18th Century and Earlier More Art

Copper-plate engraving, hand-colored, 1608 - c.1630 and published by Joannes Jansonius, Amsterdam. Image size 15.75 x 21.19 inches (40 x 53.9 cm). A classic example of a world ma...

This 17th-century parade helmet, made in Milan, is an outstanding example of Lombard weapons art of the period. Its iron frame is embellished with embossing and chiseling techniques,...

Greek icon Oil on wood, gold background 18th / 19th century

Rare and striking 17th-century funeral vestment, embroidered on both sides with precious silver threads on black velvet, a symbol of mourning and solemnity. One side depicts a skelet...

18th century silk embroidered art work. Depicting children and fairy tales. It is very rare for works from this time period to depict a black...

Portrait of a Gentleman with Blue Cloak and Portrait of a Lady in Russet Dress c.1697 Thomas Murray (1663-1735) These fascinating portraits are exquisite examples of portraiture in ...

Call for tenders for the Lotto Game contract in Rome, realized in 1725 ca. Pope Benedict XIII renewed the ban of Pope Innocent XI against the lottery game, considered immoral, with ...

The gentleman in this exquisite oil on canvas portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, is shown with the grandiloquence characteristic of the English School of painting. He is portray...

Complete title: Nova Iconologia di Cesare Ripa Perugino Cavalier de SS. Maurition & Lazzaro Nella quale si descrivono diverse imagini di Virtu, Vitij, Affetti, Passioni humane, Arti,...

A fine European portrait of a priest, oil on canvas, probably dating to the 17th or 18th century, unsigned, with original stretcher, minor surface losses and damage, craquelure, edge...

Night Thoughts is an original Modern Rare book written by Edward Young (1683 – 1765) and engraved by Sir William Blake (London, 1757 - London, 1827) in 1797. It includes a suite of ...

Beautiful antique Peruvian face vessel. Chimu Inca, c.1500 Terracotta, measures h. 8 in., w. 4 7/8 inches. No repair or conservation.

This drawing shows several studies of a donkey with a carriage. Its style is close to Flemish 17th century artists. On the passepartout one reads "Mathias Scheyer/ Jacob Weyer", both...

This magnificent oil on panel portrait, presented by Titan Fine Art, is a splendid example of the sumptuous female portraits that were painted for members of the upper echelons of society during the early part of the 1600’s. The artist has rendered this portrait with meticulous attention to detail and the surface effects of the fine materials. The elaborate lace coif and cuffs are painstakingly delineated, as is the bold black damask, and sumptuous gold decoration of her skirt and stomacher, which is wonderfully preserved and quite remarkable considering the age of the work and the fact that darker pigments are particularly vulnerable to fading and wear. This work with its spectacular depiction of costume is of absolute quality, it can be rated as one of the best works in the artist’s oeuvre and as such it is an important and splendid example of Dutch portraiture. The Dutch Golden Age of painting was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. Dutch explorers charted new territory and settled abroad. Trade by the Dutch East-India Company thrived, and war heroes from the naval battles were decorated and became national heroes. During this time, The Dutch Old Masters began to prevail in the art world, creating a depth of realistic portraits of people and life in the area that has hardly been surpassed. The Golden Age painters depicted the scenes that their discerning new middleclass patrons wanted to see. This new wealth from merchant activities and exploration combined with a lack of church patronage, shifted art subjects away from biblical genres. Dress was a key component in portraits, and the exuberant attire reiterates the incredible wealth of this woman. The sitter will have visited the artist’s workshop and inspected examples on display. They would have chosen the size and the sort of composition and on that basis negotiated the price – which would have also been determined by the complexity of the clothing and the jewels that were to be depicted, and by the materials to be used. When all was considered, this portrait would have cost the sitter (or her husband) a substantial sum. The colour black was regarded as humble and devout yet at the same time refined and sophisticated and the most expensive colour of fabric to dye and to maintain. Citizens spent fortunes on beautiful black robes. Such uniformity must also have had a psychological side-effect and contributed to a sense of middle-class cohesion; the collective black of the well-to-do burgess class will have given its members a sense of solidarity. The colour was always an exciting one for artists and when this portrait was painted there were at least fifty shades of it, and as many different fabrics and accoutrements. Artists went to great lengths to depict the subtle nuances of the colour and the fabrics and textures and how they reflected light and it was an ideal background against which gold and crisp white lace could be juxtaposed to dramatic effect. The sitter is either a married women or a widower as is evident by the clothing that she wears and the position, toward her right, it is highly likely that this portrait was once a pendant that hung on the right-hand side of her husband’s portrait as was convention at the time. She wears a vlieger which was a type of sleeveless over-gown or cape worn by well-to-do married women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Variations with short sleeves or high shoulder rolls are known. Sometimes sleeves were attached with aiglets, and often slits were made to allow belts or the hands to pass through. Three-piece vlieger costumes of this kind were standard items of clothing in portraits of the women of the civic elite in the period 1600-40 and was a variant of the Spanish ‘ropa’ and served as a trademark of well-to-do married burgher women. Girls and unmarried woman, including beguines, wore a bouwen (a dress with a fitted bodice and a skirt that was closed all round) instead. This clear distinction between apparel for married and unmarried women is clear not only from inventories and trousseau lists, but also from contemporary sources such as the Dutch Spanish dictionary published by Juan Rodrigues in 1634. In it, a bouwen is described as a ‘ropa de donzella’ (over-gown worn by a virgin) and a vlieger as a ‘ropa de casada’ (overgown worn by a married woman). It is striking how few women are depicted wearing a bouwen, unless they are part of a group, family or children’s portrait and it can therefore be assumed that independent portraits of unmarried women were seldom commissioned. It is also believed that the clothing worn in these portraits existed and were faithfully reproduced when cross-referenced with the few exact documents. These sources also demonstrate that clients wanted their clothing to be depicted accurately and with this in mind precious garments and jewels were often left in the painter’s studio. The prominent white lawn molensteenkraag (or millstone ruff) is held up by a wire supportasse and was reserved only for the citizens that could afford this luxurious item that often required 15 meters of linen batiste. The fabulous wealth of this sitter is also evident by the elaborate lace coif and cuffs which have been exquisitely depicted; lace was often literally copied by artists in thin white lines over the completed clothing. The gold bracelet with jewels is a type that was evidently fashionable as it is seen in a number of portraits during the 1610s and 1620. Clothing and jewellery were prized possessions and were often listed in inventories of estates and passed down from generation to generation. There were a great number of jewellers of Flemish origin working at all the courts and cities of Europe, competing with the Italians, and then the French, adapting themselves to the tastes and positions of their patrons and the raw materials available in the country where they worked. The fashion for jewels “in the Flemish style” succeeded that of the Italian style. Cornelis van der Voort, who was probably born in Antwerp around 1576, came to Amsterdam with his parents as a child. His father, a cloth weaver by trade, received his citizenship in 1592. It is not known who taught the young Van der Voort to paint, but it has been suggested that it was either Aert Pietersz or Cornelis Ketel. On 24 October 1598 Van der Voort became betrothed to Truytgen Willemsdr. After his first wife’s death he became betrothed to Cornelia Brouwer of Dordrecht in 1613. In addition to being an artist, Van der Voort was an art collector or dealer, or both. In 1607 he bought paintings from the estate of Gillis van Coninxloo, and after an earlier sale in 1610 a large number of works he owned were auctioned on 7 April 1614. Van der Voort is documented as appraising paintings in 1612, 1620 and 1624. In 1615 and 1619 he was warden of the Guild of St Luke. He was buried in Amsterdam’s Zuiderkerk on 2 November 1624, and on 13 May 1625 paintings in his estate were sold at auction. Van der Voort was one of Amsterdam’s leading portrait painters in the first quarter of the 17th century. Several of his group portraits are known. It is believed that he trained Thomas de Keyser (1596/97-1667) and Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy (1588-1650/56). His documented pupils were David Bailly (c. 1584/86-1657), Louis du Pré...

Titan Fine Art presents this exquisite oil on panel portrait depicting a handsome young gentleman in an exuberant black damask doublet. The pose, with one hand holding gloves and the other akimbo, was one that was well-established for gentleman of the upper echelons of society by the time this work was painted. The principle governing portraits at this time was the recording and defining in visual terms of the position of a sitter in society. In addition to brilliant and complex symbols of luxury, they often contained many symbolic elements too; the inclusion of gloves was often used in portraits that celebrated a betrothal as in ancient times gloves were used to seal a marriage contract. The extraordinary costume of a black shimmering doublet, the brilliant white reticella ruff, and the cuffs edged with lace were immensely costly… this attire proclaims to every onlooker that this is a superior being. The rendering of the reticella lace ruff is exquisite and the artist has recorded the design that runs through the black damask fabric with meticulous attention to detail. The preservation of this black pigment is remarkable considering the age of the work. Black pigments are especially vulnerable to fade and wear over time partly due to environmental condition but also from unprofessional cleaning. This work is an exquisite example from the period. According to the inscription in the upper right, the gentleman was in his 22nd year of age in 1624. The coat of arms, which is displayed without a crest, may be ‘blazoned’ in the language of heraldry, as: Sable on a Chevron between in chief two Roundels and in base a Billet [or possibly Square] Or three Martlets Sable. In plainer English this means a black (Sable) background, spanned by a gold (Or) chevron, above which are two golden solid circles (Roundels), and below which is a gold rectangle (Billet); on the chevron are three small black birds (Martlets). Martlets are a stylised form of heraldic bird, believed to be based on the swift, which are conventionally drawn with small tufts instead of feet. In Continental Europe it is also conventional for them to be drawn without beaks, as appears to be the case here. The birds in this instance also have a vaguely duck-like appearance. Five families have been identified with very close armorial bearings to the one in our portrait. They are the (van) Houthem’s (of Brabant), the Prévinaire’s (of Flanders and Holland), and the Proveneer’s (of Liège) and it must be noted that the locations of these families also fit with the painting’s Flemish origins. However the French Grenières’s (of Île-de-France) and the Jallot’s (of Normandy) are the next closest matches and plausible matches, as Frans Pourbus had settled in Paris just a few years before our portrait was painted. This painting has been assessed by a professional conservator prior to going on sale, and as thus, it can be hung and enjoyed immediately. Frans Pourbus the Younger...

"Roman Bronze Figure Of A Romping Dog" Roman Empire, circa 1st Century B.C.- 1st Century A.D. Bronze width 7 cm width 2 3/4 in Provenance: Leo Mildenberg (1913-2001) Private Collection, Zurich, prior to 1986 American Private Collection, acquired in 1991 Literature: A.P. Kozloff, et al., More Animals in Ancient Art...

This lavish portrait, painted circa 1695, is an exquisite example of the type of portrait in vogue during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. It is evident that the artist ...

A large marine painting probably depicting a British East Indiaman ship returning from a voyage to the East, attributed to British artist Francis Holman ...

Mother Goddess Figurine Early Indus Valley Civilization (circa 3500 - 2800 BC) Handmade pottery, 140 mm x 45 mm, 60 g Provenance: Prince Collection, 1990s-2014; Pierre Bergé Colle...

Albrecht Dürer 1471-1528 German The Penance of St. Chrysostom Monogrammed in the plate lower center "AD" Copper engraving on laid paper “Whatever was mortal in Albrecht Dürer li...

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CAPITAL WITH MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES, 15th Century marble H 18 x Diam 33.5 cm H 7 x Diam 13 1/4 in

LARGE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MARBLE CAPITAL Florence, 15th/16th Century marble 38 x 47 x 47 cm 15 x 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in

Arabic Calligraphy of praying is a precious manuscript reporting Islamic Sacred Verses in an ancient calligraphy style. One page, one-sided, in Ara...

In this exquisite work, painted around the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666, a beautiful young woman is wearing a green dress over a white chemise and a russet-coloured scarf...

A charming George II sampler, hand embroidered by Ann Baker in 1747, aged 13. The sampler depicts numerous alphabets above a moralistic verse and a pair of birds beside a tree. Well ...

Fables is an original Modern Rare book engraved by Sir William Blake (London, 1757 - London, 1827) and written by John Gay (Barnstaple, 1685 – London, 1732) in 1793. Full title: "Fa...

Provenance: Manuel Ortíz de Zevallos y García, Peru; and by descent in the family to: Private Collection, New York. This impressive baptismal dish is an example of eighteenth-cent...

De Humana Physiognomonia - Libri IIII Original Title: Io: Bap-tistae Portae Neapolitani. De Hum. Physiognomonia. Libri IIII. Ad Aloysium Card. Estensem Vici Aequensis, Apud Iosephum Cacchium, 1586. Vol. In-4° / cm. 32x22 272 pp (typographic mystake for page 265 indicated as 272 an vice-versa) Circulation: Rare First Edition Format: In-4° Pages: 272 Cover on ancient parchment, with title in ink (ancient calligraphy) on spine and “archivistic” decorations in leather and rope on same spine. Binding restored using original contemporary cover. Frontispiece fully engraved with portrait of author within an imaginary composition; portrait of Cardinale d’Este, whom the work is dedicated to, follows with full page engraving. Includes 85 engravings 4 of which full page, showing human physiognomies compared to animals’ in order to demonstrate the relationship between physical aspects and moral features. Good and clean copy, in a nice state. Black stain on p. 97 and minor tear on p. 198. Some whitening on 3-4 pages which do no affect reading. Rare first edition of a pillar of modern anthropology, and one of the most popular essays of Italian Renaissance, with important influence during the following 300 years. First book to be printed in Vico Equense...

This exquisite work, presented by Titan Fine Art, is by the notable artist Hans Hysing, who was a noteworthy painter in England; it is significant in its q...

Clemens August Ferdinand Maria Hyazinth, Duke of Bavaria (* August 16, 1700 in Brussels; † February 6, 1761 in Koblenz) was as Clemens August I from 1723 to 1761 Archbishop of Cologne and thus at the same time Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, sovereign of the associated archdiocese as well as the tributary lands of Recklinghausen and Westphalia. In addition, he was Legatus natus of the Holy Apostolic See in Rome and Archchancellor of Imperial Italy. Furthermore, he combined the offices of Grand Master of the Teutonic Order...

This map was printed from a copperplate engraving in 1746. The printed image size is 18.25 x 21.75 inches (46.3 x 55.2 cm) plus margins. An attractive double hemisphere map...

The Peruvian Chancay (pre-Columbian) Mummy Bundle mask, from around 1600 is made of painted wood, textiles, and human hair. According to the Walters Art Museum: Andean cultures are ...

In 1607, the Delft city council decided to commission a portrait of Stadholder Maurits of Nassau for the town hall, with Michiel van Mierevelt as the chosen artist due to the passing...

Thai Bronze Head of Buddha (Original) 17th c.

TERRACOTTA FIGURINE OF A COMIC ACTOR , Greece, c. 350 B.C. Labeled to the reverse, 'LAWRENCE COLL./LOT 426. SOTHEBY./APR. 1892. P. 816.'; Terracotta height 15.2 cm height 6 in Prove...

Pierre Berchet, Drawing of Putti playing in a landscape, Painter of decorative history subjects; trained under La Fosse; worked in France and during the 1690s...

Two putti with symbols of war and victory (cannons, cannonballs, armour, anchor, lion's head, laurel branch/ olive branch, flag, staff with helmet) in pediment triangle. Probably a d...

Etching. Signed in the plate lower right. From the fourth state, of six, a late 18th / early 19th century impression; first Paris edition. From the Vedute di Rome series. Overall...

This 59" x 20" Chinese Antique Scroll depicts a simple yet serene scene of a bird on a rock. The bird stands on the rock, which is much larger in size in comparison to the bird. The ...

A beautifully detailed late 17th or early 18th century Dutch or Flemish landscape with cows grazing in the water, goats, dogs, and other animals near the water’s edge, under the watchful eye of the herdsmen, on a backdrop of rolling hills and trees. Oil on wood panel, unsigned, and housed in a Rudolph...

English Double Handle Footman, 18th Century Brass 12 x 18 x 17 inches

Unknown Artist, French School 18th Century, Circle of Mallet? Scene taken from the Decamerone. Old Master Drawing

Unknown artist Prague School Portrait of Emperor Ferdinand I. (1503-1564) 17th century Oil on copper, 21,3 x 16,8 cm Provenance: Private collection, Pennsylvania, until 2016 This work by an unknown artist is a semi-portrait in predominantly brown-green tones. brown-green tones of the emperor Ferdinand I, who was crowned emperor in 1558. Ferdinand I of the Habsburg dynasty, who was crowned emperor in 1558. in a suit of armour lavishly decorated with gold ornaments. The portrait of Ferdinand...

Bust of a Lady, thought to be Elisabeth Petrowna, also known as Elisabeth of Russia Depicted before she was crowned Terracotta Bust Elizabeth Petrovna (Russian: Елизаве́та (29 Decem...

Relief with saint Georges France, 15th Century limestone 26 x 20 cm (10 1/4 x 7 3/4 in) without base

Johann Jakob Haid (1704-1767), engraver Johann Stenglin (1715-1770), engraver Martin van Meytens (1695-1770), inventor Ferdinand Count of Plettenber...

Small silk tapestry, with some applied inserts in painted canvas, corresponding to the faces and hands of the characters. The scene depicts Plato's Academy, with the philosopher sitt...

After Alessandro Algardi (Bologna, 1585 - Roma,1654) YOUNG HERCULES, Italy, 18th Century terracotta 44 x 25 x 25 cm 17 1/4 x 9 3/4 x 9 3/4 in This lovely sculpture represents the young Hercules, seated with his legs crossed, gently holding a bird with his right hand, raised in the air, while supporting his own weight with his left hand. The artwork refers to the notorious Roman sculpture of the young Hercules killing the snakes sent by Hera, exhibited at the Capitoline Museums in Rome. Academics have identified the young emperor Caracalla or, more recently, Annio Vero, son of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, in the portrait of the sculpture. During the 16th Century there has been an increasing interest of patrons towards the theme of mythology and several acclaimed Italian sculptors worked on the creation of sculptures and depictions of Roman Gods. Among them, the distinguished baroque artist Alessandro Algardi worked on the restoration of several ancient sculptures...

Black chalk, partly washed, on paper, sheet 27.5 x 19.7 cm Plain gold moulding, 44.8 x 36 cm The Rhenish still life painter Johann Martin Metz was ...

A delightful 1767 sampler depicting the alphabet and floral motif. Signed and dated. Presented in a dark wooden frame. On cotton.

Fine drawing in pencil, oval format. Circle of Angelika Kauffmann. The subject is not clear. It is Amor with his arrows and perhaps Venus with a sp...

A Japanese embroidery from the Edo Period. “Figure of a Beauty” is a portrait embroidery, silk and gold thread in golds and grays. Provenance: Priv...

PAIR OF FLORENTINE PIETRA DURA PLAQUES WITH BIRDS IN GILT BRONZE FRAME Florence, 18 Century Pietra dura, gilt bronze frame 7.5 x 11.5 cm (3 x 4 1/2 in) without frame 11.4 x 15.5 cm ...

A Pair of Italian Carved Gilt Wood Antique Frames , Mirror not included. Circa 1755. Frame Size: Width: 20.25″ X Height: 23.75″ Thickness: 4″ Pict...

PROVENANCE Herbert A. Cahn (1915-2002), Kunst der Antike, Basel, 1988 Private Collection, Paris

This exceptional and rare rendering of a horse head, composed of gold over silver, hails from the illustrious Tang dynasty of China. The powerful Tang dynasty reigned for nearly 300 ...

Though he is most celebrated today for his extraordinary work as an artist of ornithological and zoological subject matters, Schouman was also a prolific documenter of landscape in his native Holland. The present drawing, which depicts a view of the Castel of Vianen, fits securely into a corpus of drawings Schouman produced on the same scale and in the same distinctive combination of media, examples of which are today housed in the collection of the Koninklijk Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen, Middelburg. Castle Batestein (also called Batenstein ) is a castle disappeared from the Netherlands . It was built on the banks of the Lek in the small town of Vianen, then in the province of South Holland (now in the province of Utrecht ). The castle was burned down in 1696 and then demolished. Remains only the Hofpoort (or castle gate...

The History of Japan. Giving an Account of the Ancient and Present State and Government of that Empire; of its Temples, Palaces, Castles and other Buildings...

This striking 17th-century Italian gilt frame embodies the expressive craftsmanship of the Baroque era. Its luminous gold surface is softened by a time-worn patina that speaks to cen...

Size: 36,5 x 30 cm / 14,37 x 11,81 inches Limited Edition of 206/300 Signed and numbered by Laurent Durieux