Fine Pair of English 18th Century Silkwork Pictures

A fine and rare English parcel-gilt walnut stool. Early-18th century, George I-period, circa 1720. Upholstered in 17th-century tapestry and partially clo...

A fine pair of mid-eighteenth century carved mahogany library armchairs attributed to Robert Manwaring, ca 1760. Crisply carved, of superb colour and...

An oil on canvas portrait of a young French courtier, circa 1690. This evocative antique French-school picture has been attributed to the portrait painter Jean-François de Troy (1679-1752). De Troy was famous as a portrait painter of fashionable society women. This is a very attractive late-17th century painting surviving in its original frame and stretcher. The canvas appears to be untouched. References: 'Jean François de Troy, The Alarm, or the Gouvernante Fidèle', at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 'Jean François de Troy, Paris 1679 - Rome 1752', at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Laurie G. Winters, Troy, de, Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, 6 May 2016. Everett Fahy & Jayne Wrightsman...

A fine English George III-period carved and gilt gesso mirror, ca 1765. This exceptional Georgian giltwood mirror is surmounted by a displayi...

A Korean embroidered silk rank badge (Hyungbae in Korean) from late Joseon Dynasty circa t19th century. One of a fine matching pair, the badge features des...

A Pair Of Chinese Embroidered Sleeve Panels. China, 19th Century, Qing Dynasty. Antique textile ff rectangular form, with a central seam, one decora...

Superb pair of 18th century English engravings.

Artistically framed for display in a slight shadow frame with non-reflective pixie glass, these pair of embroidery art panels from Japan are dated circa 1910-1930s, end of Meiji to early Taisho period. This period was the peak of the Japanese oversea expositions, when all things Japonisme took Europe and America by storm and left long-lasting impact on western art and design. The influence, however, was clearly not one-directional; As when Japanese artists, artisans and dealers experienced western art, it in turn inspired and impacted on the aesthetics of the Japanese art made for the western tastes. An interesting crop of art forms quickly emerged with a particular outlook that bridged the east and west, with the fundamental techniques still rooted in Japanese traditions. These rare hyper-realistic embroidered portraits were such an example. They took the essential format of the western portrait that permeated the Victoria and Edwardian Society, but substituted with exotic Japanese subjects and executed in traditional embroidery techniques which had been perfected for centuries by the natives. The two portraits on offer, one an elder man with long white beards and a pair of round spectacles lighting a pipe, and the other a grinning man with a peasant attire, were both set in black background, stimulating an appearance of Classic western oil painting or perhaps even the photograph. The fine stiches were maneuvered into an impressively hyper-realistic imagery that was far removed from the traditional Japanese embroidery...