Archive for the ‘Arts items’ Category
The Four Seasons
Group of four « biscuits » depicting the four seasons.
Two young maiden embody Spring and Summer as two young boys are the metaphors for Fall and Winter.
Spring is holding a swirl of flowers, Summer is adorned with wheat cobs, Fall is eating grapes and Winter is taking shelter from the wind in a cloak.
These four « biscuits » have been made after the model of the Four Seasons by Camillo Rusconi of 1710, the originals are kept at the Windsor Castle.
Period : Doccia, around 1760-1770
Attributed to Gaspero Bruschi, active in Doccia between 1737 and 1778.
Marks : 93 incised under the Winter biscuit
63 incised under the Summer one
GB incised under the Summer one (probably standing for Gaspero Bruschi)
Dimensions : Height 20 in.
Pair of celadon pots with a bronze mounting
Pair of pots mounted on bronze .
The China porcelain shafts are covered with pale green celadon. Patterns are carved and made of landscapes , trees and dwellings.
Their chiselled and gilded bronze mounts consist of a base, a collar and of two amounts supporting the handles. The patterns are delicately chiselled in old men masks, sunflowers and godroons.
Period : Beginning of the XVIII° century, around 1710 for the bronze mounting.
Porcelain : China, Kangxi (1684-1725)- with one mark un der a bucket
Condition : Very fine condition, with just a firing crack at the bottom of one pot.
Dimensions :
Height 7 in.
Diameter 7 in.
Swiss night light clock
A night light clock in chiselled and gilded bronze.
It stands on a violet wood silk finished platted pedestal.
Open work, time runs from right to left.
The legs can be parted from the base and for travel accommodation they can be tucked under.
It chimes hours, and alarm clock and repeats the alarm.
The alarm-clock time can be set on the dial: it can be triggered by a spindle placed next to the wished hour.
A place on the top of the box is made to put a candle, allowing night reading
Period : Switzerland, First half of the XVIII° century
Bibliography :
• La pendule française, P. Kjellberg, reproduction of a similar model p. 152, Fig. A.
• La pendule française, Tardy, 1949, reproduction of a model in the same spirit, Tome III, p. 822, Fig. 1.
Dimensions :
Height 1 ft 5 1/3 in.
Width 8 in.
Depth 8 in.
Pair of Viennese bottle-coolers
Two Viennese bottle-coolers in silver and blue glass ornated with bay friezes and bay swirls and fleurs de lys too.
The handles are decorated with knotted rushes.
The belly is slatted with small spaces.
The containers are made of faceted and chiseled blue glass.
Period : Vienna, 1775.
Silversmith : Ignaz Krautauer, Master in Vienna in 1771
Signed « « IGN KRAUTAUER INV. ET FEC VIENNAE 1775 » on the small pedestal.
Dimensions : Height. 24 cm. 9 ½ in.
Width. 29 cm. 11 ½ in.
Andiron
Andiron in polished bronze and gilded bronze, with a fine decoration of lion masks, swan heads, pine cones, …
Period: Empire
Size:
Height 33 cm 13 in
Width 99 cm 39 in
Pair of marble vases
A pair of egg-shaped vases in African breccia marble mounted in bronze. A fine ormolu ornamentation, such as the handles, Bacchus masks supporting a chain and the cover decorated with foliage. The vases stand on a square ormolu base and piedouche.
Period: late 18th century
Size:
Height 51.5 cm. 20 1/4 in.
Width 27 cm. 10 5/8 in.
Chinese set mounted in bronze
Period : Louis XVI, circa 1770
Bronzesmith : attributed to Jean Charles Delafosse (1734-1789)
Provenance : Etienne Levy Collection
Bibliography : F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, Vol. II, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a similar vase is reproduced on page 483, n° 272, A and B.
Size :
Middle vase: Height: 27 cm
Width: 18 cm
Side vases Height: 25 cm
Width: 9.5 cm
Chinise set mounted in Bronze (suite)
A set consisting of three oviform vases in Chinese porcelain, with a red ground and gold highlights, and gilded and chiselled bronze.
The middle vase is decorated with houses arranged in a landscape. The neck is highlighted with aquatic leaves topped by a striated band. The handles are formed of Greek friezes linked together by a big garland of entwined laurels, and joined to the bottom part to form the feet, which are also embellished with palmettes.
The two smaller vases are accentuated by a decoration of peonies surrounded by foliage. The neck, in gilded bronze, is adorned with gadroons and has rings holding a chain. The handles represent masks of old men. The circular piedouche is finely fluted and bordered by rinceaux. The base has hollowed-out sides and is embellihed with striated plaques.
A pair of vases similar to the middle one belongs to the Wrightsman Collection.
Pendule squelette
A console and mirror in brass and ebony marquetry, chiseled and gilded bronze, amethyst and carnelian, bearing the monogram of the Duc Ferdinand-Philipe d’Orléans (1810-1842).
The marquetry consists of brass and pewter on an ebony ground, decorated with scrolls and volutes of acanthus leaves.
The back of the console has a raised medallion in the middle repeating the general decoration.
The base is made of ebony veneer.
Carnelian beads and amethyst cabochons form part of the decoration.
The ormolu ornamentation includes animal masks, cord-like friezes, beads and frames.
The top is in green marble with white veins.
The console and mirror bear the monogram of the Duc d’Orleans, surmounted by the ducal crown held by two cherubs.
Period: Paris, circa 1835-1839
Attributed to Louis-Alexandre Bellangé (born after 1797)
The Duc Ferdinand-Philipe d’Orléans (1810-1842)
The Duc Ferdinand-Philipe d’Orléans, a royal prince and the eldest son of Louis-Philippe, lived in the Pavillon de Marsan at the Tuileries Palace. Constantly in search of the best artistic achievements, the Duke actively involved the Bellangé family in the vast programme to redecorate the Tuileries between 1834 and 1840. The Duc bought several pieces of furniture made by Louis-Alexandre Bellangé at the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie in 1834 and 1839.
The Duke died at the age of 32 in an accident with his barouche.
Console:
Height 99 cm. 3 ft 3 in.
Width 127 cm. 4 ft 2 in.
Depth 56 cm. 1 ft 10 in.
Mirror:
Height 166 cm. 5 ft 3 in.
Width 121 cm. 3 ft 11 ½ in.
German mirror in polychrome lacquer
A large rectangular mirror in lacquer, with a pediment decorated with scenes of Japanese inspiration. It is decorated with garlands, birds, figures, grid patterns and reserves in red and gold lacquer on a black and blue-green background.
The pediment is topped by a shell in the middle, with a reserve beneath it portraying a scene of musicians. The corners are adorned with arabesques and grid patterns.
Period: Berlin, circa 1725
Attributed to the circles of Gerhard Dagly (active in Berlin until 1713)
Gerhard Dagly became famous around the 1680s as the Kammerkünstler of Frederick William, Prince Elector of Brandenburg (died in 1715).
Dagly became the Intendant of Ornaments at the court of Frederick III, Prince Elector of Brandenbourg, who subsequently became Frederick Ist of Prussia.
Gerhard Dagly and his brother Jacques supplied Frederick 1st and his court with furniture of an outstanding quality reflecting the prevailing taste for the Japanese style.
GERMAN MIRROR IN POLYCHROME LACQUER (contd)
Bibliography:
• W. Holzhausen , Lackkunst in Europa, Munich, 1982, pp. 198-199, fig. 146-147, illustrates a jardinière by Gerhard Dagly decorated in the same spirit.
• H. Huth, Lacquer Work by Gerhard Dagly, Connoisseur, vol.95, 1935, p. 14)
Size:
Height 165 cm. 65 in.
Width 109 cm. 43 in.
Pair of colonnes from Sarreguemines
A big pair of columns in ceramic imitating porphyre, mounted in ormolu and standing on a green marble base.
Period: Empire, circa 1813
Manufacture: Fabry et Utzschneider et Compagnie, Sarreguemines, awarded the Gold Medal at the Salon des Produits de l’Industrie in 1809.
Bronze caster:
Pierre-Maximilien Delafontaine (1777-1860)
Stamps: Sarreguemines
Size:
Height 210 cm. 6 ft 10 ¾ in.
Width 35.5 cm. 1 ft 2 in.
Pair of columns from Sarreguemines (contd)
Each column is composed of a base in veined green marble and five ceramic elements joined together by a steel rod. The top is surmounted by a Medicis vase.
A pair of similar columns was offered by the city of Dieppe to Empress Josephine and is now in the Marmottan Museum in Paris. Two pairs can be seen in the Château de Fontainebleau, two pairs at the Palazzo Reale in Naples and others at the cathedral of Trier (Germany).
A similar pair, with basins, is in the Grand Salon of the Palais de l’Elysée on the ground floor, echoing two Sarreguemines vases made with the same technique.
Bibliography:
Dossier de l’Art N° 23, L’Elysée, Histoire et Décors depuis 1720, April/May 1995, p. 71.
Paul Utzschneider
In 1800 Nicolas Jacoby sold his shares of the company to Joseph Fabry and to Paul Utzschneider, a Bavarian who had settled in Strasbourg. An excellent ceramist, he introduced to Sarreguemines techniques that he had observed in England during a study trip. His production attracted attention at national exhibitions where he won numerous gold medals. His stoneware, imitating hard stone, was appreciated by Emperor Napoleon 1st who ordered 22 vases and eight pairs of columns of two different models in 1812.
Fine polished stoneware
Stoneware is a hard paste ceramic fired at a high temperature (1200/1300°), during which it undergoes natural vitrification. The paste is composed of a mixture of clay and sand.
Experiments on the technique of fine polished stoneware were conducted towards 1800.
It imitates hard stones, such as jasper, porphyre and marble.
This type of production was very expensive and was therefore
Bust of Minerva
A bust of Minerva in agate, onyx and gilded repoussé brass. The helmet is decorated with wings in blued steel and surmounted by a winged sphinx. The breastplate is decorated with a Medusa mask. It stands on a rectangular base.
Period : Reutlingen, 1887-1891
Sculptor : Wilhelm Schmidt (1842-1922)
Signature : W. Schmidt
Provenance :
probably the Universal Exhibition of Munich in 1892
Size :
Height: 34 cm 13 1/2 in