1860s Models and Miniatures

A Large and Incredible Pair of Rouge Marble ‘Grand Tour’ Models of Ruins Celebrating the Corinthian Order, Most Probably Attributed To The Workshop Of Benedetto Boschetti. The fist ...

We are delighted to offer for auction this stunning antique circa 1860 Grand Tour bronze statue of Place Vendome Column with Napoleon on top in so...

A Scottish miniature chest of drawers in burled wood. Drawer inscribed on underside with maker’s name: “E.B. McGowan; Bank St, Wigtown; 17th Fe...

A wonderful antique miniature Victorian Wellington chest of drawers in burr walnut. This dates from around the 1860-1880 period & is quite a rare item. It is a charming little item,...

A 19th century Meissen Porcelain Model Of Empress Catherine II Of Russia's Favorite Dog (Russisches Windspiel). This delightful 19th-century Meissen porcelain model depicts Empress C...

Sinke & van Tongeren exhibited this extremely rare Auzoux Gorilla by carefully taking apart the model and creating an exploded view of this historically important piece. When viewed from a particular angle all pieces come together to form the original shape. It was part of the exhibition called ‘TIER’ at MOA in The Netherlands The story of a remarkable 19th century anatomical model created just four years after Darwin unleashed a political storm with his theories on human evolution. The publication of Charles Darwin’s controversial On the Origin of Species in 1859 caused debates to rage about human evolution, debates which witnessed the politicisation of a creature whose existence had only recently been confirmed by modern science. On one side of the argument was the Darwinian camp; on the other were those opposed to Darwin’s theory, such as Richard Owen, the famed Director of the Natural History Museum and a man who, interestingly, coined the word ‘dinosaur’. Tales of the creature in question had endured for centuries, but up until 1847 it remained a myth, an unknown. This all changed thanks to the missionary Thomas Savage and the anatomist Jeffries Wyman who wrote a paper for the journal of the Boston Society of Natural History in which they described a new species: Troglodytes gorilla. (Later, in 1929, Harvard zoologist Harold Coolidge would apply the synonym Gorilla gorilla...

A Lugger lifeboat model by Twyman for the International Exhibition, London 1862. The planked and pinned hull of this lifeboat has a lead keel, bilge keels, a wooden rudder with a yoke, gesso-coated canvas wales and a grab line. It is fitted internally with a forward compartment enclosing a stove and glazed deck lights, seats, covered hatches with copper strapping, a bilge pump with a handle, mast securing points, a metal anchor with a buoy and other details, together with a quantity of furled masts and rigging, a silk flag, and other accessories. The bow has ‘Sunbeam/Friend of all Nations’ and the stern has ‘Ramsgate’, painted in gold on a black ground. English, 1862. Provenance: H. Twyman (designer/modeller) thence by descent Exhibited: International Exhibition, London 1862, Vol. 2, object no. 2760 The 1862 International Exhibition in London hosted a fine array of exhibits from 28,000 exhibitors, and enjoyed a footfall of 6.1 million (about the same as that of the 1851 Great Exhibition...

Unusual small size papier mache tabletop screen featuring hand painted flowers, a colorful bird and butterfly. Three brass hinged panels. Half round s...