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16th Century Decorative Objects

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Period: 16th Century
Japanese antique Bizen ware vase / 15th-16th century / Wabi-sabi vase/Tsubo
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
This Bizen ware jar was fired in the Bizen region of Okayama Prefecture. Bizen ware is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns and is known as one of the oldest pottery styles in Japan. Its...
Category

Japanese Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Pottery

French 16th/ 17th Century Weathered Oak Renaissance Angel Fragment
Located in Buisson, FR
Beautiful weathered oak winged angel head Renaissance ornament. France, 16/ 17th century. Weathered Measurements include the wooden pedestal.
Category

French Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Oak

Japanese antique pottery with very beautiful colors/ [shigaraki] Jar/1500-1600
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
It is "Shigaraki ware". Shigaraki is a historical kiln located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. (Shigaraki Kiln is marked with a red circle on the map.) It is said to have originated in t...
Category

Japanese Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Pottery

Japanese antique pottery "Echizen ware" Large Jar/1500s/Rare large vase
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
It is "Echizen ware". Echizen is a historic kiln located in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. It is said to have originated around the 9th century. There are 6 kilns with a long history in...
Category

Japanese Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Pottery

Chinese Ming Cobalt Brushed Celadon Jar, c. 1500
Located in Chicago, IL
Warped by fire and eroded by time, this ceramic storage jar from Yunnan province is a testament to the wabi-sabi beauty of provincial Chinese pottery. Dated to the 15th/16th century,...
Category

Chinese Ming Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Earthenware

Korean antique black glaze pottery/Joseon period/15th-16th century/small vase
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
This is a small black-glazed jar made in Korea between the 15th and 16th centuries. White porcelain is famous in Korea, but this was a type of porcelain that was only allowed to be u...
Category

South Korean Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Pottery

Rare and important painted bronze Crucifix after a model by Michelangelo
By Michelangelo Buonarroti
Located in Leesburg, VA
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...
Category

Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Bronze

Venetian Renaissance Jewelry Chest
Located in Greenwich, CT
Rare Venetian 16th century Italian traveling jewelry chest profusely decorated in Arabesque black and gilt decoration featuring rare specimen stone drawer fronts in a Palladian archi...
Category

Italian Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Pair of 16th Century Italian Gilt Candlesticks
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
A pair of Italian giltwood candlesticks from the 1500’s. This impressive hand-carved pair of candlesticks have stayed together for over 400 years. Gold and silver gilt is found on th...
Category

Italian Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Giltwood

16th-17th Century French Carved Oak Panel with an Angel Figure
Located in Buisson, FR
Beautiful weathered oak panel with an wonderful primitive angel figure. On the bottom of this angel you can also see two small eagle heads. France, circa 1550-1650, weathered, small...
Category

French Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Oak

Antique Islamic Mamluk 16th Century Glazed Fritware Ceramic Jar Vase
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
This antique ceramic jar or vase is believed to be from the 15th century and is of the Mamluk period. It is made of a sandy earthenware and feature...
Category

Syrian Islamic Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

16th Century Spanish Terracotta Vase
Located in Miami, FL
16th Century Spanish Terracotta Vase Hand made marks around the vase.
Category

Spanish Baroque Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Terracotta

Antique 16th century Venetian Painted Gold Gilt Iron Strongbox with Original Key
Located in Doha, QA
An extraordinarily rare and visually striking 16th-century Venetian iron treasure coffer, showcasing the height of Renaissance artistry and engineering. Crafted in the early to mid-1...
Category

Italian Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Gold, Iron

16th Century Mary Magdalene in Polychromed Carved Walnut
Located in Meer, VAN
Mary Magdalene in Polychromed Carved Walnut 16th Century Devotional figure in carved wood, depicting Mary Magdalene. Walnut, most probably Flemish and from the 16th century. It de...
Category

European Medieval Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Walnut

Heavy 16th Century French Bronze Mortar with Handles, Dated 1587, 109 lbs
Located in Dallas, TX
A large and heavy (it weighs 109 lbs!) example of a traditional French pharmacy bowl, this bronze mortar with handles is from 1587, as seen on the production date beneath the molded ...
Category

French Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Metal, Bronze

Wood Low-Relief Depicting a Werewolf and Saint George
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Exceptional polychrome wood low-relief depicting a werewolf and saint george after a woodcut by lucas cranach (“DER WERWOLF” 1512) Provenance : collection Brimo de Laroussihle colle...
Category

German Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

16th Century Late Medieval Heraldic Encaustic Tile
Located in Wormelow, Herefordshire
A 445-year-old late medieval 16th century heraldic encaustic tile of Flemish origin (unmarked). Made from terracotta and glazed, this 6-inch antique tile is an excellent collector’s ...
Category

Dutch Medieval Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Terracotta

An Unusual and Rare English ‘Memento Mori’ Carved Shrine with Two Human Skulls
Located in London, GB
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...
Category

English Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Marble

French Bronze Sculpture of Youth Wrangling a Horse by Guillaume Coustou
Located in Middleburg, VA
French Bronze Sculpture of Youth Wrangling a Horse by Guillaume Coustou (1677-1746). Best known for his monumental statues of horses, Coustou was the royal sculptor for Louis XIV an...
Category

French Louis XIV Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Bronze

Chinese Ming Cobalt Brushed Storage Jar, c. 1500
Located in Chicago, IL
Warped by fire and eroded by time, this ceramic storage jar from Yunnan province is a testament to the wabi-sabi beauty of provincial Chinese pottery. Dated to the 15th/16th century,...
Category

Chinese Ming Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Earthenware

Tall Ming Dynasty Sancai Glazed Dignitary Tomb Figures
Located in Dallas, TX
A Pair of Chinese Enameled Sancai Glazed Pottery Attendant Figures Representing Dignitaries. Ming Dynasty Period. Circa 1600AD Dimensions; 23 x 5.5 x 5.25 inches (58.4 x 13.7 x 13.3 ...
Category

Chinese Ming Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Pottery

16th Century Spanish Terracotta Vase
Located in Miami, FL
16th Century Spanish Terracotta Vase Hand made marks around the vase.
Category

Spanish Baroque Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Terracotta

LATE 16th CENTURY SMALL WALNUT BOX
Located in Firenze, FI
Elegant solid walnut small box, entirely hand-carved. The rectangular chest features an opening top, ideal for storing objects. The front, back, and sides are decorated with geometri...
Category

Italian Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Nutwood

Chest. Carved wood, metal. Spanish school, 16th century.
Located in Madrid, ES
Chest. Carved wood, metal. Spanish school, 16th century. Rectangular casket with a flat lid decorated on the outside with a series of figurative reliefs in a symmetrical arrangemen...
Category

Spanish Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Metal, Other

Paolo di Giovanni Sogliani - Processional Cross Florence, around 1515
Located in Bruxelles, BE
Paolo di Giovanni Sogliani (Florence 1455-1522) Processional Cross Florence, around 1515 Enameled, chiseled, engraved, stippled, and gilded copper; wooden core ; Inscription: "OPA...
Category

Italian Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Copper, Enamel

Ming Dynasty Porcelain Shou Lau Figure
Located in Queens, NY
Asian Chinese (Ming Dynasty-Circa 1500) blue & green porcelain Shou Lau seated figure with oversize head (symbolism of longevity & luck) on a base suppo...
Category

Chinese Chinese Export Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Porcelain

Antique Chinese Porcelain Ming Wanli China Plate Rare Decoration, 16th Century
Located in Amsterdam, Noord Holland
A very nicely decorated plate. With rare decoration. Wanli period Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Region of Origin: China Period: 16th century, 17th century Tr...
Category

Chinese Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Porcelain

Danzig Baroque Wall Candle Holder Blaker Brass with Bird motif and Flora
Located in Hannover, DE
These beautiful wall candle holders come from a private castle that was decorated in the style of the Gdansk Baroque. The candlesticks were bought in the 1960s in a Gdansk candlestic...
Category

Polish Baroque Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Brass

Pair of Burmese Sandstone Temple Guards
Located in Kastrup, DK
A rare pair of carved sandstone Burmese temple guards. Originates from paragode in Burma c. 15-17th century. Handcarved with fine details. Each guard ...
Category

Burmese Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Sandstone

16th Century Late Medieval Encaustic Tile with Rampant Lion
Located in Wormelow, Herefordshire
A 445-year-old late medieval 16th century encaustic tile of Flemish origin (unmarked), detailed with a rampant lion. Made from terracotta and glazed, this 6-inch antique tile is an e...
Category

Dutch Medieval Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Terracotta

Italian Ancient Marble Sculpture Fountain, Late 16th Century
Located in Milano, IT
Sea monster Carrara marble mouth fountain Italy, late 16th century It measures 13.8 x 31.5 x 18.9 in (35 x 80 x 48 cm) State of conservation: some small evident gaps and widespread signs of wear due to outdoor exposure. The gray marks crossing it do not come from restoration, but are rather the natural veins of the marble. This work has some morphological characteristics typically associated with the iconography of the sea monster: an elongated muzzle, sharp teeth, protruding eyes, elongated ears, and a coiled serpent's tail. An in-depth series of studies on artistic depictions of the sea monster attempted to verify how this symbol evolved in antiquity in the European and Mediterranean contexts and how it gradually changed its image and function over time. The iconography itself is mutable and imaginative and its history is rich with cultural and artistic exchange, as well as the overlapping of ideas. This occurred so much that it is difficult to accurately pinpoint the "types" that satisfactorily represent its various developments. However, we can try to summarize the main figures, starting from the biblical Leviathan and the marine creature that swallowed Jonah (in the Christian version, this figure was to become a whale or a "big fish", the “ketos mega”, translation of the Hebrew “dag gadol”). Other specimens ranged from the dragons mentioned in the Iliad (which were winged and had legs) to "ketos” (also from Greek mythology), the terrifying being from whose Latinized name (“cetus”) derives the word "cetacean". See J. Boardman, “Very Like a Whale” - Classical Sea Monsters, in Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, in Papers presented in Honor of Edith Porada, Mainz am Rhein 1987, pp. 73-84). In Italy the monster underwent yet further variations: it can be found in Etruscan art on the front of some sarcophagi representing the companion of souls, while among the Romans we find the “Pistrice” (cited by Plinio in Naturalis Historia PLIN., Nat., II 9, 8 and by Virgilio in Eneide: VERG., Aen., III, 427), which appeared in the shape of a stylized hippocampus or a very large monstrous cetacean and evolved into a hideous being with a dragon's head and long webbed fins. During the Middle Ages, the sea monster was the object of new transformations: at this time, it is often winged, the head is stretched like a crocodile, the front legs are often very sharp fins - sometimes real paws - until the image merges with dragons, the typical figures of medieval visionary spirituality widely found throughout Europe (on this topic and much more, see: Baltrušaitis, J., Il Medioevo fantastico. Antichità ed esotismi nell’arte gotica, Gli Adelphi 1997). In Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries, the revival of classicism - representative of the humanistic and Renaissance periods - led to a different reading of these "creatures". Indeed, the sea monster was also to find widespread use as an isolated decorative motif, especially in numerous fountains and sculptures where dolphins or sea monsters were used as a characterizing element linked to water (on this theme see: Chet Van Duzer, Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps, London, The British library, 2013). From the morphological point of view, the "sea monsters" of this period are mostly depicted as hybrid figures, in which the body of a mythological or real being (a hippocampus, a sea snake, a dolphin), is joined to a head with a rather indistinct appearance. It was usually characterized by large upright ears, an elongated snout, sharp teeth and globular, protruding eyes; a complex and indefinite figure, both from the symbolic point of view and from that of its genesis. The work we are examining is placed as a cross between the medieval sea serpent and the Renaissance dolphin, with stylistic features which recall the snake as often used in heraldry (such as the "snake" depicted in the coat of arms of the Visconti - the lords and then dukes of Milan between 1277 and 1447 - and which, for some, may be derived from the representations of the “Pistrice” that swallowed Jonah). In the search for sources, Renaissance cartography and in particular woodcuts should not be neglected. See for example the monsters of Olaus Magnus, from the editions of the “Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus” (“History of the peoples of the north”) and the natural histories of Conrad Gesner, Ulisse...
Category

Italian Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Carrara Marble

16th-Century Indo-Portuguese Colonial Mother-of-pearl Gujarat Casket
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An exceptional Indo-Portuguese colonial mother-of-pearl veneered casket with silver mounts India, Gujarat, 2nd half of the 16th century, the silver mounts Goa or probably Lisbon Measures: H. 16 x W. 24.6 x D. 16.1 cm An exceptional Gujarati casket with a rectangular box and truncated pyramidal lid (with slopes on each side and a flat top) made from exotic wood, probably teak (Tectona grandis), covered with a mother-of-pearl mosaic. The tesserae, cut from the shell of the green turban sea snail (Turbo marmoratus, a marine gastropod) in the shape of fish scales, are pinned to the wooden structure with silver ball-headed nails. The casket is set on bracket feet on the corners. The masterfully engraved decoration of the silver mounts follows the most refined and erudite Mannerist repertoire of rinceaux and ferroneries dating from the mid-16th century. The high quality and refinement of the silver mounts and, likewise, the silver nails that replaced the original brass pins used to hold the mother-of-pearl tesserae in place indicate the work of a silversmith probably working in Lisbon in the second half of the 16th century. The Indian origin of this production, namely from Cambay (Khambhat) and Surat in the present state of Gujarat in north India, is, as for the last three decades, consensual and fully demonstrated, not only by documentary and literary evidence - such as descriptions, travelogues and contemporary archival documentation - but also by the survival in situ of 16th-century wooden structures covered in mother-of-pearl tesserae. A fine example is a canopy decorating the tomb (dargah) of the Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti (1478-1572) in Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, north India. This is an artistic production, geometric in character and Islamic in nature, where usually the mother-of-pearl tesserae form complex designs of fish scales or, similar to the dishes also made using the same technique, with the thin brass sheets and pins, stylized lotus flowers. The truncated pyramidal shape corresponds, like their contemporary tortoiseshell counterparts also made in Gujarat, to a piece of furniture used in the Indian subcontinent within the Islamic world prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese. This shape, in fact, is very old and peculiar to East-Asian caskets, chests or boxes used to contain and protect Buddhist texts, the sutras. A similar chest is the famous and large reliquary chest from Lisbon cathedral that once contained the relics of the city's patron saint, Saint Vincent. Both match in shape, having the same kind of socle or pedestal and bracket feet, and in their engraved silver mountings, featuring the same type of refined, erudite decoration. Their differences lie in the silver borders that frame the entire length of the edges of the chest (both the box and the lid), pinned with silver nails, and on the lock plate, shaped like a coat of arms in the Lisbon example. Given the exceptional dimensions of the reliquary casket...
Category

Indian Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Silver

Pair Ming Dynasty Glazed Pottery Dignitary Figures
Located in Dallas, TX
A pair of Ming dynasty sancai blue glazed pottery figures. Circa 1500 AD Ming Dynasty I have owned over 250 ming tomb figures including over 80...
Category

Chinese Ming Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Pottery

Japanese Giltwood Medicine Buddha, Yakushi Nyorai, Muromachi Period 16th Century
Located in Austin, TX
A striking Japanese late Muromachi Period (1333-1573) lacquered and giltwood figure of Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha, seated upon an elaborate car...
Category

Japanese Edo Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Rock Crystal

16th Century Italian Renaissance Carving of a Male Saint
Located in Stamford, CT
16th century Italian carved and polychromed figure of a male saint or prophet with a wonderful presence. Shown holding an open book in his right hand with flames at his feet, mid-16t...
Category

Italian Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Chinese Antique Rose Famille Bowl Qing Synasty Qinglong
Located in Newmanstown, PA
Marked Qian Long Dynasty. Large decorative painted bowl. Constructed from high quality, high temperature fired Chinese porcelain. Features hand applied images of an Asian courtyard s...
Category

Chinese Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Porcelain

Rare & Important 16th Century Italian Bronze Jacopo Lodovico del Duca Table Box
Located in Forney, TX
A magnificent antique fall-front box with scarce Medieval period bronze lockplate and hasp attributed to Jacopo and Lodovico del Duca. Featuring an important Lockplate and Hasp designed circa 1570, exact date of manufacture unknown, attributed to the late 16th century Roman foundry of Jacopo 1520-1604) and Ludovico (1551-1601) del Duca, with no apparent signatures or hallmarks which is typical of the era, but we did not remove it and inspect the back. Boxes such as this hand various uses but were frequently used by merchants as a writing box - slope during travel and trade, as a small coffer - strong box for storing important documents, money and valuables, as well as a jewelry casket. This hand-crafted European drop-front box dates to the late 19th century, signed L'PUPLET, adorned with a significantly older Italian fine quality cast bronze lockplate with intricate Renaissance era reliefs, including figures, coat-of-arms, and elongated hasp, mounted on a chest of drawers form solid wooden case, wrapped in exotic Japanesque embossed and gilded metallic paper, having a locking fall-front panel with original key included, opening to reveal three interior drawers, all lined in red velvet. circa 1875 The visually striking textured wallpaper covering the box's exterior displays bamboo, birds, and flowers in the oriental Japanesque taste popular in Europe in the 1860s and 1870s following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858 and the ensuing Japonisme craze. To the interior of the fall front panel is a gilt circular stamp with the somewhat obscured name of the workshop or store (likely) "L'PUPLET" and the city "Burxelles" which is in Brussels, indicating the box was likely made or retailed there. Marks to box: L'PUPLET, BRUXELLES Inscription: 13, 14, 15 (Interior drawers inscribed on the verso of their backboards in script from top to bottom, respectively) Provenance / Acquisition: The origin of the elaborate lockplate with hasp on the front of the piece is more intriguing. At least 76 lockplates of this design have been recorded in major museums, private collections, and in the antiques trade across the Western World. For example, lockplates of this pattern are in the collections of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the State Museum of Prussian Cultural Heritage in Berlin, the Museum Cicico in Bologna, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Museo di Palazzo Venezia in Rome, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.[1] Specialists in Renaissance bronzes, especially Charles Avery...
Category

Italian Japonisme Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Bronze, Metal

16th Wrought Iron Safe, Renaissance Style, for Donations or Cash Chest
Located in Marbella, ES
Impressive wrought iron tabletop safe with engraved decoration and original patina. This type of safe was commonly used in the 16th and 17th centuries to hold valuables, alms, or doc...
Category

Spanish Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Iron

Carved Wood Depicting the Resurrection of Christ
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Carved wood depicting the resurrection of Christ ORIGIN : SOUTHERN NETHERLANDS, ANTWERP PERIOD : EARLY 16th CENTURY Height : 67.5 cm Len...
Category

Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Oak

Liu Hai Kosometsuke Antique Chinese Ming Dynasty Plate Porcelain, 16/17th C
Located in Amsterdam, Noord Holland
Beautiful dish in blue and white. This is a Jingdezhen made dish made for the Japanese market. Kosometsuke. Central scene of Liu Hai and the toad. No mark Ad...
Category

Chinese Ming Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Porcelain

A very old small pottery jar from China / 13th to 17th century / Excavated vase
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
This is a fired jar made in southern China or northern Laos or the surrounding area in the 15th to 17th century. Its unique shape has long been loved in Japan as a wabi-sabi flower v...
Category

Southeast Asian Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Pottery

Pair of Islamic Enameled Vessels, Ancient Urns
Located in Vero Beach, FL
This is an exceptional and historic pair of Damascus enameled metalwork vessels or urns. These art objects show signs of rough use and handling through the centuries. Although it is ...
Category

West Asian Islamic Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Enamel

16th Century Stone Classical Roman Style Torso
Located in Vosselaar, BE
A wonderful 16th century draped female torso in classical style. Made in France under Italian Renaissance influence this female torso is finely sculpted with great detail to the stol...
Category

French Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Sandstone

Japanese Antique Pottery Jar 15th-16th Century/ Wabi-Sabi Jar/Tokoname Vase
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
It is a very old jar in Japan. This is a pottery called Tokoname ware. Tokoname is a kiln located in Aichi prefecture, Japan. It is said to have originated around the 12th century. A...
Category

Japanese Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Pottery

Very Rare Ming Dynasty Porcelain Ewer with Ottoman Gem-Set Tombak Mounts
Located in London, GB
Very rare Ming dynasty porcelain ewer with ottoman gem-set tombak mounts Chinese and Turkish, 16th/17th century Measures: Tombak: height 20cm,...
Category

Chinese Ming Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Multi-gemstone, Brass

16th Century Polychrome Reliquary of a Monk
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
The monk is depicted with an oval face, marked with high and strong cheekbones, sunken cheeks, strong jawbones and a cleft chin. His almond shaped eyes are opened under very strong a...
Category

Italian Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

16th Century Southern Germany Carved Wood Bracket Depicting a Mermaid
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
In Medieval Europe and even more during the early 16th century fantastic beasts could be found in Bestiaries, a literary genre close to poetry. A bestiary used the characteristics of...
Category

German Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Renaissance Inkwell Calamelli workshop, Italy, Faenza, second half of the 16th
By Virgiliotto Calamelli
Located in Milano, IT
Inkwell Calamelli workshop (attr.). Faenza, second half of the 16th century Height 4.33 in; length 8.07 in; depth 2.95 in (11 cm; 20.5 cm; 7.5 cm) Weight: 0.800 lb (363 g) State of conservation: some chipping to the top of the mask around the mouth. Handle glued, without any restorations; minor chips in some raised areas. This object has the shape of a foot wearing Greek-style footwear, as can be seen in some raised areas. The foot is anatomically modeled with bare toes, while the ankle is partially covered by the footwear. On the heel, there is a small circular handle to support the object. The mouth of the container is shaped like a mask. The interior, completely enameled, suggests that the piece was intended to be used as an inkwell or to contain some other liquid. The base, however, is not enamelled. The painted decoration, scant and brief, consists of rapid cobalt blue shading between the toes of the foot, with more precise emphasis on the nails. It is accompanied by yellow citrine accents to enhance the forms. The mask is painted with the tip of the brush, to accentuate the tense nature of the eyes and to accentuate their outline. Thin strokes of yellow-orange line the interior of the mouth. Since the Renaissance, this decoration has been referred to as "compendiaria" and it characterizes the period of production extending from the mid-16th century to approximately the middle of the following century. It significantly influenced tastes at the time. It evolved from the polychrome style "istoriato" and transformed into a new style that "summarized" (compendia), or condensed, the ornamentation of the works into a few colors, placing greater prominence on the shapes. It was often inspired by metal specimens. Since the Renaissance, this decoration has been referred to as "compendiaria" and it characterizes the period of production extending from the mid-16th century to approximately the middle of the following century. It significantly influenced tastes at the time. It evolved from the polychrome style "istoriato" and transformed into a new style that "summarized" (compendia), or condensed, the ornamentation of the works into a few colors, placing greater prominence on the shapes. It was often inspired by metal specimens. This artwork finds parallels in similar objects all characterized by this refined style and produced in the city of Faenza and other Italian centers starting from the mid-16th century. The closest comparable example in majolica is a foot acquired by the British Museum in 2011 (inv. 2011, 8008.1). This was previously published by Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti in 1996 and later by Dora Thornton in 2016 during the conference on Renaissance ceramics...
Category

Italian Renaissance Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Maiolica

Sawankhalok Ship Wreck Jar from the Kingdom of Sukhothai, Thailand, 16th Century
Located in Jimbaran, Bali
A wonderful example of a 16th Century Sawankhalok jar from a Shipwreck off the Coast of the Indonesian Island of Batam. Batam was one of the most substantial and influential ports in...
Category

Thai Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

Patron's Polychrome Drug Jar
Located in Greenwich, CT
A rare Italian late 16th century drug jar of cylindrical form with polychrome decoration in blue and yellow on a white ground featuring a portrait of the town's patron in a fancy hat...
Category

Italian Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

16th Century Thai Ayutthaya Sandstone Torso of the Buddha
Located in Austin, TX
A lovely carved sandstone torso of the Buddha, Ayutthaya period (1350-1767), Thailand. Wonderfully simplistic, the only ornamentation this torso displays...
Category

Thai Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Sandstone

Christ Crucified in Silver 16th Century Italian School
Located in Madrid, ES
Christ crucified in silver 16th Century Italian school Measure: height: 40cm. very good condition.
Category

Italian Baroque Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Silver

Couple 16th-17th Century Spanish Hand Forged Iron Candleholders
Located in Buisson, FR
Great pair of very old wrought iron candleholders. Unique pieces, Spain circa 1500-1700. Weathered. H:68-78cm W:19-23cm
Category

Spanish Rustic Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Iron

Antique Ming Jiajing/Wanli 16th century dish Chinese Porcelain FROG
Located in Amsterdam, Noord Holland
Sharing with you this most interesting 16th Century dish. Small saucer dish with flat everted rim, painted with a frog looking up in a grassy verge beside flowers and tree, the cav...
Category

Chinese Ming Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Porcelain

Carved Wooden Sculpture of Mary Magdalene, Circa 1500.
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Carved wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene, circa 1500. Large limewood sculpture with traces of polychromy representing Mary Magdalene, German work, circa 1500. H: 80cm. W: 35cm, D: ...
Category

German Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Wood

Chinese Jade Figure of Guanyin
Located in Bradenton, FL
Most likely Ming 15th/16th Century, carved chicken bone jade figure of a standing Guanyin (Quanyin) holding a scroll in one hand, prayer beads in the other. Affixed to carved wood ba...
Category

Chinese Ming Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Organic Material

18th Century Handmade Terracotta Olive Jar, Vase with Two Handles, Spain
Located in Miami, FL
This is a terracotta olive jar from central Spain. It has a wonderful aged patina with chalky painted finish. It makes a great statement as a sculpture in a room on a pedestal, alone...
Category

Spanish Baroque Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Terracotta

Korean Glazed Ceramic Vase Buncheong Ware Joseon Dynasty
Located in Atlanta, GA
A small antique Korean Buncheong stoneware vase from early Joseon Dynasty circa 16th century. The vase is of a classic pear form with a waisted neck, a flared mouth and a ringed base...
Category

Korean Other Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

16th Century Animist Shipwreck Ceramic Vase, Vietnam
Located in New York, NY
16th century Vietnamese Animist ceramic vase. Beautiful and abundant fossil growth from being submerged under water. Natural original patina. Part of a very large collection of shipw...
Category

Vietnamese Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

16th Century Sawankhalok Large Shipwreck Vessel, Thailand
Located in New York, NY
16th century Thailand Sawankhalok large ceramic vessel from the old city of Sawankhalok known for its pottery. Beautiful and natural patina from being submerged under water. Part of ...
Category

Thai Antique 16th Century Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

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