We found 155251 price guide item(s) matching your search

Robert William Billings, Illustrations of the Temple Church, Publ Boone 1838, one vol PROVENANCE These books have been sent in for sale by executors from an estate in Winchester. Family tradition indicates that they were inherited through the Bohn family of Hull and through earlier connections from the Boleyns. Many of the earlier books in this estate certainly came from the library of publisher Henry George Bohn 1796-1884 or his descendants. Bohn was born in London as the son of a German bookbinder who had settled in England. In 1831 he started as a dealer in rare books and "remainders." In 1841 he issued his "Guinea" Catalogue of books, a monumental work containing 23,208 items. Bohn was noted for his book auction sales: one held in 1848 lasted four days, the catalogue comprising twenty folio pages. Printed on this catalogue was the information: "Dinner at 2 o`clock, dessert at 4, tea at 5, and supper at 10." His Libraries which he inaugurated were begun in 1846 and comprised editions of standard works and translations, dealing with history, science, classics, theology and archaeology, consisting in all of 766 volumes. It had been one of Bohn`s ambitions to found a great publishing house, but, finding that his sons had no taste for the trade, he sold the Libraries in 1864 to Messrs. Bell and Daldy, afterwards G. Bell & Sons. Bohn was a man of wide culture and many interests. He himself made considerable contributions to his Libraries: he collected pictures, china and ivories, and was a famous rose-grower. He died at Twickenham on 22 August 1884 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery. An extract from the Daily Graphic dated July 10th 1909 states, " His advice was often sought by such great Collectors as the Duke of Hamilton `Vathek` Beckford and on more than one occasion he was consulted on everyday matters by the Prince Consort. He was chairman of the committee appointed for the printed books department of the 1851 Exhibition. Gladstone who had a high opinion of Bohn`s abilities, offered him a baronetcy but we are told that the publisher declined the honour on principle. Bohn tired of his success in 1864 when his sons preferred other professions to following in this footsteps and sold the whole stock and copyrights of his libraries to Messers Bell and Dalby for about £40000........His second-hand books which subsequently took forty days to dispose of at various auction rooms realised £13000." Of his early career the paper said " while Napoleon was ravaging the Continent whole libraries were being dispersed by ancient families and religious institutions lest they should fall into the Emperor`s hands and many treasures were picked u this way by the Anglo-German bookseller. ..... He happened to be attending an auction at Leipzig while the Battle of Waterloo was being fought."

William Boyne, Tokens issued in the seventeenth century, 1858 and Herbert Grueber Roman medallions in the British Museum PROVENANCE These books have been sent in for sale by executors from an estate in Winchester. Family tradition indicates that they were inherited through the Bohn family of Hull and through earlier connections from the Boleyns. Many of the earlier books in this estate certainly came from the library of publisher Henry George Bohn 1796-1884 or his descendants. Bohn was born in London as the son of a German bookbinder who had settled in England. In 1831 he started as a dealer in rare books and "remainders." In 1841 he issued his "Guinea" Catalogue of books, a monumental work containing 23,208 items. Bohn was noted for his book auction sales: one held in 1848 lasted four days, the catalogue comprising twenty folio pages. Printed on this catalogue was the information: "Dinner at 2 o`clock, dessert at 4, tea at 5, and supper at 10." His Libraries which he inaugurated were begun in 1846 and comprised editions of standard works and translations, dealing with history, science, classics, theology and archaeology, consisting in all of 766 volumes. It had been one of Bohn`s ambitions to found a great publishing house, but, finding that his sons had no taste for the trade, he sold the Libraries in 1864 to Messrs. Bell and Daldy, afterwards G. Bell & Sons. Bohn was a man of wide culture and many interests. He himself made considerable contributions to his Libraries: he collected pictures, china and ivories, and was a famous rose-grower. He died at Twickenham on 22 August 1884 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery. An extract from the Daily Graphic dated July 10th 1909 states, " His advice was often sought by such great Collectors as the Duke of Hamilton `Vathek` Beckford and on more than one occasion he was consulted on everyday matters by the Prince Consort. He was chairman of the committee appointed for the printed books department of the 1851 Exhibition. Gladstone who had a high opinion of Bohn`s abilities, offered him a baronetcy but we are told that the publisher declined the honour on principle. Bohn tired of his success in 1864 when his sons preferred other professions to following in this footsteps and sold the whole stock and copyrights of his libraries to Messers Bell and Dalby for about £40000........His second-hand books which subsequently took forty days to dispose of at various auction rooms realised £13000." Of his early career the paper said " while Napoleon was ravaging the Continent whole libraries were being dispersed by ancient families and religious institutions lest they should fall into the Emperor`s hands and many treasures were picked u this way by the Anglo-German bookseller. ..... He happened to be attending an auction at Leipzig while the Battle of Waterloo was being fought."

John Evans, The ancient bronze implements weapons and ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland and ten other various volumes PROVENANCE These books have been sent in for sale by executors from an estate in Winchester. Family tradition indicates that they were inherited through the Bohn family of Hull and through earlier connections from the Boleyns. Many of the earlier books in this estate certainly came from the library of publisher Henry George Bohn 1796-1884 or his descendants. Bohn was born in London as the son of a German bookbinder who had settled in England. In 1831 he started as a dealer in rare books and "remainders." In 1841 he issued his "Guinea" Catalogue of books, a monumental work containing 23,208 items. Bohn was noted for his book auction sales: one held in 1848 lasted four days, the catalogue comprising twenty folio pages. Printed on this catalogue was the information: "Dinner at 2 o`clock, dessert at 4, tea at 5, and supper at 10." His Libraries which he inaugurated were begun in 1846 and comprised editions of standard works and translations, dealing with history, science, classics, theology and archaeology, consisting in all of 766 volumes. It had been one of Bohn`s ambitions to found a great publishing house, but, finding that his sons had no taste for the trade, he sold the Libraries in 1864 to Messrs. Bell and Daldy, afterwards G. Bell & Sons. Bohn was a man of wide culture and many interests. He himself made considerable contributions to his Libraries: he collected pictures, china and ivories, and was a famous rose-grower. He died at Twickenham on 22 August 1884 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery. An extract from the Daily Graphic dated July 10th 1909 states, " His advice was often sought by such great Collectors as the Duke of Hamilton `Vathek` Beckford and on more than one occasion he was consulted on everyday matters by the Prince Consort. He was chairman of the committee appointed for the printed books department of the 1851 Exhibition. Gladstone who had a high opinion of Bohn`s abilities, offered him a baronetcy but we are told that the publisher declined the honour on principle. Bohn tired of his success in 1864 when his sons preferred other professions to following in this footsteps and sold the whole stock and copyrights of his libraries to Messers Bell and Dalby for about £40000........His second-hand books which subsequently took forty days to dispose of at various auction rooms realised £13000." Of his early career the paper said " while Napoleon was ravaging the Continent whole libraries were being dispersed by ancient families and religious institutions lest they should fall into the Emperor`s hands and many treasures were picked u this way by the Anglo-German bookseller. ..... He happened to be attending an auction at Leipzig while the Battle of Waterloo was being fought."

Rare and unusual George I clock by Richard Glynne, London, circa 1720-1725, a fruitwood cased table clock (probably previously ebonised), surmounted by a revolving celestial globe showing phases of the moon on brass S supports with a flower and foliage engraved front bracket above the inverted bell top. The brass 7.5" dial has a very rare trefoil shaped chapter ring (see below) with Roman numerals, and the spandrels are engraved with figures emblematic of the seasons. The centre of the dial has a matt finish. The arch has a subsidiary dial with twin rings one showing minutes and the other lunar dates for the phases of the moon with Arabic numerals (hands missing). On brass ball feet. There are glazed sides and doors enclosing the eight day single train fusee movement. The brass back plate is engraved with scrolling foliage and "Richard Glynne Londini fecit", 25.25" high There are several unusual features in this clock 1 The case is surmounted by a revolving moon phase globe driven by a vertical pillar and a series of cogs from the movement. Knowing the correct moon phase was important because trips on horseback or by coach were much less safe on a dark night and crops could be harvested by the light of the moon. This however is an unusual way of depicting phases of the moon. 2 The trefoil shaped chapter ring is extremely rare although there are a few examples by Glynne`s contemporary Richard Street (See below) On 28th May 1982 Sothebys sold a wall clock by Richard Street of Shoe Lane just off Fleet Street. (Lot five in the sale described as a "sale of nine English clocks"). The clock had previously been sold by them in 1953. The similarities of the two dials are striking not only because of the shape of the chapter ring which was described as pear shaped but because of the style of the engraving of the foliage and numerals and the matt finish to the centre of the dial. Street and Glynne worked close to one another; Street is recorded in Fleet Street until he is thought to have died in 1722 and Glynne was in Fleet Street from 1718-1729 when he retired. 3 The single hour hand mechanism. The shape of the chapter ring means that there must be special arrangements for the single hour hand the shape of which again very closely resembles the hand in the Street clock. The whole of the inner dial revolves and the hand is fixed but has to follow the contours of the inner border of the chapter ring. This is achieved by a spring loading which seems to be the same in both clocks. Street was a distinguished but little known clockmaker whereas Glynne although also described as a clockmaker was much better known for his finely engraved scientific instruments. It is reasonable to suggest that the eccentric dial may well have provided by Street although it is conversely equally possible that the dials were made by Glynne and used by Street in his clocks! There may also have been a contribution from Glynne`s business partner in the 1720s Anne Lea, whose father and mother Philli and Anne Lea were noted ma and globe sellers.(See below) HISTORICAL NOTES RICHARD GLYNNE Richard Glynne (1681-1755), was apprenticed to Henry Wynne in 1696 in the Clockmakers` Company of which he became a freeman in 1705: he became Steward of the Company in 1725. He worked first at the sign of the Atlas and Hercules (1712-16) in Cheapside and subsequently (1718-29) opposite Salisbury Court in Fleet Street, London. On obtaining his freedom in 1705, he married Anne Lea, the daughter of the noted ma and globe-sellers Phili and Anne Lea (see below). From at least 1712 he was working in association if not in formal partnership, with his mother-in-law, advertising a new pair of globes in 1712, and publishing and marketing maps. In parallel with this activity, he made and sold `all sorts of Mathematical instruments, either for Land or Sea, according to the newest improvements` as he stated in an advertisement in 1726. There is another reference to advertising `all Kinds of Dials, Spheres and Globes of all Sizes.` A variety of scientific instruments by Glynne are indeed known. All are of high quality, with clean, well executed engraving uncluttered by unnecessary decoration. Glynne`s fine instruments recommended themselves to a fashionable clientèle, and he was sufficiently successful to be able to retire at the relatively early age of 49 in 1729, his stock being auctioned at the sho of the optician Edward Scarlett in 1730. There is an impressive armillary orrery in the Science Museum in Oxford, dating from around 1720 and standing just over a metre in height. The Museum state on their website that it must have been at the to of his range: an impressive and expensive purchase by one of his most wealthy customers. RICHARD STREET Richard Street was apprenticed to Thomas Tompion; he became a freeman of the Clockmakers Company in 1687 and was elected Junior Warden in 1713. He worked in Shoe Lane just off Fleet Street and there is evidence that he was responsible for some of Tompion`s repeating watch movements. He was undoubtedly well connected and probably his most famous commission is the important Degree Clock which is now at the Old Observatory at Greenwich. This may have been "The black clock on the back stairs" described in Sir Isaac Newton`s personal papers after his death. Sir Isaac had also commissioned from Street a fine and highly unusual clock as a gift for Doctor Bentley who was Master of Trinity College Cambridge in 1708, it apparently had an eccentric chapter ring and an expanding and contracting hand. There is no record of him after 1722 when it is presumed he died.. The dial of the wall clock sold by Sothebys and mentioned above has striking similarities to the dial of this clock by Richard Glynne ANNE LEA Anne Lea was mother in law of Richard Glynne and inherited from her husband Philli who died in 1700. He had been apprenticed to Robert Morden in 1675 and by 1683 was in business as a globe maker with Robert Morden and William Berry. He was one of the leading English map-makers and publishers of his day and described himself as a globe maker in advertisements and in a catalogue of "Globes, spheres, maps, mathematical projections, books, and instruments" in the 1790s. On his death he left a third of all his maps, plates and globes to his wife with the remainder to his children. She also inherited one third of his globe plates. Their daughter, also Anne, married Richard Glynne. Mother and daughter therefore would have inherited a large part of Philli Lea`s stock in trade, which would have been available to Richard Glynne. CONDITION Multiple images of this clock are available. Buyers will be able to assess the condition from these images. The following comments may be of further assistance. There is a screw thread at the to of the globe and obviously a finial is missing from here The glass on the globe is badly cracked The hands from the subsidiary dial are lost. We have removed the globe and to plate and have found no other screw holes in the case indicating that the globe is an original feature and was not added later in place of a handle. Several cogs in the mechanism for driving the globe are replacements The escapement and pendulum are replacements for an original verge escapement. The two large brass brackets holding the clock in the case are not original. There is a hole drilled in the base of the case where it is assumed that some support for the movement was housed but is no longer there. The brass feet are thought to be replacements PROVENANCE This clock is has been sent in for sale by executors from an estate in Winchester. Family tradition indicates that this clock was inherited through the Bohn family of Hull and through earlier connections from the Boleyns.

Late Victorian/early 20th century gilt brass engraved eight day strut clock with calendars by Vasel London in style of Thomas Cole The case profusely engraved with scrolling foliage all over, pivoted handle, with fixed winding key and pivoted strut to the rear, shuttered fast/slow and calendar regulation apertures. The silvered dial has floral engraving, and subsidiary dials for day and date. The Swiss movement marked Doxa. The clock marked internally "W Vasel London" 7" high; 5" wide; 1.25" deep HISTORICAL NOTES An important Victorian maker, Vasel is recorded working at several addresses in London from 1886-1907. Strut clocks were first designed and popularised by the great Victorian carriage clockmaker Thomas Cole (1800-1864) and derive their name from their rear pivoted strut support. Cole first conceived the idea in the mid 19th century and these clocks were the mainstay of his business until his death in 1864. They gained their popularity from their flatness, or thinness, as they were more portable than the square bulk of traditional carriage clocks. Although with slight variations a very similar clock was sold at Christies on 20th November 2009 lot 6. Another was sold again at Christies, 14 June 2000, lot 4. PROVENANCE This clock was the property of H J Morgan who resided in Montague Square, LONDON W1, and moved to Godalming in Surrey a few years before his death. It is sent in for sale by a member of his family who inherited it. H J Morgan was the co-founder & owner of `The Steering Wheel Club` in London`s Mayfair. He was; Vice-President British Automobile Racing Club (B.A.R.C.), Hon. Secretary British Motor Racing Circuit Owners Association 1962-1979 Life Hon. Member British Racing Drivers’ Club (B.R.D.C.) Secretary of the Order of The Road 1946-1979, then Director & Hon. Treasurer 1979-1990. Vice-President & Life Hon. Member Guild of Motoring Writers Life Hon. Member Brooklands Society H J Morgan joined the staff of the Junior Car Club in 1925, becoming Assist. Secretary in 1934, General Secretary 1937-1962, Council Member 1962-1972, & Vice-President 1972-1990. The Junior Car Club subsequently became the British Automobile Racing Club, (B.A.R.C.) He was Clerk of The Course, Brooklands Motor-Racing Circuit 1937-1939 Major undertakings included assisting in the organisation of the 200 Mile Races 1925-1928; Double Twelve Hour Races 1929-1931; the 1000 Miles Race 1932; International Trophy Races 1933-1939; the organisation of early B.R.D.C. 500 Miles Races and Empire Trophy Races, he was also an official at most of the main B.A.R.C. events until it`s closure in 1939. Clerk of The Course at all J.C.C. meetings (Brooklands Rally, High Speed Trial etc.) 1937-1939. Donington Park; Race Organiser and Clerk of The Course at post 1937 J.C.C. events, and an Official at main Donington pre-war car racing events. Race Organiser and Clerk of The Course at Crystal Palace for the 1st Post-War meeting 1953, and subsequent B.A.R.C. events. Race Organiser and Clerk of The Course at Goodwood Motor-Racing Circuit for Bank Holiday events, the Nine-Hours Race, R.A.C. Tourist Trophy Race and other major International Races. Race Organiser and Clerk of The Course at Aintree Motor-Racing Circuit for the British Grand Prix held there in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 & 1962.

A late 19th century memorial glass, the rounded bucket shaped bowl, engraved In Memory of the Flower Blyth Mon George W Nichlson 22, George Brown 30, Thomas Brown 21, George Dawson 30 who were drowned 13 July 1895, 9.5cm high, late 19th century

A George II porringer, flared rim, embossed quarter girdle, chased with scrolls, scales and stylised flowerheads, centred to recto by a C-scroll cartouche above a spirally fluted band, crested, 10cm high, John Payne, London 1757, 7oz The crest is the arms of Francis Cholmeley of Brandsby, Yorks., who married Mary, daughter of Edward Ferrers of Baddesley Clinton, Warw., widow of Thomas Berkeley

An 18ct gold Victorian maritime mourning seal ring, a blue stone carved with a black anchor, the black and gold band reads `in loving memory of`, inner band scribed `Robert Craik, Who Died Sep 5th 1868, Aged 64 Years

An extremely rare ladies yachting ensemble, probably Redfern, circa 1890, the sleeves altered circa 1895, of warm cream felted wool, the bodice and skirt embroidered in high relief with anchors and mythical sea creatures, the beasts with sequined bodies, glass eyes and purl wire webbed feet, the bodice with stand collar and military-style gold bauble fastenings, tabbed peplum to the low pointed waist, the massive upper sleeves of cream silk grosgrain, bust 86cm, 34in, waist 56cm, 22in. Special outfits for sports were a feature of the late 19th-early 20th century be it for cycling, archery, hunting or sailing. Although yacht ensembles were regularly advertised hardly any have survived. Redfern who set up a major tailoring establishment at Cowes, famed for its yachting became specialists in this area.

A rare Rudi Gernreich Monokini or topless swimsuit, American, 1964, labelled Rudi Gernreich, Designed for Harmon Knitwear` and with paper shop tag `National Knitted Outerwear Association` with no-return details, of chequered royal blue and white cotton/wool mix, with cross-over blue straps, waist 61cm, 24in; together with `The Evening Star`, 7th February 1964 `Topless Suit is Here- The topless bathing suit has arrived in the Washington area with not a stitch of trouble. No one has been trampled in the crowd. There have been no arrests. The suit on display in a shop window at the Prince Georges Plaza shopping center has black and white checksÉÓI wouldn`t dare put it on a live modelÓ said David Gilbert owner of Shirley`s Fashions and Apparel. He recalled the arrest in Chicago of a girl who wore one on a public beach and the arrest of another girl in South America. The suits, he said are very hard to get. He said he was able to get six from the New York designer because a friend pulled some strings for himÉ No one has bought one yet. Mr Gilbert said he has one customer who wants one very much, but the designer doesn`t make one that will fit her-size no 18Ó; and the Prince George`s County News p.3 for an adverisement of this swimsuit; and two magazines with articles relating to the Monokini, (qty). This swimsuit is one of the six costumes put on sale and display in Mr Gilbert`s shop. Gernreich`s favourite model Peggy Moffitt said of the costume ÒAnd the bathing suit? It was a political statement. It wasn`t meant to be worn in publicÓ

A Bill Gibb whitework and sequined ensemble for Kate Franklin, mid season, 1973 and matching sketch, un-labelled, comprising cream cheesecloth halter-neck dress with cream embroidery; the matching jacket embroidered in pink with green and silver sequins, jacket bust 97cm, 38in; the ink sketch with attached fabric swatch annotated `To my dearest Kate who I hope never suffers from anorexia looking at this jacket. In joke!! Fondest love always Billy x`, 25 by 20cm within frame and mount, (3)

A herring-bone tweed coat, circa 1956, un-labelled, double-breasted of brown, black and grey flecked wool, re-lined in beige artificial silk; together with a photograph of Audrey walking her Yorkshire terrier `Famous` who had been a gift of her husband Mel Ferrer when Audrey was filming ÒLove in the AfternoonÓ in 1956, (2)

The Givenchy haute couture white point d`esprit ball gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in the opera scene of `Love in the Afternoon`, 1956, labelled but not numbered, with boned, fitted bodice over voluminous white skirt which is held in place by a band at the hem, remains of sequined and rhinestone studded lace band to bodice edge, bust 82-86cm, 32-34in; waist 61cm, 24in, together with a photograph of Audrey wearing the gown in the film and a letter of provenance from Tanja Star-Busmann (qty). Audrey gave this gown to Tanja as a present when Tanja gave birth to her daughter in 1958. It arrived in a large cardboard box with a note attached stating that Audrey thought it might remind Tanja what it was like to have a waistline again. In 1961 Tanja gave the gown to her then nanny who wore it and adapted it, removing most of the lace trim, removing the bow from the front and making three smaller bows on the back to help conceal the panel that had been inserted to make it larger

The ivory satin bridal gown designed for Audrey Hepburn by the Fontana Sisters for her marriage to James (later Lord) Hanson in 1952 which did not take place, un-labelled, of heavy ivory satin, with wide boat neckline, pleats of fabric to the bodice front converging on a bow at the waist, three quarter length sleeves, zip fastened to the back with trained skirt, bust 92cm, 36in, waist 66cm, 26in; together with a letter of provenance from Amabile Altobella; a quantity of press cuttings relating to the gown; and a photograph of Audrey at a Fontana fitting wearing the original gown, (qty). The Fontana sisters were renowned for their highly romantic ball gowns and bridal gowns. The sisters Zoe, Micol and Giovanna founded their business in Rome in 1944. They counted among their clientele many celebrities including Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Grace of Monaco and Jackie Kennedy. In 1952, whilst Audrey Hepburn was filming `Roman Holiday` with Gregory Peck in Rome, she approached the Fontana sisters to ask them to make her bridal gown. Signora Micol Fontana said that the 23 year old Hepburn was `young, fresh, on top of the world`. She used to slip away from the set to take refuge in the sewing rooms and discuss the dress. "Audrey wanted complete discretion and had lots of fittings". Some weeks later when Audrey called off the planned wedding to James Hanson she asked the eldest of the sisters-Zoe to give the dress away. "I want my dress to be worn by another girl for her wedding, perhaps someone who couldn`t ever afford a dress like mine, the most beautiful, poor Italian girl you can find." Zoe`s search centred on the town of Latina which had been founded by the fascists in 1932. The dress was given to a poverty stricken young Italian girl called Amabile Altobella, which coincidentally was the same Christian name as the Fontana sister`s mother. Amabile visited Rome just once to have the dress adapted by the Fontana sisters for her to wear at her own wedding to farm worker Adelino Solda with whom she remained happily married, producing three daughters and five grandchildren. Amabile said "I have had a happy marriage, so the dress brought me luck". The town council gave the young couple kitchen furniture and even organised a honeymoon for them in Paris. After the event she carefully wrapped the dress in tissue paper and stored it away without disturbing it for decades. It was not until 2002 when Micol Fontana, the last survivor of the three sisters traced the gown for a retrospective exhibition of their work, that it was re-discovered.

9ct GOLD HEAVY BELCHER CHAIN ALBERT with clip, guard and a 9ct GOLD MEDALLION `Hickleton Main Colliery` Presented in honour of D. Smith who paid the supreme sacrifice in the Great War 1914-1918, approx 44.5gms

A finely enamelled commemorative pendant in the form of the emblem of The Fine Art Trade Guild, comprising a palette and brushes overlaid with a caduceus within a circular enamelled wreath. Note: this pendant was presented to A. P. Iliffe, who was Master of the Guild between 1928 and 1930, The Fine Art Trade Guild was founded in 1910 and still operates as `The House of Art and Framing`; its members include David Shepherd

William Hogarth 1697-1764- "Four Times of the Day" published by W Hogarth March 25, 1738, according to the act of Parliament, engravings, complete set of four, Morning (P.146) Noon (P.147) Evening(P.148) Night(P.149) (Evening P.148, printed with the rare face in red) overall good impressions,Three plates from the set engraved by Hogarth, the fourth plate, Evening, engraved by Bernard Baron 1696-1762, as originally issued, a French engraver who resided in London. 46x36cm, ea, in matching gilt frames, (4) Note: Four Times of the Day was the first set of prints that Hogarth published after his two great successes, A Harlot`s Progress (1732) and A Rake`s Progress (1735). It was among the first of his prints to be published after the Engraving Copyright Act of 1734 (which Hogarth had helped push through Parliament. In This set Hogarth takes us on a humorous walking tour through four areas of the city of London, from Covent Garden, famous for its market, coffee houses and brothels, to Soho and its French/Huguenot community, to the aspirant bourgeoisie of Islington and finally to the taverns and Freemason lodges of Charing Cross.

Frans van Loo, Belgian 1838-1899 exh 1864-1881- The meeting of Luther by representatives of the church with a gathering of noble, clergy and town notables & dignitaries laden with gifts and chattels; oil on canvas, signed and date, 94x185cm. Provenance: Hammerseley Galleries, Harpenden Herts., where purchased by the current owner in 1981. Frans Van Loo was a Flemish artist who exhibited in Antwerp & Brussels from 1864 to 1881 as follows: Salon, Antwerp 1864 Frans Van Loo (Anvers, Rue de la Loi, 43) Portrait Salon, Antwerp 1873 Frans Van Loo (Ixelles, Rue de College, 61) L`Amateur de l`arc Salon, Brussels 1881 Frans Van Loo (Diest, Rue Longue, 53) Portrait de mon fils This painting is a copy after the original work by the Flemish artist Ferdinand Pauwels 1830-1904 held by The Royal Museum of Fine Art, Brussels. The work is titled `Le Veuvre de Jacques van Artevelde` or `La Veuvre de Jacques van Artevelde faisant une offrande a la Patrie`. The original work measures 123.5x250cm and dates from 1860.

A turned serpentine stone jar and cover, 9.7cm high, containing a handwritten note pertaining to the Russian Coronation of 1896 and the Khodynka tragedy, dated June 1894; and a silver wishbone sugar tongs by Levi & Salaman, Birmingham 1912 (2) Nicholas II was crowned Tsar of Russia on May 13th, 1896. Four days later, a banquet was going to be held for the people at Khodynka Field. In the area of one town square, theatres, 150 buffets for distribution of gifts, and 20 pubs were built for the celebrations. Nearby the celebration square was a field that had a ravine and many gullies. On the evening of May 17th, people who had heard rumours of rich coronation gifts from the tsar (the gifts which everybody was to receive were actually a bread roll, a piece of sausage, gingerbread, and a mug) began to gather in anticipation. At about 5 oÆclock in the morning of the coronation day, several thousand people (some say as many as 500,000) were already gathered on the field. Suddenly a rumour spread among the people that there was not enough beer or presents for everybody. A police force of 1800 men failed to maintain civil order, and in a catastrophic crush and resulting panic to flee the scene, 1,389 people were trampled to death, and roughly 1,300 were otherwise injured. Visit www.dnfa.com for condition reports

Circle of William Dobson, Portrait of Sir John Boys, Oil on canvas, Inscribed upper left, Extensively inscribed to label attached to reverse, 75cm x 62cm. Sir John Boys (1607-1664) was the eldest son and heir of Edward Boys of Bonnington (Kent). During the English Civil War, Boys became a captain in the Royal Army and Governor of Donnington Castle in Berkshire. This castle, within a mile of Newbury, was garrisoned in 1643 for King Charles I and commanded the road from Oxford to Newbury and the great road from London to Bath and the West. Boys, by the bravery with which he defended the castle during a long siege, showed himself well worthy of the trust reposed in him. It was first attacked by the Parliamentary army, consisting of 3,000 horse and foot, under the command of Major-General Middleton, who attempted to take the castle by assault, but was repulsed with considerable losses: at least 300 officers and men. Not long afterwards, on 29th September 1644, Colonel Horton began a blockade, having raised a battery at the foot of the hill, near Newbury. From here, he plied the castle so incessantly during a period of twelve days that he reduced it to a heap of ruins, having beaten down three of the towers and a part of the wall. Horton, having received reinforcements, sent a summons to the Governor, but Boys refused to listen to any terms. Soon afterwards the Earl of Manchester came to the siege with his army, but their united attempts proved unavailing; and after two or three days more of ineffectual battering the whole army rose up from before the walls and marched in different directions. When the King came to Newbury on 21st October 1644, he knighted the Governor for his good services, made him Colonel of the regiment and, to his coat of arms, gave the augmentation of a golden imperial crown or on a blue canton. During the Second Battle of Newbury, Boys secured the King`s artillery under the castle walls. After the battle, when the King had gone with his army to Oxford, the Earl of Essex, with his whole force, besieged Donnington Castle with no better success than his predecessors had done. He abandoned the attempt before the King returned from Oxford for the purpose of relieving Donnington on 4th November 1644. The food stores were then replenished and his Majesty slept in the castle that night with his army around him. In August 1648, Boys made a fruitless attempt to raise the Siege of Deal Castle. A resolution put in the House of Commons, at the same time, to banish him as one of the seven Royalists who had been in arms against Parliament since 1st January 1648 was rejected. In 1659, he was a prisoner in Dover Castle for petitioning for a free Parliament, but was released on 23rd February 1660. He apparently received the office of Receiver of Customs at Dover from the newly restored King Charles II. Visit www.dnfa.com for condition reports.

After Sir William Russell Flint RA (1880-1969) "THE MARCHESA`S BOAT-HOUSE" colour reproduction 23.5 x 34.3cms; 9 1/4 x 13 1/2in.; sold together with a manuscript letter from the Artist "On Lake Orta, on Friday, 8th May, 1953, I requested friends to maroon me on a slab of concrete outside the finest lake-side boat-house I had ever seen. Thirst soon assailed me and the hot sun proceeded to melt my spine, but for hour after hour, I painted happily. The result was "The Marchesa`s Boat-house" into which, later, I introduced a handsome model-who herself is now a rich and arrogant woman. Of the real Marchesa I can tell nothing. W. Russell Flint, 22.7.67", on studio stationary printed Peel Cottage, 8 Peel Street, Campden Hill, W8. (2)

An early 19th Century engraved glass rummer, slice cut, raised on faceted knop above a star cut base, the bowl engraved with wagon and three horses with the drover, the wagon engraved "G Hedley Morpeth and Newcastle Carrier", opposite initials "GMH" beneath a crest 7 1/2in. (19cms) high NB The firm of Hedley`s merged with the Anderson family to form Anderson, Son & Hedley, who merged with Atkinson and Garland in 1913 to become Anderson & Garland the well known firm of auctioneers.

Three Beswick Beatrix Potter figures - Johnny Townmouse with Bag, Timmie Willie Sleeping and The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

Five Royal Albert Beatrix Potter figures - Flopsy Mopsy and Cottontail, The Old Woman who lived in a shoe, Tom Thumb, Timmy Willie from Johnny Town Mouse and Lady Mouse

Five Royal Albert Beatrix Potter figures - Mr McGregor, Benjamin Bunny, The Old Woman who lived in a shoe knitting, Timmy Willie sleeping and Miss Doormouse

Picturegoer and other film annuals, the Picturegoer Who`s Who 1933 and 27 1940`s-1950` film magazines including Humphrey Bogart

SEVERAL ITEMS BOUND IN ONE VOLUME. I) SEVERAL ISSUES OF THE LADY`S MAGAZINE OR ENTERTAINING FOR THE FAIR SEX 1775 THROUGH TO 1798 INCLUDING SHEET MUSIC AND TWO NEEDLEWORK PATTERNS. II) THE OXFORD MAGAZINE FOR NOV. 1772 III) THE IMPOSTOR OR DOUBLE DISAPPOINTMENT A PLAY BY JAMES KEARLY OF PETERBOROUGH. LONDON 1797 IV) ARTHUR GRIFFINHOOF-LOVE LAUGHS AT LOCKSMITHS-A PLAY-LONDON 1803 (NO TITLE PAGE) V) WHO ARE THE SWINDLERS? A QUERY. A TIRADE BY MISS ELIZA FRANCES ROBERTSON OF BLACKHEATH. SECOND EDN LONDON 1801 (WATER MARKING AND RUST STAINING TO LATER PAGES)

Assorted 19th Century And Later Dolls Costume including three dresses made from 19th cotton printed fabrics, wool cape, white cotton undergarments etc (some of these were hand made in Paris for the vendors mother who was born in 1862)

Late 19th Century White Quilt And A Patchwork Quilt. These quilts were made by Elizabeth, Jane Ann, Jessie and Isabella Bell, the four daughters of William and Jessie Bell who was a shepherd on the Little Harle Estate in Northumberland. See attached photograph and family register of their births.

`Finigans Bond Street` Green Leather Ladies Dressing Case, with silver mounted fittings, two evening purses, gaming counters and other items, with an engraved copper mounted label `G Jennison, Barwick Lodge, Disley, Cheshire` ** G Jennison was grandson of John Jennison who was the founder of the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester 1836

Five Beswick Beatrix Potter figures, brown printed marks, Tom Kitten and butterfly, Tabitha Twitchett and Miss Moppitt, The Old Woman who lived in a shoe knitting, Cousin Ribby and Sally Henny Penny.

Five Beswick Beatrix Potter figures, brown printed marks, Mrs. Tittlemouse, Jeremy Fisher, Mr. Jackson, Squirrel Nutkin and The Old Woman who lived in a shoe.

John Dalzell Kenworthy (1858-1954), an oil painting on canvas, a Neapolitan port scene. An untypical subject for Kenworthy a St. Bees artist who was a professional portrait and rustic painter and is mentioned in "The Artists of Cumbria" by Marshall Hall. Kenworthy was born in Whitehaven and exhibited his work at the Royal Academy. Examples of his work can be seen at the Beacon and St. Bees School. 1140 mm x 830 mm, in gilt frame.

1981 Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships 16mm Original Celluloid Film (58mins) A production of Trans World International, brought to you with the compliments of Black and White Scotch Whiskey from the famous house of Buchanan. Commentator - Dan Maskell, Introduction and Observations - James Hunt, supplied with a DVD copy. Note: This film is produced in a very compelling documentary style frequently employing unusual but beguiling camera angles. A very sympathetic sound track weaves in and out of the storyline especially where used in conjunction with clever close-up, slow motion sequences. The film begins with Fred Perry & Argentinean Enrique Morea (official of ITF) in discussion (seated on terrace overlooking the courts) at Wimbledon Championships 1981. There are short all0action clips of Borg (going for his 6th title), McEnroe, Mandlikova, Austin, Navratilova, Evert-Lloyd, scenes of the Old Court No.1, Connors, Amritraj, McEnroe, Gerulaitis, Shriver & Sue Barker, The late James Hunt sits among the crowded tea gardens drinking champagne, and remarks: "...for only the second time in the history of Wimbledon we have no seeded British Player". He then takes an informed look at the first week`s events. Virginia Wade (20th consecutive appearances) is defeated by Ann Hobbs in the 2nd Round. - John Lloyd loss to Louis Clerc, - Hunt: "British Tennis has a lot to think about" - Kathy Rinialdi (14 years and 91 days) becomes the youngest ever player at Senior Wimbledon. -And a woman umpires on the Centre Court for the first time. McEnroe has an argument with the umpire whilst playing Tom Gullikson. His comment to Referee Fred Howles (Umpire) becomes a part of Wimbledon history: "This guys an incompetent fool!" "He`s the pits of the world!" James Hunt interjects with informed observational comments throughout. "Only four Men`s Seeds have made it through the first week" - "On evidence of the quarter-finals, Tennis on this surface is glorious to behold". We then see Chris Lloyd, Mandlikova, Navratilova and 18-year-old Tracy Austin playing Pam Shiver with coach Don Candy watching attentively. More action follows including - Borg v Connors, McEnroe v Frawley, Lloyd v Shriver, Mandlikova v Navratilova. Before we see the 2 finals we are taken back to Perry and Morea who have discussion about the semi-finals and the big names who have gone out - Lendl, Vilas, Jaegar, etc. Friday 2nd July is Ladies` day - Princess Diana is shown (3 ? weeks before the royal wedding) in the Royal Box are The Duchess of Kent, Mrs. Thatcher (PM) and Duke & Duchess of Gloucester. Hunt remarks: "...and in the crowd unless my eyes deceive me a squad o young ladies from the St. Trinians". There follows extensive coverage of the two finals, with |Hunt offering constructive commentary here and there. A prelude to the men`s final shows both of the finalists walking inside the men`s changing rooms, McEnroe with Flemming, and then Borg shakes hands with James Hunt. An excellent time capsule never seen on TV!

Original 1887 Cricket Signed Engraving: titled `England v Australia at Lord`s` by G. H. Barrable and R. Ponsonby-Staples, from an imaginary scene at Lord`s cricket ground feat. many prominent players and spectators of the day - together with 22 cricket portraits on individual England and Australian players who never faced each other in that combination. In the picture it shows W.G. Grace batting with W.W Reed at the non-striking end, together with Spofforth the bowler and Garrett, the fielder, plus the Prince and Princess of Wales standing at the boundary, also Lillie Langtry (future Mistress of King Edward VII) sitting in the enclosure with her back to the royal couple. Signed in pencil by both artists, below the picture to the opposite corners - below which are the portraits of both teams, each named within. Published London Oct 1st 1887 by Boussod Valadon and Co. London and Paris - mounted and framed c/w gilt slips, note minor tear to one of the portraits and some light discolouration, overall 32"x48.5".

Scarce 1907 MCC v South Africa Cricket Signed Scorecard: played at Lords and signed on the back by S.D. Snooke, who played in only one test at The Oval, plus two others scorecards incl. Gentleman v Players at The Oval 1932 and Oxford v Cambridge at Lords 1932.

70, 69, 73 Collection of 1920s South American Press Sports Photographs, to incl. boxing, athletics, basketball and hockey to incl. 1926 Montevideo South American Games,1950s Boxing incl. Hector Bejarano who was inducted into the Hispanic Sports Hall of Fame, cycling Jose Lampichiatti Argentina Champion, swimming/water polo, ladies hockey, men`s basket ball championships, ladies volleyball (5) - some edited for printing. (62).

Fine Welsh `The Outside Halves 1951-2002` signed limited ed. rugby display: comprising a maroon, velvet and gold braid rugby cap, embroidered with the date `1951-2002` to the peak - together with a matching maroon velvet pennant embroidered `Outside Haves` together with the 6 Welsh Fly-Halves who dominated the game to incl. Cliff Morgan, David Watkins, Barry John, Phil Bennett, Jonathan Davis and Neil Jenkins - together with number of caps won. Bordered by 6x signed coloured prints, ltd ed. of only no. 17/100, fully mounted in a window box display case, c/w coa, overall 39"x35".

1920s Tottenham Hotspur football player`s postcard: of A C Hunter who kept goal for Tottenham in the 1920/21 Cup Final beating Wolves 1-0.

Coventry City programmes (H): 1958/9 to 1966/7. Includes v Tottenham Friendly 28 April 1964 which was John White`s last game for Tottenham. Football players signatures to front cover of America FC of Brazil (original scheduled opponents) who were touring at the time.(G) (104).

SAINTS ZOSIMAS, SABBATIUS AND ALEXANDER OSHEVENSKY KARGOPOL, CIRCA 1700 23.8 by 57.7 cm. "This unique icon unites three venerable saints and wonderworkers, particularly popular in the Arkhangelsk region. These are the founding fathers of three monasteries of the Russian North: Zosimas and Sabbatius of Solovki who founded the famous Solovetsky Monastery by the White Sea, and Alexander of Oshevensk, the founder of the Oshevensk Trinity Monastery, one of the most significant ecclesiastical institutions in the town of Kargopol and its environs. The half-length figures are unusual for icons and therefore testify to a special, most likely monastic commission of the painting. St Alexander of Oshevensk is singled out through his central position, his figure is slightly larger compared to the images of the other two saints, his halo outlined with pearl-dotted decoration and his head adorned with a schema (a monastic cowl decorated with a Golgotha motif); these all doubtlessly testify to the Kargopolian origin of the icon and suggest that it was produced for a local monastic church, perhaps for the Oshevensk Monastery itself. This rare icon, painted on a horizontally elongated panel, was apparently held in great esteem and veneration, as demonstrated by the burnt marks from an oil lamp, which used to hang in front of the central image. The icon is unlined and further technically characterised by only a thin layer of gesso; one layer of semi-transparent paint; detailed inscriptions (written with mistakes); a combination of earth pigments with red ochre typical of the northern palette, as well as unpretentious naive iconography. All these elements suggest the work of Kargopol masters, only a few examples of which survive today, which makes the icon particularly significant. The image conveys intimate sincerity and devout piety, so characteristic of the ascetics from the north of Russia."

* A PAIR OF ICONS DEPICTING THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM AND THE DESCENT INTO HELL YAROSLAVL, LAST QUARTER OF THE 18TH CENTURY Each 71.1 by 43.2 cm. "This pair of icons are rare and particularly fine examples of the art from the late 18th century. Judging by the shape of the panels, they originated from the Church Feasts Tier of a very large iconostasis. The vaulted shape of the Feast Tier icons became popular in the late 18th century, when the primitive groove-and-slot structure of iconostases was superseded by a more complicated system allowing the use of baroque woodcarving. The iconography of both icons is based on the works of the late 17th-century Armoury masters, who borrowed many details (such as the palm trees and some architectural details) from Western European woodcarvings. The Descent into Hell is particularly interesting, because it takes place deep down in the very Mouth of Hell, and the throng of the Righteous, awaiting the coming of the Saviour, are already shown with haloes, which is very unusual. Christ is depicted inside the mandorla’s eight-pointed star, which is reminiscent of the iconography of Christ in Majesty and is connected with the symbolism of Sophia the Divine Wisdom; on either side of Him there are the Forefathers craving salvation, placed behind Adam, and the Foremothers, following Eve. The Gates of Hell, lying broken under the Saviour’s feet, are given realistic form and design; the curving text-bearing scrolls are also rendered with the same realism. Although the two icons closely resemble each other, they were apparently painted by two different masters, both of whom demonstrated exceptionally high professional and artistic level. The Entry into Jerusalem appears more figurative; the faces, heavy fabrics, and chiaroscuro effects are rendered with greater softness and volume. At the same time, the icon-painter who created the Descent into Hell proves himself as an outstanding draftsman: his calligraphically precise lines are shown in the faces and the folds of the robes, connecting the traditional icon-painting technique with the principles of academic oil painting. Bright primary colours, typical for classical art, are reminiscent of the best examples of secular Russian paintings of that period. The graphic distinctiveness in the depiction of the robes and the special manner of rendering of the mountains and faces connect these two panels with a number of icons made in Yaroslavl in the last quarter of the 18th century. This confirms the origin of these two icons and makes them of extremely high artistic importance."

AN IMPORTANT ICON OF THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST YAROSLAVL, LATE 17TH CENTURY TO CIRCA 1700 73.5 by 54.5 cm. "The iconography of this icon is based on one of the most detailed variations of the Nativity of Christ scene. This iconographic variant had been established in the icon-painting of Yaroslavl and Kostroma by the middle of the 17th century and became widespread in the art of the Volga region in the late 17th and the 18th centuries. The old content of Nativity icons (which included the adoration of the angels and shepherds, Joseph’s conversation with the elder, the journey of the Magi, and Joseph’s dream) was complemented by the new iconography, illustrating a number of the New Testament events that accompanied the birth of Christ: the appearance of the angels to the Magi, the adoration of the Magi, the conversation between Herod and the scribes, the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem and the flight to Egypt. Many details of the new scheme were borrowed from Western European woodcuts. In this case the composition is unconventional in its sparsity: traditional episodes such as the murder of Zachariah at the gates of the Temple of Jerusalem and Elizabeth’s hiding with the infant John the Baptist in the cave are absent and the figures are unusually large. This, as well as the regular ‘rhythm’ of the scenes within the icon-space, are reminiscent of wall-paintings and could have been based on the work of painters who decorated numerous Yaroslavl churches with frescoes between the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Because such monumental decorative projects usually took two or three decades to complete, the artistic tradition of the last quarter of the 17th century continued into the early decades of the 18th century. The styleand the particular features of this Nativity icon are very close to the fresco cycle of the northern porch in the church of Prophet Elijah in Yaroslavl, completed by Fyodor Fyodorov-Karpov and Fyodor Ignatiev with associates in 1715-16. It is very possible that this image was painted by the masters from the same artistic circle and about the same time and that it was intended as the patronal feast icon for one of the Yaroslavl churches. This icon is of high museum and artistic quality."

* THE MOTHER OF GOD "JOY OF ALL WHO GRIEVE" MSTERA, MID 19TH CENTURY 35.5 by 31 cm.

SEREBRIAKOVA, ZINAIDA 1884-1967 Nude signed and dated 1932 Oil on canvas, 73 by 50 cm. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist’s family. Private collection, France. Authenticity has been confirmed by Vladimir Kruglov. Exhibited: Zinaida Serebriakova, The Embassy of the Russian Federation, Paris, 1995. Literature: Exhibition catalogue, Zinaida Serebriakova, Syseca, France, 1995, p. 13, illustrated. Related literature: For similar works, see V. Kruglov, Zinaida Serebriakova, Zolotoi Vek, St Petersburg, 2004, pp. 155, 167, 168. Nude is a typical example of Zinaida Serebriakova’s work in the 1920s to 1930s – full of harmony, purity and poetry. She had by this time developed her recognisable, special painting style, which was distinguished by its free, flowing brushstrokes and its precise, clear form. The interpretation of the life model motif in this work conveys the poetics of the naked human body that the artist devoted herself to in the second decade of the 20th century. This period saw the appearance of Serebriakova’s first two versions of The Bathhouse (1912 and 1913), in addition to her sketches and studies for Bathing (1917). As was always the case with Serebriakova, the artistic image she created in Nude was distinguished by the harmony of its spiritual and physical principles and by its delicacy and lively grace. The portrayal of the naked body occupied a central role in Serebriakova’s painting during the 1920s and 1930s. From her memoirs we know that her models were Russian girls, a number of whom married around 1934 and ceased to model, thereby forcing the artist to “close” the subject. She could not afford to pay professional life models. 1926 saw the appearance of two compositions bearing the title The Bathhouse. They effectively convey, particularly in the horizontal composition, the beauty and suppleness of young women’s bodies. The vertical canvas appears more “contrived” in comparison. The artist evidently felt that girls from Russian intelligentsia families in Paris did not fit well with the image of rural Russian bathhouses, and abandoned her plan to continue The Bathhouse series. She did not wish to follow in the footsteps of Konstantin Korovin, who would on demand produce nostalgic, cheap popular print-type paintings depicting winter scenes and troikas next to inns. From then on she only worked on studies, without attempting, like Kabanel, to transform her life models into “bathers” or into heroines of ancient mythology. The principles of E. Degas and A. Renoir were closer to her heart. Her young women and girls pose serenely, lying on sheets or sleeping, coming out of the bath, towel drying themselves or relaxing in the fresh air. Constantine Somov rated these works very highly, and in his diary and letters he always remarked upon her taste and mastery of painting. Alexander Benois described them as “incomparable”. In 1927 Serebriakova created one of the most poetic nudes, featuring a sleeping adolescent girl. The girl’s pose and the angle – a view from above – bear some resemblance to Modigliani. In this canvas the artist has achieved a sense of harmony between the physical form and the space. The light colours deployed here are extraordinarily well-suited to the nature of the image. Serebriakova painted high quality nudes using both pastels and oils. Pastels were well-suited to conveying the fine nuances of light and delicate colours, and poeticised the femininity of amateur models (Nude (1929) and Nude (1932)). Her oils were more austere and more direct in their interpretation of the physical form and state of the models (Nude Braiding her Hair (1930) and Nude (1932)). Specifics of the imagery and the level of completion were also determined by the tasks that the artist had set herself – whether she was working on a light and lively study in which even an apparently misplaced stroke of pastel seemed to convey the thrill of life (Standing Nude, 1932), or studying the formal rules of form as she was painting in oil (Nude, 1932). In the early 1930s Serebriakova began to exhibit a proclivity for tackling the issues of dimension and volume, and created a lot of studies featuring standing models. This tendency cannot be linked to her personal artistic development only: around this time, Serebriakova gradually began to practice for a new commission of monumental works from Baron J.-A. de Brouwer of Belgium. After 1934, Serebriakova would from time to time return to her favourite topic, delighting art connoisseurs with such indisputable masterpieces as Nude with a Book (1940) and Nude Leaning on Her Elbow (1940). Nude Plaiting her Hair (1930) and Nude with a Book (1940), full of internal movement and featuring dreamy models, seem to be particularly potent in eliciting the quintessential “Russianness” of these girls – a feature so poeticised by the artist. Alexander Benois wrote enthusiastically of such works: “In these studies of the nude female body there lives not sensuality in general, but something more specific, something familiar to us from our very own literature, our very own music, as well as from our personal experiences. This truly is flesh of our flesh; here we see the grace, the sensuality and a certain intimacy and domesticity of Eros which is more alluring, more delicate and at the same time also more cunning and dangerous than what Gauguin had found in Tahiti.” Vladimir Kruglov, author and compiler of the monograph on Zinaida Serebriakova Dmitry Sarabyanov once shrewdly noted that the critics wishing to compliment Serebriakova would invariably muse about her “male hand”. Even Alexander Benois once referred to the artist’s works as “masculine”. Sarabyanov, however, believes that it is Serebriakova’s femininity that is the most appealing aspect of her art. It is hard to argue with him, inasmuch as this femininity “is expressed in equal measure in her art, her life, as well as in her appearance. Her whole appearance is marked by the purity of her soul, the shining of her eyes; her feelings are all so natural, whilst her motives, embodied in the paintings, reflect her clear understanding of human purpose. There is simple beauty in all of this. The artist herself seems to be translating these qualities onto the world around her. The natural beauty of life – assumed [by Serebriakova] to have an independent existence – becomes the aesthetic criterion that defines her artistic position, her opinion about herself and her surroundings.” Nude presented for the auction is one of the best, most expressive manifestations of this femininity in Serebriakova’s oeuvre. It is as if Serebriakova imbues her young model with the poetry and cordiality typical of the artist herself. In fact, Serebriakova had long before been noted for the practice of “personalising” every image, or instilling her models with a vague self-resemblance. It is true that Serebriakova’s sister modelled for her famous Bathers of 1911; however, it sometimes appears as if all the nudes of her multiple Bathhouses were painted after her sisters or perhaps the artist herself. Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, writing about this feature of Serebriakova’s works, noted that even in the artist’s portraits “there is a lot of grace and artistic revelation but… no resemblance [of the model]. In general, her por

* SEREBRIAKOVA, ZINAIDA 1884-1967 Self-Portrait signed and dated 1938, also stamped twice by Z. Serebriakova`s atelier and numbered "20F/2248" on the reverse Oil on canvas, 73.5 by 60.5 cm. Provenance: The Serebriakova Foundation. Anonymous Sale, Sotheby’s London, November 2001, Lot 120. Related literature: For similar works, see V. Kruglov, Zinaida Serebriakova, Zolotoi Vek, St Petersburg, 2004, pp. 65, 101, 190. Serebriakova produced a great many self-portraits in her time. They reflect the artist’s life and offer an account of her feelings and thoughts, creative pursuits and objectives, as well as of a love for her children and a penchant for games and dressing up. The work offered for the auction represents an important turning point in the artist’s oeuvre. It was executed soon after the closing of a large exhibition of Serebriakova’s works in the gallery of J. Char pentier which despite its impressive contents did not yield material success. The artist was clearly painfully aware of her separateness from the artistic life of Paris which had only intensified over the years, but she had no wish to change herself. Alongside commissioned and non-commissioned portraits and still-lifes, she increasingly began to resort to painting self-portraits, with which she attempted to seize the transience of time and track its imprints not only on her appearance, but also on her growing skill and in the changing of her own outlook. A letter written in May 1938 to her children who had remained in Leningrad, is a testimony to how Serebriakova assessed the quality of her self-portraits: “But what rubbish my ‘self-portrait’ has turned out to be yet again!! I never knew that I was capable of producing such a mediocrity! My dear children, I implore you to destroy it…” In painting the self-portraits, Serebriakova is clearly setting herself different objectives. From an artistic viewpoint, the 1938 Self-Portrait is outstanding: in it, we no longer see the young, carefree woman of the self-portrait At the Dressing Table, or the romantic young lady of the Young Woman with a Candle. Rather, we face a mature artist. Serebriakova depicts herself at work, with paint-brushes in her hand. There is nothing deliberate in her choice of setting or her dress; moreover, paraphernalia neither underscores the exclusiveness of her craft, nor diverts the viewer’s attention from the artist’s radiant and serene expression. The portrait attracts with its immediate, captivating simplicity of feeling, its lyricism and tranquillity of a human being living in spiritual inner piece. In this self-portrait, Serebriakova achieves the confluence of the material and the ideal, a feature that distinguishes a true masterpiece. Dmitry Sarabyanov wrote that Serebriakova “is quite unique in her distrust of the mirror. It is of no concern to her that her left hand in the mirror becomes her right, and that it is her left hand…that holds the paint-brush. Serebriakova paints as she sees it. For her, the reflection of objects in the mirror is not an illusion, not a vacillating ephemeral phenomenon hovering on the boundary between reality and imagination, but a reality that is just as legitimate as that of the items themselves… Serebriakova never placed her own personality at the centre of the universe, did not impose her ideas about the world or her lifestyle upon anyone, and certainly did not pride herself on her features or her body. A self-portrait for her was simply a sign of one’s own existence in a world of nature, people and things – in a world of equivalencies. For the artist, it was the most ‘immediate’ manifestation of the existence of reality. The idea behind her self-portraits is surprisingly simple: it could even be interpreted as foolishly naïve, if this simplicity had not expressed the truth. In the second decade of the 20th century, the artist startled her contemporaries by reminding them how the truth could be expressed through simple words and acts without the need to resort to contrivances and subterfuge. Yet she was able to do this – and, moreover, she did this so naturally, without any particular effort. All she had to do was strive towards a conduct that would not dissipate what had purely and simply been conferred upon her by nature.”

* SYCHKOV, FEODOR 1870-1958 Best Friends signed and dated 1938 Oil on canvas, 71 by 92 cm. Authenticity certificate from Vladimir Petrov. The theme of “the friendship of little girls’ hearts”, as the artist described it, was one of the greatest achievements of Feodor Sychkov’s work. He created a whole series of folk images of children that captivate with the spontaneity of feeling and spiritual beauty. Sychkov’s “female friends” are depicted in a variety of settings and pursuits: now sitting on a fence, with a sunflower and a twig in their hands; now leaning against a fence on a winter’s day; now cosily standing shoulder to shoulder, dressed in their national costume; and now hugging one another under a tree in springtime. Village kids adored the artist. As soon as he appeared on the street, a whole horde of children would immediately surround him. For every single one of them the artist had a kind word or a lolly, as well as a minute for a short sketch. The artist’s images of children had already brought him huge popularity by the early 1900s. Unlike many salon artists who would from time to time produce clear fabrications of folk life, Sychkov succeeded in preserving a balance between beauty and reality and in avoiding sentimentality and deception. Critics observed that Sychkov “improved Salon painting by attempting not to depict his ‘girls’ as pretty models, but rather to discern certain character types in them”. His works were highly sought after all over Russia. They were purchased by the intelligentsia, grand princes, rich industrialists, famous collectors (for example, S.M. Tretyakov, brother of the famous founder of the Tretyakov gallery), renowned architects and artists, the imperial court and foreign museums. After the Revolution, Sychkov returned to his native Mordovian village of Kochelayevo, fleeing the turmoil of Petrograd, where his studio had been pillaged. There, he focused fully on portraying children and adolescents, particularly girls. During this period he mainly created versions or copies of his early, pre-Revolutionary works: The Little Friends (1920), Spring (1926), The Holiday (1927), The Holiday. Friends. Winter (1929), and a series of other works. However, even against a background of such benchmark canvases, the work Best Friends (1938) stands out as a clear triumph for the artist in terms of both composition and colour. Two pretty, slightly mischievous girls in their bright shawls and weather-beaten sheepskin coats are standing in the middle of a street as if they have only just torn themselves away from the Maslenitsa festivities in which the rest of their fellow villagers are engaged – those of noisy games, ice skating, and skiing. The girl in the centre in a red dressy shawl, her smiling friend to her left who is tilting her head coquettishly, the crowd of young peasant women in national dress who have poured into the street, and the little lad tottering on skis – everything on the painting captivates with the blossoming vigour of youth and sheer joy of human existence. We see before us the artist’s favourite subjects – strongly built, ruddy, and smiling peasant girls gazing upon the viewer teasingly, with unconcealed curiosity, sincerity and openness. This was Sychkov’s ideal, which may be far from perfect beauty; however, the artist was looking for something else in his models: that internal fire and buoyant love for life that lights up the faces of his heroines with an invariably merry smile. This work reveals the talent of the artist, who as a painter of everyday life of the Russian countryside knew not only how to depict bright folk characters but also how to embody his ideal of national and physical beauty in the images of common rural people. Sychkov preferred to paint Russian villagers during their holidays, and his understanding of the beauty and joyfulness of folk life brings him close to such painters as Bogdanov-Belsky, Surikov, Maliavin and Kustodiev. Each portrait was preceded by a lot of studies. Fellow villagers of Kochelayevo remember how Sychkov’s girl models who were posing for him outside in the freezing cold would have to run into their houses every quarter of an hour to warm their numb hands on the stove and then get back to the artist who would in the meantime be waiting for them impatiently, eager to make use of every minute of a short winter day. As the painting took shape, expressiveness of the sketches which manifested the artist’s delight at engaging with people and places so dear to his heart, would become more subtle and subdued. This impulsiveness and spontaneity in executing a composition which looks so real, truly reveals Sychkov’s talent and artistic distinctiveness. The artist masterfully sculpts the girls’ faces with patches of light and shadow, whereby their images are revealed with a particular reverence. Winter landscape, so skilfully depicted by the artist, also plays a crucial part here. The girls’ images merge harmoniously with the image of Russian winter, with its pure white snow, or bluish shadows cast by the blazing sun. Best Friends is in a sense the creative credo of the artist, who believed that “In life, there must be as much joy as possible. Joy is the sign of happiness of the people. It is the source of liveleness, energy and health. It is the first aide in labour big and small, cure for each ailment and ally in each misfortune.”

BOGOLIUBOV, ALEXEI 1824-1896 Moonlit Night signed and dated 1883 Oil on canvas, 70.5 by 104.5 cm. Authenticity certificate from Vladimir Petrov. Moonlit Night was executed by Bogoliubov in the province of Saratov in the summer of 1883. That year, the artist’s visit to the region in which he had spent his childhood years was connected with a special event: in May in Saratov’s Teatralnaya Square the foundations were laid for the building containing the future Museum of Art, to the preparations for which Bogoliubov had devoted many years. This was to be the first museum in Russia to be open to general public, and the artist had conceived the project in memory of his grandfather, who had been a publicist and intellectual during the reign of Catherine the Great, and the museum was given his name, Radishchev. After the grand ceremonies, to quote Bogoliubov himself, there was nothing for him to do in the city and he and his brother set off into the depths of the province to Kuznetskiy district, where Radishcheva, an aunt of the artist, lived in her own estate. In Bogoliubov’s diary we have a description of this area: “The large garden was somewhat neglected. The apple trees were laden with fruit, and there were abundant clusters of raspberries, and of wild and cultivated strawberries. All kinds of birds, pigs, sheep and turkey hens were running around the yard and escaping into the hemp field, and sometimes even into the threshing machine – an antediluvian contraption which was operated by 10 horses...” From the artist’s home region he brought a large number of Volga land scapes to St Petersburg, and these probably included Moonlit Night. This work, like the recognised masterpieces by Bogoliubov – Moonlit Landscape. The Grand Canal in Venice (The V. Tropinin Museum), Moonlit Seascape (The State Russian Museum), and Summer Night on the Neva (The State Tretyakov Gallery) – was devoted to one of the artist’s favourite themes, the portrayal of night time light effects. However, this time Bogoliubov depicted a typical middle Russian landscape: gently flowing waters between the low banks of the river, bathed in flickering golden moonlight; the soft lines of the river banks and the diffuse subdued lighting, illuminating only the nearest part of a landscape which has been plunged into darkness; homes with twinkling lights in a little village visible in the distance, trees growing along the sloping banks of the river and a horse who has come down to the watering hole. In his quest for a means of conveying quivering air and iridescence of moonlit water, Bogoliubov resorted to a method that utilised the expressive potential of brushwork and texture. Moonlit Night is filled with elusory light shimmering on the mirror-like surface of the river. There is a particular sense of movement in the landscape. This impression is conveyed to the viewer by the uneven, broken brushstrokes that reflect the vibrations of the gentle waves and the vibration of nocturnal air, illuminated by the golden light of the moon. Bogoliubov’s painting methods are close to those of the Impressionists, and his subdued combinations of brown, ochre, and dark green tones not only convey the variety of shades of the earth, water, and sky, but also play an important role in the colour modelling of the various subjects of the artist’s work. Moonlit Night was to prove a landmark on the path of development of Russian plein air painting and the creation of an emotional land scape, which was in Bogoliubov’s creative oeuvre invariably coloured by an awareness of the harmony between nature and human beings content with their own existence on earth.

* LEVITAN, ISAAK 1860-1900 Castle, Version of Castle. Twilight. 1898 signed Oil on card, 17.5 by 22 cm. Provenance: Important private collection, USA. Authenticity has been confirmed by Vladimir Petrov. The unique easel painting Castle is a study for one of the artist’s last major works, The Castle. Twilight, which is currently to be found in the collection of the Lvov State Picture Gallery. Its small “intimate” format has been dictated by the creative credo of the artist, who had a fundamental lack of patience for large scale studies: “…never chase after size when it comes to studies”, he wrote. “In a large study there are more lies, whereas in a small one there are very few indeed, and if you genuinely, seriously feel what you have seen when you were working on the study, the painting itself will also convey a true and complete impression of what has been seen.” In all probability, Levitan, who set high standards for himself, was perfectly content with the composition and colour of Castle. In any case, the artist not only transferred it to a larger canvas without any changes, but also, shortly after the work had been completed, presented Castle. Twilight at the First International Exhibition of the journal Mir iskusstva (The World of Art) for which only the best, “agreed-upon” canvases were carefully selected. This work, which was shown to the public for the first time in 1899, immediately attracted attention and won such plaudits that two years later the organisers of posthumous Levitan exhibition in Moscow decided to include The Castle. Twilight once again. Twilight as a topic suggestive of the end of life purturbed Levitan greatly at the turn of the century. Reflections on the dwindling of life, the implacability of fate and yearning for the beauty of the world which he was about to leave for good – all this was embodied in his works The Last Rays of the Sun (1899, the State Tretyakov Gallery), A Moonlit Night in the Country (1897, the State Russian Museum), Twilight. The Haystacks (1899, the State Tretyakov Gallery), Twilight. The Moon (1899, the State Russian Museum) and Twilight (1900, the State Tretyakov Gallery), many of which have been recognised as genuine masterpieces of Russian painting. They are joined by The Castle. Twilight, which was painted in the summer of 1898 on the estate of Sergei Timofeevich Morozov, which was known as Uspenskoye. The brother of the renowned patron Savva Morozov, Sergei Timofeevich was, according to the recollections of those who knew him, not as expansive as his brother, more refined in his perception, reserved, and loved nature and art. Throughout his life he was a devoted admirer of Levitan, from whom he had taken painting lessons and whom he would from time to time accompany when he was making studies. Sergei Timofeevich created a magnificent art studio in a wing of his Moscow home on Trekhsvyatitelskiy Lane, which became Levitan’s constant refuge during the last eight years of his life. Levitan also made frequent and extended visits to Uspenskoye, where the local scenery inspired him. In the summer of 1897 he painted On the River Moskva there, and, later, most likely in the following year, he created a series of studies which were similar to the present work in terms of their colours, composition, and mood. At Levitan’s invitation, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov made a visit to Uspenskoye on 16 June, 1897. However, Morozov’s castle and the host himself made an unfavourable impression upon the writer, which Chekhov described in characteristically acerbic style: “The other day I was on the estate of the millionaire Morozov. His house is like the Vatican, with lackeys in piqué waistcoats with gold embroidery on the stomach, tasteless furniture, disgusting wine, and a host with a completely expressionless face. I fled”. When Morozov bought the Uspenskoye estate, which was situated along what is now known as the Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway, it was already in its final form. During the time of P.M. Apraksin, the baroque church of Uspeniye Bogoroditsy had already been erected, giving its name to the entire village. Between 1881 and 1884, the architect Pyotr Boitsov built a two-storey brick house for the former owner, Prince B.V. Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskiy, in the “English style” in the form of a “gothic castle” with corresponding internal decoration. In the intentionally heavy and almost coarse decorative elements characteristic of the Victorian neo-gothic style – flanking towers, crucifixes, pointed arches, and other gothic features – it is already possible to discern the elusive asymmetrical compositional harmony that would subsequently evolve into dazzling modernism. It takes one a moment or two to make out the vertiginous roof of the “castle” behind the ancient trees and the path depicted by Levitan that has also grown over. However, on the whole, the appearance of the country estate has not greatly changed. The landscaped park has also been preserved, consisting of a mixture of species of tree that descend towards the Moskva river from the main house situated on the high bank. For Levitan, the last years of his life were a period of intense artistic search. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, impressionism and modernism made an appearance in Russian art. In these years the master’s style becomes more delicate and refined. In a sense, it heralded the work of the Symbolists and the Blue Rose movement. A Moonlit Night. The High Road, Twilight. The Moon, Twilight. The Moon and Twilight. The Haystacks were executed in this style. “No one has achieved the astonishing simplicity and clarity of motifs that Levitan has achieved in recent times, and I do not know whether anyone will achieve it after him”, Chekhov wrote about these works. It is quite obvious that Castle also belongs to these works of the turn of the century. It contains features of both impressionism and modernism (in the style of painting, primarily in the presentation of the foreground, and in the decorative nature of the colours employed). Cold dark green and greyish-blue shades which dominate the palette have been mixed by the artist into a multitude of different hues. The sky and clouds in the background have been executed with delicate, sweeping strokes, and small pinkish red touches have also been introduced. Random application of brush strokes creates the impression of movement, of clouds sailing with the wind. In portraying the house with its outlines melting into the violet gloom, fading away like a ghost in the blue grey night-time mist, which produces the impression of radiating a quiet light, the artist, using apparently simple motifs, has saturated the principal colour planes with a multitude of vibrant, living and breathing hues and achieved an unprecedented level of expression of meditative oneness with “something divine with which everything is filled”, approaching the limits of the possibilities of transference of universal poetic experiences onto canvas in a realistic landscape.

* GUDIASHVILI, LADO 1896-1980 Devi Abducting a Beauty signed in Georgian and dated 1942 Oil on canvas, 100 by 67.5 cm. Authenticity certificate from the House Museum of Lado Gudiashvili, Batumi, Georgia, expert Zaur Tsuladze. Fantasies featuring naked female figures first appeared in Gudiashvili’s work during his years in Paris, where between 1919 and 1925 he honed his skills. This was a time of vigorous growth of modernist trends, and Gudiashvili had a natural inclination towards the decorative and expressive qualities of art of the new age. Following his return to Georgia, the artist strove for some time to become part of the development of Soviet art, giving his decorative talents entirely over to portraying the “New Life” he could see around him. However, from as early as the second half of the 1930s, fantasy and romanticism were taking precedence over “real”, social themes. Inspired by the success of archaeologists who had discovered major sites in the Armazi district in Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Georgia, Gudiashvili immersed himself in the world of his country’s legendary past, and in 1940 painted The Walk of Seraphita, one of his largest works. The name of Seraphita, the daughter of Zevakh, the junior Pitiakhsh (governor) of Tsar Farsman, became famous from an inscription that had been discovered on one of the tombs. And although there was no hint of any specific historical details in the artist’s work, this theme provided great scope for fantasy, and the successes of Soviet science, which was still in its infancy, served as the necessary source of inspiration. Henceforth, Gudiashvili would turn repeatedly to images inspired by the historical past and Georgian folklore, and in fact began to create, year after year, his own mythology based on Georgian themes. During the course of each decade the artist painted an entire series of canvases which represented variations on the theme which was close to his heart from the 1920s onwards, that of “maidens and beasts”. Most notably there is an entire gallery of “devis” – perennial characters of national Georgian folk-tales, good or evil spirits, presented in various guises in the works Devi Abducting a Beauty, Before the Stroll, and The Battle of the Amazonians and the Devi (all painted in 1942), Face to Face (1951), Woman with a Lion (1953) etc. Gudiashvili’s bestiary became more defined and, one might say, more aggressive in its symbolism. In place of the former peaceful idyllic scenes, we are now presented with tempestuous movement: here we have women lost in a dance, rearing horses, masks from national theatrical shows, and magnificent folk-tale garments. In place of the former languorous long figures and faces of whirling maidens, we see the substantial forms of full-blooded lovelies glowing with health. The spiritual aspect recedes into the background, giving precedence to physical beauty, sensuality and the overflowing joy of being alive. Gudiashvili’s style itself and the colours employed by him have also undergone significant changes, one of them being the emergence of thickly applied paint, iridescent colours and a “vibrating” surface, which replaced his former “flat” style. The artist himself acknowledged that these fantastic images brought him closer to the history and traditions of his homeland: “I have thought about this so much that I have at times mentally reconciled the forces of good and evil. This is how, for example, I thought of my large canvas The Wedding of the Devis (The Wedding Procession of the Devis, 1954). In this work the gigantic, bizarre Devis have been presented by me as good creatures. Our national creativity embodies an inexhaustible source of fantasy, and this world never ceases to inspire me. Through my portrayal of Devis, I have first and foremost wished to express the desire for our motherland to be without enemies and for these inimical elements to develop a respectful and caring attitude towards the motherland. They ought to love and value its beauty … they ought to examine their consciences and become forces for good, and they ought to strive not to slight our country even through mere clumsiness. The portrayal of the Devis shows them to be full of good and love for people, and they even befriend people. This, of course, is possibly mere fantasy and is not entirely justified – is even unacceptable and unfeasible – but this is a world of fairy tales and I love it ... women are in fact protagonists in almost all my works, for after all woman is the source of life and goodness, and therefore women have also occupied the loftiest position in painting as a whole. For me women are the crowning glory of nature and the personification of its inexhaustible abundance”.

SEREBRIAKOVA, ZINAIDA 1884-1967 Bathing Nude signed and dated 1927 Pastel and pencil on paper, 47 by 62 cm. Provenance: Private collection, UK. Authenticity has been confirmed by Catherine Boncenne, niece of the artist. Related literature: For similar works, see V. Kruglov, Zinaida Serebriakova, Zolotoi Vek, St Petersburg, 2004. Serebriakova’s lovely pastel Bathing Nude, which she executed in 1927, is one of the earliest in a series of portraits of a young, dreamy model who became the artist’s favourite “life model” between the end of the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s. In Serebriakova’s best works of this period, we time and again encounter this same, invariably pensive girl from a Parisian Russian family. She poses lying serenely on sheets with a red scarf (Nude with a Scarf, 1932); blowing out a candle before going to sleep (Nude with a Candle, 1934); sleeping (Nude, 1927); washing herself in a bath-house, long tresses of hair over her shoulder (The Bathhouse, 1926); and rubbing herself dry and relaxing (Reclining Nude in a Light Cherry Cloak, 1934).The nuances of the way the model is portrayed vary in each case, and some of the works are less finished than others. These variations are determined by the goals Serebriakova set herself in each occasion. For example, the work presented for the auction, similar to Torso for which the same model sat and which is now in the State Russian museum, is one of the more lively and gentle studies. It is executed in pastel, which brilliantly conveys the nuances of air and colour and is so well-suited to the purpose that even the seemingly misplaced strokes of chalk all but enhance the impression of the vibrancy of life. As an artist specialising in life drawing and painting, Serebriakova occupies a special place in the history of the art of her native land. She had no systematic training, but she did possess a natural taste in relation to how to portray a human body. The young artist had her first lessons in the laws of human anatomy during a brief period of study in the school of M.K. Tenisheva and in the studio of O. Braz in St Petersburg. Her education was continued in Paris (1905 to 1906), where she made a detailed study of the Louvre collection and made sketches from works by Brueghel, Watteau, and Fragonard that had made an impression upon her. Serebriakova produced her first “female bathers” in early 1920s, thus laying a foundation to a whole series of works that would bring her international recognition. Following a move to Paris in 1924, Serebriakova revisited her avourite topic and spent quite some time doing life drawing and painting. Thus, she created another version of her renowned work The Bathhouse, featuring the same model that sat for the pastel presented for the auction. However, the artist’s principal achievements between the late 1920s and the 1930s were her studies and her life sketches in pastel and oil, in which Serebriakova refrained from attempting, similar to Kabanel, to transform her life models into abstract “bathers” or heroines of ancient mythology. She filled her albums with entire series of “nudes” lying, sitting, and standing in various poses, drawn with astonishing ease and with a fine understanding of the female body. Serebriakova herself explained her passion for drawing and painting the naked body in a letter which she wrote from Paris to A. Savinov: “I have always had a passion for the theme of the nude, and the subject of The Bathhouse was merely a pretext for this purpose, and you are right that this is ‘simply because a young and clean human body is a nice thing’. At the beginning of my time here, that is from 1922 to 1934, I had a number of acquaintances – nice young Russian girls – who would agree to sit for me. Then they would go off and get married, and after that they would no longer have any time to act as models. I did not have the money to draw and paint professional life models, and I began to content myself with drawing and painting still life instead, and also managed to find some joy of painting in this ‘quiet life’ also …”

HARLAMOFF, ALEXEI 1840-1922 Girl with a Pearl Necklace signed and dated 1881 Oil on canvas, 66 by 51 cm. In the 1870s, alongside works of the domestic genre and portraits, Harlamoff began working on his so-called “heads” and their related genre compositions, which became predominant and now represent the bulk of the artist’s creative legacy. This proved to be an astonishingly lucrative enterprise for the artist, which to a large extent explains why he painted so many of these compositions. It is true that Harlamoff struggled financially during the first few years of his sabbatical. The funds sent to him by the Academy were scarcely enough to support even the most modest lifestyle. Ilya Repin wrote that “The Academy’s scholarships were sufficient to enable the recipients to get to some town or other and then sit there doing nothing in some cheap cramped room”, barely making ends meet. So Harlamoff, to quote Repin, “for two or more years could only afford to dine in cheap eating houses; then, after he received fifteen hundred roubles for a copy, he started painting items for sale for the first time and is now selling little heads ...”. Among the buyers of these “little heads” were members of Russian and European nobility and royals, including Empress Maria Fedorovna and Queen Victoria. Harlamoff ’s early “heads” included his Head of a Gypsy Boy, which was painted before the artist’s trip to Belgium. Subsequently, in the 1870s, after returning to France, he created his Mordovian Girl (the Radishchev Saratov Museum), Little Italian Girl and Gypsy Girl (both held by the State Russian Museum), A Head (Penza Picture Gallery), and Portrait of a Girl (Perm Museum of Art), amongst others. These seem to have been painted by Harlamoff so as to invoke associations with the works of Italian artists of the 17th century. What distinguished Harlamoff ’s “heads” genre from the multitude of other portraits of the same period? One of the artist’s contemporaries wrote that “the head and the study [for the head] are nothing other than ‘uncommissioned’ portraits, portraits under which not only do the first name and surname of the original artist not appear, but we do not have even the inevitable X., N. or Z. The artist executes his head and the study from life in exactly the same way as that in which he paints a portrait from life. However, his choices are not diffident ones, and that is the reason all his heads are beautiful ...” To put it succinctly, this approach provided the artist with a rare opportunity to freely juxtapose his ideal of beauty against real life. The unrivalled master of this genre was considered to be Leon Bonnard, Harlamoff ’s teacher in Paris. However, despite the fact that such works were integral elements of the works of the Paris Salon, only a few artists managed to reach the standard of the master’s work. Harlamoff, who in his works provided his own unique interpretations of the achievements of Russian artists of the first half of the 19th century – most notably Bryullov, Kiprenskiy, and Moller, amongst others – was one such artist. Girl with a Pearl Necklace is one of the artist’s best “heads”. In his delicate, thoughtful image of a young girl, Harlamoff attempts to express certain psychological characteristics. The canvas as a whole contains a brownish “museum-like” colour spectrum; at the same time, however, Harlamoff is not afraid of providing a combination of resonant, “pure” white and red colours in the model’s clothing, and this was characteristic of his work in the late 1870s through early 1880s. The style of her simple dress – a blouse and a sarafan [Russian peasant tunic dress] – creates the impression that there is something Russian about the portrait, despite the fact that the painting was executed in France. The model for Girl with a Pearl Necklace was possibly one of the many female pupils of Pauline Viardot, with whom Harlamoff was very friendly in Paris. In any case, she can by no means be described as incidental to the artist’s work, as we certainly know of a number of works which had as their subject the same model as Girl with a Pearl Necklace. Moreover, one of them – The Girl with Brown Eyes – is virtually an exact copy of the composition of Girl with a Pearl Necklace, with the same angle of the head, the same cloak, and the same hands crossed on the chest. Diverse stylistic trends are interwoven in both of these canvases. Here, as in many of Harlamoff ’s other portraits, we have romantic or even sentimental reminiscences (it was not for nothing that his contemporaries remarked upon their “daydream” origins), features of realism, and, finally, allusions to the paintings of the “old masters”. After all, in the majority of his works Harlamoff continues to be a good colourist and a master who has a marvellous command of painting techniques. According to the recollections of the artist E.K. Liphart, who was one of Harlamoff ’s and Bogoliubov’s friends amongst the community of Russian artists in Paris, “everyone considered it to be an honour to pose for Harlamoff. In his strikingly similar portraits, what was important to him was the overall effect of the painting, and the details did not interest him – for example, if – as a result of being lit from above – an eye appeared to be sunken into the deep shadow of the eye socket, Harlamoff would satisfy himself with a half shadow, which would allow the pupil to be seen together with the vivid expression of the model’s gaze”. It was precisely this intense interweaving of light and shadow, as a contemporary artist noted, that created a certain sense of intrigue and mystery in Girl with a Pearl Necklace.

FILONOV, PAVEL and PORET, ALISA 1883-1941 and 1902-1984 Two Faces Pen and black and red ink on paper, 16.5 by 12 cm. Provenance: The Lothar Bolz collection, Germany. Acquired from the above by the present owner. Private collection, the Netherlands. The selection of drawings being presented at this auction is an important part of Russia’s artistic heritage that is located abroad. The collection was built up in Soviet Russia between the 1930s and the 1960s by a German, Lothar Bolz. He fled from Hitler’s regime and in 1933 moved to Moscow, where he became a lecturer in philosophy and law at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism. As he had for a long time been attracted to the fine arts (which he had studied in Munich in the 1920s) olz became acquainted with many well-known artists and journalists in Moscow, and later they were to become his close friends. Having sufficiently broad options and easily available resources, Bolz showed a preference in particular for collecting drawings, for in these he saw the specific individuality and stylistic variety of Russia’s richly-talented art. When he returned to the German Democratic Republic, Bolz became president of the Russian-German Friendship Federation, and soon after, minister for foreign affairs of the GDR. The current owner of the collection, a friend of Lothar Bolz’s family, obtained the most valuable items in the collection directly from Bolz himself between 1977 and 1986, and later on from his daughter. The main sheets of the collection have been exhibited in many famous Western museums and have frequently been reproduced in well-known exhibition catalogues and in specialised monographs on graphic art. The items in the collection include genuine masterpieces in watercolours and other media that reflect the artist’s true essence, attitude and individuality, and his or her place in the sphere of Russian graphic culture. Leading names include Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Lyubov Popova, Zinaida Serebriakova, Nathan Altman, Alexander Samokhvalov, Alisa Poret, Tatiana Mavrina and other remarkable artists who contributed to the prestige of the Russian artistic school. The value of the current material lies in its varied “applied” tendency. This includes original studies of models from life, plein air landscapes and the traditional book illustrations that are an integral part of easel art. The varying degree of completeness of the works reflects the artists’ stylistic preferences and also the way that they dealt with specific artistic tasks. The famous Kuzma Sergeyevich Petrov-Vodkin is represented by a magnificent watercolour study of a skull painted in 1913. It was at this time that the artist’s style had finally become established, and it defined his personal colouristic preferences and specific utilisation of planes to construct the images in his works. The hard tonal drawing and contiguity of the blotches of colour give this striking work a freshness of perception and exceptional originality. A rare study from life by Lyubov Popova, dated 1915, reflects the artist’s strivings towards expression and constructive generalisation.The minimalist variations on one colour are a device that Popova hardly ever used in her completed works executed in oils. Of great interest are two sheets by Alisa Poret, one of Pavel Filonov’s students and a leading representative of his school. A large number of talented individuals gathered round Filonov, and this led to the creation of one of Russia’s most interesting artistic associations, known to history as the Mastera Analitiches ko go Iskusstva (Masters of Analytical Art). Two Faces and The Bride were created in 1933 based on motifs from the legendary Finno-Karelian epic Kalevala. The Bride was included in a famous edition of the work, now a bibliographical rarity, published in two languages, Finnish and Russian, in 1933 by the Leningrad publishing-house ACADEMIA. There is no doubt that it was Poret herself who produced the actual picture, but the respect that the members of the association had for Filonov was so great that many of his students always associated their own thoughts and actions with the exhortations of their teacher; they defined their own creativity by its close contact with that of Filonov and considered their works to have been produced directly under the master’s guidance. Unlike his Leningrad colleagues Pakhomov and Lebedev, Alexander Samokhvalov turned to book illustrations far less often. However, the beautiful sheet from Saltykov-Schedrin’s The History of One Town shows the artist to be a magnificent master of the form. The characters of the people in the illustration to the story are clearly defined with great humour and taste. The virtuoso control over watercolour techniques lacks any narcissism and is totally subservient to the meaning of the text. Using the works of Gogol, Nathan Altman, another prominent 20th-century Russian artist, anticipated the development of the post-avant-garde mystical and romantic trend in book illustration that was seized upon and modified by Mikhail Chemiakin at the end of the 1960s. Without exception, each of the works from the collection of Lothar Bolz is valuable in its own right, and they represent a unique exposition reflecting as a whole the many trends and developments in XX century Russian and Soviet graphic art.

KHARITONOV, ALEKSANDR 1932-1993 The White King signed with initials and dated 1963, also titled in Cyrillic on the reverse Oil on canvas, 63.5 by 46.5 cm. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the father of the present owner. Thence by descent. Private collection, Germany. Authenticity has been confirmed by Tatiana Sokolova-Kharitonova, the widow of the artist. Exhibited: GorKom of Graphic Artists, Malaya Gruzinskaya Street, Moscow, 1970s. The White King, which was painted in 1963, is one of Kharitonov’s few early works. It is hard to say exactly what evokes the grotesque image of the distant romantic country. Does it reflect numerous literary references or was it influenced by the War of Roses? Is it the enthusiasm for Symbolist poets, or perhaps the famous 1963 match between the chess kings Fischer and Benko? The world on the canvas, made up of the most delicate brush strokes, flickering with light, which became a distinctive feature of Kharitonov’s artistic technique, is not simply bright and festive. It verges on a fairytale fantasy. The inhabitants of a magical country stroll around an enchanted park, amidst minute houses, immense trees and statues of knights; there are maidens, both semi-naked and clad in 19th-century costume, a girl with a little flag, and a pensive gentleman. This magical world exists, uninterrupted: in one house, a wise man is reading a book, while his female neighbour is busily doing her laundry. Is this reality or simply the dream of the young king seated in the armchair beneath a canopy? On this canvas, everything seems to be a blissful dream; both The White King, with his eyes closed and his golden hair gleaming, and his enchanted land, are seemingly bewitched by the prick of a magic spindle. The picture does not merely record the bright, romantic attitude of the artist, who had, at that point, already reached his artistic maturity, but it also gives glimpses as to the future direction of Kharitonov’s search for forms and subjects. The White King represents, in a sense, the credo of the young artist, whose nonconformism has, by that moment, become his existential position, connected to the category of the spiritual, and to the tradition of the so-called “metaphysical” underground, rather than to any politicised dissident movements. The redeeming feature of Kharitonov’s artistic metaphysics, despite their apparent simplicity, is a contemplative sincerity. The refinement of the alien characters and the conventionality exuded by the magical land conceal both the conscious artistic escapism of one of the most important figures in Moscow’s “unofficial art” and an interest – typical of the period of the “Thaw” – in religious philosophy and the legacy of the Symbolists of the beginning of the 20th century. This canvas reveals to the fullest possible extent the tendency which Tatiana Sokolova-Kharitonova, the artist’s widow and renowned expert on Kharitonov, refers to as “the mysterious world of philosophical pictures”.

* § TSELKOV, OLEG B. 1934 Smoker signed, titled in Cyrillic and dated 1969 on the reverse Oil on canvas, laid on panel, 100 by 152.5 cm. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner. Private collection, USA. Authenticity has been confirmed by the artist. Literature: Oleg Tselkov, Le Grandi Monographie, Turin, Fabbri Editori, 1988, p. 67, illustrated. Roger Pierre Turine, Oleg Tselkov, Bonfi, Moscow, 2002, p. 33, illustrated. Related literature: For similar works, see Roger Pierre Turine, Oleg Tselkov, Bonfi, Moscow, 2002. The image of the “pipe smoker” became one of the most important in Tselkov’s creative oeuvre during the second half of the 1960s. Evolving from the still life of 1964, in which a grey, large-toothed face, two long smoking pipes and a burning candle form the traditional vanitas composition, evocative of the “nature morte” of African totems and of ancient Latin American art, to the self portrait of 1969, and the suite which is made up of several impressive compositions of the same name, the image of “the smoker” grows, not only in relation to scale, but also in terms of meaning. This represents one of the allusions, which can occasionally be found in Tselkov’s works, to classical museum art - “the smokers”, a popular subject for painters, beginning with the Dutch and Flemish school of the 17th century, and continuing up to the time of Cezanne and Gris that became the darlings of the 20th century. Yet, Tselkov’s smoking monsters are merely a fragment of a classical painting, the spatial and compositional structure of which, containing references to well known iconographic motifs and traditional subjects, is merely a trick, a theatrical effect, designed to emphasise the alien nature of Tselkov’s world. Before us we do not see real people, whether in the form of a self-portrait of the artist or a canvas presented at the auction, but a world of simulacrums, in which genuine existence is wholly impossible. There is, therefore, no visible distinction between the genuine and the surrogate, nor is there any real difference between the mask and the face. The large toothed and toothless “Tselkov mugs”, which have been painted in the traditional palette of various shades of red, apathetically and, for no apparent reason, inhale and exhale clouds of grey and violet smoke. This smoke has poisoned everything that surrounds them: the yellow featureless towns and the spatial dimensions of life, squeezed into a frame and suspended by a nail. At the same time, Tselkov’s works contain no hint of the pathos of a Soviet poster calling for the battle for a better world; rather, what is at issue here is the metaphysical death of modern man and his urban world, in which, to use the words of the artist himself, no trace of “the face of god” remains. A student of the legendary theatre designer Nikolai Akimov, from his early days Tselkov was fascinated by experimenting with the “Jack of Diamonds” style of painting. However, the artist’s present-day fame has come about thanks to his so called “ugly mugs”: his bright, almost surrealistic canvases depicting round-headed creatures, which resemble humans with flabby bodies, blank eyes and large, glossy mask-like faces. Painted in bright, sparkling colours, usually against a black background, these “poster-like” garish images became a popular symbol in the West, as early as the 1970s, of the Soviet artistic underground: a caricature, in a sense, of Homo Soveticus. Tselkov himself stated that “I painted a portrait, so to speak; not a portrait of any individual subject, but, rather, a universal portrait of every human being, synthesised into one face, and one which is horribly familiar… This face is the face of modern humanity as a whole. I did not set myself the task of ‘ripping off the mask’: rather, I saw neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’, but something which was more real, more than skin-deep. And it is what we all are under the skin that brings all of us closer together. I cannot make any specific accusations against any particular person, but I am making more than a specific accusation against the large numbers of people who degrade one another, torment one another, and do away with one another. I am entitled to make such charges in relation to the past, the present and the future …” Tselkov was forced to leave for the West in 1977, where his work was compared to that of Fernand Leger, Francis Bacon and Fernando Botero, and occasionally to the later work of Kazimir Malevitch. As a result of Dovlatov’s famous story, the artist himself became a semi-mythical hero of underground art. Since that time, Tselkov’s works have found their way into museum collections on both sides of the Atlantic; as well as into public and private collections in Russia, the United States, France and Japan. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held in the Russian Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery, and the value of the artist’s works has risen in proportion to the increasing size of the paintings, which between the 1980s and 1990s, reached truly gigantic, mural-like dimensions.

ATTRIBUTED TO GIOVANNI JEAN SCHRANZ (MALTESE 1794-1882), H.M.S TRAFALGAR AT THE ENTRANCE TO VALETTA HARBOUR, Inscribed on a contemporary label verso `To Vice Admiral Fanshaw K.C.B - A souvenir from Mr & Mrs Tagliaferro, Malta, May 186...` oil on board, 23cm x 31cm (9in x 12in). Note:Arthur Fanshawe was born in 1794 the third and youngest son of Captain Robert Fanshawe, Resident Commissioner of Plymouth Dockyard. Fanshawe joined the Navy aged 10 and was made Captain by the time he was 22. After a rapid rise through the ranks and time spent in the Eastern Mediterranean, off West Africa and in North America and the West Indies Fanshawe was made Vice-Admiral in 1857 and from 1858 to 1860 he was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in the Flagship Marlborough. In 1860 Fanshawe returned to Britain as Commander-in-Chief at Devonport. He was made Admiral in 1862 and died in 1864 aged 70 after 60 years in the Navy. The donor of the painting was probably Biagio Tagliaferro, one of the principal merchants in Malta and President of The Malta Bank, although Giacinto Tagliaferro who owned a Maritime Insurance Company remains a possibilty. We are grateful to Albert Ganado for his help in the preparation of this entry.

SIR JOHN LAVERY R.A., R.S.A., R.H.A., H.R.O.I., L.L.B (IRISH 1856-1941), HALF LENGTH PORTRAIT OF BETTY, Signed, inscribed verso `To Betty with `The President`s` compliments and good wishes`, S.Cromwell Rd, Sept. 1910, oil on canvas, 60cm x 41cm (23.5in x 16in). Exhibited:London, Goupil Gallery, Oil Paintings by John Lavery RSA, RHA, 1908, no 10 (?) as Betty. Note:Lavery would often begin a portrait by working on a small scale - experimenting with poses and colour schemes. On occasions he also produced a swift head study to familiarize himself with a sitter`s features. Long experience had taught him to act quickly if he wished to capture the essence of a personality. In an age when high aesthetic value was placed upon the fleeting glimpse, he was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sargent, Blanche and Boldini, the masters of what Sickert dubbed `wriggle and chiffon` painting. There is however, no coy `come hither` posturing in the present study of a woman who holds the painter`s eye with calm concentration. Delicate modelling of the eyes and mouth is complemented by staccato notation of the sitter`s dress and lace collar. Unfailingly generous, Lavery would frequently present his sketches to friends, clients and sitters, often inscribed on the reverse with personal dedications, as mementoes of what were sometimes chaotic experiences. The painter`s busy work room, if RB Cunninghame Graham is to be believed, was sometimes filled with animated chatter `… scents, noise, confusion …` as dealers, framers, friends and fellow artists came and went. With his model posed on a dais, or `throne`, Lavery practiced his craft oblivious to the throng. In the present case, both the identity of the sitter and the meaning of the inscription remain obscure. One other portrait of this particular model is known, primarily from Walter Shaw Sparrow`s monograph on the painter. Up to this point, it has been assumed that this picture, Betty - A Portrait Study, was that shown at the Goupil Gallery in 1908. However with the appearance of the newly discovered Betty, this must now be questioned. An extensive search of the portraits of the period has yet to tell us with certainty who she was. It is possible that she too was a painter - Betty Fagan, an artist who exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters of which Lavery was a prominent member. In May 1910 he had hosted the society`s council meeting in his studio at 5 Cromwell Place, when JJ Shannon was voted in as its new president. It is possible that, despite his reluctance, Betty Fagan had been campaigning on Lavery`s behalf. He was currently the subject of a major retrospective at the 1910 Venice Biennale and had been collecting international honours for a number of years and since 1902, a campaign had been waged in the press to secure his admission to the Royal Academy. Although he was not immune to flattery, it is unlikely that a presidency would have appealed to him at this point. In 1910, Lavery`s reputation abroad was greater than that at home. Prominent sitters` commissioned portraits were clearly named and accounted for in exhibition reviews. Models and friends, `Mary`, `Idonea`, `Phyllis` and in this instance, `Betty`, are often only identified by a single Christian name. Dropping into the studio they were seized from the melée, placed on the `throne` and painted. We are grateful to Dr Kenneth MConkey for his help in the preparation of this entry.

Philip Wickstead (died circa 1790) A portrait of the family of James Henry of Jamaica (1732-1787) and his wife Elizabeth née Jones their six children James John William Edward Elizabeth and Josiah their maternal grandmother Catherine Jones and their tutor All full length seated in an interior a view of their estate called Southfield in St Ann’s Bay Jamaica beyond Oil on canvas in the original 18th Century Jamaican frame 123 x 99cm; 44½ x 39in This impressive family group is undoubtedly one of the most elaborate works that Wickstead produced in his career and certainly one of only a few on this scale to have survived from his time in Jamaica. He was there for 17 years and unfortunately much of his work from this time was destroyed in the great hurricane of 1780. It has been in the collection of the Henry family and their descendants since it was painted. Wickstead trained under Zoffany however his work is closer in style to that of Arthur Devis who also specialised in the conversation piece and who often depicted similar slim elegant sitters. He went out to Jamaica in 1773 with the landscape painter George Robertson under the patronage of William Beckford of Somerley who owned large sugar plantations in Westmoreland Parish. He stayed in Jamaica for the rest of his life and in the 1780’s after a failed attempt at being a planter he took to drink and died around 1790. The Henry’s were Lowland Scots who became prosperous merchants. After the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745/6 James Henry a surgeon and physician by training depicted on the right of the picture set out for the New World. He is recorded as living in Jamaica by 1767. He married the daughter of a wealthy widow and he accumulated considerable wealth. His eldest son James Henry shown seated at the left hand end of the table was a Captain in the St. Ann’s Militia Regiment at the time of his father’s death in 1787. He was the only one of the four brothers to marry and produce heirs and it is through his line that the picture has been passed down through the generations. Provenance: James Henry (1732-1787) James Henry (1765-1807) James Henry (1802-1877) James Henry (1836-1916) Elsie Beatrice Sharp neé Henry 1879-1952) Basil Telford Sharp (1917-1988) who gave it to the present owner a direct descendant of the Henry family ++In good condition

A hoof inkwell `In memory of The Sailor who was killed at the Liverpool Grand Steeple Chase` March 1848.

A scarce North West Frontier I.D.S.M. and Second World War B.E.M. pair awarded to Havildar Munshi Ram, 2-2 Punjab Regiment, the latter award for services whilst a prisoner of war of the Japanese Indian Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (0135 L-Naik Munshi Ram, 2-2 Punjab R.) complete with top suspension brooch; British Empire Medal, (Military) G.VI.R., 1st issue (10135 Havildar Munshi Ram, I.D.S.M. I.A.) very fine and better (2) £1200-1500 I.D.S.M. Gazette of India 29 May 1937: For services rendered during the Waziristan operations in April 1937. The 2-2nd Punjab Regiment attacked high ground on the south bank of the Khaisora River, and this was taken without loss. But as the battalion withdrew and descended it was attacked by some three to four thousand tribesmen. Several men were wounded and a counter-attack was organised to rescue them. The regimental history records: ...the I.D.S.M. was awarded to Lance-Naik Munshi Ram for carrying back a badly wounded man unaided and under heavy fire. B.E.M. London Gazette 25 September 1947: For gallant and distinguished services whilst Prisoners of War in the Far East. The recommendation states: 10135 Havildar Munshi Ram, I.D.S.M., 5th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment. His outstanding conduct as P.O.W. in Japanese hands was his steadfast loyalty at a time when the majority of his class (Dogras) had gone over to the I.N.A. Despite moral and physical coercion by members of his caste in the I.N.A., especially one Subedar Sant Ram, a prominent member of that Movement who threatened him with death and caused heavy punishment to be inflicted upon him, he not only remained loyal but aggressively resisted the Movement. His example influenced the few Dogras in his own Battalion, and in other units, in remaining loyal and maintaining their morale and discipline. Musselmans would acclaim an award for his loyal services. Munshi Ram was a Dogra Rajput from the village of Rakkar, Dera Gopi Pur, in Kangra district.