Old World Wonders

A tall gilt brass European Gothic Revival pricket candlestick Anonymous Europe; first-half 20th century Gilt Brass Approximate size: 29 (h) x 6 (w) x 6 (d) in. A tall gilt brass E...

Pair of tiered gilt brass European Gothic Revival pricket candlesticks with Solomonic spiraling stems Anonymous Europe; probably ca. 1900 Gilt Brass Approximate size: 23 (h) x 6 (...

Antique Hand-Carved Architectural Wooden and White Polychrome Floral Carving Anonymous Probably South Asia; mid-20th century Wood Approximate size: 12.8 x 2.28 x 6.8 in. A South A...

Antique Hand-Carved Architectural Wooden Floral Motif Panel with White Polychrome Anonymous Probably South Asia; mid-20th century Wood Approximate size: 9.8 x 2 x 6.4 in. A South ...

Collection of 3 South Asian Antique Architectural Fragments on Stands Anonymous Southern Asia, probably India; first-half of the 20th c...

An antique 18th century Walnut Figural Statue of Saint Peter on a plinth Anonymous Northern Europe, probably Belgium; first-half of the 18th century Walnut Approximate size: 17 (h) x 4.25 (w) x 4.25 (d) in. The present sculpture, perfectly suited for a curiosity cabinet or English-European country styled home, was likely realized for a church side chapel or choir stall niche. The serious look of the saint’s face...

Stunning Pair of 7-candle Gothic Revival Brass Candelabra Anonymous Europe; 19th century Brass or bronze Approximate size: 13 (h) x 21 (w) x 4 (d) in. This pair of European bras...

Anonymous Early 20th century; North America Wood, brass Approximate size: 26 (h) x 9 (w) x 9 (d) in. The present lamp, formerly a kerosene lamp, has been converted to an electrical...

Anonymous 19th century; Europe Iron and gilt wood Approximate size: 9.5 (h) x 15 (w) x 9.75 (d) inches A collection of five eloquent antique European wall lights in the form of 3-l...

Anonymous Late 19th century; Italy Gilt wood and iron Approximate size: 9.75 (h) x 6.75 (w) x 9 (d) inches An elegant pair of gilt wood and iron wall sconces of probable late 19th ...

Anonymous 19th century; European Gilt bronze and metal Approximate size: 17.75 (h) x 9.75 (w) x 3.5 (d) inches The present pair of distinctive antique gilt metal candlesticks are i...

Henry Pope 1890; Birmingham, England Silver (925/1000) and mother-of-pearl Approximate size: 7.5 (l) x 1 (w) x .15 (d) inches Active in Birmingham, England, Henry Pope was a prolif...

Anonymous Early 20th century; European Bronze and wood Approximate size: 24 (h) x 14.5 (w) x 10.25 (d) inches The present pair of handsome sconces are the perfect addition to a mood-driven library, office or study. Burnished bronze shades, with an open-work border treatment, cover a pair of candlestick...

Anonymous Mid-18th century; probably Moustiers or Nevers, France Faience and brass Approximate size: 12.25 (h) x 9 (w) x 6.25 (d) inches The present dispenser was either used as a water or wine cooler or possibly for washing hands. The original lid is lost-to-time, yet its provincial beauty remains attractive and sublime. The present example—baked with white enamel and decorated with a lovely hand-painted polychrome lattice and floral theme—is warm, elegant and rustic. The curving linear form of the flowers subtly recall the influence of Japan’s Kakiemon style present in France during the Rococo period yet is still indebted to the earlier influence of Italy’s prolific maiolica workshops. This fountain would serve as an elegant addition for display on an oak or distressed wood console table...

A rare and very fine bronze corpus of Christ after a model by Michelangelo, cast ca. 1597-1600 by Juan Bautista Franconio and painted in 1600 by Francisco Pacheco in Seville, Spain. The present corpus reproduces a model attributed to Michelangelo. The best known example, lesser in quality, is one on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). The association of this corpus with Michelangelo was first brought to light by Manuel Gomez-Moreno (1930-33) who studied the wider circulated casts identified throughout Spain. The attribution to Michelangelo was subsequently followed by John Goldsmith-Phillips (1937) of the MET and again by Michelangelo expert, Charles de Tolnay (1960). While Michelangelo is best known for his monumental works, there are four documented crucifixes he made. The best known example is the large-scale wooden crucifix for the Church of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito in Florence, made in 1492 as a gift for the Prior, Giovanni di Lap Bicchiellini, for allowing him to study the anatomy of corpses at the hospital there. In 1562, Michelangelo wrote two letters to his nephew, Lionardo, indicating his intention to carve a wooden crucifix for him. In 1563 a letter between Lionardo and the Italian sculptor Tiberio Calcagni, mentions this same crucifix (a sketch of a corpus on the verso of a sheet depicting Michelangelo’s designs for St. Peter’s Basillica [Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille] may reproduce this). That Michelangelo was working on small corpora in the last years of his life is further evidenced by the small (26.5 cm) unfinished wooden crucifix located at the Casa Buonarroti, considered his last known sculptural undertaking. Michelangelo’s contemporary biographer, Giorgio Vasari additionally cites that Michelangelo, in his later years, made a small crucifix for his friend, Menighella, as a gift. Surviving sketches also indicate Michelangelo’s study of this subject throughout his career, most notably during the end of his life but also during the 1530s-40s as he deepened his spiritual roots. The occasional cameo of crucified Christ’s throughout his sketched oeuvre have made it challenging for scholars to link such sketches to any documented commissions of importance. All the while, in consideration that such objects were made as gifts, it is unlikely they should be linked with commissions. Nonetheless, a number of theories concerning Michelangelo’s sketches of Christ crucified have been proposed and some may regard the origin of the present sculpture. It has been suggested that the corpus could have its impetus with Michelangelo’s work on the Medici Chapel, whose exclusive design was given to the master. It is sensible smaller details, like an altar cross, could have fallen under his responsibility (see for example British Museum, Inv. 1859,0625.552). Others have noted the possibility of an unrealized large marble Crucifixion group which never came to fruition but whose marble blocks had been measured according to a sheet at the Casa Buonarroti. A unique suggestion is that Michelangelo could have made the crucifix for Vittoria Colonna, of whom he was exceedingly fond and with whom he exchanged gifts along with mutual spiritual proclivities. In particular, Vittoria had an interest in the life of St. Bridget, whose vision of Christ closely resembles our sculpture, most notably with Christ’s proper-left leg and foot crossed over his right, an iconography that is incredibly scarce for crucifixes. The suggestion could add sense to Benedetto Varchi’s comment that Michelangelo made a sculpted “nude Christ…he gave to the most divine Marchesa of Pescara (Vittoria Colonna).” Of that same period, two sketches can be visually linked to our sculpture. Tolnay relates it to a sketch of a Crucified Christ at the Teylers Museum (Inv. A034) of which Paul Joannides comments on its quality as suggestive of preparations for a sculptural work. Joannides also calls attention to a related drawing attributed to Raffaello da Montelupo copying what is believed to be a lost sketch by Michelangelo. Its relationship with our sculpture is apparent. Montelupo, a pupil of Michelangelo’s, returned to Rome to serve him in 1541, assisting with the continued work on the tomb of Pope Julius II, suggesting again an origin for the corpus ca. 1540. The earliest firm date that can be given to the present corpus is 1574 where it appears as a rather crudely conceived Crucifixion panel, flanked by two mourners in low-relief and integrally cast for use as the bronze tabernacle door to a ciborium now located at the Church of San Lorenzo in Padula. Etched in wax residue on the back of the door is the date, 27 January 1574, indicating the corpus would have at least been available as a model by late 1573. The Padula tabernacle was completed by Michelangelo’s assistant, Jacopo del Duca and likely has its origins with Michelangelo’s uncompleted tabernacle for the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Rome. The impetus for the Padula tabernacle’s Crucifixion panel begins with a series of late Crucifixion sketches by Michelangelo, depicting a scene of Christ crucified and flanked by two mourners (see British Museum Inv. 1895.0915.510; Ashmolean Museum Inv. 1846.89, KP II 343 recto; Windsor Castle RCIN 912761 recto; and Louvre Inv. 700). A faintly traced block possibly intended for sculpting the sketch of the crucified Christ on its recto was discovered by Tolnay on a version of the composition at Windsor Castle. The Windsor sketch and those related to it appear to have served as preparatory designs for what was probably intended to become the Basilica of St. Mary’s tabernacle door. Vasari documents that the project was to be designed by Michelangelo and cast by his assistant, Jacopo del Duca. Michelangelo died before the commission was complete, though on 15 March 1565, Jacopo writes to Michelangelo’s nephew stating, “I have started making the bronze tabernacle, depending on the model of his that was in Rome, already almost half complete.” Various circumstances interrupted the completion of the tabernacle, though its concept is later revitalized by Jacopo during preparations to sell a tabernacle, after Michelangelo’s designs, to Spain for Madrid’s El Escorial almost a decade later. The El Escorial tabernacle likewise encountered problems and was aborted but Jacopo successfully sold it shortly thereafter to the Carthusians of Padula. An etched date, 30 May 1572, along the base of the Padula tabernacle indicates its framework was already cast by then. A 1573 summary of the tabernacle also describes the original format for the door and relief panels, intended to be square in dimension. However, a last minute decision to heighten them was abruptly made during Jacopo’s negotiations to sell the tabernacle to King Phillip II of Spain. Shortly thereafter the commission was aborted. Philippe Malgouyres notes that the Padula tabernacle’s final state is a mixed product of the original design intended for Spain’s El Escorial, recycling various parts that had already been cast and adding new quickly finished elements for its sale to Padula, explaining its unusually discordant quality, particularly as concerns the crudeness of the door and relief panels which were clearly made later (by January 1574). Apart from his own admission in letters to Spain, it is apparent, however, that Jacopo relied upon his deceased master’s designs while hastily realizing the Padula panels. If Michelangelo had already earlier conceived a crucifix model, and Jacopo had access to that model, its logical he could have hastily employed it for incorporation on the door panel to the tabernacle. It is worth noting some modifications he made to the model, extending Christ’s arms further up in order to fit them into the scale of the panel and further lowering his chin to his chest in order to instill physiognomic congruence. A crude panel of the Deposition also follows after Michelangelo’s late sketches and is likewise known by examples thought to be modifications by Jacopo based upon Michelangelo’s initial sculptural conception (see Malgouyres: La Deposition du Christ de Jacopo del Duca, chef-d’oeuvre posthume de Michel-Ange). Jacopo’s appropriation of an original model by Michelangelo for more than one relief on the Padula tabernacle adds further indication that the crucifix was not an object unique to Jacopo’s hand, as few scholars have posited, but rather belongs to Michelangelo’s original...

A large polychrome and gilt limewood sculpture of an Angel in the Manner of Franz Ignaz Gunther, ca. 1770, Munich (Bavaria) Approximate size: 107 c...

An early 18th century Florentine ebonized wood aedicule case with gilt metal embellishments Ambit of Leonard van der Vinne Possibly first decade of the 18th century; Florence, Italy Approximate size: 83.5 (h) x 69 (w) x 23 (d) cm The cabinet’s centralized glass door is flanked by thick spiraling Solomonic columns surmounting a lower drawer. To the rear of the cabinet, the motif repeats in an eloquent display of perspectival treatment. The overall work is supported by a tiered base, elegantly conceived, and the cabinet is topped by a handsome pediment flanked by square plinths crested by gilt metal finials and an openwork frieze. The cabinet’s tempered and moderate form suggests an origin probably during the first decade or quarter of the 18th century. Although utilitarian in concept, the reserved and sublime expressiveness of this cabinet is managed with a quality and care respective of the influence of Florentine ebony cabinetry work conceived in the Galleria dei lavori or Grand Ducal Workshops of the 18th century Medici dynasty. In particular, its base mouldings echo a remarkable Night Clock...

James Deakin & Sons Ltd. Sheffield, England; ca. 1897-1935 Silver plated copper and glass Approximate size: 11 (w) x 6 (h) x 6 (d) in. This lovely silver-plated inkwell features an...

Distinctive Oriental Wool Area Rug by Rex & Rex inspired by the Rococo Singerie genre Rex and Rex 21st cent.; designed in Palm Beach, FL; handmade in China Wool Approximate size: ...

Decorative Pair of Wooden Light Green and Gold painted Architectural finials Anonymous Probably ate 19th or early 20th century; American in the European style Painted and gilded pine wood Approximate size: 18 x 6 in. The present pair of decorative painted wood architectural finials...

Anonymous ca. 1790; Italy Wood panel and plaster, painted, gilt and lacquered Approximate size: 118.5 x 82.5 x 5 cm The present panel is probably of late 18th century origin,...

The present pair of late 17th century or early 18th century Spanish Baroque giltwood architectural elements may have once formed part of an altarpiece environment. Their decorative p...