18th Century and Earlier Decorative Objects

18th Century Irish mahogany oval brass-bound jardiniere with lion mask handles. The planter sits on four cabriole legs featuring carved shell design to the knees and terminating on s...

Beautiful 'chickens and flowers' painted familie rose/verte ceramic ewer from Qing dynasty. Excavated from cargo underwater. Period : Qing Dynasty, Kangxi-Yongzheng Period Productio...

A very nicely made piece of 18th century. Amsterdam Bont porcelain decorated with Flowers. Underglaze blue and overglaze other enamels. We take a look at Amsterdams Bont porcelain from China. A relatively unknown niche of Chinese porcelain from ca 1680-1740 that was partly decorated in Europe. Because mainstream Chinese collectors have yet to discover the historical significance of these wares they are relatively easy to find in Holland. While also being highly interesting and of often super quality and with an amazing array of decorations. Amsterdams Bont is a name given to porcelain partly decorated in the Netherlands (most likely in cities like Delft, Haarlem, Makkum). Because Amsterdam was at this moment in time the trade centre of the western world and also of the porcelain trade a lot of this over enamelling was probably commissioned by Amsterdam merchants, to reap higher profits on otherwise boring Chinese wares. The name Amsterdam Bont probably derives from the fact that these type of decorated ware was sold by Amsterdam Merchants. Amsterdam Bont consists of either blanc or under glaze blue decorated Chinese porcelain of basic quality, that was later enhanced with red and sometimes other colours in the Netherlands. It must not be mistaken for other type of Chinese & Japanese blanc wares decorated in Europe. Those we simply call European Decorated Chinese porcelain. Amsterdam Bont really is easily recognisable by its colour and style. An interesting side note is that a similar process of overdecorating with red was done in London in more or less the same colours. Method of manufacturing. This enhancemend was done on “petit feux” or small fire at a lower temperature. This technique of baking enamels on a lower temperature that was perfected in the Delft around 1670-1680 to compete with the colourfull Japanese porcelain of the time. At the turn of the 17th c Chinese porcelain...

An Unusual and Rare English ‘Memento Mori’ Carved Shrine with Two Human Skulls to the underside, a carved ‘Dragonfly’ Marble 16th / 17th Century England Size: 36cm high, 28cm w...

Sevres (French, founded 1756), marked for 1770. An antique French porcelain urn or vase decorated with a green porcelain base, white ground windows featuring heavy floral decorations and separated by fine gold bead work. The top with gold swag motifs and linear scalloping encompassing the entire piece. The bottom marked for Sevres 1770. Provenance: From the Estate of a prominent Concord MA...

Good collection of English and Scottish horn spoons, 18th and 19th Century, of various shapes, colors and sizes. size listed below is approximate/average

Stunning period piece. Baroque angel with candleholder. Beautiful weathered old gilding France, circa 1750. Weathered, old repairs and losses. H:41cm W:29cm D:11cm

RARE 18th century hand turned burl wood bowl from the early period of the American Colonies, soon after to be known as the United States of America. This is a wonderful piece of Ame...

A very nicely decorated Late Ming Blue and White Porcelain Dish with a landscape scene situated in two concentric circles with Ducks/Geese under a pine tree in a mountainious landsca...

Unusual late 18th century patinated and gilt bronze girandole form clock. Two removable arms with different branch and leaf form motif, thistle and rose stems. Crystal drops surrounding center fluted column. Clock with gilt dial set in rotating frame mount. Movement signed James Stoddart...

Very happy with the arrival of this larger sized dish from the later 18th century. These dishes were made for the South-East Asian market and are usually very colorful. We have had m...

A very nice Ko-Kutani Plate. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Region of Origin: Japan Period: 17th century Age: Pre-1800 Condition: Overall Condition Very good,...

A very nicely decorated kosometsuke plate with a lovely scene of a fisherman. Ko-sometsuke Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Region of Origin: China Period: 17t...

A very nicely decorated plate with beautiful Green Glaze and a carved underglaze scene of a Duck/Goose in a pond. Dated to the late Ming or transitional period. The back without dec...

An unusual blacknite quartz cluster specimen with covelline and bornite from Ambositra, Madagascar, presented on one of our museum-quality painted plaster bases. This striking and un...

This piece as a hot water serving charger, 18th century, Qing period. We all know the hot water dishes but a piece of this size is unique in the history of our company. The idea is t...

Lovely and unusual dish which we never encountered before. It is most probably second half of the 17th century Ming period/Transitional period. It has a leaf scene on the left and an...

A very lovely and richly decorated Multicolored Lidded Bowl with Dish. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Color: Imari Region of Origin: Japan Period: 18th centur...

Two Fine ‘Kunstkammer’ Candlesticks Agate, Glass, Fire-gilt Bronze mounts Dresden, Germany 17th Century Size: 16cm high - 6¼ ins high Provenance: Ex Kugel Galerie, Paris, France E...

Wood carving of a saint (Peter)with a lot of original paint and gilding size 70cms high 27 wide and 20deep

A large pyrite cluster specimen originating from Peru, displayed on one of our exclusive museum-quality painted plaster bases. Naturally formed over millions of years, this huge pyr...

A collection of 6 natural, native copper specimens, each presented on an exclusive small wooden display base. Ex. private British collection, this group includes a range of superb s...

Important “Salvator Rosa” gilded frame late 17th Century Frame with three rows of carvings Original gilding Central Italy Internal measurements Every item of our Gallery, upon ...

Beautiful Baroque angel-wing. Rare and very decorative item placed on a wooden base, Italy, circa 1750. Weathered. Measurement is inclusive the wooden base. H:27,5cm W:23cm D:5,5cm

Very old and beautiful hand forged iron candleholder. Amazing period piece with a very pure and rustic design. Despite of its high age this candleholder is still very strong. France...

An 18th century Italian carved wood and gilded, sitting robed saint with glass eyes. One hand missing otherwise and very good condition, no shrinking cracks or losses to lacquer. Can...

Large rare vase painted with petal-shaped panels of 'Landscapes and Flowers' pattern. Period : Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period Production Date : 1690-1699 Made in : Jingdezhen Destinati...

Splendid sculpture in white Carrara marble depicting a young Hercules holding the world. Originally, the work was conceived to be used as a caryatid at the beginning of a sumptuous m...

Beautiful weathered oak panel depicting a baroque angel on an acanthus curl. Weathered and small losses, most likely it was once part of a larger panel. France circa 1750. treated ag...

This is a very huge Pottery vase made in Japan. In Japan, it is called "Tokoname ware". This Pottery Vase is from the early Edo period (1700s-1750s). The distorted shape made by han...

COUNTER CASH Indo-Portuguese from the 17th century in ebony rosewood and ivory. Top, sides and front decorated with ivory inlay. Folding top showing factory with six drawers and ...

Extremely old and beautiful weathered oak box . Several old repairs that only add to the charm. Rare find. France, circa 1600-1700 Weathered, small losses and old repairs. H:14,5cm ...

Exceptionally Fine Wooden Sarcophagus Mask Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, circa 1069-945 BC. Acacia wood, rosewood, hippopotamus ivory Masterfully carved from a single piece of fine-grained hardwood, the present mask is characteristic of the most exquisite funerary art made during the 21st Dynasty, and was probably commissioned for a particularly high-ranking individual. The oval face displays a gently smiling mouth with full, outlined lips, furrows at the corners and a bow-shaped philtrum. The straight nose with rounded nostrils, the cheeks full and fleshy and the large, almond shaped eyes with heavy lids and tapering cosmetic lines, set below long, sweeping eyebrows. Social collapse across the Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age meant that the 21st Dynasty in Egypt was a period of great turmoil. Trade routes were disrupted, governments collapsed, and mass migration occurred. Economic scarcity meant that traditional funerary practices in Egypt were also affected, with a lack of material and financial resources leading to the reuse of preexisting material. As a result, during the 21st Dynasty, 19th and 20th Dynasty coffins changed ownership rapidly and were heavily recycled for new purposes. Tombs were also unmarked allowing them to be shared by many people. These new practices brought forth a shift in the understanding of funerary paraphernalia. No longer important objects owned forever by the deceased, they were now simply seen as short-term transformative devices, whose symbolic and ritualistic meaning could be appropriated for others. However, paradoxically, the art of coffin-making also reached new heights during this period, and many of the richly dec- orated “yellow” coffins, characteristic of the 21st Dynasty, are remarkable works of art in their own right. Indeed, knowing that coffins were being reused throughout Egypt, the Egyptian élite set themself apart by commissioning lavish sarcophagi decorated with the images and texts meant to help guide them to the afterlife, and which would otherwise have adorned the tomb walls. As coffins were the chief funerary element which now identified the dead and allowed them a physical presence in the world of the living, their quality and appearance were of the utmost importance. The traditional coffin ensemble was made of three parts: a wooden mummy cover, which laid directly atop the mummy, an inner coffin, and an outer coffin, both made of a lid and case. Additional decorative elements, such as masks, were carved out separately and later glued or pegged to the lids. After the completion of the painted decoration, the sarcophagus was covered in a varnish to give it its yellow colour. Gilding was sometimes used for the coffins of the high priests’ families, notably on parts representing naked skin, such as the face mask. However, some of the élite tactically avoided gilding altogether as to ensure that their coffin would not be looted. When manufacturing the inner and outer coffins, particular attention was paid to the woodwork. Displaying the skill of the carpenter, this type of funerary art has largely remained unparalleled throughout Egyptian history. The principal wood used to craft the present mask is Acacia nilotica. The evergreen Egyptian acacia was considered sacred and said to be the tree of life, the birthplace of the god Horus, as well as symbolic of Osiris, the god of the dead and resurrection. The modelling of the face in the wood is superb, but the inlays also help mark this mask out as exceptional. Inlaid eyes and eyebrows were extremely rare and reserved to the finest and most expensive coffins. Traditionally, eyes were made of calcite, obsidian, or quartz, and eyebrows of coloured glass paste or bronze. Here, the pupils, eyebrows, and cosmetic lines are inlaid with Dalbergia melanoxylon, a rare type of wood which belongs to the rosewood genus. In antiquity, however, it was known as Ebony of the Pharaohs, from the Egyptian word “hbny”, meaning dark timber, because of its black, lustrous appearance. An extremely dense and hard wood requiring significant skill to work with, ebony was a luxury material highly coveted by the pharaohs themselves, to make furniture, decorative and funerary objects. The wood was imported with great effort from the southern Land of Punt, most likely modern Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Eritrea, alongside other luxury goods such as gold and ivory. A magnificent ebony throne, recovered in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, illustrates the incredible aesthetic potential of this material and why it was so highly valued by Egyptian royalty. Only élite members of Egyptian society could have afford- ed Ebony of the Pharaoh inlays for their funerary mask. The sclerae on the present piece were once both inlaid with hippopotamus ivory. Whiter than elephant ivory, this type of ivory is also denser, and more difficult to carve. The use of this luxury material, reputed for its gleaming appearance, enhances the lifelikeness of the eyes. For the Egyptians, hippopotamus ivory was imbued with magic powers. The hippopotamus was indeed both feared and venerated due to its aggressive behaviour. Whilst the male hippopotamus was associated with danger and chaos, the female was benevolent and invoked for protection, especially of the house and of mothers and their children, through the hippopotamus goddess Tawaret. Thus, not only was hippopotamus ivory used as an inlay and to make practical objects, such as combs and clappers, but it was also used to make talismans like apotropaic wands or knives. Made during a time of scarcity where few could afford made-to-order coffins, the present mask could have only belonged to one of the highest-ranking individuals in society. Undoubtedly one of the finest Egyptian coffin...

A Large European Carved Limestone Celtic Votive Head of a Male Warrior Wearing a Typical Flowing Moustache Small Beard and Curling Locks of Hair Stiffened with Lime Wash the Slit Mouth Open as if in Command Circa 1st Century BC - 1st Century AD Size: 31cm high, 22cm wide, 25cm deep - 12¼ ins high, 8¾ ins wide, 9¾ ins deep / 42cm high - 16½ ins high (with base) From about 500 BC, first Greek and later Roman historians mention peoples living in a large area of non-mediterranean Europe as Celts. These classical chroniclers seem to have recognised these communities as having sufficient shared cultural traditions to justify their being given a common name, ‘Keltoi’ by the Greeks, and ‘Celtae’ or ‘Galli’ by the Romans. The earliest allusions to Celts by such Greek historians as Herodotus (485 - 425 BC) were followed by Polybius (200 - 118 BC) and Livy (59 BC - AD 17) who discuss the expansion of the Celts from their central European homelands during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. They document the presence of Celts in Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Asia Minor, specifically central Turkey. They testify to the successful Roman resistance to the Celts in Italy, after the ignominy of the sacking of Rome by them in 387 BC, and describe the huge defeat suffered by the Celts at the battle of Telemon in northern Italy in 225 BC. The Celts in Greece who sacked the sacred site of Delphi in 279 BC were defeated by King Antigonos Gonatas of Macedon in 278 - 277 BC and in Turkey by Altalus of Pergamon in 240 BC. The Celts in Spain fell under the shadow of Rome from 2nd Century BC and the Celtic heartland known by the Romans as ‘Gaul’ was conquered by the Romans under Julius Caesar in the mid 1st Century BC. Britain was not referred to as Celtic by the ancient historians, but Caesar recognised the close similarities between Britain and Gaul especially in their political organisation. Tacitus (55 - 120 AD) and others chronicled the conquest of Britain between 43 and 84 AD some mentioning the fierce nature of the Celts who went into battle naked. Celtic art therefore belongs to an artistic tradition in the early history of Europe which is no less important than that of the classical world. Art was central to Celtic identity and was closely related to the objects which it decorated. The Celts were used to seeing art as an integral part of their everyday lives. Provenance: Ex Finch and Co...

A Pair of Chinese famille verte laughing twins 'HeHe Erxian' biscuit group, Kangxi (1662-1722), the two boys with jovial expressions and seated upon an openwork rock-base studded wit...

Christ in Boxwood, France, late 16th-early 17th century Beautiful corpse of Christ with missing arms. He must have been on the Cross, arms in a horizontal position. Great expressiv...

This is a charming Derby figure of a shepherdess with a garlanded lamb, made in or shortly after 1760. The figure is one half of a set called the "Garland...

Green decalcomania vase. Italian lacca povera painted celadon green terracotta vase with neck flared rim and dark green painted banding; with various applied birds, chinoiserie figur...

A varied and colourful collection of 7 natural mineral specimens, each presented on an exclusive small wooden display base. Ex. private British collection, this group contains a ran...

A Very Fine and Monumental Ovoid Vase or Ewer ‘after the antique’ Bronze The bulbous body with a spout springing from a grotesque mask, the loop handle cast and chased with fruit a...

Collection of 5 Pre Columbian pottery heads. Largest is 2.5" x 2", much wear and chipping, although they are pretty tough for pottery.

Head of a Satyr Roman, circa 2nd - 3rd century AD Carved and highly polished marble An extremely fine marble head of a satyr, depicted with ivy wreath, curly hair and pointed goat’...

Beautiful terracotta bust of a young charioteer, chariot driver during ancient games and tournaments. The work reflects a clear eighteenth-century style, with particular attention to...

Step into the world of antiquity with this 18th Century Swedish wooden floor clock, an embodiment of the grace and craftsmanship of a bygone era. Its towering frame, crafted from age...

Wonderful small Hand carved winged angelhead with its original gilding. Italy, circa 1750 Weathered. Measurement here below inclusive the wooden base. H:14cm W:11,5cm D:7cm

I would like to introduce rare and interesting Japanese antique pottery. This is called "Tamba ware" in Japan. Tamba is a historic kiln located in Hyogo prefecture, Japan. (The part ...

Splendid bronze sculptural group depicting the rape of the Sabine women, made with the ancient lost wax technique. The drama of the scene is rendered with great mastery: in the cente...

Porcelain vase painted in wucai glazes within reserves with decoration of chrysanthemum plants and peonies on a dense background with fish scale pattern painted in red. Oggetto in bu...

Bowl from the late Ming dynasty cargo. An identical piece is included on page 136 of the Bin Thuan catalog titled 'The Age of Discovery: Asian Ceramics Found...

A Captive Soldier Gilt Bronze, Lost Wax Italie (Rome), 17th century H 17 x Dia 10 cm H 6 2/3 x Dia 4 inch The 17th century witnessed a flourishing of artistic expression across Eur...

Three stupendous blue and white majolica pharmacy "albarelli," wonderfully decorated with Renaissance carvings and manganese writing indicating the contents stored inside them. The h...

A large natural plate type carboniferous fossilised fern. Showing ferns in relief, this fossil would certainly make a stunning new display or decorative piece for any home or collect...

An Italian 18th century sculpture of St. Peter of Verona. A magnificent sculpture of St Peter martyr of Verona, created by a member of the Lombard art school in Verona Italy, in the...

XVII secolo Rilievi raffiguranti papa Innocenzo XI e Pio V (2) Marmo, cm diametro 29 I due manufatti in esame, una rara coppia di tondi in marmo riferibili al XVII secolo, rappre...

A large botryoidal green malachite specimen from Kolwezi, Congo, presented on an exclusive museum-quality painted plaster display plinth. Named for its distinctive form resembling a...

The set was hand painted at Wedgwood, in England, circa 1785. The borders are decorated with a delicate band of green leaves and berries on the vine, and the edges are painted brown....

A pair of large Qingbai jars from the Song or Yuan Dynasty, designed for tomb offerings, featuring tall proportions with short bodies and extended necks. These Mingqi jars, typically...

Grand Tour Cinerarium Limestone, inlaid with ancient fragments of Franco-Italian 18th Century and Roman, 3rd Century AD Provenance: Private Collection UK Private Collection France, ...