European Decorative Art

We love the design by Isolde Baumgart that features on this late 50s/early 60s German re-release poster for La Belle et la Bete. Very striking, beautiful poster. This vintage movie ...

An antique bronze bell reclaimed from an English church marked to F Baker. Dating to circa 1830, this historic bronze has a beautiful patina complimented by its original wrought iro...

Elegant Louis XVI style barometer by Bénard à Provins in gilded and green lacquered wood, carved, decorated with knotted ribbons, foliage and garlands. French work signed Bénard à P...

Mid-Century Modern mosaic tableau wall piece. Abstract design of a figure in mosaic marble, shades of browns and greys. Sturdy wooden frame.

A pair of white metal and gilded bronze relief male and female figures in 17c costumes applied to an embossed decorative panel in ebonized frames. Little n...

Wonderful image by Harry Clarke Originally an illustration from " Tales of Mystery And Imagination " By Edgar Allan Poe. Published by Tudor Publishing Co., New York. 1935 Unframed...

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...

A vintage wall relief or panel made of French plaster, featuring two cherubim in good condition. The relief is molded in French Plaster and refinished by hand. Not recommended for ex...

Wonderful design by Milan Grygar features on the 70s re-release Czech film poster for Charles Chaplin classic, The Gold Rush. Like their neighbours in Poland, the designers of the...

An antique rectangular mirror inscribed in a Pinewwood frame, gilded, the pediment formed by an openwork flower basket spilling sinuous gar...

Majolica butterfly plate Josef Steidl Znaim, circa 1890.

Hand-Painted Madonna and Child Mid-Century Ceramic Wall Art C1950. Beautiful colourful and tender rendering of the Madonna and child. Hand-painted, textured ceramic with a high glo...

French Majolica Wall Pocket With Flowers Circa 1890. With a butterfly.

Wonderful Gothic architectural print. Tracery from the Campanile of Giotto, at Florence. Steel engraving after the original drawing by John Ruskin. Published, circa 1880 ...

Majolica vine leaves plate signed Sarreguemines, circa 1890.

This is an antique framed Arabian horse relief. An English, gilt metal and giltwood display panel, dating to the late Victorian period, circa 1900. Sump...

Wonderful image by Sutton Palmer Tipped in plate. On card Lithograph. Published C.1920 The measurement given is the card size not the actual printed image.

An exceptional French 19th century Neo-Classical st. plaster plaque. This extremely elegant and most decorative Parisian wall decor depicts a grouping of Mythological figures and God...

Rare 19th Century French Majolica Butterfly Plate signed Longchamp.

French Majolica oyster plate Orchies, circa 1910.

We love this striking original country-of-origin Italian Locandina film poster for Antonioni's 1966's classic Blow-up. Produced in 3 different colours with yellow being the rarest. ...

French Majolica sun plate signed Villeroy & Boch, circa 1890.

Rare and spectacular Pop Art Wall Light by Matius, Haute-Provence, France, 1977. A striking example of 1970s Pop Art, this wall light sculpture by Matius is titled Inca and is crafte...

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...

Great quality and colorful French artists made limited edition wallpaper panels. These panels are printed on recycled French paper then hand glazed and crumpled to give a dramatic antiqued appearance.

Elegant hand-watercoloured print representing "Lilium Bulbiferum". This botanical style print is available in 6 different natural representations to create a bright and joyful compo...

The colors and hue of this decorative Limoges Coronet plate are stunning. Coronet Limoges is linked to porcelain ware manufactured in Europe and decora...

Large Terracotta Majolica Cicada Bavent Normandy. Height / 9.5 inches.

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

2 Herend Hungary Porcelain "Indian Basket green" wall decoration plates Herend Hungary porcelain plates for as decoration to hang on the wall, w...

Charming French Majolica plate grapes Salins, circa 1890.

Wonderful print of indigenous Siberians Copper-plate engraving Published C.1780 Unframed.     

Great image after Giorgione Fine steel engraving Published circa 1850 Unframed. Free shipping

Paradise Garden Silk Rug by PERSIAN SIGNATURE, Persian Carpet This decorative silk wall rug is a hand-finished Persian design featuring a vibrant Tree of Life filled with exotic bird...

19th Century large blue & white platter "Jardiniere" signed Sarreguemines. Measues: 10.3 inches diameter.

Elegant hand-watercoloured black silhouette print representing "Amaryllis Aurea", printed on aged paper and accompanied by a beautiful frame made of mirrors and black-painted wood. ...

A gold, antique Swedish Gustavian pair of wall mirrors made of hand crafted gilded wood with its original mirrored glass, in good condition. The Scandinavian wall décor...

French Majolica acanthus leaves plates, circa 1880.

Five Easy Pieces 1973 Czech A3 film poster, Karel Machalek £220.00 Wonderfully symbolic and striking artwork by Karel Machalek features on the Czech film poster for Jack Nicholso...

Wonderful custom framed antique herbarium floral specimens, collected in 1937. Handwritten scientific and common names in both Dutch and Latin. Lovely script. Original owner's name o...

Dutch Delft Porceleyne Fles plaque, Windmills in a Dutch landscape, 1892 A delft Porceleyne Fles plaque with craquelé after Koekkoek of 19.8 cm high, 29.8 cm wide in a wooden frame. Image represents a painting by Koekkoek, a Dutch landscape with a windmill also in the background. A boat with people and a lady with child...

19th century English oyster plate with flowers Adderley ware.

An authentic English pub sign (two-sided) featuring a painting of a horse's head in a bridle entitled: Nag's Head. A very fine example of vintage advertising artwork, ready for disp...

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

Oversize and spectacular 19th century Black Forest carved wood trophy wall plaque with a large fish. Beautiful carved border with acanthus leaves. Measur...

‘’Der junge Lord’’ – ‘’The young Lord’' is the No. 6 of the ''Artists-Plates'' from the Studio-Line by Rosenthal. With a limited edition of 5000, this is number 2660. The series st...

Pair Great Black Forest Wall Sconces with Deer Horns, Germany ca. 1900 An antique pair of Black Forest sconces for candles. Each made of original deer horns which are mounted on a t...

Rare and wonderful original Polish film poster for 1960s French/Italian psychological drama Piège pour Cendrillon (aka A Trap for Cinderella/Kopciuszek w Potrzasku). Colourful and st...

Pair of French Faience Plate Coat of Arms signed Keller & Guerin Saint Clement, circa 1900. Decorated with coat of arms and lions. Neo Re...

Oil on board Venetian Canal Scene looking towards the mouth of The Grand Canal with Della Salute to one side . Typical in the Grand Tour style of 18th ,19th and 20th centuries ..

Amazing images of bats. Copperplate photogravure engravings by Walter L. Colls. Good quality wove paper Published C.1900 Free shipping.

Wonderful image by Harry Clarke Originally an illustration from " Tales of Mystery And Imagination " By Edgar Allan Poe. Lithograph. Tipped in plate on paper. Published by Tudor P...

French Majolica Joan of Arc Plate Onnaing, circa 1890.

French Blue Majolica Plate with Yellow Flowers Circa 1890.

A circa 1880 masterpiece of a young couple feeding doves. This is a superb example of a 19th century unmarked Sèvres hand painted porcelain plaque. Signed by the artist R. Deniau. Th...

Framed 'Mimoides Pausanias,' 'Dione Juno,' and 'Haetera Piera' butterflies with coordinating 18th century Italian fragments. The butterflies all share beautiful color and pattern com...

Rare 19th century porcelain Palissy platter with fishs, eel, shells , crawfish and ivy leaves.

- 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. Vite light blue (...

Alfama Wall Art, Lusitanus Home Collection, Handcrafted in Portugal - Europe by Lusitanus Home. The Alfama wall art is an original artwork, exclusively designed and handcrafted by G...

Victorian Majolica reticulated plate signed Wedgwood.