18th Century and Earlier Decorative Objects

This petite Chinese bronze mirror has the simple beauty and undeniable texture of an ancient object. Though an exact date is unknown, the mirror's round form, double ring edge and un...

An extraordinary stibnite specimen from China, with a tall, elongated crystal formation that evokes the shape of a silver sword. Its sleek, metallic lustre and refined symmetry give ...

Pair antique bronze patinated angel putti sconces. Italian late 17th century bronze putti with exceptional modeling seated on scrolled arms each ex...

Great pair of carved wooden candleholders with their beautiful silver leaf gilding. Italy, circa 1750-1800. Weathered and small losses and old repairs. More photo's available on requ...

Old tinaja of Calanda (Teruel), Spain. Made of red clay with handcrafted circular figures and four handles. A "tinaja" is an oval terracotta jar with a narrow mouth and foot, usu...

This small bronze mortar and pestle are from France, circa 1700. The circular opening has several layers of molding, with the bottom three interrupted by a pair of open crowns on opp...

An impressive and well carved Gandharan figure of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, carved black schist, ancient Kingdom of Gand...

This is a superb Hellenistic terracotta female figure with an host of delicate remaining details and finely painted elements. A finely pleated himation envelops both of her arms and...

A impressive late 18th century French sandstone sundial mounted on a custom lade iron stand. The Latin numerals finely carved at both sides an...

More information coming soon… Dating to circa 1700, this heavy stone armorial has been hand-carved in relief. The 9 1/2 inch thick stone was found on a chateau in Nice, France. Th...

A rare hand-forged wrought iron candlestick, likely dating to the 17th century, with beautiful scrollwork and a practical tripod base. Entirely hand-worked by a blacksmith, it featur...

An exceptionally rare early 17th century, James I/Charles I, black Japanned jewel box decorated with gold and red flowers and foliage. With a domed lid, o...

This is an extraordinarily complete geode, split in two and mounted atop a custom metal Stand. This piece celebrates the visual phenomenon of the geode in its entirety, with some par...

Spinosaurus (meaning "spine lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa, during the upper Albian to upper Turonian stages of the Cretaceous period...

Ming Dynasty Blue Glazed Terra Cotta Bird. Very rare early Ming Dynasty Blue Glazed Terra Cotta sourced from our Paris Offices at Chateau de Vitray. Beautiful blue tone glazing.

Fossilized clamshell with a natural forming pearl and mounted on a polished agate base. This unique type of fossilized clamshell can be up to 1.5 to 2 million years old. The striki...

Life-sized Bronze Statue of Hermes, 18th Century, French, After Giambologna Direct, as seen photographed, from a Greenwich CT mansion comes t...

An extraordinarily rare and visually striking 16th-century Venetian iron treasure coffer, showcasing the height of Renaissance artistry and engineering. Crafted in the early to mid-1...

18th Century Absinthe infusion Albarello or Wet Drug Jar, Interesting Rare Jar. Historical Repairs. Circa 1760.

This large and beautiful hand-polished petrified wood stump is sourced from Arizona and polished to a mirrored finish. It has an amazing pattern with vibrant hues of brown, yellow, a...

This is a Tamba ware jar produced in Japan during the early Edo period (circa 17th century). Tamba ware, along with Seto, Tokoname, Echizen, Shigaraki, and Bizen, is known as one of ...

Antique Chinese late Ming Dynasty export porcelain Swatow ware blue & white bowl, Wanli period, early 17th century. Circa 1600-1620. Relatively fine decoration for Swatow ware with d...

An attractive carved wood figure of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, known as Guanyin in China, late Ming Dynasty, early 17th century, China. Guanyi...

A very nice vintage cut geode paper weight, circa 1960s. The piece is in very good condition with wonderful brown, tan, grey and blue colors and measures ...

A France Mid-Century Modern design vase model “Cardinale” in silvered metal designed by Italian artist Lino Sabattini for Christofle France in 1956,...

Pair 18th Century Hand-Carved Polychromed Wood Angels are amazingly well preserved and perfect for any devotional display. Sculpted from solid blocks of walnut, each features amazin...

Painted with Spa Scenes From our Sewing Box collection, we are delighted to offer this Original Spa Sewing Box. The Sewing Box of rectangular form made from Sycamore is extensively decorated with Spa scenes to each side which include; la Sauvenière, la Géronstère, le Tonnelet, les Cascades de Coo and vue du aviny du château dimbles. When opened the box reveals a light pink lined sewing box with multiple compartments for storage and tools. The interior lid is finished with a framed panel of rauch velvet and an outer border of simulated ropework. The Sewing Box also contains four original spa spinners with painted scenes and a central lidded compartment painted with a further spa scene of la place du spa at lo fontaine du pouhon. Beneath the lid is a secret compartment which can be accessed by removing the rear panel which reveals a small handled drawer. The Spa Box...

This is an outstanding Italian 18th century carved wood polychromed sculpture of Virgin Mary. The Sculpture is hand painted with some remains of a gold gilt in few places and originated until lately in a private Villa in Tuscany (Italy). The colors are typical red, blue and green are spectacular on this large figure. The Virgin's hands are joined together in a prayer, while standing on a pedestal on the both sides of which are devil's horns (bottom left side horn missing ) symbolising Holly Mary defeating the Evil, protected by the Holly Ghost and an Angel. A story tells the pose of the Virgin Mary sculpture...

18th Century Green Shagreen and Silver Eyeglass Case with Monogram England or France, circa 1760–1780 Dimensions: 5" H × 2.5" W × 0.5" D Interior measures 3"d x 1.25 w A refined G...

A scarce Continental hammered copper wine cistern dating to the 18th century, with beautifully aged verdigris patina! The European antique having gadro...

This is a pair of jaw dropping hand carved angles. Each figure is carved with an individual face and pose. Removed from a Church in Europe and brought to the States in the 1990's. Th...

Bible box hand-crafted in Italy in the mid 1600s using walnut. The box is still in fantastic shape and has a gorgeous patina. On three sides it is decorated with beautiful hand-carve...

Beautiful handcarved giltwood bird ornament. Italy circa 1780-1820 . Weathered and small losses and old repairs Measurements include the wooden base. H:23cm W:41cm D:6,5cm

An extremely fine quality inlaid mahogany tea caddy of elegant small size, the top and front with elaborate crossbanding and circular fan inay, the front with further swag inlay, the...

8.5" Polymorphopteris Species Natural Tree Fern Fossil Specimen, 305 million yrs old apx. Discovered in Pennsylvania. Here is another gorgeous plant fossil specimen that would make a...

Silver Travel Clock 1700 Jean et Michel Vieusseux

Circa 1000 - 1500 CE Pre Colombian. Columbia, Tairona. Beads. A lovely bracelet of a wearable comprised or 17 seed form, tubular and ovoid beads carve...

Sharing with you this unusual and magnificent bowl from the Meiji period (19th century). It has a very interesting and lovely blue, red and gold scene Unmarked at the base. Conditi...

Madagascar Jurassic - Cretaceous Period, 200 - 145 million years old 8.75 x 7 x 2 in. / 22 x 18 x 5 cm Weight: 4 lbs 14 oz/ 2.065 kg Ammonites were cephalopods that resembled a s...

This extraordinary fossil specimen captures a dramatic moment from the Upper Cretaceous period 70 million years ago: a Leidyosuchus crocodilian tooth embedded in the fossilized shell...

Black Glazen Column Krater mid-4th century BC, Apulia With broad avoid body on a short echinus foot and thick mouth. The two handles form loops around the...

CONDITION REPORT Specimen: Mantelliceras Ammonite Provenance: Anti-Atlas Mountain Range, Agadir Region, Morocco, NWA Chronostratigraphy: Upper Cretaceous, ~135 Ma Mount: THE FOSSIL ...

Own a tangible piece of history with this captivating antique ceramic horse, a relic , probably from the illustrious Han Dynasty , This beautifully restored artefact offers a uniqu...

A sublime Greco-Buddhist stucco head of the Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, circa 3rd-5th century. A fragment of a larger statue, the Buddha's face...

At over three feet tall, this pair of silvered brass candlesticks would make impressive decorative accessories or light sources. Dating to the 1700s, these French candlesticks have a...

Renaissance bronze medallion made by Master IOFF in the mid 15th century, showing the mythological scene of Ariadne on Naxos. Made in the mid-15th ...

This is a pottery called Tokoname ware. Tokoname is a kiln located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan (Tokoname Kiln is marked with a red circle on the map). It is said to have originated ar...

Wunderkammer Memento Mori sculpture. depicting a skull, carved from a single piece of fruitwood, this sculpture depicts a skull with deliberately exaggerated and distorted proportion...

A fine example of a diminutive burled walnut vargueno, collector or valuables cabinet, with molded cornice and drop front, opening to a multi-drawer ...

An antique Korean ceramic tea bowl with celadon glaze from Goryeo dynasty, circa 12th century. The thin-walled stoneware bowl was potted delicately with...

The circular glazed white enamel dial with Roman and Arabic chapters, set within a pierced case with ribbon-tied fruiting laurel trails, each side with a ram’s mask capped pilaster, ...

Magnificent 18th century French hand carved and gold gilded frame. An incredible detailed work. The frame looks Royal and luxurious. Dimensions of the interior painting size to fit a...

A lovely carved sandstone torso of the Buddha, Ayutthaya period (1350-1767), Thailand. Wonderfully simplistic, the only ornamentation this torso displays...

A Japanese lacquered wood fubako (a box to store document or small scroll painting) circa late 18th century of Edo period. The rectangular box features a deep lid with rounded corners and recessed mid-edge and a lower box with two bronze medallion rings and tasseled silk ties. The surface of the fubako was elaborately decorated with hiramaki-e and a low takamaki-e on a mottled Mura-nashiji background. The motifs on the lid depict branches of Japanese pine with finely rendered needles on the lower part; on the upper part, it showcases fruited persimmon branches. Two different shades of gold fundame were used to contrast the design and augmented by scattered gold kirigane to highlight some of the leaves. The design continues and cascades down to all sides of the lid as well as the walls of the box. The two bronze medallions appear original to the box and the silk ties show significant fading from the age. This Fine fubako is signed on the lower wall "Kanshosai" in Kanji with a kao mark. All the trims were finished in gold fundame and the interiors a dense nashiji in gold. Kanshosai is the mark of the distinguished lacquer artist Lizuka Toyo I who also signed his work "Toyosai". He was active in the second half of the 18th century during Edo period, employed by Hachisuka Shigeyoshi (1738-1801), daimyo of Awa on Shikoku Island. Although most survived work bearing his marks are inros, he was also known to decorated trays and other larger objects...

A rare and very fine bronze corpus of Christ after a model by Michelangelo, cast ca. 1597-1600 by Juan Bautista Franconio and painted in 1600 by Francisco Pacheco in Seville, Spain. The present corpus reproduces a model attributed to Michelangelo. The best known example, lesser in quality, is one on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). The association of this corpus with Michelangelo was first brought to light by Manuel Gomez-Moreno (1930-33) who studied the wider circulated casts identified throughout Spain. The attribution to Michelangelo was subsequently followed by John Goldsmith-Phillips (1937) of the MET and again by Michelangelo expert, Charles de Tolnay (1960). While Michelangelo is best known for his monumental works, there are four documented crucifixes he made. The best known example is the large-scale wooden crucifix for the Church of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito in Florence, made in 1492 as a gift for the Prior, Giovanni di Lap Bicchiellini, for allowing him to study the anatomy of corpses at the hospital there. In 1562, Michelangelo wrote two letters to his nephew, Lionardo, indicating his intention to carve a wooden crucifix for him. In 1563 a letter between Lionardo and the Italian sculptor Tiberio Calcagni, mentions this same crucifix (a sketch of a corpus on the verso of a sheet depicting Michelangelo’s designs for St. Peter’s Basillica [Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille] may reproduce this). That Michelangelo was working on small corpora in the last years of his life is further evidenced by the small (26.5 cm) unfinished wooden crucifix located at the Casa Buonarroti, considered his last known sculptural undertaking. Michelangelo’s contemporary biographer, Giorgio Vasari additionally cites that Michelangelo, in his later years, made a small crucifix for his friend, Menighella, as a gift. Surviving sketches also indicate Michelangelo’s study of this subject throughout his career, most notably during the end of his life but also during the 1530s-40s as he deepened his spiritual roots. The occasional cameo of crucified Christ’s throughout his sketched oeuvre have made it challenging for scholars to link such sketches to any documented commissions of importance. All the while, in consideration that such objects were made as gifts, it is unlikely they should be linked with commissions. Nonetheless, a number of theories concerning Michelangelo’s sketches of Christ crucified have been proposed and some may regard the origin of the present sculpture. It has been suggested that the corpus could have its impetus with Michelangelo’s work on the Medici Chapel, whose exclusive design was given to the master. It is sensible smaller details, like an altar cross, could have fallen under his responsibility (see for example British Museum, Inv. 1859,0625.552). Others have noted the possibility of an unrealized large marble Crucifixion group which never came to fruition but whose marble blocks had been measured according to a sheet at the Casa Buonarroti. A unique suggestion is that Michelangelo could have made the crucifix for Vittoria Colonna, of whom he was exceedingly fond and with whom he exchanged gifts along with mutual spiritual proclivities. In particular, Vittoria had an interest in the life of St. Bridget, whose vision of Christ closely resembles our sculpture, most notably with Christ’s proper-left leg and foot crossed over his right, an iconography that is incredibly scarce for crucifixes. The suggestion could add sense to Benedetto Varchi’s comment that Michelangelo made a sculpted “nude Christ…he gave to the most divine Marchesa of Pescara (Vittoria Colonna).” Of that same period, two sketches can be visually linked to our sculpture. Tolnay relates it to a sketch of a Crucified Christ at the Teylers Museum (Inv. A034) of which Paul Joannides comments on its quality as suggestive of preparations for a sculptural work. Joannides also calls attention to a related drawing attributed to Raffaello da Montelupo copying what is believed to be a lost sketch by Michelangelo. Its relationship with our sculpture is apparent. Montelupo, a pupil of Michelangelo’s, returned to Rome to serve him in 1541, assisting with the continued work on the tomb of Pope Julius II, suggesting again an origin for the corpus ca. 1540. The earliest firm date that can be given to the present corpus is 1574 where it appears as a rather crudely conceived Crucifixion panel, flanked by two mourners in low-relief and integrally cast for use as the bronze tabernacle door to a ciborium now located at the Church of San Lorenzo in Padula. Etched in wax residue on the back of the door is the date, 27 January 1574, indicating the corpus would have at least been available as a model by late 1573. The Padula tabernacle was completed by Michelangelo’s assistant, Jacopo del Duca and likely has its origins with Michelangelo’s uncompleted tabernacle for the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Rome. The impetus for the Padula tabernacle’s Crucifixion panel begins with a series of late Crucifixion sketches by Michelangelo, depicting a scene of Christ crucified and flanked by two mourners (see British Museum Inv. 1895.0915.510; Ashmolean Museum Inv. 1846.89, KP II 343 recto; Windsor Castle RCIN 912761 recto; and Louvre Inv. 700). A faintly traced block possibly intended for sculpting the sketch of the crucified Christ on its recto was discovered by Tolnay on a version of the composition at Windsor Castle. The Windsor sketch and those related to it appear to have served as preparatory designs for what was probably intended to become the Basilica of St. Mary’s tabernacle door. Vasari documents that the project was to be designed by Michelangelo and cast by his assistant, Jacopo del Duca. Michelangelo died before the commission was complete, though on 15 March 1565, Jacopo writes to Michelangelo’s nephew stating, “I have started making the bronze tabernacle, depending on the model of his that was in Rome, already almost half complete.” Various circumstances interrupted the completion of the tabernacle, though its concept is later revitalized by Jacopo during preparations to sell a tabernacle, after Michelangelo’s designs, to Spain for Madrid’s El Escorial almost a decade later. The El Escorial tabernacle likewise encountered problems and was aborted but Jacopo successfully sold it shortly thereafter to the Carthusians of Padula. An etched date, 30 May 1572, along the base of the Padula tabernacle indicates its framework was already cast by then. A 1573 summary of the tabernacle also describes the original format for the door and relief panels, intended to be square in dimension. However, a last minute decision to heighten them was abruptly made during Jacopo’s negotiations to sell the tabernacle to King Phillip II of Spain. Shortly thereafter the commission was aborted. Philippe Malgouyres notes that the Padula tabernacle’s final state is a mixed product of the original design intended for Spain’s El Escorial, recycling various parts that had already been cast and adding new quickly finished elements for its sale to Padula, explaining its unusually discordant quality, particularly as concerns the crudeness of the door and relief panels which were clearly made later (by January 1574). Apart from his own admission in letters to Spain, it is apparent, however, that Jacopo relied upon his deceased master’s designs while hastily realizing the Padula panels. If Michelangelo had already earlier conceived a crucifix model, and Jacopo had access to that model, its logical he could have hastily employed it for incorporation on the door panel to the tabernacle. It is worth noting some modifications he made to the model, extending Christ’s arms further up in order to fit them into the scale of the panel and further lowering his chin to his chest in order to instill physiognomic congruence. A crude panel of the Deposition also follows after Michelangelo’s late sketches and is likewise known by examples thought to be modifications by Jacopo based upon Michelangelo’s initial sculptural conception (see Malgouyres: La Deposition du Christ de Jacopo del Duca, chef-d’oeuvre posthume de Michel-Ange). Jacopo’s appropriation of an original model by Michelangelo for more than one relief on the Padula tabernacle adds further indication that the crucifix was not an object unique to Jacopo’s hand, as few scholars have posited, but rather belongs to Michelangelo’s original...

A classic and very attractive specimen of Pyrite from Huanzala Mine, Huanuco Province, Peru. Complex pyritohedron cluster with striated crystal faces and a metallic mirror luster wit...

A Very Good Quality 18th century Georgian, Chippendale Period, Mahogany Tea Caddy Of Rectangular Form, Having Elegant Shaped Top Enclosing Original Tin Containers, Retaining Original...

Mid 18th century hand painted traditional Swedish chest/box circa 1750. Stunning traditional Swedish box hand painted in the original paintwork.   Decorated on all sides with swags ...

Gustavian long case clock from Sweden made during the late 1700s. Unusual straight column-shaped case with the classic gustavian ribbed decor. The clock was made in Stockholm during ...

Alethopteris Neuropteris Natural Tree Fern Fossil Specimen, 300 - 360 years old apx. Discovered in Pennsylvania. Colors occurred naturally over time through the mineralization ...