363 results for "spectandum"

Neapolitan nativity scenes are very different from those seen in churches due to the importance of secular settings. They are not limited to staging the child Jesus surrounded by the holy family. Still, they managed to reproduce the daily life of the Neapolitans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The elegance of the figuration and the fineness of the execution of these santons also reveals the quality of the know-how of the Neapolitan artisans. The markets, hotels, dances, itinerant vendors, beggars, taverns, various trades, guarding herds, the royal procession and all that was within reach of everyday life or fantasy had their place in the Neapolitan crèches...

Beautiful opium box decorated with reliefs with ideograms (one of the two refers to wealth), a chrysanthemum (symbol of longevity) and foliage. This silver m...

Opium smokers used opium lamps to make the vaping and inhaling of the opium easier. These lamps, which contained spirits in their base, were specifically de...

An elytron is a modified, hardened forewing of certain insect orders, notably beetles and a few of the true bugs such as the family Schizopteridae

Bamileke Kuosi Elephant masks comprise cloth panels and hoods woven from plantain fiber over raffia. On this background glass beads are stitched in geometric patterns. The basic form depicts salient features of the elephant—a long trunk and large ears. The hood fits tightly over the masker's head, and two hanging panels, one behind and one in front, partially conceal the body. The front panel is the elephant trunk, and the two large, stiff circles hinged to either side of the head are its ears, which flap as the masker dances. While the mask symbolizes an elephant, the face is human. Eyeholes provide visibility, and a nose and mouth with teeth are normally present. The glass beads used on these earlier masks were nineteenth-century trade beads of Venetian or Czechoslovakian manufacture, used as well in exchange for slaves. Elephant mask costumes...

This artifact carved in wood is from the Kongo people of the Congo. One side represents a crucified Christ ,whilst the other shows a representation of the Virgin Mary. It’s clearly an object of authority and prestige and a combination of locally grounded and foreign insignia.Very nice use patina. The Kingdom of Kongo, founded in the 14th century, has some of the earliest Christian influence in sub-Saharan Africa. The conversion to Christianity in 1512 of King Alfoso I of the Kongo saw the subsequent creation by Kongolese sculptors of Christian crucifixes...

Set of 2 small antique earthenware tiles.

This vessel vividly illustrates anthropomorphic design through its bold depiction of a human-like figure. The spout is sculpted as an open-mouthed face, complete with stylized eyes a...

This evocative three-quarter length portrait, executed in the Venetian School during the 17th century, depicts an imagined figure of an elite Ottoman woman, rendered in rich oils on canvas. Her elaborate headdress, ornate costume, and poised bearing align with Western ideals of exoticism and nobility, shaped through Venetian eyes. The rose delicately held at her chest may serve as a symbolic identifier—an allusion to Rossa or Rosselana, the Western name for Hürrem Sultan (c.1502–1558), the influential consort and later wife of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent...

A handmade wooden sculpture, study of a Barracuda head with open mouth

Terracotta pot of roughly crescent shape featuring a pair of naively modelled human figures seated on the concave edge, each with arms folded to the abdomen and feet pointing downwar...

Gustave Fontaine (Etterbeek 1877-1952 Brussels) was a sculptor–painter. He took courses in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode and continued his training at the Academy of Brussels and with the sculptor Julien...

Late 19th to early 20th century New Guinea, Trobriand Islands, Milne Bay, Massim People carved wooden pigs with incised decoration and flat paddle-style tai...

This ambitious composition illustrates the ancient episode of The Ring of Polycrates, drawn from Herodotus. In the story, the king of Samos, blessed with continuous success, is advis...

This fine, round, dark grey vessel depicts a complete figure which is rare. It was made by the Mangbetu People. The Mangbetu ethnic group lives deep in the...

Bamileke Decorative Dance Crest, embroidered with European Glass Beads, Grasslands People, Cameroon. Private Collection Bordeaux The raffia splint is covered with cloth and colour...

Far from referring to the gothic, or melancholic aspect that fascinates some people in these anatomical model, Dominique Yee (b. 1960), a Flemish painter with Chinese roots, has capt...

This unusual mask reproduces the feature of the sculpture of the north-eastern Hemba. The mask was collected at Karambare in the 1930s by Dr. R. Sulsenti, at the time practicing in t...

Used as forms of currency, they could also serve as a musical or ritual object. Displayed on a custom mount.

These three shoes were used by a shoemaker as basic show models from which customers could choose. He would then manufacture a customized pair. The three model show age and use relat...

Anthropomorph Terracotta Vase

Framed, dated and signed.

Unknown academy student 19th C drawing, pencil on paper, Framed, Signed.

Zacharie Noterman or Zacharie Notermann or Zacharias Noterman, Ghent 1820 and Paris 1890, is a Belgian painter and engraver, specializing in the painting of antics, scenes of monkeys...

Hard wood with rests of polychromy.

About the artist William Hogarth (10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic, and editorial cartoonist. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects", He is perhaps best known for his series A Harlot's Progress, A Rake's Progress and Marriage A-la-Mode. Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations...

The artist portrayed an upper-class lady who has some facial features of Reynolds' Mrs Andrews. More specifically, the long, straight nose and the large eyes. Her head resting on her...

Unknown academy student 19th c drawing, pencil on paper, framed, signed and dated.

An old classic Bamana lock , decorated with engraved lines, representing antilope horns ,legs bent appearing at the bottom and a beautiful dark patina a...

Unknown Academy Student 19th C drawing, pencil on paper, framed and signed.

Five ceremonial beaded flutes or whistles from the Cameroon grasslands. They come in various geometric forms, taking on the shape of a hollowed, stylized figure that combines human a...

The polychromed statues are in an excellent state and date from a period when profane sculptures started to replace the religious ones.

Unusual representation of Saint Roch in a Spanish colonial style. A Filipino work in exotic wood from the period of evangelization under the Spanish Crown. The type of wood used and ...

These wonderful frames and the mirror are assembled with salvaged materials. Between 63 x 55.5 x 2 and 74.5 x 69 x 7.  

17th C Landscape Painting with Staffage, Noblewoman with Squire, Oil on Copper.

Portrait of a Kongo Chief with feather headdress, plant material on Jute, Frameda Patchwork of bark and raphia finished with feathered headdress. This is was made for export and it i...

This charming singerie depicts a lively scene of monkeys gathered within the rustic interior of a tavern. Dressed in contemporary human attire and engaged in recognizably human activ...

Preparation for Carnival: a three day festival of insatiable eating, drinking and carousing that preceded the forty days of Lent, a period of penitence when the pious drank only wate...

Lively screen print from 1974 by Artist Karel Appel (1921-2006): expressive and bold composition and colors. Pencil signed: 'Appel' and '74'. Dimensions are 75 x 55 cm. In 1956 Ap...

These door locks were generally used to protect houses and granaries.Bamana doorlocks range from the abstract and symbolic to representations of ancestors. They are usually larger an...

Traditionally, Kifwebe masks were created and worn by members of the secret masking society, Bwadi Bwa Kifwebe, of the Luba and the Songye People living in the central part of the Co...

The eagle staff is an unique, sacred symbol that represents traditional Indigenous culture and clans. It is used at ceremonies and celebratory functions, much like a nation's flag wo...

Unusual Balinese monkey mask-most probably a representation of Hanuman Here is some more info from Ubud. Mask-making is one of the oldest art-forms in the world. In Bali, masks (t...

Antique Hexagonal Chinese Opium Boxes in Cloisonné Enamal , decorated with a Dragon and a Phoenix. The Rectangular Box is decorated with Vases and Fl...

Antique Chinese Opium Box in Cloisonné Enamel, decorated with Floral Motifs and Interior Scenes: item with fond in lapis lazuli French Private Colle...

Neapolitan nativity scenes are very different from those seen in churches due to the importance of secular settings. They are not limited to staging the child Jesus surrounded by the...

Old, White Porcelain Table Water Pipe with Blue-Glazed Decoration, that represents a Rider asking his Way. This 19th Century Object from Vietnam is provided with a Silver or Metal St...

The bowl of the Vietnamese water pipe is jar-shaped. The metal handle allows easy carrying and moving of the object. The pipe stem that is normally places in the water tank, is missi...

The Royal Fly Whisks (ethnic names: see leng koko or beuka) used in dances are made of carved wood to which horse tails are attached. These tails are veritable war trophies cut from ...

The rocking horse was made in the first half of the 20th century in the United Kingdom. The ears and the reigns are in light brown leather. The main and the tail of the horse are mad...

Anthropomorph Terracotta Vase

17th century Flemish Shool Antwerp, wild boar hunt in the style of Frans Snijders, oil on oak panel marked by Guilliam Gabron 1609-1662, Antwerp. The st...

A pair of female ‘ibeji’ twin figures of the Yoruba people. From south-west Nigeria . Both ‘ibeji figures’ wear a high plaited coiffure, coloured blue by m...

An elaborate Minangkabau gem-set brass floral wedding crown or 'Suntiang' West Sumatra, Minangkabau, probably 1st half 20th century H. 66.5 cm (incl. stand) Provenance: Private colle...

This small decorated Whip is in excellent state for its age.The wooden base is decorated with metal and copper wiring and the end is made out of animal skin. The topwas probably des...

An adze is a cutting tool similar to an axe but with a cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Toraja people from Sumatra Island, used for wood carving, were made from nephrite (also known as jade) in the South Island. In the North Island they were commonly made from greywacke or basalt. At the same time on Henderson Island, a small coral island...

Old Chinese carved bowl with Lid, made of Coconut Shell and decorated with Auspicious Symbols. French Private Collection.

Old Bamboo Opium Pipe, with visible Knot of the Bamboo. The Mouthpiece and Furnace are in Bronze. The Piece comes from South China. French Private Collec...

Original oil painting by the Indonesian impressionist painter G.A. Kadir: educated as a painter by the Danish van Russel (1898 - 1975) and active in the first half of the 20th centur...

Yoruba Egba, couple of Ere Ibeji Twin Figures signed by Akinyode ,Yoruba People, Nigeria Abeokuta Provenance Monique Lancée (Maastricht '80)