Europe - Collectibles and Curiosities

A beautifully produced book, in a presentation box. Being one of a limited edition of only 5000 that were printed by Franco Maria Ricci, 148 pages with text in French and 43 tipped in color illustrations, four of which are double page and 39 single pages. Fabled houses such as Le Chateau de Groussay and Hotel Lambert...

A hand-crafted wood and applied gesso altar vase, late 18th century with gilt and green banding decoration. Small areas of loss to the gesso and wear to the paint commensurate with ...

A stunning late 18th century Italian altar palmetti, hand crafted flowers made from tens of thousands of individual murano glass beads and simulated pearls, woven together to form a ...

This heavy, hand carved wooden cross, with applied gesso and gilding is stunning, Italian and dating to the turn of the 18th/19th centuries. 163cm...

An incredible pair of 1930's French Memorial religious crucifixes, the body of each crucifix made of wood then covered in thousands of strung, hand ...

La Sainte Bible qui contient le Vieux et le Nouveau Testament edited by: Z.CHatelain & Fils, Arkstee & Merkus, Marc Michel Rey. A.D. 1770. Subtitle: 'Le nouveau Testament, cést à di...

A Dutch Delftware Tobacco jar with a brass lid. Origine: Delft, The Netherlands Date: Second half of the 18th century Workshop: Unknown A genuine blue and white tobacco jar...

An early 19th century hand carved and painted sculpture of a medieval tower in wood.

The porcelain white imparts a transcendental character to the figures and this is highly suitable for religious depictions. Usually produced for royal commissions, these figures coun...

Francke upright piano with a mahogany case. Entire cabinet features Rococo style, ornate carvings in high relief. The carved, front panel features a central lyre surrounded by flowers, foliage and acanthus. The piano fall has carved latticework and a central plaque carved with flowers and acanthus. Sitting on top of the cabinet is asymmetrical arcading ornately carved with rocailles, flowers, foliage and acanthus. The brass piano pedals feature acanthus scrolls. The intricately, carved piano...

Rococo style, 1874, Steinway & Sons Centennial concert grand piano with a rosewood case, filigree music desk and ornately carved, reverse scroll legs. Piano is rebuilt. The piano cheek features a carved, Classical meander and acanthus in high relief. The two-pedal piano lyre features carved inverted fish, c-scrolls and a central cartouche. The music desk in an openwork arabesque design and a central lyre motif. A sinuous wave pattern double moulding surrounds the cabinet base. At the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there were several manufacturer's competitions, including a piano competition. The Steinway company sent two grand pianos displaying their latest developments, demonstrating the firm's innovative and markedly improved piano quality. Their determined pursuit of quality was rewarded at the world exhibition with a gold medal. Steinway won the competition against several established, well-known American piano makers, including Chickering and Sons and Weber. This Steinway concert grand...

Telefono in ceramica Limonge, funzionante con vecchia presa telefono. in buono stato, ma ci sono 2 parti incollate. una sotto al microfono voce ed una nella cornetta. le parti sono c...

From Italy, Marche central region, a polychrome carved holy water font mid-18th century, a shaped panel with carved and gilt scrolls and acanthus leaf details. A green edge decoratio...

Santos Oils container. Pewter. Century XVIII. Container made of pewter that has a foot, a body with curves, two handles and a lid. Its exterior decoration shows a clear influence o...

Rococo Style, 1904, Steinway Model B grand piano. Music desk is in a cut-out latticework design with a central lyre motif decorated with draping swag...

Pair of antique embroidered frames, rectangular shape, in ivory colored silk satin with embroidery in cotton and gold lamé of floral elements and love knots. These are devotional monastic Italian...

Naveta. Silver. Possibly Portugal, 18th century. Base with counterweight. With hallmarks. Naveta with oval foot decorated with relief elements and moldings, balustrade foot and body with light boat shape, presenting a hinged lid in the front, a widening in the lower area towards the foot and a decoration distributed throughout the exterior base of rockery motifs and plant elements (the same theme is presented on the foot and base) on a background of chopped luster, with an angel's head on two wings in relief towards the peak, accompanied by plant elements (the which protrude from the edge of the lid). Although the shape of the piece follows in general lines the most usual prototypes in these incense containers used in the liturgy, it is necessary to indicate that it was more frequent to find them more similar to a ship. The naveta's belonging to the influence of Rococo is clear both for the lines of the object and for the decoration to which reference has already been made (pebbles, plant elements with movement, volutes with pronounced curves, contrasts between concave and convex lines ... ), as well as it is possible to find some points in common with Portuguese works (presents an auction with an angel head in relief a silver naveta with a spoon by Leandro Gagliardi made in Rome between 1744 and 1750 that is preserved in the Museum of Sao Roque of Lisbon in Portugal, compare with the silver plated censer that the same master made between 1749 and 1751 for the Chapel of San Juan Bautista of the Church of San Roque in Lisbon). The contrast marks present in the upper part of the naveta (the "capitalized" letters in a rectangular space), although it should also be noted that this work does not follow the most striking typology of navetas related to this center (naveta de 18th century silver from the Church of Alcántara de Maranhao, Brazil; naveta by Sebastiao Bernardes dos Santos, dated 1747 from Sé do Funchal, which is kept in the Museu de Arte Sacra Do Funchal in Madeira Portugal...

Rare and hand crafted in 1900-1920. This beautiful miniature looks much nicer both in shape and in color when it is not in a picture. Somehow the lens makes it look less wide from t...

18th century carved bone walking stick head on ebony base The head is highly engraved with acanthus leaves, head of a lion and an angel and with ...

Designed in the French Rococo style, this clock and barometer set have been beautifully ornamented with scrolling foliate gilt bronze forms. The two are diamond shaped, with symmetri...

In their elaborate use of C-scrolls, putti figures, stylised acanthus leaves and flowers, this clock and barometer are clearly Rococo in their style. The Rococo came into fashion in ...

- A hugely rare and intimate piece of British history: Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson's snuff box - Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson (1758–1805) is one of the most celebrated figures in British history, best remembered for his heroic efforts during the Napoleonic wars. Nelson's career as a naval officer saw him lead the British fleet to several victories, during which he suffered injuries, including the loss of his right arm and the sight in his right eye. His most famous victory came in October 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy decimated the combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies. Prior to the battle, Nelson sent out the famous message "England expects that every man will do his duty". Tragically, he was shot by a French sniper and died on board his ship the HMS Victory mid battle. His body was returned to England where he was granted a state funeral, and numerous monuments were erected in his honor, including Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London. This tortoiseshell composition snuff box was originally owned by Lord Nelson, and features a miniature watercolor scene of the Amalfi coast on the top. The box was gifted by Nelson to his personal secretary George Unwin, during a dinner party in Sicily in late 1798 or early 1799 which was also attended by Nelson's mistress, Emma, Lady Hamilton. Nelson had first met Hamilton in 1793 and the pair were reunited in 1798 following the Battle of the Nile. Having been severely injured, Nelson recuperated in Naples, during which time he was nursed back to health by Lady Emma and her elderly husband, Sir William Hamilton. It was during this period that Nelson and Hamilton began their famous love affair, which lasted until Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It seems highly possible that Nelson gave this gift to Unwin as a show of generosity, in an attempt to impress his mistress over dinner. The snuff box is offered along with a manuscript letter by Unwin's son, George, which reads in full: "My Father had either lost his own snuff box on going ashore or in some shop in Palermo and upon mentioning the circumstances at Lady Hamilton’s table where Lord Nelson was one of the party his Lordship...

Hornacina formed by a back decorated with molding and a support for a sculpture decorated with a masque and vegetal motifs and topped by a split pediment with a central motif worked ...

Gilt-bronze and Tortoiseshell Clock and Barometer set by Gleizes French, 19th Century Height 115cm, width 30cm, depth 7cm In the Louis XV style, t...