Jan's & Co Fine French Antiques Inc. Furniture

A Fine Pair of French 19th century Régence (Regency) style three-light gilt-bronze wall lights. The scrolled three light candle-lights, now electrified, above an acanthus leaf design...

A French Louis XV Style bois satiné, kingwood and amaranth - Ormolu Mounted Two-Drawer Bombé Commode with mottled marble top. The bowed front and sides with floral marquetry and flor...

A Fine Italian 19th Century Oil Painting on Canvas "La Madonna della Seggiola" after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520). The circular painted canvas depicting a seated Madonna holding an infant Jesus Christ next to a child Saint John the Baptist, all within a massive carved two-tone gilt wood, gilt-patinated and gesso frame, which is identical to the frame on Raphael's original artwork. This painting is a 19th Century copy of Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola painted in 1514 and currently exhibited and part of the permanent collection at the Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence, Italy. The bodies of the Virgin, Christ, and the boy Baptist fill the whole picture. The tender, natural looking embrace of the Mother and Child, and the harmonious grouping of the figures in the round, have made this one of Raphael's most popular Madonnas. The isolated chair leg is reminiscent of papal furniture, which has led to the assumption that Leo X himself commissioned the painting. Circa: 1890-1900. Subject: Religious painting Painting diameter: 28 inches (71.1 cm) Frame height: 55 1/8 inches (140 cm) Frame width: 46 inches (116.8 cm) Frame depth: 5 1/8 inches (13 cm) Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Italian, March 28 or April 6, 1483 - April 6, 1520), known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop and, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, and the largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings, with considerable loss of quality. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. After his death, the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Raphael's more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models. His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (1504–1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region, where his father Giovanni Santi was court painter to the Duke. The reputation of the court had been established by Federico III da Montefeltro, a highly successful condottiere who had been created Duke of Urbino by the Pope - Urbino formed part of the Papal States - and who died the year before Raphael was born. The emphasis of Federico's court was rather more literary than artistic, but Giovanni Santi was a poet of sorts as well as a painter, and had written a rhymed chronicle of the life of Federico, and both wrote the texts and produced the decor for masque-like court entertainments. His poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very small court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Federico was succeeded by his son Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, who married Elisabetta Gonzaga, daughter of the ruler of Mantua, the most brilliant of the smaller Italian courts for both music and the visual arts. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture. Growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Court life in Urbino at just after this period was to become set as the model of the virtues of the Italian humanist court through Baldassare Castiglione's depiction of it in his classic work The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, and they became good friends. He became close to other regular visitors to the court: Pietro Bibbiena and Pietro Bembo, both later cardinals, were already becoming well known as writers, and would be in Rome during Raphael's period there. Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a full humanistic education however; it is unclear how easily he read Latin. Early Life and Works His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1, 1494 by his father, who had already remarried. Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven; his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master. He had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been "a great help to his father". A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity. His father's workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter (d. 1475), and Luca Signorelli, who until 1498 was based in nearby Città di Castello. According to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice "despite the tears of his mother". The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, and has been disputed—eight was very early for an apprenticeship to begin. An alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495.Most modern historians agree that Raphael at least worked as an assistant to Perugino from around 1500; the influence of Perugino on Raphael's early work is very clear: "probably no other pupil of genius has ever absorbed so much of his master's teaching as Raphael did", according to Wölfflin. Vasari wrote that it was impossible to distinguish between their hands at this period, but many modern art historians claim to do better and detect his hand in specific areas of works by Perugino or his workshop. Apart from stylistic closeness, their techniques are very similar as well, for example having paint applied thickly, using an oil varnish medium, in shadows and darker garments, but very thinly on flesh areas. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters. The Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a "master", that is to say fully trained, in December 1500. His first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was also named in the commission. It was commissioned in 1500 and finished in 1501; now only some cut sections and a preparatory drawing remain. In the following years he painted works for other churches there, including the Mond Crucifixion (about 1503) and the Brera Wedding of the Virgin (1504), and for Perugia, such as the Oddi Altarpiece. He very probably also visited Florence in this period. These are large works, some in fresco, where Raphael confidently marshals his compositions in the somewhat static style of Perugino. He also painted many small and exquisite cabinet paintings in these years, probably mostly for the connoisseurs in the Urbino court, like the Three Graces and St. Michael, and he began to paint Madonnas and portraits. In 1502 he went to Siena at the invitation of another pupil of Perugino, Pinturicchio, "being a friend of Raphael and knowing him to be a draughtsman of the highest quality" to help with the cartoons, and very likely the designs, for a fresco series in the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral. He was evidently already much in demand even at this early stage in his career. Influence of Florence Raphael led a "nomadic" life, working in various centres in Northern Italy, but spent a good deal of time in Florence, perhaps from about 1504. Although there is traditional reference to a "Florentine period...

A Fine Italian 19th Century Oil Painting on Canvas "La Madonna della Seggiola" after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520). The circular painted canvas depicting a seated Madonna holding an infant Jesus Christ next to a child Saint John the Baptist, all within a massive carved gilt wood and gesso frame, which is identical to the frame on Raphael's original artwork. This painting is a 19th Century copy of Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola painted in 1514 and currently exhibited and part of the permanent collection at the Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence, Italy. The bodies of the Virgin, Christ, and the boy Baptist fill the whole picture. The tender, natural looking embrace of the Mother and Child, and the harmonious grouping of the figures in the round, have made this one of Raphael's most popular Madonnas. The isolated chair leg is reminiscent of papal furniture, which has led to the assumption that Leo X himself commissioned the painting. A retailer's label reads " Fred K/ Keer's Sons - Framers and Fine Art Dealers - 917 Broad St. Newark, N.J." - Another label from the gilder reads "Carlo Bartolini - Doratore e Verniciatori - Via Maggio 1924 - Firenze". Circa: 1890-1900. Subject: Religious painting Canvas diameter: 28 inches (71.1 cm) Frame height: 54 inches (137.2 cm) Frame width: 42 1/2 inches (108 cm) Frame depth: 5 1/2 inches (14 cm) Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Italian, March 28 or April 6, 1483 - April 6, 1520), known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop and, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, and the largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings, with considerable loss of quality. He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. After his death, the influence of his great rival Michelangelo was more widespread until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Raphael's more serene and harmonious qualities were again regarded as the highest models. His career falls naturally into three phases and three styles, first described by Giorgio Vasari: his early years in Umbria, then a period of about four years (1504–1508) absorbing the artistic traditions of Florence, followed by his last hectic and triumphant twelve years in Rome, working for two Popes and their close associates. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region, where his father Giovanni Santi was court painter to the Duke. The reputation of the court had been established by Federico III da Montefeltro, a highly successful condottiere who had been created Duke of Urbino by the Pope - Urbino formed part of the Papal States - and who died the year before Raphael was born. The emphasis of Federico's court was rather more literary than artistic, but Giovanni Santi was a poet of sorts as well as a painter, and had written a rhymed chronicle of the life of Federico, and both wrote the texts and produced the decor for masque-like court entertainments. His poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very small court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Federico was succeeded by his son Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, who married Elisabetta Gonzaga, daughter of the ruler of Mantua, the most brilliant of the smaller Italian courts for both music and the visual arts. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture. Growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Court life in Urbino at just after this period was to become set as the model of the virtues of the Italian humanist court through Baldassare Castiglione's depiction of it in his classic work The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, and they became good friends. He became close to other regular visitors to the court: Pietro Bibbiena and Pietro Bembo, both later cardinals, were already becoming well known as writers, and would be in Rome during Raphael's period there. Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a full humanistic education however; it is unclear how easily he read Latin. Early Life and Works His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1, 1494 by his father, who had already remarried. Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven; his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master. He had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been "a great help to his father". A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity. His father's workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter (d. 1475), and Luca Signorelli, who until 1498 was based in nearby Città di Castello. According to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice "despite the tears of his mother". The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, and has been disputed—eight was very early for an apprenticeship to begin. An alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495.Most modern historians agree that Raphael at least worked as an assistant to Perugino from around 1500; the influence of Perugino on Raphael's early work is very clear: "probably no other pupil of genius has ever absorbed so much of his master's teaching as Raphael did", according to Wölfflin. Vasari wrote that it was impossible to distinguish between their hands at this period, but many modern art historians claim to do better and detect his hand in specific areas of works by Perugino or his workshop. Apart from stylistic closeness, their techniques are very similar as well, for example having paint applied thickly, using an oil varnish medium, in shadows and darker garments, but very thinly on flesh areas. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters. The Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a "master", that is to say fully trained, in December 1500. His first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was also named in the commission. It was commissioned in 1500 and finished in 1501; now only some cut sections and a preparatory drawing remain. In the following years he painted works for other churches there, including the Mond Crucifixion (about 1503) and the Brera Wedding of the Virgin (1504), and for Perugia, such as the Oddi Altarpiece. He very probably also visited Florence in this period. These are large works, some in fresco, where Raphael confidently marshals his compositions in the somewhat static style of Perugino. He also painted many small and exquisite cabinet paintings in these years, probably mostly for the connoisseurs in the Urbino court, like the Three Graces and St. Michael, and he began to paint Madonnas and portraits. In 1502 he went to Siena at the invitation of another pupil of Perugino, Pinturicchio, "being a friend of Raphael and knowing him to be a draughtsman of the highest quality" to help with the cartoons, and very likely the designs, for a fresco series in the Piccolomini Library in Siena Cathedral. He was evidently already much in demand even at this early stage in his career. Influence of Florence Raphael led a "nomadic" life, working in various centres in Northern Italy, but spent a good deal of time in Florence, perhaps from about 1504. Although there is traditional reference to a "Florentine period...

A fine Italian 19th century oil painting on canvas "La Madonna della Seggiola" after Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520). The circular painted canvas depicting a seated Ma...

A Very Fine and Large French 19th Century Louis XV Style Ormolu Mounted Tulipwood Three-Drawer Bureau Plat - After a model by Joseph Baumhauer (died 1772) - Attributed to Paul Sormani (French-Italian 1817-1877). The serpentine shaped rectangular top enclosing a gilt tooled burgundy leather writing surface (worn) within a molded border above a long central drawer flanked by two drawers, with scrolled ormolu drawer-pulls, ormolu floral encadrements and acanthus corners co-raised on elegant cabriolet legs. (Unsigned - Unmarked). Circa: Paris, 1880. Paul Sormani (1817-1877): Born in Venice, Paul Sormani set up in Paris in the middle of the 19th century. He specialized in creating furniture and works of art and was known for his high quality reproductions of Louis XV and XVI furniture...

A Monumental French 19th Century Patinated and Parcel Gilt Cast-Iron Bust of 'Head from a Statue of Antinous as Dionysus' Wearing a Wreath of Ivy ...

A charming whimsical French 19th/20th century Belle Époque two-light gilt bronze figural chandelier pendant. The charming gilt bronze figure of a naked hovering Putto (Child), suspen...

A fine pair of French 19th/20th Century Empire Revival Style Three-Light Gilt-Bronze Wall Sconces (Wall lights). The gilt-bronze wall brackets, each with a set of three scrolled light...

A Very Fine French 19th century Louis XV Style gilt-bronze mounted fruitwood floral marquetry center table or desk with drawer, by Ébéniste Louis Gradé, Gr...

A pair of French empire style gilt-bronze two-light wall torchère sconces. Each elongated gilt-bronze applique with central twin-tassels supporting a pa...

A very fine French 19th century Louis XVI style giltwood carved five-piece salon suite, comprising of a canapé and four fauteuils, all with recent upholstery. The finely carved frame...

A very fine French 19th century Napoleon III Ormolu Mounted Ebonized wood and Pietra Dura Meuble d'Appui à Hauteur with a grey marble top. The single front-door black-lacquered cabin...

A Fine French 19th Century Neo-Renaissance Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Walnut and Mahogany Two-Door Bargueno or Cabinet on Stand, attributed to Paul Sormani (1817-1877), designed Édouard Lièvre (1828-1886) and retailed by Poujol - Paris. The spreading pediment Vitruvian scrolled fitted frieze centered by a crest and flanked by cartouches, the quarter paneled doors with pierced rinceaux reserves and centered by an ormolu portrait relief roundels of King Charles VII of France 'The Victorious' (1403-1461) and Agnès Sorel (1422-1450), flanking a gilt-bronze statuette of 'The Belvedere Hermes’, the base fronted by open arches centered by a pair of columns with Corinthian capitals, above a spreading platform, all raised on bun feet. Circa: Paris, 1870. Paul Sormani (1817-1877) was born in Venice, Paul Sormani set up in Paris in the middle of the 19th century. He specialized in creating furniture and works of art and was known for his high quality reproductions of Louis XV and XVI furniture...

A Monumental Museum Quality Pair of French 19th Century Figural Gilt and Patinated Bronze Rosso Granite Marble Flambeaux Urns, each depicting a pair of standing allegorical and whims...

A Fine French Louis XV Style Cut-glass, Wrought Iron and Parcel-Gilt Six Light Chandelier. The scrolled ebonized iron frame surmounted with cut-glass pendants and prisms, the flower ...

A French early 20th century Art Deco and silvered bronze carved veined white alabaster six-light chandelier. The carved circular plafonnier with a silvered apron...

A Very Fine French Napoleon III Figural Ormolu and Porcelain (Probably Sevres) Mounted Tulipwood Meuble A Hauteur D'Appui, by Mathieu Befort, dit Befort Jeune. The rectangular shaped...

A rare pair of Flemish 18th century "Verre Églomisé" Reverse Glass Paintings, each depicting riverfront scenes with figures, fishermen castles, co...

A Fine and Rare French 19th Century Renaissance Revival Style Gilt-Bronze and Walnut coffee table with marble top. The assembled Corinthian gilt-bronze capital, now converted into a ...

A Very Fine French 19th Century Louis XVI Style Plum-Mahogany and Ormolu Mounted Tall-Case Regulator attributed to Revollon. The Roman numeral dial signed: Revollon - M. Lion, with h...

An Italian Florentine gilt wood carved mirror and console with marble top set. The gilt-wood oval mirror frame with a floral and scrolled acanthus...

A Large and Impressive Italian 19th Century Patinated Bronze Figural Torchere, after a model by Niccolò Roccatagliata (Genoa 1593 - Venice 1636). The triangular foot base with projecting putti supporting the stem and oval reserves within cartouche motifs, one containing the initials "S.D" with an olive tree in-between and a bull-head below. The stem knot with figures of winged caryatids and festoons and upper part with cherub heads, acanthus leaves and egg and bead patterns and topped with a later white glass globe. The decorative system refers to the documented artistic production of the Venetian workshop of Niccolò Roccatagliata and takes inspirational model from the base of the Renaissance bronze of the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro in Venice, a work signed by Andrea del Bartolomeo di Alessandri known as Brescianino. Electrified. Circa: Venice, 1850-1880. RELATED LITERATURE L. Planiscig, Venezianische Bildhauer der Renaissance, Vienna, 1921, figs. 661-664; C. Avery, 'Andrea del Bartolomeo di Alessandri detto il Bresciano" lavator di gettar di Bronzo": candelabri, satiri e battenti', M. Ceriana and V. Avery (eds.), L'Industria artistica del Bronzo del Rinascimento a venezia e nell'Italia settentrionale, Venice, 2008, pp. 233-252. Similar models of this torchere were part of the interior decor collection at the Vanderbilt Mansion in New York (see black and white photo). The Cornelius Vanderbilt II House was a large mansion built in 1883 at 1 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It occupied the frontage along the west side of Fifth Avenue from West 57th Street up to West 58th Street at Grand Army...

A Large German 19th/20th century Figural Porcelain and Gilt-Bronze Mounted Urn with Cover in the Manner of Meissen. The ovoid porcelain hand painted u...

A large nicely carved pair of Baroque Revival style Walnut and Parcel-Silver Leaf Winged Throne Armchairs. The tall padded winged back armchairs, with scrolled carved walnut frames in a dark finish stain, each with finely carved open-armrests with parcel-silver leaf edges and clam-carved supports, raised on scrolled conjoined legs with wavy corners, all upholstered with a recent whimsical Scalamandre/Old World...

Grégoire Calvet (French, 1871-1928) A Fine Late 19th Century Life-Size White Marble Sculpture representing "Peace & Love". The beautifully carved white...

A fine French 19th Century Louis XV Style gilt bronze seven-light figural chandelier. The elongated and ovoid gilt-bronze frame with six scrolled candle-arms (now electrified) surmou...

A very fine and palatial French 19th/20th century Christofle & Cie Louis XV style silvered figural centerpiece, fitted with an oval diamond-cut-glass center-dish, attributed to Bacca...

A Very Fine French 19th Century Louis XVI-Louis XVI Transition Style Ormolu-Mounted Mahogany, Birdseye Maple, Fruitwood and Sycamore Marquetry and Parquetry Commode with a Brèche d'Alep Marble-Top, after the model by Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806). Circa: 1870-1880. The finely detailed commode with rounded sides, finely chased ormolu mounts with their original mercury gilt, a single center apron drawer with wreath ormolu pulls and an acanthus plate...

A Pair of French empire revival style mahogany and gilt-bronze mounted horseshoe shaped game armchairs (reproductions). The arched back frames centered with a harp design below a lau...

After Odoardo Tabacchi (1831-1905) a very fine Italian 19th century patinated bronze figure of "La Tuffolina" (The Diver). The finely cast brown patin...

A Very Fine French Late 19th/Early 20th Century Louis XV Style Ormolu Mounted Kingwood, Bois Satine, Mahogany, Marquetry and Parquetry Gueridon (Round End-Table), in manner of François Linke (1855-1946). The circular marquetry top with trellis inlay encompass by a ribbon-tied floral and ribbon entwining inlaid surround, above a frieze interspersed with four abundant floral, foliate and entwined opposing cornucopia mounts each centered by a bacchanal mask, with one frieze drawer, on slender cabriolet legs with an up swept X-stretcher surmounted by a circular under-tier with a basket weave mounted gallery. Bearing the fine quality furnishings retailer's plaque which reads: 'S. & H. Jewell, 131 & 132, High Holborn, London, W.C'. Circa: Paris, 1900. S & H Jewell are first recorded in 1830 as fine quality retailers, restorers and cabinet makers. They were a family business who worked from their premises at 29-31 Little Queen Street, Holborn, in London and then later to 26 Parker Street and then at 131 - 131, High Holborn, both in London W.C. They are recorded to have sold furniture to the Arts and Crafts home...

A French Louis XVI style gilt-bronze figural seven-light chandelier with Figures of Putti (Children), after the model by Pierre Gouthière in the Cabinet doré for Marie-Antoinette at ...

A very fine pair of French 19th Century Louis XV style three-light gilt-bronze wall lights (Sconces), attributed to Henri Dasson (1825–1896). The elongated ormolu tassel body surmoun...

A French 19th century bronze and marble bust of Marianne in full armor. The nicely cast Baroque Revival brown patinated bronze and carved white marble figure of Marianne, the allegorical personification of the French Republic, presented in her militaristic guise, reminiscent of Minerva, wearing a Phrygian helmet and armored breastplate centered by winged male mask and with lion shoulder armor pads, all raised on a conforming black marble base. Circa: 1890-1900. Marianne has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed in many places in France and holds a place of honor in town halls and law courts. She is depicted in the Triumph of the Republic, a bronze sculpture overlooking the Place de la Nation in Paris, as well as represented with another Parisian statue on the Place de la République. Her profile stands out on the official government logo of the country, appears on French euro coins and on French postage stamps. She was also featured on the former franc currency and is officially used on most government documents. Marianne is a significant republican symbol; her French monarchist equivalent is often Joan of Arc. As a national icon Marianne represents opposition to monarchy and the championship of freedom and democracy against all forms of oppression. Other national symbols of Republican France include the tricolor flag, the national motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, the national anthem "La Marseillaise", the coat of arms, and the official Great Seal of France. Marianne also wore a Cockade and a red Phrygian cap symbolizing Liberty. Minerva and its pendant bust of Mars evoke the classicizing subjects, bust-length formats, and style that originated in France during the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715) and that concurrently was popularized across Europe. The busts' simple forms, stiff poses, and solemn facial types are consistent with the late Baroque sculptures that were carved in Flanders during this period. In Flanders, especially in Antwerp and Brussels, sculpture and architectural decoration traditionally was carved using combinations of native black marble (noir belge), mottled red marble (rouge belge), and white marble or alabaster. The use of these stones in colorful counterpoint speaks most strongly to the busts’ Flemish origins. The veneration of ideal heroes and heroines in ancient costume and arms took on extravagant form in the 17th century, with countless variations. Within this imaginative tradition, the identification of the pair as Minerva and Mars cannot be certain. The female bust, for example, could be identified as Bellona, Roman goddess of war, who is depicted in 17th and 18th century French paintings wearing flamboyantly plumed helmets and low-cut cuirasses that expose her breasts. Whatever their identities, the female and male warriors are portrayed as calm rather than bellicose beings. The sovereign pair does...

A Pair of English 19th-20th Century Gilt-Bronze 'Brig - Tall-Ship' Marine Lanterns with Putti Corner Caryatids. The single-light tapered square cast-bronze body surmounted with alleg...

A Large and Impressive Continental 19th Century Patinated Bronze and Giltwood Carved Crucifix Former property of Siegfried & Roy, the renown German-Ame...

A very fine pair of French 19th century Louis XV style gilt-bronze mounted floral marquetry Bombé commodes with marble top. The serpentine two-drawer commodes, with rosewood, king-wo...

The Riace Warriors, a fine pair of cold cast copper and resin figures of the Riace Warriors, reduced replicas of the original bronze sculptures currentl...

A Very Fine and Palatial Italian 19th Century Rococo Carved Giltwood Figural Mirror, the sectional arched mirror plates within scroll and foliate deco...

A very fine and Palatial French Louis XVI style figural gilt bronze mantel clock. The vase shaped case surmounted with a pomegranate-cast finial and flanked by large satyr mask handles fitted with intertwined gilt-bronze snakes, amongst floral wreaths, ribbons and acanthus. The rectangular acanthus decorated base flanked on each side with a figure of a cherub holding a globe and a Putti writing a poem, both above a plinth decorated with fruit and floral garlands surmounted with lion-mask-legs. The circular white enamel dial with wreaths of flowers with Roman and Arabic numerals, Signed: Étienne Le Noir...

A Fine Pair of French 19th-20th Century Louis XV Style Ormolu Mounted Mahogany and Stained Fruitwood Marquetry Circular End or Side Tables en Chiffoniere, Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener - J...

A very fine French 19th-early 20th century Louis XV style mahogany, tulipwood, parquetry and ormolu mounted oval gueridon side table with a Brêche Violette marble top, attributed to François Linke (1855-1946). The inset oval Brêche Violette marble top with a gilt-bronze surround, above a lozenge parquetry frieze with foliate ormolu mounts, with a drawer to one side, on cabriole legs headed by clasps and joined by an 'X'-shaped stretcher centered by a finial, on scroll sabots. Unsigned. Circa: Paris, 1900. François Linke (1855-1946) was one of the most celebrated ébénistes of his time. Born in Pankraz, Bohemia, Linke moved to Paris in 1875 and six years later established independent ateliers at 170, rue de Faubourg St. Antoine. As was the practice among contemporaries and noteworthy predecessors, such as Alfred Beurdeley and Henry Dasson, Linke initially produced furniture derived from styles popular during the 18th century ancien régime. By 1900, his worldwide reputation as an individualistic master of high quality furniture was already established. However, with a huge display, placing his extravagant pieces in room settings and winning the Médaille d'Or for his Grand Bureau, Linke's participation in the Paris 1900 exhibition...

A very fine French 19th-early 20th century Louis XV style mahogany, tulipwood, parquetry and ormolu mounted oval gueridon side table with a Brêche Violette marble top, attributed to François Linke (1855-1946). The inset oval Brêche Violette marble top with a gilt-bronze surround, above a lozenge parquetry frieze with foliate ormolu mounts, with a drawer to one side, on cabriole legs headed by clasps and joined by an 'X'-shaped stretcher centered by a foliate finial, on scroll sabots. Unsigned. Circa: Paris, 1900. Another almost identical table by François Linke (1855-1946) was sold at Christie's London 19th Century Furniture, Sculpture, Works of Art and Ceramics, Sale 7569 on 18 March 2008, Lot 66. François Linke (1855-1946) was one of the most celebrated ébénistes of his time. Born in Pankraz, Bohemia, Linke moved to Paris in 1875 and six years later established independent ateliers at 170, rue de Faubourg St. Antoine. As was the practice among contemporaries and noteworthy predecessors, such as Alfred Beurdeley and Henry Dasson, Linke initially produced furniture derived from styles popular during the 18th century ancien régime. By 1900, his worldwide reputation as an individualistic master of high quality furniture was already established. However, with a huge display, placing his extravagant pieces in room settings and winning the Médaille d'Or for his Grand Bureau, Linke's participation in the Paris 1900 exhibition...

A fine French 19th/20th century Louis XVI style belle epoque gildwood carved sconce mirror (wall-light) Girandle. The elongated carved body decorated with giltwood carved wreaths...

A Fine French 19th Century Louis XVI Style giltwood and gesso carved sconce mirror (Wall-Light) girandole with candelabra. The scrolled carved mirror frame surmounted with a pair of ...

A very fine French 19th century Louis XVI Style mahogany and ormolu mounted two-door vitrine, after a model by Adam Weisweiler (French, 1744-1820) with two-doors below a finely chase...

Franz (Bernard) Gailliard (Belgian, 1861-1932) "La Place Sainte Gudule a` Bruxelles Apre`s Le Carnaval" A fine and large oil on canvas depicting a street scene in late 19th century Brussels - La Place Sainte Gudule - after the Carnaval. Unframed. Signed: F. GAILLIARD (l/r), Circa 1890. Measures: Canvas height: 95 inches (241.3 cm). Canvas width: 84 1/2 inches (214.6 cm). Franz F.D.A. Gailliard (1861-1932) was a Belgian Neo-Impressionnist and Luminist painter of figures, portraits, landscapes and beach scenes. He was also a reporter, watercolourist and draughtsman for French, English and Belgian lifestyle magazines and newspapers such as the French Le Patriote illustre´, Belgian Le Petit Bleu and English London Illustrated News. He received his artistic education at the Academy of Brussels under the tutorship of Jean Portaels, Joseph Stallaert and Franc¸ois Bossuet. Gailliard also studied at the Brussels Academy of Beaux-Arts and in Paris under the supervision of Jean-Le´on Ge´ro^me (French, 1824–1904) and followed class together with his contemporaries James Ensor, Le´on Fre´de´ric and Fernand Khnopff. He met up with the renowned American painter James Whistler in 1887 and showed him around Brussels. He was the first artist to introduce the "dripping" method in 1891. After having painting in a realist and traditional style, he got influenced by the Impressionist French School, and headed toward a "luministe-divisionniste" technique in his latest period. He exhibited at the Brussels Salon, and at the Salon des Artistes Franc¸ais in Paris from 1882 to 1891, as well as in Venice and Du¨sseldorf. Gailliard exhibited his oeuvre at the "Cercle Artistique et Litte´raire" in Brussels in 1910 and 1913. He became eventually director at the Academy of Sint-Gillis where his son Jean-Jacques Gailliard took class in order to also become painter. A retrospective was held in is honour is 1957 in Sint-Gillis. Even though he was influenced by the Art Deco aesthetics after the First War, he never stopped studying and experimenting with light. Gailliard exhibited at The Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Citta` di Venezia (Venice) in 1909 and at La Biennale di Venezia, (Venice) in 1907. He also exhibited at Le Muse´e d'Ixelles, Brussels. Gailliard died in Brussels on February 16, 1932. Museums: Muse´e d'Ixelles, Brussels Acknowledgments: Biography information of Gailliard was obtained from Galerie Ary Jan in Paris. This painting was previously offered at Bonhams New York on May 06, 2009, Sale Number 17454, "The Severin Wunderman Collection", Lot 4247W. The current auction...

A very fine and mpressive life-size Italian, early 20th century marble bust of a Greco Roman Warrior, probably Hercules, after the antique. The large beautifully carved and decorated...

A very fine pair of French 19th century Louis XV style gilt-bronze chenets (andirons), each with a scrolled design raised with plinths, Paris, circa 1880-1890. Measures: Length: 1...

A fine pair of French 19th century Louis XV style figural gilt bronze and silver plated bronze chenets, each surmounted by a triton blowing a seashell Horn, resting on a pierced roca...

A very fine and palatial Italian 18th century Rococo style giltwood carved console table with a castracane marble top of serpentine outline, the friez...

A rare Art-Deco style polished bronze and alabaster three-light hanging plafonnier chandelier. Please note that we have a total of 12 of these plafonnier chandeliers available. The v...

A fine pair of French 19th century Egyptian revival gilt and patinated bronze figural chenets by Bouhon Freres, a Paris. Each Chenet surmounted with a patinated bronze figure of a re...

A very fine and charming French 19th century carved white marble sculpture of a young prince seated on a pillow with tassels. In the manner of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (French, 1714-178...

A very fine French 19th-20th century Louis XV style tulipwood and mahogany marquetry gilt bronze-mounted petit-bureau de dame (secretary). The bombe´ structure surmounted by a pair o...

A very fine French Sevres biscuit (Bisc) porcelain figure of a recumbent nude lady titled "Le Repos" after a model by Alfred Boucher (French, 1850-1934) Sensually depicting a young w...

A fine pair of Continental 19th century porcelain plaques each depicting George Washington, the first President of the United States and his wife Martha Washington within an ornate V...

A large pair of Régence style gilt bronze five-light figural wall lights after the antique, each with a ribbon-tied backplate suspending a plumed helmet and centered by a Medusa mask...

A fine and rare French 19th-20th century neoclassical style gilt bronze and color-glass figural hanging lantern, the hexagonal shaped body with an orange glass paneling background, each panel centered with a gilt bronze Royal Crest depicting two-winged dragons above a Royal shield...