Manhattan

An Incredible 19th Century Royal Casket Box/Safe with Coat of Arms, Made of Gold, Damascene, and Etched Steel. Charles Le Hon, a Belgian politician, lawyer and industrialist, served...

Dating from the mid-19th century, this silver and gold flower brooch is set with over 13 carats of old diamonds. It is designed as a frond of curling leaves and blossoms, set through...

Attributed to Henry Dasson (d. 1896) Origin: French Date: circa 1885-q890 Dimension: (H) 35 1/4 in x (W) 54 in x (W) 78 in. Provenance: Acquired by Dr. J. T Nieto-Gomez from fi...

French bronze figure of a striding lion, circa 1860 Signed by Louis Vidal (1831-1892).

A very fine English marble top console table in the manner of William Kent, having features found in documented examples of Kent's work at Chiswick House and Holkham Hall. Reeded and...

This exquisite piece is crafted in yellow gold, featuring an intricately carved relief. The design showcases three women and a cherub. The cameo is set within an oval frame, highligh...

This is a gorgeous 14 Karat Gold Victorian - Belle Epoque Picture Locket pendant in an Etruscan Revival Design of great beauty. The locket has the most stunning warm brushed 14 Kara...

A 19th Century Meissen Porcelain Ormolu Mounted Hinged Box with Watteau Scene Cartouche and the Interior Decorated with Floral Designs. The box features an ormolu-mounted structure w...

A 19th C. Meissen Porcelain Figural Group of Musician Lovers seated on a Sofa with a Pug Dog, After J.J. Kandler. The piece depicts a man and a woman seated on an ornate sofa, each engaged in a musical performance. The woman is elegantly attired in a gown adorned with delicate floral motifs, playing a lute, while the man is dressed in fine blue and gold attire, playing a flute. Their facial expressions reflect concentration and grace as they engage in a shared musical moment. The intricate detailing in their clothing, including the delicate folds of the fabric and the fine detailing of the lace and ribbons, the 24k Gold...

Gorgeous Antique French Aubusson Square Area Rug, country of origin / rug type: French rug, Circa date: 1870’s. Size: 14 ft 8 in x 15 ft 2 in (4.47 m x 4.62 m)

Exuding timeless elegance, this striking ring features a rectangular Carnelian intricately carved with a rare double head. The stone is set in a warm, gold-toned band adorned with de...

Comprising 2 pots, creamer (handle restored), covered sugar (finial restored), and 8 cups and saucers.

A Large and Incredible Pair of Rouge Marble ‘Grand Tour’ Models of Ruins Celebrating the Corinthian Order, Most Probably Attributed To The Workshop Of Benedetto Boschetti. The fist ...

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...

Cherub with Grapes Weight: 35.3 Grams Stone: Shell Measurements: 3.20 x 2.80 Inches Metal: 9K ITEM #: BR-1483-121824-17

A pair of large Italian three-drawer chests of drawers in walnut veneer. The commodes are of unusual shape, rounded at the bottom and resting on green and gold-patinated lion's paw f...

Pine trestle end table, handpicked by buyers at Ann-Morris Inc.

An Incredible and Rare Pair of 19th Century French Islamic Style Patinated Bronze Alhambra Vases, Stamped Tiffany & Co. The vases draw inspiration from Islamic design and the Nasrid ...

Comprising 24 plates, pair of covered sauce tureens and stands, pair of shell dishes and a pair of rectangular dishes. The bright blue ground inters...

A Highly Important, Monumental, and Rare Pair of 19th Century French Signed Baccarat Opaline Double Overlay Cobalt Blue Cut-To-White Opaline Vases with Hand-Enameled Floral Designs, ...

A Magnificent and Large 19th Century Meissen Porcelain Model of the Continent of Asia. The figure wears an elaborate headdress with a blue and white mitre-like structure adorned with...

Pyramid studded varnished wood body, gilded wooden legs, with two doors and bottom drop-down shelf, featuring interior glass shelves and original ke...

Pair of French opaline bases, Baccarat, circa 1835.

Victorian Classical coin silver tray. Made by Gorham in Providence, ca 1860. Oval with four scroll-mounted strapwork supports. Beaded rim and leaf-mounted end handles with horned and...

Paris porcelain white and gold open-work centerpiece, circa 1840.

Signed “A.H. Devaulx”, and marked “Susse Fes Ed.20” Dimensions: Height 6-7/8”, width 7-7/8”, depth 4-1/4” This wonderfully unusual desktop sculpture of gilded bronze, depicting a beautiful female-centaur breastfeeding her cub is made in a classic romantic style of the Belle Epoque era by a remarkable French sculptor, Alexandre Henri Devaulx. Alexandre Henri Devaulx (French, 1856-1940) was the son of the noted sculptor of the Romanticism period, François Théodore Devaulx (1808–1870). Born in Paris, he studied under E. Devaulx, making his début as a sculptor at the 1876 Paris Salon with Portrait, a plaster medallion. Alexandre Henri Devaulx became a member of the Artistes Français in 1888, winning an award with merit in the same year.... Susse Frères Bronze Foundry, Paris - The French firm Susse Frères manufactured a daguerreotype camera, which was one of the first two photographic cameras...

the two spoons decorated with fish motif are decorated in relief; a dragon-motif decorated spoon

A Fabulous and Large 19th Century Russian Ormolu-Mounted Hand-Carved Pink Rhodonite Tazza/Centerpiece. This tazza is a masterpiece of opulence that e...

Large, Louis Drimmer ceramic table lamp with a blue and yellow face on a green glazed ground. Newly wired with patinated brass, standard base double cluste...

wooden base is not included with this lot; continuous figural scene

A marvelous 19th century English Dore bronze mounted crystal bowl centerpiece with dore bronze bird handles, signed on the bottom, Osler. The crystal bowl...

A rare three-drawer coffer table or console in Jamu wood (Northern elm), with enclosed cabinet and original bronze hardware. Tianjin, China, mid-19th century. Very well preserved, th...

Our magnificent pair of bibliotheques in the manner of the French master cabinet maker, François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770–1841), measure 84 inches tall and are finely cra...

Rare Victorian 15-18K Yellow Gold, Silver, Diamond and Persian Turquoise Star of David Rare Mid-19th Century 5.0 carats Old Mine Cut Diamonds and Persian Turquoise Star of David Pen...

An antique early Victorian gold, diamond, and enamel ring featuring a rose-cut diamond center in a tapering gold mount decorated with a blue enamel foliate pattern, in 15k gold. Eng...

A very large and unusual 19th century French Louis XVI style dore bronze mounted Sevres cobalt blue ground box signed Sarat. This box is truly a masterpiece. Sevres boxes...

A pair of dramatic Victorian turquoise 14k yellow gold repousse pendant earrings likely made in the United States around 1880. The long dimensional ea...

A Marvelous and Quite Large 19th Century South Indian Bronze Dancing Female Figure, Tamil Nadu. This Indian bronze sculpture depicts a dancing fem...

A large pair of ormolu-mounted Se`vres Porcelain Bleu Celeste '1867 Exhibition' vases and covers (‘Vase Paris de Milieu Garnis’), ‘l’Abreuvoir’ and ‘Le Retour’ De Champs’ 1860, one ...

Elaborate silver and mother-of-pearl, silver plate flatware set. Original box with shield crest and fittings and was originally commissioned...

An Elaborate 19th century Meissen Porcelain Figure of a Sultana Riding an Elephant. After the model by P.J. Reinicke and J.J. Kändler, the Sultana sitting on the elephants back and h...

Meissen Porcelain, Love Series: Cupid Mailing a Love Letter with Love Bird C1870, SUPREME A Meissen porcelain figure from the Love Series: Cupid Mailing...

Rare Antique Peking Ninghshia Art Deco Rug Chinese Tapestry Beige 9'4' x 10' 10' x 10' 285cm x 305cm Circa 1860 "This is a rare Antique Chinese Peking Ningxia Ningshia rug...

This highly detailed study of a Normandy mare is an excerpted model from Mêne's popular Jument normande et son poulain, exhibited in wax at the 1868 Salon (no. 3749), and in bronze t...

The border with a running band of leaves and purple and yellow-centered flowerheads on a perrywinkle blue ground. Comprising 24 plates and 3 compotes.

A large rare pair of 19th century Meissen Chinoiserie style Nodding Pagoda Figures with Movable Head, Hand and Tongue, known as a "Nodder'. This Unusual...

This exquisite Victorian-era pansy brooch is crafted in rich 15k yellow gold and showcases deep black enamel petals delicately edged with natural seed pearls. At its heart, a luminou...

Antique pearl and diamond bangle bracelet. This elegant bracelet is crafted in warm gold. The bracelet features a series of lustrous pearls set along the band, each held in a secure ...

This elegant antique lapel was realized in France, circa 1860. It features a circular pendant composed of 18kt yellow gold with crescent moon and star inlaid in starburst guilloche r...

Antique Rose Cut Diamond and Ruby Belt Buckle Made circa 1850 Approximate measurements: 6"

This extraordinary French silver-topped gold pendant brooch, from the era of Napoleon III, is designed with scrolling floral motifs suspending articulated double festoons, all set wi...

A Magnificent and Quite Large Pair of Hand-Carved 19th Century Chinese Rootwood Throne Chair/Arm Chairs. According to an article posted by the MET Museum, rustic rootwood chairs such as these were meant to suggest Buddhist and Daoist figure’s lack of attachment to earthly luxuries. Instead of depicting deities and important religious icons on sumptuous thrones, rootwood chairs signified the relationship between humans and nature. Each chair is hand-carved from the finest rootwood and further lacquered creating a rich dark color on the exterior of the wood. The seating areas are finished with comfortable white cushions and they are ready to be used in any decor. A similarly designed rootwood table...

A fabulous & rare pair of baccarat acid-cameo double overlay blue-cased white opaline glass vases circa 1860-1870. Each vase decorated on the front and ...

Antique cream, pink, magenta, brown and green paisley shawl. Richly colored large bordered paisley shawl with cream center and fringe. Europe, mid-19th c...

The porcelain is Chinese and the bronze mounts are French.

Persia, ca. 1860 Measures: 18'9" x 11'3" (572 x 343 cm) Handwoven.

A monumental and important 19th century French sevres porcelain ormolu-mounted two-handle campana form centerpiece/vase. This is a truly Sevres...

a true gem ! in very good condition made at year 1851 in England ! beautiful hand made filigree 14k yellow gold approx 8.40 grams Purple Oval Amethyst 9 x12 mm area on top size app...

A magnificent and fully complete set of 5 Meissen figures emblematic of the senses: Hearing, smell, touch, taste, and sight, Modeled by J.J. Kändler and J.F. Eberlein. These figures ...

Navy Blue Multicolored Chinese Skirt Pleated navy silk and multicolor with tie belt; depicts medallions and auspicious symbols with five-clawed dragons, fire, “flaming pearl of wis...