New York - Decorative Art

An Islamic "Alhambra" silvered bronze Quran cabinet in the Islamic Nasrid style, Attributed to Rafael Contreras, circa 1880. Of rectangular form with crest and pendant finials to...

Fabulous large tile depiction of a roman landscape including an aqueduct and other out buildings. Colorful and tastefully done on 18 square tiles which are then framed in a period si...

Rafael Contreras, A Large Spanish Alhambra Architectural Model Plaque. Late 19th century. Polychrome and gilt gesso. Original printed paper label verso: "Gran Fachada Restaurada De La Mezquita En La Alhambra". This Alhambra plaster...

Sotheby's Art At Auction 1998-1999 Edited by Emma Lawson. Sotheby's Publications London, 1998. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual reference work provides a view of the ye...

Suzani, a Central Asian term for a specific type of needlework, is also the broader name for the hugely popular decorative pieces of textile that feature this needlework in vivid col...

Antique Islamic Syrian brass metal tray in beautifully aged old color w/ finely detailed engraved design accented with verdigris blue black patina. Metal tab on back for wall hanging...

Keith Haring newsprint poster 1984: Rare vintage 1984 Keith Haring news print poster measuring approximately 11x17 inches. A standout original 1980s Keith Haring collectible which is...

Sotheby's great sales 1987-1988 by Sotheby's Institute of Art. Barrie & Jenkins 1988, London. 1st Ed with dust jacket. This annual reference work provides a view of the year's develo...

2-315 Italian wall panel with various wood inlay depicting a Neapolitan terrace with a view of mount Vesuvius.   

Rafael Contreras (Spanish, 1824 - 1890) Alhambra Architectural Model Plaque, 19th century. A large and magnificent Hispano-Moresque Alhambra plaque by...

Grand tour circa 1860s bronze of the Wrestlers. Rich fine dark brown patina. Marked "F. Barbedienne Fondeur." The Wrestlers also known as The Two Wrestlers, The Uffizi Wrestlers...

Bronze statue of young goatherder by Oscar Gladenbeck. Circa 1900. Signed "Oscar Gladenbeck Friedrichshagen".

Philip and Kelvin LaVerne large and exquisite "Chin Ying" rectangular coffee table in patinated and acid-etched pewter and bronze with vibrant hand-applied polychrome enamels and gol...

Vintage Jimi Hendrix vinyl record illustrated on both sides with photos by Michael Ochs: The Interview, published in 1982. Measures: 12 x 12 inches. Looks brilliant framed. Includes original die cut cover sleeve. Very nice overall vintage condition. Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970) was a rock 'n' roll guitarist, singer, and songwriter known for his electric guitar skills and wild showmanship. His prolific guitar playing and exceptional songwriting abilities catapulted him to fame and influenced musicians in other genres including hard rock, funk, and grunge. One of his most legendary performances took place on stage at Woodstock Music Festival in 1969, where he debuted his electric rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." His career lasted only four short years. Hendrix died in 1970, but his status as a legendary rocker lives on.   Related Categories: Jimi Hendrix photo. Jimi Hendrix woodstock...

Vintage large oval ceramic wall plaque or tile features Modernist abstract decor with branches of orange fruits and green and yellow leaves displayed on blue-green background. The o...

Vintage 1968 issue of Avant-Garde magazine with a superb, highly frame able cover illustration by American pop art icon, Tom Wesselmann. Celebrated within this issue is the artists w...

Andy Warhol Queens advertisement circa 1985 featuring Queen Elizabeth: Vintage original 1980s poster advertisement for Andy Warhol Reigning Queens at Leo Castelli gallery, New York....

Classical standing nude by American artist Jane White. Painted in the 1950s and once owned by the Estate of Eva Gabor. There is no provenance.

Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century by Museum of Fine Arts Staff; Edgar Peters Bowron; Joseph J. Rishel and Philadelphia Museum of Art Staff. Published by Philadelphia Museum of Ar...

Sotheby's Art at Auction 1997-1998 Edited by Emma Lawson. Published by Sotheby's, London, 1997. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual reference...

Rare vintage 1989 Actuel magazine exploring the history of the iconic Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborations poster and 1985 exhibit. Cover and interior editorial features reproductions of the iconic 1985 poster shot by Michael Halsband in conjunction with Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York. A standout Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol boxing...

Groovy architectural panel constructed of translucent plastic with embedded wood curlicue elements repeating throughout. I believe this panel was originally a room divider, or some s...

Art at Auction: The Year at Sotheby's & Parke-Bernet 1970-71. By Philip and Annamaria MacDonald. Viking Press, NY, 1970. Numerous color photos of important lots from all of Sotheby's...

American painting, Hudson river school, Oil on canvas.

A square size late 19th century Lavar Kerman Rug with an all-over floral large-scale pattern on an ivory-colored background Details rug no. j3842 size 9' 6" x 10' 5" (290 x 318 cm)

a late 20th-century mini square Turkish kilim Details rug no. j3830 size 2' 5" x 2' 6" (74 x 76 cm)

18th century Tapestry Handwoven Wool & Silk Tapestry Palm Tree 8x12 226cm x 359cm 7'5" x 11'9" circa 1880 "This is very fine antique Flemish tapest...

Sotheby's Art at Auction - The Art Market in Review 1993-1994 by Sotheby's. Hightlights: "The Property of a Lady" by Ian Fleming a James Bond short story (commissioned by Sotheby's in 1963), Klimt (Dame mit Facher), David Smith (Cubi V), Harry Winston diamond necklace...

Persian shekastesh nastaliq calligraphy panel. Calligraphy panel with gold and blue borders, handwritten in Farsi with intricate Khatam inlay frame consisting of wood and bone work....

Vintage 1989 Andy Warhol announcement card published on occasion of: Andy Warhol Flowers September 16-October 14, 1989 Vrej Baghoomian G...

Charming decorative large scale acrylic painting by noted Canadian artist Stephen Kaye. The paints depicts stylized birds in branches, on an abstract textured paint surface. Signed l...

Late 10th Century Chinese Silk Embroidery ( 6'2'' x 9'8''- 188 x 295 )

A 19th century Italian reliquary with silver thread double-headed eagle and foliage and floral motif on a red silk background.  Inscriptions with sev...

Pair of Rustic French style resin (faux terra cotta) bleached round wall plaque medallions with game and trophy motifs and a bow-knot top (PRICED AS ...

These oval medallions, sold individually, feature profile portraits of seven Roman Caesars rendered in low relief against a textured background. Each medallion is inscribed with the ...

American advertising display sign of an over-sized ash wood baseball bat with an engraved wood burned inscription and a leather wrapped handle.  

Rare Mid Century Modern decorative tile was made by Mosaic Tile Company in Zanesville, OH. The tile depicts two birds sitting on a branch, looking in the same direction. The birds a...

Vintage 1980's Fela Kuti announcement: Original Fela Kuti announcement published on the occasion of his November 6th 1986 show at Madison Square Garden's The Felt Forum. A rare must ...

After Marc Chagall "Bouquet De Fleurs" Lithograph in an elegant gilt gold frame underglass, 1970s. Unframed: Height: 28 in. Width: 23.24 in.

An antique N.W. Persian oriental rug, size 5'6" x 3'6", circa 1910-1920. This handsome hand-woven floro-geometric rug features repeating rosettes connected by trellis motifs in the d...

African style taxidermy large water buffalo skull mounted on oak shield shaped wall plaque (19/20th Cent.)

Dutch (possibly 18th century) faience earthenware square mulberry tile with Biblical scene.        

This sophisticated Mid-Century Modern sculpture- realized in the manner of Silas Seandle- was realized in the United States, circa 1970. It consists of a...

Fabulous abstract depiction of a Japanese Samurai in ceramic tile, 12 pcs framed and matted. Beautiful tiles, in absolute stunning colors with exquisite lines. In excellent vintage c...

Four framed pencil Signed and Numbered Etchings. Finely framed and matted. A simply lovely group of wall decorations. Each hand drawn, signed and numb...

Vintage original Folk Art landscape features a rural scene with people in horse-driven carriages arriving to and passing by the small stores, including bookstore and antiques store, ...

Antique Persian Hamadan Oriental rug, Small size A vintage Persian Hamadan oriental rug in small size, size 6'6"x 4'5", circa 1920. This lovely hand-knotted carpet features a hera...

Antique Persian N.W Persia rug 4'10" H x 3'0" W, in small rug size, circa 1920. This Fine floral wool rug features a repeating small-scale floral design throughout, iterated both in ...

1950s Carved Wood African Mask Chip in the back as shown

Unusual mid cntury modern pair of wall sconces for single candle. Fabricated by Colseth / Norway. Note - not by Skultuna.

A circa 1950s French torched steel wall decoration of concentric circles. Measurements: Diameter 25" Depth 3".

Art at Auction : The Year at Sotheby's 1981-1982. Published by Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1982. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual reference work provides a view of the year's...

A unique relief by the renowned design team Gruppo NP2 / Nerone & Patuzzi from 1970. This massive copper relief was used as a chimney cover. The unusual embossed copper plate reflec...

Finely painted in an Italian palette with mythological and Roman battle scenes, each border rim painted with yellow enamel. With a large carved ebony...

1920s Mat size Persian Senneh floral rug Details rug no. 9923 size 1' 4" x 2' (41 x 61 cm) Antique Senneh rugs are one of the most distinctive of all Persian rugs, even though the ...

A large intermediate size Caucasian rug from the early 20th century Measures: 5'2'' x 9'4''. Antique Caucasian rugs from the Shirvan district village are still considered one of th...

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...