches, ventilators, skylights, flying bridge, anchors, in glazed mahogany case on stand, with plaque, the model 73in (183cm) long the case 60in x 80in x 18in (153cm x 203cm x 46cm) overall on standThis lot is subject to the following lot symbols: WW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 9
A Scale Model Of The Seismic Research Vessel 'Atlantic Horizon', English, late 20th century,the lilac and navy blue painted hull with cream painted structure, the deck with helipad, twin funnels, raised bridge, lifeboats on davits, radio and radar antennae and winches, in Perspex case on oak base, the model 48in (122cm) long the case 19 1/2in x 56in x 17in (50cm x 142cm x 43cm) overallThis lot is subject to the following lot symbols: WW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 53
A silver universal equinoctial ring dial, German, circa 1700,with double 1-XII hour scale, bridge gnomon with calendar and zodiac scales, suspension loop sliding over 0-90 degree latitude scale, three ring faces with various European towns and latitudes, in circular fish skin case with silver stud decoration and red velvet lining, the dial 3in x 2 4/5in x 3/10in (7 4/5cm x 7 1/5cm x 3/4cm), case 3in x 3in x 1/2in (8cm x 8cm x 1cm) Footnotes:ProvenanceTrevor Philip & Sons Ltd., Brighton, 1985Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 58
A rare gilt brass combined altitude disc sundial and perpetual calendar, German, mid-17th century,constructed from five plates two of which are rotated by small projections on the periphery, sundial with hinged gnomon moving over calendar scale and with 4-12-1-8 hour scale, apertures showing days of the week and classical deities, the reverse with perpetual calendar and lunar volvelle, outer ring with 1-31 scale, apertures for zodiac signs, day and night length and months, mounted with long suspension fork and swivelling ring, 3 1/2in x 2in x 1/2in (9cm x 5cm x 1 1/2cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Private European collection.Trevor Philip & Sons Ltd., London, February 2003.Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 60
A Rare Charles Whitwell Gilt Brass Astronomical Compendium, English, dated 1608,signed C Whitwell, the circular compendium with suspension loop, upper outer face: nocturnal with calendar scale, rotating hour scale XII -XII -XII, central volvelle with pointer in line with slot cut between two holes for sighting the Pole Star to Ursa Minor, inner lid with perpetual calendar and the date 1608, the hinge mounted with a self erecting equatorial dial with hour ring calibrated XII-XII-XII and with maker's signature, shaped gnomon pivoted at the centre, printed and hand coloured paper compass rose, glass cover and compass needle missing, outer lower face with lunar calendar, volvelle calibrated in days and cut-out showing moon phase, 4/5in x 3 1/3 in x 2 1/2in (2cm x 8 1/2cm x 6 1/2cm) when closed Footnotes:Provenance:Mellors & Kirk Auctioneers, Nottingham, 27 February 2009, Lot 1168.Private collection.Charles Whitwell was apprenticed to Augustine Ryther in the Grocers' Company in 1582 and freed in 1590. At the time this instrument was made he had a workshop next to St Clement Danes Church in the Strand, London until his death in 1590. He was a maker of astronomical and surveying instruments, sundial and compendia as well as engraving maps and book plates.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 40
An attractive carved fruitwood horodictical quadrant, possibly French or Swiss, dated 1725,engraved FAIT LE 19 AVRIL MDCCXXV P I MAYNADIE, with integral sights supported on the shoulders of a winged angel and with curved hour lines below and calendar scale, the reverse with a lunar volvelle showing moon phase and with 1-30 dates around the outside, decorated in relief with an inebriated figure of man straddling a barrel with a dog alongside, lettered BACUS 3 4/5in x 3 1/2in x 1/3in (9 2/3cm x 8 4/5cm x 4/5cm) Footnotes:ProvenanceTrevor Philip & Sons Ltd, London, 2003Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 23
A Rare Medieval Brass Astrolabe, Probably Italian, Late 13th/Early 14th Century, CCA 4556. Rete The fully symmetrical strapwork is arranged around a central trefoil placed between the arcs representing the tropics and a mitre within the ecliptic. The positions of thirty-one named stars are indicated by slender curved pointers arising from squat bases which carry a number indicating the magnitude of the star except in the cases of Menkar, Rigel, Alphard, and Cor Leonis where the base is pierced by two small holes thus causing the magnitude number to be placed after the name. Most, but not all, of the star names are enclosed within a pair of dots. A segment of the Capricorn arc has broken away thus removing the pointer and magnitude for Deneb. Several of the stars marked employ contracted forms indicated by a symbol that has not been reproduced in the following list: Stars outside the ecliptic VENT CETI - 3 - Venter ceti - γ Ceti DENEB - lost Deneb kaitoz - β Ceti MENCAR - 2 - Menkar - α Ceti RIGEL - 1 - Rigil - β Orionis ALHABOR - 1 - Alhabor - α Canis Maior ALFARID - 1 - Alphard - α Hya CORV - 2 - Corvus - γ Cru ALCHIM - 1 - Alchimec -α Virgo COR SCOR - 1 - Cor scorpionis - α Scorpionis COR TAV - 1 - Cor Tauri - α Tauri HVMER - 2 - Humerus - α Orionis ALCOMEISA - 1 - Algomeisa - α Canis minoris COR LEO - 1 - Leo - α Leonis Stars inside the ecliptic ALTAIR - 2 - Altair - α Aquilonis DELF - 3 - Delphinus - γ Delphinis CAPUT S - 2 - Caput serpentari - α Ophiucus WEGA - Vega - α Lyræ ARAM - 1 - Aramec - α Bootes CORO -Corona - α Corona Borealis CAP D - 3 - Caput draconis - γ Draconis CAUDA LEO - Cauda leonis - β Leo BE[ ]C - 1 - Benenæ - η Ursa majoris SELLA - 2 - Stella - μ Ursa majoris VRSA - 2 - Ursa - α Ursa majoris MIRAT - 2 - Mirach - β Andromedæ ALGE - 2 - Algemb - α Persei EQ - 1 - Equus - α Andromedæ EMFALFA - 2 - Emif Alkferaz - ε Pegasi BARAZ - 2 - Bed Alferaz - β Peg GALLINA - 1 - Gallina - α Cygni IRC - 1 - Hircus - α Aurigæ The ecliptic ring carries abbreviated names for the signs each divided to two degrees and numbered by groups of six. There is a rectangular Capricorn pointer with a central index line. Limb Separately cast and attached to the backplate by seventeen rivets (some loose), the limb is engraved with a degree scale in four quadrants arranged 0-90-0-90-0, reading to 1° by numbered groups of six. That the metal composition is somewhat different from that of the rest of the instrument, that the division is by sixes rather than by fives as on the back, and that the lettering is not identical, lead to the possibility that the ring is a slightly later renewal. Mater This is plain apart from inscribed circles for the tropic of Cancer and the Equator. Burin pecks resulting from the division of the limb after it had been attached to the back are visible. Throne A low, simple, construction composed of five roundels: two larger supported by two smaller ones symmetrically disposed around a higher one that carries the shackle for the suspension ring (probably a replacement). Three of the roundels are open, the fourth metal-filled. That all four originally carried a decorative motif is possible. Back The circumference is engraved with a degree scale in four quadrants arranged 90-0-90-0-90, that is the opposite of the arrangement on the front, the somewhat uneven divisions numbered by groups of five. Within this is a zodiacal scale, the signs divided to degrees by numbered groups of five and within this an eccentrically drawn calendar, the named months divided to single days (February 28; 0°Aries approximately 13½ March); the lower half contains a double shadow square of twelve numbered every two division; the centre is engraved with four concentric circles, the outer with an ill-defined division probably into twelve, the next two into twenty-eight while that at the centre is blank. These were probably intended to carry calendrical data such as the solar cycle, and the dominical letters. Plates There are five plates that are marked both for latitude and for the climates, the value for the latter being marked both on the fixing lug at the top of the plate and at the centre. Only two of the plates however retain their whole lug, the others offering only a residual excrescence. The plates are drawn for Clima 1 latitude 15 scraped down and re-engraved for 43 g[radus] 45 m[inutae], appropriate for Florence or Pisa/Clima 2 latitude 24 Clima 3 latitude 30/Clima 4 latitude 36 Clima 5 latitude 39/Clima 5 latitude 41 Clima 6 latitude 43/Clima 6 latitude 45 Clima 7 latitude 47/Clima 7 latitude 48 The latter side of this plate has been scraped down so that now only some of the numbers for the unequal hour lines are visible and virtually none of the lines for either these or for the projection. All the plates carry the usual almucantars and azimuth lines except those for climates 2, 3 and 4 which have no azimuth lines. Neither set of lines is numbered. The almucantars are drawn for every five degrees though somewhat unevenly. Numbered unequal hour arcs are drawn beneath the horizon. Rule The single arm rule is too long for the instrument, it is stamped with more recent numeral forms than those found on the instrument, and is a replacement. Alidade, ring and pin. The plain, counter-changed alidade is, like the ring, probably a replacement though not a modern one. The pin however is likely to be original. 12 2/3in x 10 1/4in x 1/2in (32cm x 26cm x 1 1/5cm) For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 54
A small gilt brass universal equinoctial ring dial, Continental, circa 1700,with double 1-12, 1-12 hour scales, outer ring with engraved latitude scale 0-90 degrees, gnomon bridge with month scale, in double hinged fish skin case with red velvet lining and silver studded outer edge decoration, the dial 2 4/5in x 2in x 1/10in (7cm x 5 1/5cm x 1/4cm), case 2 1/2in x 2 1/2in x 1/2in (6 1/5cm x 6 1/5cm x 1 2/5cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Stuart Talbot, London, 2002.Private collection.FootnoteThe double case was made to house two instruments, the missing instrument could well have been a perpetual calendar.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 47
The Important Regiomontanus/Cardinal Bessarion Astrolabe, dated 1462, CCA 640, A brass European astrolabe inscribed on the back plate 'SVB DIVI BESSARIONIS DE CARDINE DICTI/PRAESIDIO ROMAE SVRGO IOANNIS OPVS 1462' (Under the protection of the divine Bessarion on whom all can be said to depend I arise [appear/come forth] in Rome the work of John 1462). Rete The restrained tracery, composed of flat curves symmetrically disposed around a semi-quatrefoil placed beneath the ecliptic circle, carries lightly curved pointers arising from open ring bases for thirty named stars. The Capricorn ring ends in two leaf-forms worked in relief; there is no Capricorn pointer. The stars marked are: Stars outside the ecliptic CAVDA CETI - Cauda ceti - β Ceti VENT CETI - Venter ceti - ζ Ceti NAR CETI - Naris ceti - α Ceti OCVL TAV - Oculus tauri - α Tauri PES DEX OR - Pes dexter Orionis - β Orionis CAN MA - Canis major - α Canis Maioris CAN MI - Canis minor - α Canis Minor YDRA - Hydra - α Hydræ COR LE - Cor leonis - α Leonis VAS - Vas aquarium - α Crateris SPICA - Spica virginis - α Virginis CORVVS - Corvus - γ Corvi Stars inside the ecliptic CAV VR - Cauda ursæ - η Ursæ Majoris CAV LE - Cauda leonis - β Leonis HIR AG - Hircus aurigæ - α Aurigæ CA DR - Caput draconis - γ Draconis VVL CA - Vultur cadens - α Lyræ GAL - Gallina - α Cygni MV EQ - Musita equi - ε Pegasi CAP GOR - Caput Gorgoni - β Persei HV EQ - Humerus equi - α Pegasi CRVS PEG - Crus pegasi - β Pegasi MAN SER - Manus serpentarii - δ Ophiuchi HER - Hercules - α Hercules CAP SER - Caput serpentarii - α Ophiuchi VVL VOL - Vultur volans - α Aquiliæ DELPH - Cauda delphini - ε Delplini BOET - Boetes - α Boetes CORONA - Corona - α Corona borealis VM AND - Umbilicus Andromdæ - β Andromedæ Limb Since a recess was required on each face of the instrument, the limb is constructed of two parts each integral with the throne, rivetted to the mater, and held tightly together either by rivets, perhaps by solder. On the face, the limb carries only a degree scale, divided to single degrees by groups of five, and numbered every ten. At an indeterminable later date, perhaps during the 16th century, the outer edge was engraved with numbers for the hours. The mater is provided by a single flat-filed plate probably from a hammered sheet derived from a cast slab. It is blank on both faces although traces of some casting fissures can be seen. Throne This is composed of a triangle formed from three roundels each decorated on the face with five concave circles set around a central boss to give a petal of almost clover-like appearance. On the back the two lower roundels carry six-pointed stars while the upper roundel has petal decoration similar to that on the front. The triangle is supported by scrolled-over leaf-heads, similar to those that terminate the Capricorn circle. A shackle with a cross-shaped head straddles the upper roundel and carries a swivel ring. Back On the edge, the limb is engraved with a degree scale in four quadrants 90-0-90-0-90° to allow readings to be taken in both altitude and zenith distance. Each quadrant is divided to 1° and numbered by groups of 10°. The reading direction for the numerals, i.e. from the outer edge towards the centre or from the centre towards the edge, is reversed in each quadrant. Within this is a zodiacal calendar (0° Aries = 10.75 March), the months divided into individual days with the idiosyncrasy that the first two letters of the name of each sign and each month are placed at the end of their division rather than at the beginning thus, for the signs, replacing 30, and for the months replacing 28, 30, or 31. For February however the final 3-day space was too small leading 'FE' to be engraved in the previous 5-day space. A final scale at the centre, concentric with all the others, is in fact two. The upper semi-circle is divided to degrees 0-90-0; the lower semi-circle is divided 0-12-0 by single divisions numbered every two, and thus serves as a shadow square for height and distance operations. Inset in the cavity produced by the limb being proud of the mater, and free to rotate, is a disc engraved across its centre with an orthographic projection known as an organum Ptolemei (a device for reckoning time in equal hours from the solar altitude), sustained by a clothed winged figure (? an archangel), with the inscription explaining the origin of the instrument below. Plates The three plates are drawn for 39°/54° 42°/51° 45°/48° with that for 42° being specifically marked for the latitude of Rome. That they are engraved in a running series of 3° divisions on the separate plates rather than recto/verso (ie 39°/42°) is relatively unusual. Each plate has an upper, unperforated, locating lug, is engraved with the usual almucantars (circles of equal altitudes above the horizon) and azimuths at 5° intervals, the tropics, the crepuscular line, and lines for the unequal hours numbered 1-12 beneath. The 48° plate is additionally engraved with lines for the astrological houses of the heavens. Rule The double-arm rule is engraved with a declination scale allowing the angular distance of a celestial object from the celestial equator to be determined. Alidade horse and pin None of these are likely to be original to the instrument. The plain cast alidade has lost the vanes once hinged to its extremities and has been cut down to coincide with the edge of the instrument, thus losing it points. The chemical composition of its brass however, as that of the pin, is similar to that of the rete. Turner (p. 2) in 1989, already noted that the wedge (horse) had been lost and been fitted with a replacement. ICC N° 640. Sold with this lot is a copy of the publication by David A King: Astrolabes and Angels, Epigrams and Enigmas: From Regiomontanus' Acrostic for Cardinal Bessarion to Piero della Francesca's Flagellation of Christ, 2007 5 1/3in x 4 1/2in x 1 1/2in (135mm x 115mm x 40mm) For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 49
An unusual heart-shaped brass vertical altitude dial, early 17th century,engraved for latitude 52, the obverse engraved for the summer months showing hours 4-12-7 with dotted half hour lines, the reverse engraved with the winter months and hours 8-12-5 and an altitude scale 0-60 degrees, 1/2in x 2 1/5in x 1/20in (6 2/5cm x 5 3/5cm x 1/5cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Trevor Philip & Sons, Ltd., London, 2007.Private collection.The dial was probably designed to be worn as a pendant as there is a small heart-shaped bridge to which a cord or chain could be attached. two small holes are drilled for insertion of a pin gnomon (now missing). The engraved characters are similar to the work of James Kynvyn,For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 4
A Cary Presentation Brass Box Sextant, English, circa 1860,signed Cary, London, Brass body with sliding shutter sight and dark lens, wheeled rack drive to index arm reading from 0 to 150 degrees on the silvered scale, with magnifying lens to vernier, with separate telescope, the lid engraved Royal Military College. Presented to Gentleman Cadet William S. Cooke for Attention to and Progress in Military Surveying, June, 1860, in baize lined mahogany case with maker's label reading Cary Optician 181 Strand, London and instruction pamphlet, sextant 3in (7 1/2cm) diametercase 4 3/4in x 2 1/2in x 4in (12cm x 5cm x 10cm) Footnotes:Provenance:According to the 3rd July 1860 edition of The London Gazette, Gentleman Cadet William Smith Cooke from the Royal Military College was appointed to the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards in the Summer of that year. This Cary box sextant would likely have been a presentation gift to commemorate this occasion.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 13
A small John Checkley brass Gunter quadrant, English, dated 1691,signed John Checkley Fecit, also engraved Thomas Burton 1691 Living in Everdon for whom this quadrant was made, Gunter quadrant with 0-90 degree scale, above this a calendar showing day of the in four quadrant, to the right a table of days with columns of Panetary Hour symbols, the reverse with calendar square for the years 1692-1740, 3 1/2in (8 4/5cm) radius Footnotes:Provenance:Charles Miller Ltd., London, 26 October 2011, Lot 155.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 38
A Gottfried Reiff painted wood pillar dial, Nuremburg, mid-18th century,signed in manuscript Gottfried Reiff fec Nurib., turned wood pillar with removeable top for storing the hinged brass gnomon, painted with a rural landscape with a seated couple in 18th century dress, hour lines from V - XII and 1-7, lower edge with calendar scale and zodiac signs, 5in x 1 1/2in 1 1/2in (12 3/5cm x 4cm x 4cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Harriet Wynter Ltd., 1995.Private collectionFor further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 8
A Rare Henry Sutton Horary Quadrant, English, circa 1755,printed Latitude 51 32 Henricus Sutton Londini 1658 New Stile, the wooden quadrant applied with printed paper scales to both faces, the reverse printed with perpetual almanac and table of epacts for the years 1657-1723, and inscription This Instrument or any of the Mathematiques are made in Brass or Wood by Henry Sutton Instrument maker behind the Royal Exchange, the wooden quadrant stained red around the edges and lacking sights and plumb-bob, 10 1/2in (27cm) radius Footnotes:'New Stile' inscriptions indicates that the printing plate has been corrected for the Gregorian calendar, and so this instrument is a reissue printed after 1752 using Sutton's original plate, with modified calendar scale.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 11
A Nathanaell Heighemore brass Gunter's quadrant, English, dated 1633,signed Nathanaell Heighemore A.D. 1633, the quadrant mounted with pin-hole sights, degree scales 0-90 and 90-0, shadow square with 0-10-0 scale, table of twelve stars and decorated with stag hunt with hounds and seven sailing ships on an ocean, 4 1/2in (11 1/2cm) radius Footnotes:Provenance:Bonhams, London, 18 November 2008, Lot 126.Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 50
A brass altitude ring dial, probably German, late 16th century,the circular ring with sliding gnomon band, suspension loop and stepped hour scale, outer surface with calendar scale in Roman characters, 1 4/5in x 1 1/2in x 2/5in (4 2/5cm x 4cm x 1cm) Footnotes:ProvenanceTrevor Philip & Sons Ltd., London, 2007Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 26
A fine silver and gilt brass nocturnal, German, late 17th century,possibly by Johann Wolfgang Hager (1645-1705), the nocturnal side shows hours 4-12-8 divided in quarters with a small finger knob at each hour, date aperture at 10 day intervals and with 5 day subdivisions, the reverse with complex volvelle with fixed outer 12 division outer scale, zodiac sign and time of sun rise and set, length of day and seasons, inner silver scale divided 1-31 with pointer that moves 10 days to set either Julian or Gregorian styles, pierced handle and finely decorated overall 4 1/5in x 2in (10 1/2cm x 5cm) Footnotes:ProvenanceRobert Seligman Collection, ParisChristies London 15th April 1999, lot 56Private collectionFor further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 48
A rare silvered and gilt brass Regiomontanus sundial and perpetual calendar, probably German, circa 1700,the silvered brass plate mounted with pinhole sights and three section gilt brachialis supporting plumb line and bead, upper and lower 12-12 hour scales, calendar scale, shadow square and altitude quadrant, the reverse with perpetual calendar and two gilt brass volvelles with scrolling foliate decoration, 4in x 2 2/3in x 1/10in (10 1/2cm x 6 4/5cm x 1/4cm) Footnotes:Provenance:The Time Museum, Inventory no. 1544.UTO Auctionem, 13th November 1873, ZurichSotheby's Olympia, London, 30th October 2002.Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 6
A Macquart octagonal silver inclining dial, French, early 18th century,signed Macquart A Paris, the octagonal dial with inclining dial plate and folding ornately decorated gnomon, folding latitude arc, inset compass bowl with engraved pose, cardinal points and degree scale, list of twenty four towns and latitudes including some unusual ones such as Kebec, Cap Vert and Siam 2/5in x 2 2/5in x 2 3/4in (1cm x 6cm x 7cm) when closed Footnotes:Provenance:Trevor Philip & Sons Ltd., London.Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 52
A Fine Richard Glynne Silver and Gilt Brass Compass Dial, English, Circa 1710,signed R Glynne Fecit, the compass rose with thirty two compass points, 360 degree scale and centered by a finely engraved roundel of a dragons head and scrolling decoration, the folding silver gilt gnomon pierced and engraved with a demi-swan holding an arrow, the circumference engraved with an hour scale with Roman numerals reading to 5 minutes, the silver and red leather covered lid engraved on the inner surface with an Equation of Time, calendar scale, perpetual calendar and IIII-XII-VIII hour scale and locations Peking, Surrat, Caro, Rome, Paris, Dublin, Tenarif, Barbadoes, N.York, Mexico, 4/5in x 4in 4in (2cm x 10cm x 10cm) when closed Footnotes:Provenance:Bonhams, London, 21 April 2010, Lot 138.Private collection.Richard Glynne (1681-1755) was apprenticed to the well-known instrument-maker Henry Wynne in the Clockmakers' Company on 6 April 1696 and became free 29 September 1705. He would be Steward of the Company in 1725. He established himself 'next door to the Latin Coffee House in Ave Maria Lane, near St Paul's London' where the same year he was puffed as 'a very skilful and Accurate Mathematical Instrument-Maker' for 'Azimuth Compasses...as also other things' in the first English edition of Guillet's, The Gentleman's Dictionary... (London 1705). In 1705 also, he married Anne Lea, daughter of the map and globe retailers Philip (d. 1700) and Anne Lea (d. 1730) joining in partnership with the latter from at latest 1712. In December that year they issued proposals for the production of 36-inch diameter globes.By this time, Glynne was working from his partner's address at the Atlas and Hercules in Cheapside where he remained until c. 1718 when he is found opposite Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. In 1725 with Anne Lea he reissued Philip Lea's map of London, Westminster and Southwark but his main activity was 'all sorts of Mathematical Instruments either for Land or Sea, according to the newest improvements' as he stated in an advertisement in 1726. A range of mathematical instruments by him – sectors, drawing instruments, sun-dials, armillary spheres and armillary planetaria - are known by him, all of clean, uncluttered, appearance but finely and precisely engraved as in the major example of his work here offered.The influence of his master, Henry Wynne, can perhaps be seen on this dial in the inclusion of the series of places throughout the world, Wynne being perhaps the earliest London maker to deploy this refinement. Glynne, who formed five apprentices during his working career, ceased trading in 1730 when his stock was auctioned from the optician Edward I Scarlett's shop. He died in 1755.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 10
A large Thomas Blunt brass universal equinoctial ring dial, English, circa 1770,signed T Blunt London, made for use in both hemispheres, hours dived to 2 minutes, latitudes from N - 90 - 0 - 90 - S, bridge divided to one day intervals and Zodiac signs to one degree intervals, the reverse of the dial with a quadrant 0-90 and 90-0 degrees divided to 1/2 degree intervals, large suspension ring and mount sliding over latitude scale with vernier, 12in x 10in x 2/5in (30 1/5cm x 25cm x 1cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Hansord, Lincoln, 2014.Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 55
A brass universal equinoctial ring dial, English, mid-18th century,pip-hole gnomon sliding over calendar scale, chapter ring with Roman numerals, engraved overall with various towns and their latitudes, 3 3/4in x 3 1/2in x 1/10in (9 1/2cm x 9cm x 1/3cm) Footnotes:ProvenancePrivate collectionFor further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 29
A Jean Nourry silver and gilt brass miniature octagonal sundial, French, dated 1674,signed Nourry A Lion, 1674, the octagonal dial with engraved III - XII - VIII hour scale, finely fretted gilt gnomon for 46 degrees, gilt compass well finely engraved with cardinal points and fleur-de-lys indicating north, in original silver case, the sundial 1/3in x 1 3/4in x 1 1/3in (4/5cm x 4 1/2cm x 3 1/2cm), the case 2/5in x 1 4/5in x 1 1/2in (1cm x 4 1/2cm x 3 2/3cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Trevor Philip & Sons, London, 2001.Private collection.Jean Nourry c.1637-84 worked in Lyon and is known exclusively for the making of sundials.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 62
A folding wooden quadrant, English, dated 1694,stamped with the initials NH and dated 1694, a quadrant constructed from two hinged semicircles, marked with latitude 52 degrees 15 minutes (Cambridge), the quadrant in inscribed within a heart-shaped border and a Gunter quadrant with hour lines only, perpetual calendar table and standard degree scale, open size 6in x 6in x 1/3in (15 1/2cm x 15 1/2cm x 1cm) Footnotes:ProvenanceHarriet Wynter Ltd, October 1996.Private CollectionFor further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 17
A gilt brass and silver portable sundial, probably German, mid-18th century,the circular dial with inset silvered compass rose, hinged gnomon mount with sliding silver gnomon adjustable 40-50 degrees, Roman numerals hour scale, on three levelling screws, 1 2/3in x 2 1/3in x 2 1/3in (4 1/3cm x 6cm x 6cm) Footnotes:ProvenanceNewsum Antiques, July 2002Private collectionFor further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 28
An miniature silver pocket sundial in pair case, probably English, late 17th century,the oval dial, lacking gnomon, with inset compass and hour scale with Roman numerals, the reverse with compass bowl with engraved flower and foliate decoration, hinged to store in silver case, 1/4in x 1 1/2in x 1in (3/5cm x 3 3/4cm x 2 4/5cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Sotheby's London, 30 September 1997, Lot 30.Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 9
A rare Ralph Gout gilt brass horse-rider's pedometer watch, English, circa 1800,inscribed Bo the Kings letters, Ralph Gout, London, No.221, the watch with finely engraved gilt full plate verge, pierced and engraved balance cock, diamond end stone, silver regulation, with signed dust cap, white enamel dial, signed Ralph Gout London, with 0-100 outer scale and with watch face and two subsidiary dials, 0-10 and 0-100, shaped gilt brass outer case with ornate geometric and leaf scroll decoration, the reverse with hook for saddle mounting, 8 2/3in x 3 1/2in x 1 1/5in (22cm x 9cm x 3cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Trevor Philip & Sons Ltd., London, 1990.Private collection.The watch and clock maker Ralph Gout was working at 6 Norman Street from 1770 to 1800 and at 122 Birchin Lane in 1815. In 1796 he patented a simple pedometer and later a device for measuring the revolution of a carriage wheel.The pedometer was patented by Gout in 1799, patent no. 2351, and the watch movement, verge escapement and chain fusée, was considered robust enough to tolerate considerable jolting. The watch moves up and down with each pace of the horse which causes the pendant, attached to a leather cord or metal rod, to be pulled in and out of the movement, thus activating the pedometer mechanism.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 27
A James Simons silvered brass portable sundial and perpetual calendar, English, circa 1780,signed J Simons London, circular sundial with hour scale in Roman numerals, engraved compass rose with cardinal points, hinged gnomon for approximately 52 degrees, the reverse engraved with cities and their latitudes for London, Constantinople, Rome, Bombay, Dublin, Madrid, Vienna and Petersburgh, the lid engraved with perpetual calendar The Universal Timetable S Kingdon inv., the dial 1 1/2in x 2 1/2in x 2 1/2in (4cm x 6 1/5cm x 6 1/5cm) when open, 1/2in x 2 1/2in x 2 1/2in (1cm x 6 1/5cm x 6 1/5cm) when closed Footnotes:Provenance:Trevor Philip & Sons Ltd., London, 1992.Private collection.James Simons was an optician and mathematical instrument makers with premises' at the sign of Si Isaac newton's Head opposite Glasshouse St., London.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 20
A large bronze horizontal sundial, English, dated 1787,signed MADE BY Lord Colvill, the well engraved octagonal dial bearing the arms of George Lord Kinnaird, hour scale with Roman numerals and minute scale reading to 10 minutes, compass rose with surrounding calendar scale and slower/faster scale, the decorative gnomon with acanthus leaf casting, 7in x 13in x 13in (18cm x 33cm x 33cm) Footnotes:George Kinnaird, 7th Lord Kinnaird (1754-1805). His important collection was based upon purchases from the Orleans Collection dispersed in 1792 after the French Revolution. The collection was displayed at Rossie Priory and was sold in 1948.Made by Robert, Lord Colvill of Ochiltree. Interestingly, his claim to the lordship was disproved in 1788 - one year after he made this dial.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 42
A J. Stammer gilt brass universal equinoctial ring dial, German, circa 1700,signed J STAMMER SACROW, outer ring gilt brass and inner ring with traces of silvering, bridge with gnomon sliding over zodiacal sign scale, engraved overall with various towns and their latitudes, 3 2/3in x 3in x 1/50in (9 1/3cm x 8cm x 1/2cm) Footnotes:Provenance:Tesseract, New York, 1992Private collection.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 1
A rare Jesse Ramsden-type Dividing Engine, English, dated 1830,signed Made by William Rothwell Bacup Lancashire Anno 1830, the 24-inch diameter brass dividing wheel with double 360 degree scale, rotating mandrel, two hand operated cutting tools, on oak table supported by black painted wooden trestle stand, 40in x 27in x 40in (102cm x 69cm x 102cm) Footnotes:Dividing engines mechanised the process of dividing scales for small instruments such as octants and sextants in the late 18th and throughout the 19th centuries. The instrument was fixed to the top of the engine, and angular divisions were marked on it using the engine's precision screw and a ratchet. Jesse Ramsden constructed the first such engine in London in 1767, later reluctantly sharing its design with other makers at the request of the government's Board of Longitude.LiteratureFor similar dividing engine by John Troughton see Anthony Turner, Early Scientific Instruments, Sotheby's Publication 1987 p. 217.THIS LOT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO VIEW AT THE BONHAMS OXFORD WAREHOUSE BY APPOINTMENTThis lot is subject to the following lot symbols: WW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 2
A gilt brass vertical plate dial, French, circa 1700,not signed, the plate of the instrument is composed of two triangles, the lower being apparently twice as large as the upper. The sides are delicately cut to follow the contours of the flower and leaf decoration engraved along their edges. At the centre of the plate is an hour scale VI-XII-VI divided to thirty minutes from which curved hour lines arise traversing a grid of vertical lines corresponding with the month scale engraved on the back of the instrument. Each month is divided to ten day. Between the two triangles is a horizontal groove in which a cursor slides carrying a hinged mount for the gnomon and for a plumb line. The upper centre of the rectangle carrying the suspension ring above the groove is engraved with a heart carrying a cross encircled by the crown of thorns, 6 2/5in x 4 1/2in (16 1/2cm x 11 1/5cm) Footnotes:This symmetrical dial is a drawn-out version of a cylinder dial in facing halves on a flat surface. The effecting of this was described by Nicolas Bion in his Traité de la construction et des principaux usages des instrumens de mathématique ... (1st edition Paris, 1709; English translation by Edmund Stone, 1723 from which we quote here), who after describing the basic grid used to draw a cylinder dial says that it ' ... may serve likewise as a Dial, without being wrapped around a Cylinder, ... if the Style be so adjusted as to slide ... that it may be set over the Day of the Month, ... This is easily done, in making a little Slit along the Top of the Plate, and flatting the Foot of the Style, so that it may slide in the said Slit without varying its Length. Now if this Parallelogram be placed upright, and the Line level (which may be easily done by means of a Plumb-line ...), and you hold it thus in your hand, or suspend it by a Ring, so that it be directly exposed to the Sun, and the Shadow of the Style falls on the Parallel of the Sign or Month; then the Extremity of the Shadow of the said Style will fall upon the Hour.The image engraved beneath the suspension ring is a stylized version of the 'Sacred Heart of Jesus', veneration for which became particularly strong in France after the visions received by the nun Margaret Marie Alacoque (1647-90) instructing her how it should be celebrated.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 15
A Franz Antoni Knitl mechanically assisted string gnomon dial, Austrian, early 18th century,signed Franz Antoni Knitl fecit Linz, rectangular brass plate with inset silver compass and folding string gnomon, engraved with rural scene with shepherd and shepherdess with lamb on one side and fountain on the other, centred by an armorial and crown, large pointer arm moving over IIII-XII-VIII hour and minute scale, hinged plum-bob bracket, raised on four levelling screws, 4in x 10in x 7 4/5in (10 1/2cm x 25 1/2cm x 20cm) Footnotes:Provenance:The Family Lustrier, The Tyrol, Austria.Sotheby's Olympia, London, 28 May 2003, Lot 123.Private collection.Franz Antoni Knitle (1671-1744) was a teacher at the School of Engineering in Linz and specialised in making 'Minute Sundials' which could give the time to the nearest minute.For a similar dial, see catalogue no.34, Hester Higton, Sundials at Greenwich, Oxford University Press, 2002.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 14
A folding brass analemmatic sundial, English, circa 1700,attributed to Thomas Tuttell, north dial with ornately decorated and folding gnomon, hour scale IIII-VIII, central compass rose with scroll engraved decoration, the south analemmatic dial (lacking gnomon), eliptical hour scale, central slot with calendar scale, the reverse with hour scale for gnomon and with perpetual calendar engraved Perpetuall Almanacke for the years 1700-61, 2 1/2in x 7 2/3in x 4 1/2in (6 1/2cm x 19 1/2cm x 11 1/2cm) when open Footnotes:Provenance:Stuart Talbot, London, 1992.Private collection.For a similar dial signed by Thomas Tuttell, see Doretheum auction, Vienna, 8 April 2019, Lot 387.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 22
A large Thomas Wright double sided gunner's quadrant, English, circa 1730,signed Made by Tho Wright, Instrument Maker to his MAJESTY, the brass quadrant with index arm moving over 0-90 degree scale with Vernier, mounted with bubble level below plate with engraved signature, with obsolete broad arrow ordinance marks, 10in x 15in x 1in (25 1/2cm x 38cm x 2 1/2cm) Footnotes:Thomas Wright was apprenticed to John Rowley in 1707 and freed in 1715. From 1718 to 1748 he had a workshop at the 'Orrery & Globe', Fleet Street, London and he was granted a royal appointment to the Prince of Wales and George II in 1727.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 3
Registration No: MM51 ZBD Chassis No: WDB1704652F250983 MOT: September 2024Only 75,600 miles from new with just three former keepersLargest engine variant SLK with the 3.2-litre V6 engineRare and desirable six-speed manual transmissionStriking colour combination of Lazulithe Blue metallic with a two-tone Blue interiorAt the start of the 1990s, after the introduction of their two-seat grand-tourer, the R129 SL, the launch of the Mazda MX-5 encouraged Mercedes-Benz set out to create a new compact roadster, slotted below the SL. By late 1991, under Bruno Sacco, the first design sketches were drawn, with scale models being built in the first half of 1992. Massively successful in its first year, worldwide sales hit 55,000, over double the entire nine-year production of 190 SLs and between 1996 and 2004, over 311,000 SLKs were sold. The roof design consists of a folding steel hardtop with both halves linked by a mechanism that is locked securely when the roof is closed. At the touch of a button on the centre console, a hydraulic system controls the fully automatic folding process in which the boot lid is also integrated.Manufactured new in 2001 and supplied new to the United Kingdom, ‘MM51 ZBD’ was first registered on the 17th of October that year. Finished from the factory in Lazulithe Blue metallic paintwork with complementary two-tone Galaxy Blue and Merlin Blue leather interior upholstery with Eucalyptus wood dashboard, steering wheel grips and interior finishes. An example of the largest engine variant SLK (bar the AMG) with the 3.2-litre V6 engine, it is allied to the rare and desirable six-speed manual transmission, the SLK was provided with the options of an electric adjustable driver's seat, Mercedes-Benz radio with CD, interior protection package, and heated screenwash system.Offered now having covered just 74,600 miles from new and has only three former keepers. Accompanied to sale by the original book pack including the owner’s manual and the stamped service book presented in the Mercedes-Benz wallet, the service book has six stamps with further invoices in the history file for additional servicing. Also present are additional invoices and a collection of previous MOT certificates, as well as a current V5C document. Presented in a rare and striking colour scheme and with the scarce combination of the 3.2-litre V6 engine and manual transmission, this is a very appealing SLK and temptingly offered without reserve. For more information, please contact: Paul Cheetham paul.cheetham@handh.co.uk 07538 667452
Lot 58
YIANNIS MORALIS (1916-2009)Eroticon signé en grec et daté '1988' en bas au centre; signé et daté 'Yiannis MORALIS / 1991 / Athènes/ Grèce' au revershuile sur toile 166 x 115 cm. (65 3/8 x 61in.)signed in greek and daté '1988' lower centre; signed and dated 'Yiannis MORALIS / 1991 / Athènes/ Grèce' on the reverseoil on canvasFootnotes:Provenance Private collection, Athens.ExpositionsAthens, Zoumboulakis Gallery, Moralis, March 1992, no. 6 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue and on the exhibition poster).Thessaloniki, ZM Gallery, Moralis, Summer 1992 (illustrated on the exhibition poster).LittératureSima magazine, no. 7, March-April 1992, p. 26 (illustrated). Arti magazine, no. 10, June-July 1992, p. 247 (illustrated).C. Christou, Moralis, Adam editions, Athens 1993, no. 248 (illustrated).Alevevan magazine, no. 7-8, January 1993, p. 19 (illustrated).I Would Like to Give you my Heart Forever, Zita-Mi 1955-2010, Thessaloniki 2010, p. 98 (shown on the 1992 exhibition poster).M. Emmanouil, History of Art from 1945 in Five Chapters, Kapon Editions, Athens 2013, p. 51 (illustrated).Moralis seeks a geometric ideogram for love.M. Lambraki-PlakaThis fascinating work was included in the artist's 1992 solo exhibition in Athens. When the show opened it created a stir. In his review—one of the most insightful essays ever written on Moralis—Professor D.N. Maronitis noted: 'I visited the Zoumboulakis Gallery the morning after the opening, before the spots, which often seem like interrogating the paintings with their intense light, were lit. And suddenly I saw Moralis's works looking out with their clear vision, dominating with their proud solitude. His paintings take us directly to the wondrous world of pure vision, which emerged, however, from the world of touch. That's a way to somehow explain the geometry of bodies and colours that constantly abstract and are abstracted to reach their final shape and immutable tone.'¹Reviewing the show, art critic V. Karaiskou noted: 'The erotic encounter of two people, life's greatest mystery, stripped from any external element that threatens to alienate it, is depicted in a simple and, therefore, essential way. The figures are broken down to their constituent parts and then reassembled; as a result the lines take on a symbolic import and respond to each other by means of their contrasts and similarities. Any dryness or harshness that could result from such an austere, constructivist approach, is avoided due to the artist's sensitivity.'² Demonstrating solid structure, purity of form, disciplined rhythm, harmonious proportions, and ingenious interplay of gently flowing curves, Eroticon achieves a striking balance between physical passion, lyrical feeling and intellectual thought. As Nobel Laureate Odysseus Elytis once noted, 'Moralis was always driven by a longing for the monumental, bestowing even on his most sensual conceptions a feeling of mystery and a Biblical sense of the sacred. Memories and encounters are repeatedly distilled until they blend into forms of great simplicity and precision.'³ True to his classical Greek heritage and yet utilising a formal vocabulary balanced to the scale of modern sensitivity, Moralis sought the realisation of a classical ideal, the discovery of a universal measure for logos and pathos. 'Moralis uses abstraction to isolate the core of human existence, to create through his art a language of symbols. He paints the Aegean Sea, the isle of Aegina, the union of human bodies: evocative forms that echo age-old memories, freed from the burden of their physical existence.'⁴By focusing on the essential, Moralis expresses what is permanent and universal. 'In his fragmented and elliptical figures and in the wealth of his linear compositions and chromatic statements, he neither describes nor narrates but expresses and interprets the forces of creation. Above all else, his paintings are at once erotic, profoundly sentimental and poetic. In them one may trace a progress from earthly to heavenly love, from the sensual aspects of the subject to the universal and eternal, to the metaphysical and transcendental.'⁵ ¹. D.N. Maronitis, 'The Gift of Vision' [in Greek], To Vima newspaper, March15, 1992. ². V. Karaiskou, 'An Attempt to Approach Yannis Moralis's Work' [in Greek], Sima magazine, no. 7, March-April 1992, p. 20.³. O. Elytis, preface to the Moralis exhibition catalogue, Iolas-Zoumboulakis Gallery, Athens 1972. ⁴. Y. Bolis, Yannis Moralis [in Greek], Ta Nea editions, Athens 2007, p. 79.⁵. C. Christou, Moralis, Adam editions, Athens 1993, pp. 20, 33, 34.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 24
NIKOS ENGONOPOULOS (1907-1985)Poète et villageois signé en grec et daté '65' en bas à droitehuile sur toile 55 x 45cm. (21 5/8 x 17 11/16in.)Peint en 1965. signed in greek and dated '65' lower right oil on canvasFootnotes:ProvenancePrivate collection, Athens.ExpositionsAthens, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Nikos Engonopoulos retrospective exhibition, April 3-15, 1983, no. 62 (listed in the exhibition catalogue, p. 44).LittératureEleftheros Kosmos newspaper, March 29, 1981 (illustrated). K. Perpinioti-Agazir, Nikos Engonopoulos, Son Univers Pictural, exhibition catalogue and catalogue raisonée, Benaki Museum, Athens 2007, no. 689, pp. 317, 469 (illustrated).I am a Greek along with the familiar images that surround me.N. EngonopoulosCaptured in dazzling Byzantine colours, flooded with light, and bathed in a translucent atmosphere of clarity and glow, this signature Engonopoulos is imbued with a genuine and deep-felt sense of Greekness. Everything here, from the two figures¹ in tunics who convey a feeling of archaic immobility, to the bright blue sky dotted with travelling clouds, to the ancient temple perched on a rocky outcrop, and the ubiquitous coffee house table and straw chair, is conceived with a centuries-old Greek sensibility. The artist boldly declares that this archetypal environment is a stunning presence, while the sea is actually never far away, reaching into the shore like a friendly hand.As noted by art historian N. Loizidi, 'Engonopoulos gave us one version of surrealism, universal, but at the same time deeply rooted in Greekness.'² In a similar vein, S. Boulakian points out that 'the lack of vast open spaces and supernatural landscapes whose sheer size nullifies the human scale, is a typically Greek element. Engonopoulos's work emulates Greece's natural environment, a setting that both frames and accentuates human activity.'³In Poet et villageois, colour, a key element throughout Engonopoulos's artistic career, has a leading role. The glittery, enamel-like reds, yellows, blues, and greens are applied side by side on the canvas without tonal gradations, inviting the viewer to a festive ritual of purity. As noted by art critic M. Gyparaki, Engonopoulos is a dedicated coloriste, adhering to a long and rich Greek tradition that goes way back to the Homeric epics, a world full of colours that are bound with natural elements, human acts and everyday objects.⁴ ¹. The seated figure wears a ring on his index finger, essentially identifying with Engonopoulos himself who used to wear a characteristic ring on the same finger. See D. Menti, Faces and Masks [in Greek], Gutenberg editions, Athens 2007, pp. 135-136, note 34. See also Chartis review, no. 25-26, November 1988, p. 172.². N. Loizidi, Surrealism in Modern Greek Art [in Greek], Athens 1984, p. 181.³. S. Boulakian, 'The Work of Nikos Engonopoulos' in Greek Painters - 20th Century [in Greek], Melissa editions, Athens 1974, p. 261.⁴. See Nikos Engonopoulos, Drawing or Colour [in Greek], Ikaros editions, 2007, p. 126.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 65
YANNIS TSAROUCHIS (1910-1989)Zephyros - Eros signé en grec et daté '4-3-64' en bas à droiteacrylique sur papier49,5 x 31,5 cm. (19 1/2 x 12 3/8in.)Peint en 1964.signed and dated in Greek '4-3-64' lower rightacrylic on paperFootnotes:ProvenanceA. Iolas collection.Private collection, Athens.ExpositionsAthens, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, The Spirit and the Body, The Revival of the Olympic Idea 19th-20th Century, May 15, 1989 - January 15, 1990, no. 199 (discussed and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, p. 187).Athens, Benaki Museum, Yannis Tsarouchis 1910-1989, December 18, 2009 - March 14, 2010, no. 244 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, p. 192).Discussing this painting in 1989, Nelli Misirli, senior curator at the National Gallery in Athens, noted: 'In this realist portrait of a model in a staged pose, prevails the spiritual dimension that elevates it to an idealised symbol with a lyrical and sensual quality. It is, after all, the world of ideas that marks Tsarouchis's work, the great winged Eros that leads to a visionary state and transcends the specificity of the sitter.'¹ We are reminded of D. Kapetanakis who had noted as early as 1937 that 'with the wisdom of his art, Tsarouchis managed to elevate a model posing in his studio into a symbol of the Modern Greek spirit.'²In Tsarouchis's work Eros is usually shown personified as a wreathed, victorious youth and as bearer of good news. He's holding a bouquet of blossoms or a branch of fruit to suggest spring and love. The winged Zephyr is also one of the artist's beloved allegorical subjects that revives an archetypal universe of serene rhythms and evokes a classical sense for human scale. According to ancient Greek mythology, Zephyr, the personification of the westerly, the sweetest and mildest of winds, rescued the all-beautiful Psyche from the fearful serpent. He was also known as the messenger of spring and the bringer of early breezes that signaled the awakening of nature after the lassitude of winter.Here, silently immobile in his shallow space like a precious butterfly pressed under glass, the artist's signature male subject, with libellule (dragonfly) wings, conveys a lyrical tone and a mood of serenity and grace, celebrating the purely pictorial realisation of a symbol's everlasting value. Truthfulness of vision and honesty of representation build up a solid edifice of pure form, an ideal world liberated from the fleeting moment. Painted in earthy colours highlighted by solid outlines and set against a monochromatic background, the young sitter conveys a striking immediacy and resilient allure, echoing Fayum panels, Byzantine icons or Renaissance portraits. As noted by the late Director of the National Gallery in Athens M. Lambraki-Plaka, 'Tsarouchis's figures managed to survive the iconoclastic crusade of modern art, which never tired to demolish, distort or expel the human form. Tsarouchis did not give in to this negative aesthetic theory which preached the systematic rejection of the rules of Western tradition. He is one of the few painters who managed to cross the tempestuous 20th century by keeping intact the precious palladium of the human figure. His art is a modern day incarnation of Noah's Ark.'³ ¹. The Spirit and the Body, The Revival of the Olympic Idea 19th-20th Century [in Greek], exhibition catalogue, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens 1989, p. 187.². D. Kapetanakis, 'Yannis Tsarouchis, Return to Roots', Nea Grammata magazine, 1937 as reprinted in Tsarouchis [in Greek], Zygos, Athens 1978, pp. 7-8.³. M. Lambraki-Plaka, 'Yannis Tsarouchis and the Palladium of Painting' [in Greek] in Osei Myra, Yannis Tsarouchis 1910-1989, Kastaniotis editions, Athens 1998, p. 452.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 121
SEVEN ASSORTED 1/43 SCALE DIECAST & OTHER MODEL FORMULA 1 RACING CARS by Sun Star (2), Spark (2), and others, variable condition, most mint or near mint, each boxed (one Sun Star model still factory wrapped). Condition Report : Spark Lola T90 with one detached rear suspension strut; Spark Mercedes with loose Rosberg driver figure. Condition reports are offered as a guide only and we highly recommend inspecting (where possible) any lot to satisfy yourself as to its condition.
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