16th Century Decorative Objects

Beautiful weathered wooden panel with an wonderful primitive angel figure and garlands. Original paint and gilding. Spain, circa 1550-1650, weathered, small losses and old repairs M...

This medium-sized Echizen ware jar, a representative example of ancient Japanese pottery, is believed to have been produced during the late Muromachi period to the Azuchi-Momoyama pe...

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...

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...

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...

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...

This Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) storage jar is attributed to the kilns of Yunnan province, loosely decorated with cobalt underglaze in a manner typical of the region. Dated to the 15th...

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...

A lovely carved sandstone torso of the Buddha, Ayutthaya period (1350-1767), Thailand. Wonderfully simplistic, the only ornamentation this torso displays...

Antique Ovoid Jar from Ming Dynasty, China. Large jar with textures and a russet glaze (brown). Top part has light yellow glaze and body has black specks or pigments.

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...

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...

A large 16th-century hand-carved wooden fragment depicting a kneeling angel in adoration, arms extended and wearing a gentle, serene expression. Likely of Northern European origin, t...

A rare and historically significant Dutch brass candlestick of the Heemskerk type, dating to around 1525. This early 16th-century example features a pronounced mid-drip pan with slig...

This delicate ceramic bottle is a Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) vessel originally used for serving rice wine or spirits. The gracefully curved form is known as a yuhuchunping, or pear-sha...

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...

Religious sculpture representing the nativity, carved wood from the 16th century. Carved wood sculpture, walnut wood and oak wood base, sculpture representing the nativity, circa 16...

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...

16th century Thailand Sawankhalok ceramic vase from the old city of Sawankhalok known for its pottery. Beautiful and abundant fossil growth from being submerged under water. Natural ...

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...

Hostiary. Bronze. 16th century. A circular, tubular bronze box with a finial lid, to which a piece of tubing is attached, forming a press for the interior of the case. It features a...

16th Century Spanish Terracotta Vase Hand made marks around the vase.

This rare Venetian frame entirely carved in high-relief shows a rich decor of scrolls, garlands, daisy flowers and thistles. At the four corners of the frame are depicted large acant...

Capitello corinzio a colonna piatta in marmo della prima metà del XVI secolo. Presenta il tipico ornamento con foglie di acanto, pianta naturalmente attratta dalla luce del sole e sp...

A fine and large Chinese brown ochre glazed stoneware storage jar, commonly known as a Martaban or Martavan jar, Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century. The elegant ovoid jar with a slen...

A rare German late Gothic brass candlestick (Spulenleuchter), dating to around 1500. This finely crafted piece features a broad circular base with a gently sloping profile, supportin...

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,...

Elemento architettonico in marmo. Questo capitello potrebbe essere stato parte di una colonna o un altro elemento decorativo in un contesto architettonico. L'origine è toscana e il p...

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...

Christ crucified in silver 16th Century Italian school Measure: height: 40cm. very good condition.

Very rare Ming dynasty porcelain ewer with ottoman gem-set tombak mounts Chinese and Turkish, 16th/17th century Measures: Tombak: height 20cm,...

Ming Dynasty (16th century) pottery vase with vivid turquoise glaze, decorated with dragons. The vase is partially moulded, with circular bosses around the mouth rim and a hexagonal ...

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

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...

16th Century Spanish Terracotta Vase Hand made marks around the vase.

Large high relief in carved and gilt wood, with many traces of polychromy, representing the Adoration of the Shepherds. The evangelist Luke first mentions that the scene takes place at night. A sudden light, which frightens the shepherds, signals the arrival of an angel who announces "great joy". He gives them a sign: they will find "a newborn baby wrapped...

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...

The eroded surface of this petite, Ming-dynasty medicine jar tells a story of trade, tradition and lost treasure. A matte texture and traces of marine life suggest the jar spent many...

The soft, matte texture and eroded wear of this petite porcelain box suggest it spent many years submerged in saltwater, likely excavated from a sunken trade ship carrying ceramic ex...

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 ...

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: ...

An unusually large Chinese Ming Dynasty glazed pottery architectural model of a shrine or cabinet, Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), circa 16th century, China. The shrine model crafted o...

A fascinating bit of history, this pair of carved wooden terms dates to the High Renaissance during the 1500s. A term is a beam support in the form of a human head where the bust con...

Great pair of very old wrought iron candleholders. Unique pieces, Spain circa 1500-1700. Weathered. H:68-78cm W:19-23cm

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...

The soft, matte texture and eroded wear of this petite porcelain box suggest it spent many years submerged in saltwater, likely excavated from a sunken trade ship carrying ceramic ex...

Elegant yet unrefined, this ceramic wine bottle from Yunnan province is a testament to the wabi-sabi beauty of provincial Chinese pottery. Dated to the 15th/16th century, the bottle ...

This piece is an Iga ware jar fired around the 16th century, during the late Muromachi period to the Momoyama period. Iga ware is pottery produced in the Iga region of Mie Prefectur...

This piece is an old Tokoname ware jar produced in the Tokoname region of Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is believed to date from the Momoyama period to the early Edo period (late 16th ...

A deep and well carved panel English oak with many figures in deep relief and a good colour Circa 1520 33cms wide x 21cms high

Renaissance polychrome and gilded wooden sculpture of Saint Anne, Spain, 16th century Imposing carved, polychrome, and gilded wooden sculpture, representing Saint Anne. Made in the ...

Beautiful weathered oak winged angel head Renaissance ornament. France, 16/ 17th century. Weathered Measurements include the wooden pedestal.

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...

16th century German hand carved painted wood St. Sebastian.

The soft, matte texture and eroded wear of this petite porcelain box suggest it spent many years submerged in saltwater, likely excavated from a sunken trade ship carrying ceramic ex...

A large Japanese Namban lacquer arqueta coffer for the Portuguese market Kyoto, Momoyama-period, late 16th century In Hinoki cypress lacquered in ...

The soft, matte texture and eroded wear of this petite porcelain box suggest the it spent many years submerged in saltwater, likely excavated from a sunken trade ship carrying cerami...

Saint Anthony with the Child Jesus. Wood. Mechelen School, 16th century. Sculpture in carved wood worked, as was usual in that center, on the front because it was designed to be pla...

This Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) storage jar is attributed to the kilns of Yunnan province, loosely decorated with iron underglaze in a manner typical of the region. Dated to the 15th/1...

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...