Hand-Crafted Decorative Art

A large and beautifully carved Victorian Tudor revival oak wall hanging panel, handcarved with two ornate arches, Vitruvian scrolling and four male and female herm-type figures. F...

Silver-framed Mary and Eddie by Ms. Robin Morris, is an original 172/350 limited edition lithograph printed using hand lithography techniques on archival Coventry Rag 100% acid free ...

One of two etching printed botanical print with gold leaf background hand-gilded and with a round golden gouache frame burnished wiyh stone. Each print is entirely printed in Italy...

Vintage black porcelain decorative wall plate with 24k gold hand painted Greek warriors on horse chariot 1970's. Hand made in Greece decorative black and gold wall plate depicting Greek Mythology. Porcelain black glazed with 24k. gilt gold, backside indicates, "hand-made in Greece, and below that 24k Gold, and next to this is a Greek Key boxed...

Featuring a Playful Scene From our Ceramics collection, we are pleased to offer this KPM Porcelain Plaque Mother and Child. The KPM plaque framed within the original gesso frame wi...

Mughal Rajasthani Black Marble Inlay Pietra Dura Table Top India. This is an exceptional handcrafted Mughal Rajasthani black marble Pietra Dura inlay table top, featuring the same intricate craftsmanship seen in the Taj Mahal. The table showcases the traditional Indian art of Parchin Kari (Pietra Dura), where semi-precious stones like lapis lazuli, cornelian, and agate are meticulously inlaid into a marble surface, creating stunning floral and geometric patterns. Handcrafted Mughal Rajasthani Black Marble Pietra Dura Table Top, India. This stunning table top features intricate Mughal-style Pietra Dura inlay work, showcasing the artistry found in the Taj Mahal. Skilled artisans meticulously inlay semi-precious stones like lapis lazuli, carnelian, malachite, and agate into black marble, creating beautiful floral and geometric patterns. The technique, known as Parchin Kari, involves engraving grooves in the marble and filling them with precisely cut stones, each piece hand-shaped and polished to perfection. This vintage, octagonal marble table top from Rajasthan, India, blends traditional craftsmanship with vibrant colors, making it an exquisite decorative piece. The combination of lapis lazuli, jade, turquoise, jasper, and carnelian adds a rich depth to the design. This piece can also be used as a tray or accent table, making it a versatile addition to any space. This is a spectacular very fine Pietra Dura inlay black marble in an octagonal shape with wonderful colors and quality craftsmanship. This beautiful handcrafted marble inlay table...

A stylish Italian small rounded wall plaque hand decorated with a geometrical pattern by Ceramica D'Amore Vietri and dating from around 1950. The sma...

A collection of 47 Swedish decorative antique leather-bound library books. The books are wrapped in leather-bound covers, comprised of a selection of warm tones and gold leaf print ...

1970s Sam Trophia lucite / acrylic shadow box which depicts a dozen different butterfly beauty preserved and suspended in art form in a spectrum of ...

This late Victorian family portrait is in excellent original condition with frame intact and stamped at the back. A true conversation piece that will draw attention.

Marvellous and good size work of theater art. In the pre-television and pre-movie Arts and Crafts era much more was communicated via stage performers and via drawings and paintings. This naive style painting, in an artistic manner shows us some of the most recognizable of human emotions. Also because most people (circa 1900) could not yet read, clowns and mime players were some of the most important story tellers using body and facial expressions only. Most of them were so good at what they did that, even without words, everyone knew exactly what they were communicating. 'Floating in the air' and against the dark background these mime or clown masks...

“The Red Necklace” includes two 19th C. Blue & White plates (one is British and one is French) and a big late 19th C. hand painted Chinese plate...

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...

An exquisite and rare large scale circa 1840 zoological silkwork embroidery picture of native Indian reptiles and amphibians feeding on butterflies in native flora and fungi, depicti...

French Rouen faience decorative wall plate, hand painted with blue, green and yellow decors. Dimensions: Length 32 cm / 12.59 in, height 22 cm / 8.66 in,...

A late 18th Century, antique Swedish Gustavian wall mirror made of hand crafted Pinewood with its original mirrored glass, in good condit...

"Still Life with Golden Apples" consists of 6 plates combined with a still life of a platter with two golden apples and a big wine flask on a dark blue background. This artwork incl...

A wondrous collection of Florentine botanicals lovingly gathered between 1905 and 1907 and presented under glass in a weathered window frame with nine panels, dated, categorized and ...

ARROWS Cobalt Blue (Yves Klein Blue) wall sculpture collage of reclaimed wood. This artwork belongs to our new series of wall art installations FORM & COLOR. This collage plays wit...

One of two beautiful neoclasssical woman profile print with black background, framed by a delicate taupe passpartout and a round black frame. Each print is entirely printed in Ital...

Solid oak coated in fine golden brass sheets using a gold leaf technique. A company that has always attributed such great importance to the author of the designs could never forget the great figures in history. That is why the BD catalogue of contemporary creations has always included those by admired classical masters. Antoni Gaudí (1852/1926) is, without doubt, the most internationally well-known Spanish architect. But is not only his buildings and brilliant architectural solutions that have travelled the globe. His integrated conception of architecture led him to pay attention, not only to structural calculations, but also to all the decorative elements, including furniture, that would form part of the building. The admiration felt by modern designers for the furniture designed by Gaudí has not gone unnoticed by BD which was the first company to rescue them from history by embarking on their serial production using...

This well executed hand painted porcelain panel is unsigned, but presumed to have been done in France in approximately 1850 in a Renaissance style. The panel is an iconic depiction o...

Vineyard in Provence consists of 9 plates ‐ among which one hand painted Faïence plate from France, two hand painted Frisian plates from Makkum and two hand painted Italian plates fr...

19th century, French hand-hammered plaque historicizing Vercingetorix receiving an award of recognition, circa 1850. Vercingetorix (82-46 BCE) was a French Gallic chieftain who ral...

A beautifully made Roman or Greek medieval framed wall art scene, circa mid-20th century, Europe. Scene depicts a muscular man and a centaur (half man half horse...

Rare extra-large (cm 59 x 85) antique watercolour of capital from a collection of architectural details of Florence monuments painted in Italy in the middle of 19th Century. Black ma...

Wall panel scagliola portrait made in Italy , tribute to Kandinsky available. In this wall panel handmade by Cupioli Lodovico the artist wanted to pay tribute to Wassily Kandinsky, ...

Stunning early antique Italian wall mirror with pen-hole connections. Most antique collectors and enthusiasts buy their antiques, because ...

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

Hang finished artist mural made of copper elements on a metal lattice frame. Hand cut and hand shaped copper squares with a great pattern.

Meet the Mini ECHOE Mirror: a chic, hand-sculpted masterpiece made from a unique resin and stone composite. Each mirror features an elegantly irregular frame and comes in six vibrant...

19th Century reverse painted glass games board We share what we love, and we love the decorative nature of this stunning English 19th Century reverse painted glass games board. With aged surface across the glass reflection and wooden frame. With a glance of old news paper...

This folky original painted hand made Holsteins Milk metal farm trade sign has the original chain for hanging.It has spots that has paint loss and mino...

Beautiful silver plated bird sculpture with 0nyx eyes.

This exquisite handmade quilt, The Chrysanthemum Quilt, is a stunning work of art, blending meticulous craftsmanship with a vibrant design. Inspired by master Japanese quilter Hiroe ...

Decorate a shelf or a kitchen wall with this elegant and "One-of-a-Kind" hand crafted barbotine "Trompe L'Oeil" decorative plate. Crafted in southern France, and very realistic, the ...

American Modern Abstract Wall Sculpture Copper Brass Metal, Curtis Jere

By Jane Peacock age 8. With a Friendship poem along with embroidered birds, squirrels, and a charming house in the country with a dog in the yard. A pretty floral vine border on all ...

Needlepoint Wood Framed Artwork of Tulips from Chelsea Textiles One-of-a-kind needlepoint artwork from Chelsea Textiles. This framed artwork features tulips in rust, orange, yellow and green colors. This classic piece of art would make a suitable piece to add to a bookshelf or wonderful displayed as part of a wall gallery art collection.

Vintage Ceramic Jeziorna Polish Pottery Plate Bolesławiec 1960s Poland. Vintage handcrafted ceramic pottery decorative wall plate. Gorgeous carved and hand-painted pottery plate with...

19th century cast iron shoemaker’s trade sign A highly decorative example of a late 19th century cast iron French shoemakers shop trade sign. Hand crafted from a hand cut iron metal...

Print from the Collection Botanique Black and White representing Aloe Americana, with a beautiful wooden frame enriched with a jute passpartout, which brings out colors and sumatute ...

A gold-brown, antique Asian oversized wall mount decorative Buddha head in a very large scale. Handcrafted in tropical wood and gilded, in good condition. Minor fading, scratches due...

Wonderful 1820's needlepoint by 12 year-old Ellen Roberts (American, b. 1817 - ?) of New York with flower boarder and quote: Count that day lost whose low descending sun. ...

This wall decoration piece is a registration of jacaranda seeds from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. This organic modern style is perfect to decorate kitchen spaces or dinning room area...

Meaningful and perfect size, religious work of art. We find it refreshing to see Christ in this original 1913 oil painting as the spiritual master that he was (in a ceremonial act) ...

Wall Decoration Amazon Headdress traditional headdress of an aboriginal tribe from the Amazon made up of strands of natural straw, and dehydrated ca...

A beautiful set of four (4) Neoclassical wall art scenes, circa mid-20th century, Europe. Set includes four different scenes with dark blue and gold octagonal wood frame, matting, pr...

One of two beautiful rinascimental woman profile print with black background, framed by a delicate taupe passpartout and a round black frame. Each print is entirely printed in Ital...

An authentic, perfect and bright, originally hand-colored, illustration of four Parrots, on parchment paper (copper engraving). It has a fine shining because of the authenticly appli...

Print from the Collection Botanique Black and White representing Canna Indica, with a beautiful wooden frame enriched with a jute passpartout, which brings out colors and sumatute of...

Art Nouveau Women's bust Copper Wall Plaque Wood Framed Signed Luc The piece is in Good condition and a real beauty! Please don't hesitate to get in...

Elegant Art Deco stained glass windows with geometric motifs and pebbled translucent glass. Nice specimens from the period. Sturdy frames...

A single, antique Portuguese Baroque architectural wall fragment or sconce made of hand carved partly gilded Pinewood, in good condition. Authentic and naturally aged patina. Minor f...

An extraordinary Original Lithograph of the a Lady. Signed by Artist. Beautiful hand crafted gilded Biedermeier Frame. We believe it is from the 1860s. Viewable picture size is approx. 6.13" high and 5.25" wide. A nice addition to any room or library. Information about the artist: It was framed and sold by the Royal Bavarian art...

A gold, large antique French Louis XVI period barometer, signed by Torricelli in gilded wood and of oval shape with original scientific illustrations, in good condition. The detailed wall décor piece is consisting its original glass. Framed with gilt foliate trim and important pediment. Minor fading, due to age. Wear consistent with age and use, circa 1750, France. The Italian scientist Evangelista Torricelli...

A large vintage Deruta Raffaellesco decorative wall plate with scalloped rim. Majolica hand-painted with magnificent detailing and artwork, extraordina...

From an important thirty year old New England collection of American Folk Art Pyrography Robert Ball Hughes (British-American, 1804-1868) This original period framed 1866 pyrography on wood panel was created after the painting by Sir John Gilbert (English, 1817-1897) with detailed description and dedication written on the back of the panel using the same technique. A photographed rubbing of the reverse dedication will be included and is part of this description (photo). Frame: 20 inches high and 28.5 inches wide; Site: 13.25 inches high and 22 inches wide This painting depicts the episode from Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part II Act III Scene V in which Sir John Falstaff inspects the recruits mustered by Justice Robert Shallow and his cousin Silence. Falstaff sits in a chair surrounded by his cronies whilst Bardolph leads Bullcalf forward. Hayman’s treatments of Falstaff reviewing recruits are perhaps among the most successful depictions of a theatrical scene in British painting. The tableau vibrates with the energy that he brought to his Vauxhall supper box scenes of games and dancing, and is filled with the humour and observation of his portraiture. Every figure is in motion and proclaims its own individuality. About Robert Ball Hughes (British-American, 1804-1868) Known as Ball Hughes and also using that as a signature, this man was a sculptor and wax-portrait artist. He was born in London, England, and died in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He studied and exhibited at the Royal Academy in London as well as at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the National Academy of Design in New York City. He emigrated to New York in 1829, having earned much prestige in England. In New York, he received many commissions for portrait busts in bronze and wax. Among his subjects were John Trumbull, Alexander Hamilton, and Washington Irving. From 1838 to 1840, he worked in Philadelphia and from 1840, worked in Boston. In his final years, he began to produce pyrographic wood pictures (pyro engravings or "poker pictures"), including The Witches of MacBeth (c. 1840), Babylonian Lions (1856), Don Quixote in His Study (1863), The Trumpeter (1864), General Grant...