Finch and Co Decorative Objects

A Small Bronze Group of a Prancing Stag Bronze, gilt bronze South Germany; Nuremberg or Augsburg Late 17th Century / Circa 1620 SIZE: 12cm high - 4¾ ins high This bronze group, made in southern Germany, bears great similarities with the gilded silver table...

Dame Lucie Rie (1902 - 1995) ‘Bottle Vase’ with Flaring Rim Stoneware, blue / white volcanic glaze ’LR’ seal mark to base Circa 1980 Size: 27.5cm high, 14cm wide, 12cm deep - 1...

An Unusual and Rare English ‘Memento Mori’ Carved Shrine with Two Human Skulls to the underside, a carved ‘Dragonfly’ Marble 16th / 17th Century England Size: 36cm high, 28cm w...

A Very Fine and Monumental Ovoid Vase or Ewer ‘after the antique’ Bronze The bulbous body with a spout springing from a grotesque mask, the loop handle cast and chased with fruit a...

A Large European Carved Limestone Celtic Votive Head of a Male Warrior Wearing a Typical Flowing Moustache Small Beard and Curling Locks of Hair Stiffened with Lime Wash the Slit Mouth Open as if in Command Circa 1st Century BC - 1st Century AD Size: 31cm high, 22cm wide, 25cm deep - 12¼ ins high, 8¾ ins wide, 9¾ ins deep / 42cm high - 16½ ins high (with base) From about 500 BC, first Greek and later Roman historians mention peoples living in a large area of non-mediterranean Europe as Celts. These classical chroniclers seem to have recognised these communities as having sufficient shared cultural traditions to justify their being given a common name, ‘Keltoi’ by the Greeks, and ‘Celtae’ or ‘Galli’ by the Romans. The earliest allusions to Celts by such Greek historians as Herodotus (485 - 425 BC) were followed by Polybius (200 - 118 BC) and Livy (59 BC - AD 17) who discuss the expansion of the Celts from their central European homelands during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. They document the presence of Celts in Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Asia Minor, specifically central Turkey. They testify to the successful Roman resistance to the Celts in Italy, after the ignominy of the sacking of Rome by them in 387 BC, and describe the huge defeat suffered by the Celts at the battle of Telemon in northern Italy in 225 BC. The Celts in Greece who sacked the sacred site of Delphi in 279 BC were defeated by King Antigonos Gonatas of Macedon in 278 - 277 BC and in Turkey by Altalus of Pergamon in 240 BC. The Celts in Spain fell under the shadow of Rome from 2nd Century BC and the Celtic heartland known by the Romans as ‘Gaul’ was conquered by the Romans under Julius Caesar in the mid 1st Century BC. Britain was not referred to as Celtic by the ancient historians, but Caesar recognised the close similarities between Britain and Gaul especially in their political organisation. Tacitus (55 - 120 AD) and others chronicled the conquest of Britain between 43 and 84 AD some mentioning the fierce nature of the Celts who went into battle naked. Celtic art therefore belongs to an artistic tradition in the early history of Europe which is no less important than that of the classical world. Art was central to Celtic identity and was closely related to the objects which it decorated. The Celts were used to seeing art as an integral part of their everyday lives. Provenance: Ex Finch and Co...

A Polychrome and Parcel-Gilt Marble Group of the Virgin and Child Attributed to Giovanni Di Balduccio (1317 - 1349) Marble Italy Circa 1330 - 1340 SIZE: 65cm high, 28cm wide - 25½ ins high, 11 ins wide PROVENANCE: Possibly Trivolzio Collection, Milan With Piero Tozzi Inc., New York Acquired by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation for The Los Angeles County Museum (A.5832.47-42), 1947 An auction of property de-accessioned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to benefit new acquisitions...

A Very Rare and Important Marble Relief of the ‘Resurrection of Christ’ Attributed to the Master of the Mascoli Altar Marble Venice, Italy Second half of the 15th Century SIZE: ...

A Superb Pair of Neapolitan Carved Figures of Dwarves Attributed to Francesco Celebrano (1729 - 1814) Marble Naples, Italy 18th Century SIZE: Male: 36cm high - 14¼ ins high Fe...