USA - Art

Provenance: Private Collection, Naples Fl, to Andrew Ford Collection, Sarasota, Fl. 2018 Description: Georges Washington was born out of wedlock and held a...

A beautifully hand carved Roman marble bust of an Emperor or Senator. The richly draped robe features a relief of a face.

Anonymous 15th Century Italian, Probably Milan area The Nativity of Christ Pigments, ink and gold leaf on vellum Unsigned as is always the case with illum...

Provenance: S. Spinelli Collection, Florence; their sale, Galleria Pesaro, Milan, July 11-14, 1928, lot 112 (unsold); reoffered Galleria Luigi Bellini, Florence, April 23-26, 1934, lot 132, as manner of Baldassare Peruzzi Dr. Giacomo Ancona, Florence, 1930s, and after 1939, San Francisco; thence by descent to his son: Mario Ancona, San Francisco; thence by descent to his children: Mario Ancona III and Victoria Ancona, San Francisco, until 1995; thence to: Phyllis Ancona Green, widow of Mario Ancona, Los Angeles (1995-2012) Literature: Donato Sanminiatelli, Domenico Beccafumi. Milan 1967, p. 170 (under paintings attributed to Beccafumi) Among the precious survivors of Renaissance secular paintings for domestic interiors are several unusual and particularly attractive panels painted in Siena at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries. These paintings depict exemplary figures from antiquity—heroes or heroines, as well as allegorical, literary, and mythological figures. For the most part, these panels have survived in groups of three, although it is possible that some of these works were painted either as part of larger series or as individual projects. One such trio by Beccafumi consists of two paintings now at the National Gallery, London (Marcia and Tanaquil) and a third in the Galleria Doria-Pamphilj, Rome (Cornelia). These were commissioned around 1517–1519 for the bedroom of Francesco di Camillo Petrucci in Siena and were most likely placed together as elements in the wall decoration (spalliere) or installed above the back of a bench or cassapanca. Another, earlier (ca. 1495–1500), set of three—Guidoccio Cozzarelli’s Hippo, Camilla, and Lucretia (Private Collection, Siena) survives with its original wooden framework—a kind of secular triptych. Judith, Sophonisba, and Cleopatra in the collection of the Monte dei Paschi, Siena, are by an anonymous artist close to Beccafumi called the “Master of the Chigi-Saracini Heroines.” Girolamo di Benvenuto’s Cleopatra, Tuccia, and Portia are dispersed (homeless, Prague, Chambery), and Brescianino’s Faith, Hope, and Charity are in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena. The present painting first appeared in the Spinelli sale in Florence in 1934, at which time it was sold with two panels of identical size and format. Each was catalogued as being by the “manner of Baldassare Peruzzi” and of unidentified subject. Of these, the painting depicting a male figure turned to the right has recently reappeared in a private Italian collection, while the location of the third work, portraying a cloaked figure turned three-quarters left, remains unknown. Our panel depicts the allegorical figure of Fortune. Here she is represented in typical fashion as a nude female figure balanced on a wheel (sometimes called the Rota Fortunae), her billowing drapery indicating that she is as changeable as the wind. The appearance of the Virgin and Child in the cloud at the upper right is an unusual addition to the iconography. The subjects of the two pendant male...

A lovely chiaroscuro woodcut by Antonio Maria Zanetti the elder after a work by Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola). Printed on cream laid paper, laid down to a cream lai...

"La Tempete" is an original etching by Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellee). This is Claude's earliest dated etching (1630). The work depicts a storm-tossed sea with ships on the verge of ...

This is a hand-colored copper-plate engraving entitled "I. Spatula foetida - II. Caucalis Dodonei - III. Cruciata", depicting three flowering plants, including an Iris, from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713. This beautiful hand-colored botanical engraving is presented in a gold-colored wood frame with a French mat...

Etching on handmade, cream laid paper. 5 13/16 x 7 5/8 inches (146 x 192 mm), thread margins. Scattered handling creases, light age tone, and minor paper inconsistoncies throughout....

Provenance: Private Collection, New York, until 2022. Martín de Porres was born in Lima in 1579, the illegitimate son of a Spanish-American father, J...

Chaloner Smith (Engraver not ascertained, Class III) 9. Published by C. Shepherd, Oct. 31, 1775 London. Inscribed in plate lower center: "Charles Lee, Efq. / Major General of the Con...

An extraordinary 17th century, hand-carved, solid Carrara marble, life sized figure fragment on raised base of the same. The subject is swaddled in a luxurious, gathered robe and tun...

Bretherton, James (After Rembrandt van Rijn). Christ and the Woman of Samaria Among Ruins. London: c 1775. Etching on light cream laid paper, 4 3/4...

Set of 4 capriccio landscape oil on board paintings from the area of Florence

A rare pair of mated, hand-painted, verre églomisé, 17th c. Dutch harbor scenes featuring figures, a variety of boats, and foreground buildings. Each held in antique, hand-carved, pa...

A remarkable trio of 18th century, oil-on-copper paintings of, Ottoman Empire figures in colorful robes and accouterments, posing in European style landscapes. Each figure is labeled...

Antique carved and polychromed wax portrait of Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Attributed to Isaac Gosset (British 1713-1799). In the original frame. Inscribed ...

Provenance: Torres Family Collection, Asunción, Paraguay, ca. 1967-2017 While the genre of portraiture flourished in the New World, very few examples of early Spanish colonial portraits have survived to the present day. This remarkable painting is a rare example of female portraiture, depicting a member of the highest echelons of society in Cuzco during the last quarter of the 17th century. Its most distinctive feature is the false beauty mark (called a chiqueador) that the sitter wears on her left temple. Chiqueadores served both a cosmetic and medicinal function. In addition to beautifying their wearers, these silk or velvet pouches often contained medicinal herbs thought to cure headaches. This painting depicts an unidentified lady from the Creole elite in Cuzco. Her formal posture and black costume are both typical of the established conventions of period portraiture and in line with the severe fashion of the Spanish court under the reign of Charles II, which remained current until the 18th century. She is shown in three-quarter profile, her long braids tied with soft pink bows and decorated with quatrefoil flowers, likely made of silver. Her facial features are idealized and rendered with great subtly, particularly in the rosy cheeks. While this portrait lacks the conventional coat of arms or cartouche that identifies the sitter, her high status is made clear by the wealth of jewels and luxury materials present in the painting. She is placed in an interior, set off against the red velvet curtain tied in the middle with a knot on her right, and the table covered with gold-trimmed red velvet cloth at the left. The sitter wears a four-tier pearl necklace with a knot in the center with matching three-tiered pearl bracelets and a cross-shaped earing with three increasingly large pearls. She also has several gold and silver rings on both hands—one holds a pair of silver gloves with red lining and the other is posed on a golden metal box, possibly a jewelry box. The materials of her costume are also of the highest quality, particularly the white lace trim of her wide neckline and circular cuffs. The historical moment in which this painting was produced was particularly rich in commissions of this kind. Following his arrival in Cuzco from Spain in the early 1670’s, bishop Manuel de Mollinedo y Angulo actively promoted the emergence of a distinctive regional school of painting in the city. Additionally, with the increase of wealth and economic prosperity in the New World, portraits quickly became a way for the growing elite class to celebrate their place in society and to preserve their memory. Portraits like this one would have been prominently displayed in a family’s home, perhaps in a dynastic portrait gallery. We are grateful to Professor Luis Eduardo Wuffarden for his assistance cataloguing this painting on the basis of high-resolution images. He has written that “the sober palette of the canvas, the quality of the pigments, the degree of aging, and the craquelure pattern on the painting layer confirm it to be an authentic and representative work of the Cuzco school of painting...

A rare, richly hand-painted, 18th century oil-on-panel portrait of a crane set against a moody sky amidst a lush landscape of mountains, forest, architecture, and water. Held in a ne...

An evocative, 14th century, carved wood statue of a seated Mary with the Christ child in her lap. The piece with a beautiful patina featuring polychrome paint traces. Now mounted on ...

Engraving on cream laid paper, 8 x 5 7/8 inches (202 x 149 mm), trimmed at the platemark. Adhered at each corner to a small sheet of archival laid paper. Horizontal edge loss at the ...

Two, large, stunningly painted, left and right, oil-on canvas, Italian paintings of the Emperor's Vespasian and Julius Caesar, with their names inscribed on the lower left hand corne...

original impressionist acrylic painting. SOLÁ paints in a natural way, which reflects the Old Masters, soaking up the colour, air, smell and the pure scent of his environment. He d...

Substantial, hand carved, solid marble bust of Roman Emperor Vitellius (24-69 C.E.) on a custom, iron base. Likely a 16th century copy of a 2nd century o...

The crucifixion of Crist Italian school 17th or 18th century. Beautiful detail in the face and hands. The lighting makes the figure of Crist seem to glow. In a good quality later frame. Presented by Joseph Dasta Antiques...

Rare, Late Roman Empire (3rd to 5th centuries, C.E.), solid marble bust of a young man. Beautiful patina. Mounted on a later, Carrara marble base.

"A Dune Landscape with Figures Resting and a Couple on Horseback, a View of Nijmegen Cathedral Beyond" is a painting by Dutch Old Master painter Salomon van Ruysdael...

"Crucifixion" is an etching and aquatint, printed in brown ink by Conrad M. Metz after a painting by Daniele da Volterra. It was published in London in 1789 in 'Imitations Of Ancient...

Sensitively carved, solid marble bust of a young boy mounted on a custom, Lucite base. Carved fully in the round, though originally the figure was part of a larger group. Acquired di...

A beautifully painted Baroque style oil on board portrait of a lady wearing an embroidered top with ruffled collar. Her bonnet edged in delicate lace. Dated 1619 on the top left fron...

An iconic, hand carved, gessoed, painted, and parcel-gilt, Italian polychrome sculpture of tousle curled angel in windswept drapery. Beautiful expression and patina. Now mounted on a...

PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR Le Chapeau Épinglé (2e planche). Color lithograph, 1898. 600x488 mm; 23 5/8x19 1/4 inches, full margins. Edition of 200. With the second printed signature in the stone, lower left. Printed by Auguste Clot, Paris. Published by Vollard, Paris. A very good impression of this important lithograph with strong colors. Renoir (1841-1919) was, along with Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, a founder of the Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes, Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs and a key organizer of the 1870s Impressionist exhibitions. He is best known for his renditions of the sensuous and monumental bathing nudes that he produced from the 1880s onward, many of which were inspired by the works of Titian, Rubens, and 18th-century French painters such as Boucher and Fragonard. Like many of his contemporaries, Renoir embraced printmaking as a medium that allowed for more freedom of expression and experimentation. Ambroise Vollard, the eminent Parisian dealer and publisher, and Auguste Clot, the famed lithography printer, were both extremely instrumental in Renoir's foray into printmaking. They greatly encouraged and facilitated his practice of the medium. Vollard met Renoir during the height of Renoir's career and saw the opportunity for lithography to help disseminate the artist's ever popular work, and Clot worked closely with Renoir to masterfully capture the delicate quality of his pastels in color lithography. Renoir began producing lithographs and etchings in the late 1880s and created an oeuvre over the following two decades consisting of 25 etchings and 29 lithographs, many of them commissioned for various albums or books. His most famous prints reproduce popular compositions he had established in earlier paintings. The current lot is based on an 1893 oil and pastel painting which represents the artist Berthe Morisot's daughter pinning a flower on her cousin's hat. The same subject was reproduced in a series of etchings by Renoir...

oil on canvas 46.7 x 37.2 inches (118.5 x 94.5 cm.) PROVENANCE Private Collection, Isle of Wight Two young sisters are posed on a portico backed by a rotund column with a landscape beyond. Although their identities are unknown their outfits as well as the setting denotes wealth and status. The older sister wears a gown of gold with blue and gold trim raised to reveal a green underskirt also edged with gold. Her collar tied at the neck and fastened over her shoulders by a large rosette of golden cloth, apron and cuffs over wide sleeves, are all of a sheer batiste linen trimmed with lace. Previously a child would not have been painted in a bib or apron above the age of three, but in the 1650s and 1660s it became fashionable for older girls. A leading string hangs from her right shoulder, which is also surprising given her age, but once their utility was gone, they were viewed as a decorative accessory and remained part of children’s costumes...

Absolutely charming, original, circa 1650, Italian, oil on canvas painting of a puppy at play with a crimson ball.  Canvas size: 14.75 in. high x 18.25 in. wide.

This is an original 18th century hand-colored map entitled "A New & Correct Chart of All The Known World Laid down according to Mercator's Projection" by Emanuel Bowen. It was published in 1744 in London in John Harris's "Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca" or "A Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels". This highly detailed and colorful map depicts the world. as it was known in the mid 18th century. A majority of the northern and central portions of Canada and America are left blank due to the purity of knowledge at the time this map was published. The map is embellished with four Compass Roses in the lower left, lower center, lower right and center, along with many rhumb lines. There a is a decorative title cartouche in the upper left. This colorful, attractive, historical and interesting 1744 map presents the entire world on Mercator's projection as it was understood in the middle part of the 18th century, before the landmark explorations of Captain’s Cook, Vancouver, Wilkes and others. It is an example of a nautical chart, a type of map that was designed specifically for use by mariners. The map is centered on the equator and includes both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. The continents of North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia are depicted, as well as various islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. The map is laid out according to the Mercator projection, a type of cylindrical map projection that was developed in the 16th century by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator. This projection has the advantage of preserving angles and shapes, making it useful for navigation. The map presents a paucity of inland detail, particularly for the Americas, but major cities, geographical landmarks, and regions are included. Ocean currents and Tradewinds are identified, as well as the magnetic declination lines or magnetic variance, which refers to the difference between true north and compass north. The continents are color coded, enhancing the beauty of this map. The three compass roses indicate the directions of the cardinal points. The depiction of the western coast of America, the Pacific and Australia are interesting. There was very little exploration of Australia between the navigations of William Damper in 1699 and Tobias Furneaux in 1773. Most of the maps detail relies on the 17th century Dutch expeditions to Australia's western coast, by Abel Tasman and William Janszoon. Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and New Guinea appear connected to the Australian continent. New Zealand appears as a single landmass. North of New Zealand there is a landmass labelled 'Ter d' St. Esprit' which probably represents the New Hebrides Islands. This map precedes the accurate exploration of the South Pacific and east coast of Australia by Captain James Cook later in the 18th century. The map includes ‘Drakes' Port,' the site where Sir Francis Drake supposedly landed in 1579 during his 1579 circumnavigation of the globe. Here he claimed territory for England, restocked, and repaired his vessels. Drake named the region New Albion. The exact location of Drake's Port is a cartographic mystery. Drake's Harbor is believed to be in the region of San Francisco Bay, Bodega Bay, San Pablo Bay...

Beyond life-sized, allegorical, Renaissance figural oil painting of Summer, featuring a nymph recessed in an alcove, swathed in drapery, wearing a foliate crown. In her right hand, a...

An 18th c. hand-carved, solid Carrara marble bust, likely of a holy Roman Emperor on a specimen marble base of the period. Inscribed "OTTONI".

Glorious, c. 1650, hand-carved, solid Carrara marble upper torso fragment of a Roman soldier. The piece featuring fish-scale armor atop a tunic. The rig...

Hand-carved and painted, polychrome, Roman Santos figure in mid-stride. The figure wears stylized, flowing robes and stands atop a period base.

A moody pair of oil on canvas paintings of birds in lush landscapes. Frames later.

Etching and drypoint on heavy cream laid paper, 3 3/4 x 3 1/4 inches (96 x 83 mm), narrow margins. In very good condition with some minor surface soiling. [Björklund's second state ...

Wonderfully carved, circa 1750, marble bust representing North and South America. Initially part of a series of busts that depicted "The Four Continents". The smiling figure is draped in a toga pinned...

Striking, beautifully composed, c. 1740, Italian, oil-on-canvas painting of three hounds in a mountainous landscape. Soulful, slightly naive and richly detailed. Held in an antique, ...

A classic terra cotta sculpture of Mercury signed Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714-1785).

A pair of rare, early 1700’s, Roman, beautifully hand–carved, solid Carrara marble cherubim singing in adoration. Each with feather embellished robe fragments. Both mounted on custo...

signed in the upper right Gio Batta Weenix oil on canvas 45 x 51 inches (114.5 x 129.5 cm.) PROVENANCE (possibly) Giovanni Baptista Weenix estate sale, Huis ter Mey, De Haar, Apr...

Hand carved, marble bust in three quarters, of a young man in a sensitively rendered, open-neck robe, with flowing hair held in a delicate circlet.

Hand-carved, oak statue of a putto holding a flowing tapestry and a shield mounted on a custom, Lucite base.

17th century oil on panel of Piazza di Spagna. Italian school. Frame later.

A chic pair of Roman, oil-on-canvas overdoor paintings done in a nocturne, grisaille style. Each featuring underlit cherubs at play amongst streaming g...

A pair of oval drawings for Ovid, Metamophoses Left: The Triumph of Amphitrite (Book I) Right: Diana and Actaeon (Book III) From: Ovid, Metamophoses These mythological studies are a...

This is a scarce 17th century beautifully hand-colored copperplate engraved map of Asia entitled “Exactissima Asiae Delineatio in Praecipuas Regiones Caerterasque Partes divisa et de...

Medieval style carved sculpture of three religious figures, possibly saints. The sculpture is in the style of Gothic religious art from continental Europe, particularly Germany and F...

Bartsch 126; Hind 234; Nowell-Usticke 304 v/VII. Signed and dated in the plate above the shoulder of the second man from the left (obscured by diagonal shading): "Rembrandt f. / 1648...

Bruyn, Abraham de (after). Court wrestlers of the Sultan of Turkey-dressed for outdoors, resting and fighting. 1577. Engraving on hand made laid paper, 10 5/8 x 6 7/8 inches (268 x 1...

Etching and engraving on cream laid paper, 11 3/4 x 8 1/8 inches (297 x 205 mm), margins trimmed. Scattered light surface soiling, minor loose handling creases, rubbed edges, and sma...

Roella Prickly, Roella ciliata Plate 378 1797 Hand-colored etching Ed. 1st ed. 9 x 5.25 inches

Provenance: Bradley Collection. Private Collection, Upperville, Virginia. Literature: Katlijne van der Stighelen and Hans Vlieghe, Rubens: Portraits of Unidentified and Newly Identified Sitters painted in Antwerp, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, vol. 19, pt. 3, London and Turnhout, 2021, under cat. no. 189, p. 161, and fig. 75. This painting had previously been considered to be by an anonymous Tuscan painter of the sixteenth century in the orbit of Agnolo Bronzino. While the painting does in fact demonstrate a striking formal and compositional similarity to Bronzino’s portraits—compare the nearly identical pose of Bronzino’s Portrait of a Young Man in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fig. 1)—its style is completely foreign to Italian works of the period. That it is painted on an oak panel is further indication of its non-Italian origin. This portrait can in fact be confidently attributed to the Antwerp artist Huybrecht Beuckelaer. Huybrecht, the brother of Joachim Beuckelaer, has only recently been identified as the author of a distinct body of work formerly grouped under the name of the “Monogrammist HB.” In recent studies by Kreidl, Wolters, and Bruyn his remarkable career has been delineated: from its beginnings with Joachim in the workshop of Pieter Aertsen; to his evident travels to Italy where, it has been suggested, he came into contact with Bronzino’s paintings; to his return to Antwerp, where he seems to have assisted Anthonis Mor in painting costume in portraits; to his independent work in Antwerp (where he entered the Guild of Saint Luke in 1579); and, later to his career in England where, known as “Master Hubberd,” he was patronized by the Earl of Leicester. Our painting was recently published by Dr. Katlijne van der Stighelen and Dr. Hans Vlieghe in a volume of the Corpus Rubenianum, in which they write that the painting “has a very Italian air about it and fits convincingly within [Beuckelaer’s] oeuvre.” Stighelen and Vlieghe compare the painting with Peter Paul Ruben’s early Portrait of a Man, Possibly an Architect or Geographer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in which the sitter holds a compass and wears a similarly styled doublet (Fig. 2). Huybrecht both outlived and travelled further afield than his brother Joachim, who made his career primarily in Antwerp. Whereas Joachim was the main artistic inheritor of their uncle and teacher, Pieter Aertson, working in similar style and format as a specialist in large-scale genre and still-life paintings, Huybrecht clearly specialized as a painter of portraits and was greatly influenced by the foreign artists and works he encountered on his travels. His peripatetic life and his distinctly individual hand undoubtedly contributed to the fact his career and artistic output have only recently been rediscovered and reconstructed. His periods abroad seem to have overlapped with the mature phase of his brother Joachim’s career, who enrolled in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke much earlier than his brother, establishing himself as an independent painter in 1560. Joachim’s activity was confined to the following decade and half, and his latest work dates from the last year of his life, 1574. Our portrait was likely produced in the late 1560s, a dating supported by the dendrochronological investigation performed by Dr. Peter Klein, which established that it is painted on an oak panel with an earliest felling date of 1558 and with a fabrication date of ca. 1566. This painting presents a portrait of an artist, almost certainly Huybrecht’s self-portrait. The young sitter is confidently posed in a striking patterned white doublet with a wide collar and an abundance of buttons. He stands with his right arm akimbo, his exaggerated hands both a trademark of Huybrecht and his brother Joachim’s art, as well as a possible reference to the “hand of the artist.” The figure peers out of the painting, interacting intimately and directly with the viewer, as we witness him posed in an interior, the tools and results of his craft visible nearby. He holds a square or ruler in his left hand, while a drawing compass...

Etching on cream laid paper, 4 3/8 x 3 3/8 inches (110 x 90 mm), thread margins. Several scattered light spots of yellow discoloration, and multiple areas of minor skinning and adhes...