European Decorative Art

Rare set of two small framed oil paintings by Ivan da Silva Bruhns, (Paris, 1881-Antibes, 1980). Unique works. Signed. Each panel is 9 in. wi...

A Spanish carved-wood wall hanging pediment with it's original painted finish from the 19th century. This antique wooden architectural pl...

Set of 10 boxed panels painted with metallic, iridescent-effect paints. They can be arranged as desired, as the mounting brackets on the back allow for flexibility. Each panel measur...

English Fairground Carousel panel We are proud to offer a wonderful example of an early 20th century English fairground panel. From a fairground carou...

19th Century French Majolica flowers plate.

Set of Six Vintage Roe Deer Trophies on Carved Plaques Germany A set of six Black Forest roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) trophies mounted on carved plaques. The trophies were shot in...

Antique map of North Carolina Published By A & C Black. 1903 Original colour Good condition Unframed. Free shipping

We love these original c1960s large French double-sided school educational posters. Charmingly and quirkily illustrated by Gabriel Bonmati and Gilbert Michel for ogé-hachette St-Germ...

Fantastic 1982 re-release German film poster for classic Midnight Cowboy. Really nice design and colours. This vintage movie poster is sized 23 1/4 x 33 inches, it will be sent roll...

This beautifully framed set of early 20th-century Catalan tiles showcases the exquisite craftsmanship and vibrant artistry of the period. Created by an unknown artist and manufacture...

17th century, Tuscan school Madonna and Child Oil on canvas, 31 x 21 cm With frame, cm 37,5 x 27,5 The pearly incarnations and the thoughtful play of looks between the Virgin, turned to the Son, and Questi, warmly open to the viewer, pour out the present painting with compositional perfection. Virginal fabrics become mottled at the folds, wrapping the Madonna in a thin vitreous mantle. The pastel colors, shining on the pink robe just tightened at the waist by a gold cord, enliven the faces of the divine couple in correspondence of the cheeks, lit by an orange warmth. Even the left hand of the Virgin, composed in perfect classical pose (Botticelli, Madonna with Child, 1467, Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon), is sprinkled with warmth thanks to the immediate touch with Christ. From the nimbus of the Mother a delicate luminous disk is effused, which takes back, in the most distant rays, the colour of the hair of the Son, from the tones of the sun. The Child Jesus is represented intent in a tender gesture of invitation with the right hand, while with the other he offers a universal blessing: with his hand he retracts the index and annular palms, extending the remaining three fingers, symbol of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The painting welcomes and re-elaborates that typically Tuscan formalism that boasted in the rest of Italy the constant appreciation by the most up-to-date artists and collectors. Arrangement, composition and mixing of colors place the canvas in the middle between the changing mannerist and the sculptural figures of Michelangelo, essential yardstick of comparison in terms of anatomical and expressionistic rendering. In the present, silvery and pinkish powders act as three-dimensional inducers to the Child’s mentioned musculature and to the vivid folds of the clothes, expertly deposited on the lunar whiteness of the skins. While these colours recall the equally brilliantly transparent colours of Pier Francesco Foschi...

Rare 19th century English yellow Majolica oyster plate, maybe Copeland.

Screenprint Metal Tray Felice Galbiati Italy, 1950 Black & Red Tray "Old Doctor Tools" printed

Beautiful tile mural with the "SEA" motif finely painted. Quantity: 80 tiles Tile mural size: 47.2"H X 59"W (120cm X 150cm) Tile size: 5.9"H X 5.9"W (15cm X 15cm) Origin: Portugal ...

Great print of Boston Steel engraving after W.H Bartlett Published by Virtue 1838 Unframed. The measurement is the paper size. Free shipping  

- This product is priced per square meter. Please contact us for assistance with square footage calculations. - The lead time depends on the quantity of the order. A landscape of mo...

Fantastic design on this original first-year-of-release Danish film poster for Mike Nichols's 60s classic The Graduate starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne...

French faience plate with flowers Moustiers style Martres Tolosane, circa 1940.  

Fabulous first edition Polish cyrk (circus) poster from 1975 with an inventive Hanging Acrobats design by Polish School of Posters artist Jan ...

Wonderful Gothic architectural print. Fragments from Abbeville, Lucca, Venice and Pisa Steel engraving by R.P. Cuff after the original drawing by John Ruskin Published, circa 1880...

Antique map of Illinois ( Southern part ) Published By A & C Black. 1903 Original colour Good condition Unframed. Free shipping

19th century French painting oil/canvas attributed Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Large preparatory study for a mural. It is painted in oil on canvas and it depicts a theatrical scene. De Chavannes’ greatest artistic contribution was the medium of mural painting. His biography states, “De Chavannes’ work proved a vital catalyst, as early modern art...

Rare Majolica platter arums, frogs, shells signed Christine Viennet circa 2000. Christine Viennet studied at the Oslo school of art, then apprentice...

In artist Colette Cosentino's fantastical dreamscape of a forest, multi-layered applications of acrylic and metallic paints accumulate into a dark, a...

Wonderful abstract painting Oil on board. Unframed Initialed on verso. Some interesting gallery information also on verso giving the artists biography.

Majolica wall platter by Kerina, Monaco, ca.1960. Measure: diameter: 13.2" (33.6cm), depth: 1.8"(4.5cm). Signed "Kérina Monaco" on the back. Few slight traces of age. Very good condi...

Swedish modern decorative ceramic wall plaque in a soft rectangular shape by Norrman Motala in the 1960s. White cranes in relief with a light blue tint on royal blue background. Hole...

French Faience plate signed Emile Galle Saint Clement Circa 1900. Decorated with cornucopia and flowers, butterfly.

Early to mid 20th century French oil painting on canvas of flowers in a vase. Really beautifully painted early 20th century still life signed by artist. Not framed just stretched ...

Discover a work of rare elegance, now available on our site: a finely sculpted marble medallion from the renowned Wyon family, celebrated for their contributions to the art of medal-...

Belgium Majolica oyster plate with pink flowers and green leaves Wasmuel, circa 1890.

Antique map of Iowa Published By A & C Black. 1903 Original colour Good condition Unframed. Free shipping

Rare belgium Majolica asparagus plate Wasmuel, circa 1880. Napkin trompe l'oeil.

'Girl Playing Guitar' Mid-Century Ceramic Wall Art C1950. Hand-painted, textured ceramic with strong colours and a high gloss glaze. Artist unknown. Framed and ready to hang. In ve...

Great image of Couroucoui Unframed. It gives you the option of perhaps making a set up using your own choice of frames. Lithograph after Cpt. Brown with original hand color. Publi...

19th Century English Majolica Leaves & White Flowers Plate.

Great maps of the USA in 3 sections Unframed Original color By John Bartholomew and Co. Edinburgh Geographical Institute Published, circa 1920 The measurements given is for just...

A good quality well executed Arts and Crafts copper wall plate with floral decoration around the centre.

Great print of Faneuil Hall Steel engraving after W.H Bartlett Published by Virtue 1838 Unframed. The measurement is the paper size. Free shipping  

Lovely French Majolica plate pink flowers on a blue basket weave, circa 1880 attributed to Salins. Very rare color.

Very original reproductions of decorative vases from important English mansions, printed on a hand press on 100% cotton engraving paper. Completely handpainted with a cream wash, umb...

Original Polish film poster for classic The Blues Brothers. Another prime example of a Polish poster that trumps its country-of-origin counterpart. Nicely portraying the anarchic ess...

Finely worked in colored woolens and depicting hunters and two lovers, signed: 'J.V.D.VELDE' Date; c. 1950-70's A charming tapestry in very good condition and representative o...

Pair of tiger and lion Art Deco framed paintings. Oil on panel. Beautiful carved wood frames.

A superb watercolor of golden eagles In an antique birds eye maple frame On paper laid on to card Late 19th century. Signed indistinctly bottom right ...

This set of twelve hand-decorated porcelain plates, as a whole, forms the figure of Adamo. You can use the ensemble for ornamental purposes ...

A Very Large and Exceptionally Fine Quality Antique Italian Micro-Mosaic Plaque Depicting "The Saint Peter Square" in Rome. The center medallion surrounded by a beautiful Laurel Wreath in multiple shades of Green Mosaic amidst a black Belgium Marble border. The interior rounded subject depicts Saint Peter Square which is found in Rome, Italy. The entire center panel is made up of a captivating array of tesserae in a variety of shapes and colors, which create this stunning mosaic construct. When inspected from up-close, small rectangular tesserae are found in an assortment of colors, which include: white, green, blue, red, black, brown, orange etc. When the subject is seen from afar, a fantastic image of the entire Saint Peter Square can be viewed as if a painting has been created. The oil on canvas of this scene, by was sold in Christie's Auction for over $2,000,000 USD. The plaque rests in a custom ebonized and gilt square frame. This can be used as a decorative object on the wall to serve as a painting, or, be converted to a table-top by mounting it on a table stand. Rome, Circa: 1850 Giovanni Paolo Panini (Piacenza 1691-1765 Rome), View of Saint Peter's Square, Rome. From Christie's Auction: Giovanni Paolo Panini arrived in Rome in 1711, painting capricci and architectural pieces in a vigorous if slightly eccentric style, and by 1719, when he was admitted to the Academy of St. Luke and the virtuosi al Pantheon, he was a rising star in the Roman art world. From around 1719-1726 he was much in demand for decorative frescoes, including quadratura, ornament and landscape and other genres, often in collaboration with figure or flower painters. During this period he worked for Cardinal Patrizi at Villa Patrizi, Cardinal Annibale Albani at Palazzo Albani (now del Drago) alle Quattro Fontane, Livio de Carolis at Palazzo de Carolis, Cardinal Alberoni at Palazzo Alberoni, Innocent XIII Conti in the Quirinal and in the library of S. Croce in Gerusalemme. In 1724 he married Caterina Gosset, the sister-in-law of Nicolas Vleughels, the director of the French Academy in Rome, to which he was admitted in 1732, and as a result he was much patronized by the French. During the 1720s he developed his figure style away from the awkwardness of his early works into one that concentrated on groups of stylishly-dressed aristocrats and skillfully modelled bystanders, sibyls and pseudo-antique figures. These he noted down in drawings (such as a sketchbook in the British Museum) that he drew upon to populate his paintings. He also began to receive commissions to design and record temporary festivals, often for French ambassadors to Rome. By the beginning of the 1730s Panini was developing a distinctive subgenre of the capriccio in which recognizable monuments are placed in imaginary topographical relationships, which were well-received in the classicizing era of Clement XII Corsini. In 1732 he was one of the panel of judges for the competition instituted by Clement for the Lateran façade, and in the following year painted an impressive View of Piazza del Quirinale for the pope. At about this time he was developing his best-known topographical subjects, interior views of St Peter's and the Pantheon, which were much in demand, to judge by the number of extant versions extending into the 1750s. By about 1734 he was beginning to attract the attention of English patrons, who ordered sets of Roman views, such as those at Marble Hill House (1738) and Castle Howard. In 1736, through Filippo Juvarra, he received important commissions from Philip V of Spain for scenes of the life of Christ in the Chinoiserie room at La Granja in Spain (1736). From as early as the 1720s he had been producing some vedute (view-paintings), initially based on prototypes by Gaspar van Wittel, and he developed the genre in subsequent decades in works that would include impressive panoramic views of the Forum or Palatine, although his staple genre was the capriccio rather than the veduta. He also expanded his repertory of church interiors, adding such churches as S. Paolo fuori le Mura and S. Agnese in Piazza Navona, as well as church interiors recording special events. His son by his first marriage, Giuseppe (1718-1805), began to support him in architectural and festival design projects. By the 1740s Panini was at the peak of his powers, and evidently had a considerable workshop helping him meet demand, especially of capricci to be used as overdoors and other decorative installations. Giovanni Paolo was successful in elevating himself socially above the usual artisanal status of genre painters, and would sometimes include a self-portrait in paintings commissioned by the great and powerful. He also appears to have been successful financially, and owned a substantial palazzo in via Monserrato. He increasingly concentrated on important commissions, such as a view of the Lottery in Piazza Montecitorio (London, National Gallery, 1743-1744), the designs for the festival decorations for the birth of the Dauphin in Palazzo Farnese (Waddesdon Manor, 1751), or the view of an imaginary picture gallery housing the collection of Cardinal Valenti Gonzaga (Wadsworth Atheneum, 1749). In the mid-1750s he received an important series of commissions from the Duc de Choiseul, French ambassador to Rome and soon to become one of the most powerful men in France, that included his best-known compositions, Ancient Rome (Roma Antica) and Modern Rome (Roma Moderna). These large paintings, of which there are three sets (in Boston and Stuttgart, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Louvre) represent imaginary picture galleries based on the Valenti Gonzaga composition but hung with what purport to be Panini's own vedute of ancient and modern sites respectively (with corresponding pieces of sculpture). These paintings sum up the eighteenth-century canon of the greatest works of architecture and sculpture, and the equivalence between modern and ancient Rome. By this time Panini was being assisted by his son by his second marriage, Francesco (1748-1800), who was a skilled draughtsman and painter who continued his father's work after his death in 1765. The Farnborough Hall paintings The Piazza S. Pietro and the Campidoglio are important vedute by Panini painted in 1750 and originally installed, with other works by Panini and Canaletto, in the seat of the Holbech family, Farnborough Hall, Warwickshire (National Trust). Farnborough Hall had been inherited in 1717 by William Holbech (circa 1699-1771), who is documented on the Grand Tour in Florence, Rome and Venice from late 1732 until his return home at the end of April 1734 with his brother Hugh. Holbech is said to have gone on the Grand Tour to recover from a broken heart and to have spent a considerable time there prior to these documented appearances. During his time in Rome he acquired two Paninis, which were seen by an anonymous antiquary around 1746, who referred to various sculptures "all brought from Rome with two pictures, one of the Rotunda, and the other of diverse buildings by Panino" (British Library, Add. MS 6230, pp. 31-32). The Rotunda (the Pantheon) is a painting now in a private collection in New York, and is signed and dated 1734. The Diverse Buildings, which was probably one of Panini's capricci, has not been identified. On his Grand Tour Holbech seems also to have acquired two Canalettos, although they are not mentioned by the antiquary, who may only have had eyes for things Roman. In about 1746-1747, Holbech remodelled the house by creating a Saloon, now the dining room, at the back of the house. This room, the entrance hall, the staircase, library and closet were stuccoed by William Perritt of York, and a bill for this work dated 14 November 1750 survives (or survived until recently; G. Beard, Decorative Plasterwork in Great Britain, London, 1975, p. 233). The two Canalettos acquired on the Grand Tour were installed in the Saloon, together with two new works commissioned from Canaletto, who was then in England and working nearby at Warwick Castle in 1748. The two Paninis acquired on the Grand Tour may have been installed in the Library, as Alastair Laing assumes (op. cit.), while three new works commissioned from Panini in Rome were placed in the Hall and Saloon: the Piazza S. Pietro for the overmantel in the Hall (fig. 1), the Campidoglio as the overmantel in the Saloon (fig. 2), and an Interior of St Peter's (now in Detroit) (fig. 3) on the adjacent wall facing the windows. Two of the Canalettos flanked the Campidoglio, while the others were on the opposite wall. The Interior of St Peter's was therefore effectively the fifth member of the Canaletto set, distinct from the two overmantels. Holbech's installation of his Canalettos and Paninis in fixed stucco frames was unusual for England in 1750, and had probably been inspired by what he had seen on his Grand Tour in Northern Italy, where fixed stucco installations of canvases were common in the 1720s and 1730s (Cornforth, II, p. 51). The Campidoglio and the Interior of St Peter's are both signed and dated 1750, a date that corresponds to the payments for the stucco. The commission for the new Paninis would have been made through an agent, possibly the Roman dealer in antiquities Belisario Amidei from whom some of the antique busts in the Hall were acquired in 1745, who was also a picture dealer; or perhaps the painter Pietro Berton, who on 7 December 1750 shipped a Panini to England. The paintings were sold to Savile Gallery in 1929 and replaced by copies by one Mohammed Ayoub. The four Canalettos were exhibited at Savile Gallery in 1930 and entered the London art trade, finding their way at various times to Augsburg, Melbourne, Ottawa and a private collection. The Paninis seem to have been resold immediately to Knoedler & Co. in New York. When the stucco was removed from the library by Holbech's great-grandson, another William Holbech, shortly after his succession in 1812, the Interior of the Pantheon and the Diverse Buildings may have been taken down. Although there is no record of either painting being at Farnborough subsequently, the Interior of the Pantheon at least must have remained there, since it appeared at Knoedler's in 1930 at about the same time as the other Paninis, and was presumably acquired at the same time from the same source. The Campidoglio was a rare subject for Panini: this is the only known extant version, apart from fictive versions in the Metropolitan Museum (1757) (figs. 4) and Louvre (1759) versions of his Roma Moderna composition (but not in the first Boston version of 1757). Probably Holbech insisted on the choice of subject in order to represent the centre of Rome's civic administration to complement the religious one of St Peter's. The Campidoglio may have been of interest to English patrons because it represented the seat of a form of government they were more comfortable with than the papacy. For example, Canaletto painted the subject, together with English subjects, for Thomas Hollis, 'the most bigoted of all Republicans' in 1755, who may have wanted to 'represent London as the heir to the legacy of Ancient Rome and Renaissance Italy' (see Michael Liversidge and Jane Farrington, eds., Canaletto and England, exhibition catalogue, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, London, 1993, p. 25). Canaletto also painted the subject for Sir Richard Neave, Ist Baronet (1731-1814) of Dagnam Park, Essex, at the end of his English stay or shortly afterwards (i.e. 1755-1766) (sold, Sotheby's, London, 10 July 2002, lot 8). Like Holbech, Neave mixed Venetian and Roman subjects, but his Roman subjects steer clear of St Peter's: the others were the Piazza del Quirinale and Piazza Navona. While Holbech had gone to both Venice and Rome and commissioned views of both cities, Rome sets the keynote for his decoration: antique busts line the Hall, and its religious and civic centres are the overmantels in the Hall and Saloon respectively. The Piazza S. Pietro The Piazza S. Pietro shows the piazza much as it appears today, apart from the absence of Valadier's late eighteenth-century clocks on the towers. Bernini's colonnade (1656-1667), both ends of which are visible, reaches out its arms to embrace the viewer. In the center of the piazza is the obelisk moved by Sixtus V in 1586 from the left side of the church where it had formed part of the Circus of Nero. On either side are two fountains, the one on the right by Carlo Maderno (1613) and the one on the left created to match it by Carlo Fontana in 1677. Beyond is the rectangular forecourt to the church, the piazza retta, leading to the façade by Maderno, completed in 1610, and the dome by Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana. To the right of the façade the roof of the Sistine Chapel is just visible, followed by the Cortile di S. Damaso, the palace of the Swiss Guards and the palace of Paul V. A Cardinal is being driven in a carriage across the piazza at the right in the direction of the Borgo Nuovo and Ponte S. Angelo with his blue-liveried retinue and subsidiary carriages. Unlike the later versions of the subject that depict the Duke de Choiseul, there seems to be no intent to portray any particular cardinal: the procession of a cardinal here is presented simply as characteristic activity within the piazza. Various groups of figures, including well-dressed women in brightly colored dresses, Swiss Guards, priests, gentlemen, idlers and a pilgrim are distributed around the piazza. In the foreground an imaginary heap of fallen masonry provides visual interest in an otherwise dead space. Panini painted the Piazza S. Pietro on a number of occasions, and his works falls into two types, one with the viewpoint shifted slightly to left of the axis, as in the Farnborough Hall version, and one with it shifted slightly to the right. The first type is based on a composition by Gaspar van Wittel, of which there are numerous versions from 1684 until 1721 (Fig. 9 van Wittel). The work by Panini that seems closest to Van Wittel and therefore probably the earliest is the version in the Circolo della Caccia, Rome, which has been dated to the second half of the 1730s, but is probably a decade or so earlier. Another, on the London art market in 2002-2009, and a version with workshop participation at Sotheby's, Milan (20 November 2007, lot 137) and currently on the art market in Rome, are closer to an important painting in Toledo (Arisi no. 308) that is signed and dated 1741 (fig. 6). Van Wittel employed a wide format (about 2:1), showed both of the end faces of the colonnade almost to their full extent, and introduced the theme of a heap of masonry to enliven the foreground. His choice of perspective implies a viewpoint located in the small piazza between the Borgo Nuovo and Borgo Vecchio, now the Piazza Pio XII at the top of the Via della Conciliazione. From this viewpoint a building at the left tended to interfere with the view of the end of the left arm, as can be seen from the Nolli map...

This beautiful Painting titled “The Wren Song” by English Artist Alan M Hunt, early Twentieth Century. Complete with its original modern frame. Signed l...

Appropriately dark, creepy and very cool artwork by Ziegler features on the Czech poster for Hitchcock's classic Psycho. Extremely rare in the larger Czech format, especially in roll...

Wonderful image after Poussin Fine Steel engraving. Published by Jones & Co. C.1850 Unframed.

This is a vintage stag relief plaque. An English, bronze decorative plate, dating to the mid 20th century, circa 1950. Delightfully weathered appearance w...

This Art Nouveau Painted Glass was produced in Portugal, by Covina - Companhia Vidreira Nacional, during the 1930's. It belonged to a door or a window and is a hand painted behind gl...

Set of Six Roe Deer Trophies on Turned Plaques Germany ca. 1900s A set of six antique Black Forest roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) trophies mounted on turned wooden plaques. The trop...

Green Majolica leaves plate, circa 1890.

French faience oyster plate with Bird Moustiers style signed Martres Tolosane, circa 1940.  

Spectacular pice Very large size 75 cm The lot is made up of: 1 wooden and wrought iron hanger (19th century) 11 copper and iron pans and skimmers (early 20th century) Antique copper and wrought iron kitchen...

Trophy plates were a particularly Victorian development at Wedgwood, taking the use of classical ornament to its absolute limit. Over 2,000 individual sprigs were made, applied, and ...

We love the wonderfully colorful and fun design by Maciej Urbaniec on this original Polish Cyrk/Circus poster from 1976 (the poster's second print ...