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Ca. 1200 - 800 BC.A ritual brick with a rectangular section featuring fourteen columns of cuneiform text mentioning the foundation of a temple, probably for a King of Babylon. Babylonian ritual bricks, often found in temple contexts, are fascinating artefacts that provide insight into the religious and cultural practices of Ancient Mesopotamia. These bricks were typically used in the construction of temples and other sacred structures and were often inscribed with cuneiform text or images.Size: 135mm x 200mm; Weight: 845gProvenance: From the collection of a London gentleman; formerly acquired in the early 2000s in Belgium; previously in 1970s European collection. This item has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database and comes with a confirmation letter.

Ca. AD 100 - 200 . A bronze statuette of Minerva captures her poised and dignified form in an elegant, detailed figure. She wears a crested helmet with intricate designs. Her robes, finely incised, drape naturally over her body, suggesting both strength and grace. In one hand, she holds a patera, a shallow libation dish, symbolising her connection to religious rites and offerings. The statuette displays a dark patina. For similar see: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number: 96.9.390. Size: 120mm x 80mm; Weight: 235g Provenance: Private UK collection; previously acquired on the German art market in the 1990s. This item has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database and comes with a confirmation letter.

* BENNO SCHOTZ RSA (ESTONIAN 1891 - 1984), THE GOALKEEPER, 1973 bronzed plasterExhibited:Edinburgh, Benno Schotz Retrospective, Touring Exhibition, 1971, no. 144. Edinburh, Royal Scottish Academy, Annual Exhibition, 1973, no. 61. A smaller bronze version of this sculpture was exhibited: Glasgow, Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, Annual Exhibition, 1968, no. 54. Glasgow, Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, Annual Exhibition, 1985, no. 20.Note:Benno Schotz was born to Jewish parents, Jacob Schotz, a watchmaker, and Cherna Tischa Abramovitch, in Arensburg, Russia (now Kuressaare, Estonia) in 1891. He was educated at the Boys Grammar School of Pärnu, Estonia. Later he studied at the Grossherzogliche Technische Hochschule in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1912, he immigrated to Glasgow, where he gained an engineering diploma from the Royal Technical College and from 1914–23 worked in the drawing office of John Brown and Company, Clydebank shipbuilders while attending evening classes in sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art. Schotz became a full-time sculptor in 1923 and subsequently a member of the Royal Scottish Academy, Head of Sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art (a post he held from 1938 until his retirement in 1961), and later, in 1963, Her Majesty's Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland. His pupils included Hannah Frank, Paul Zunterstein and Inge King (née Neufeld). His homes at West Campbell Street and later Kirklee Road were a focus for meetings of artists, writers, actors, and politicians. His first solo Glasgow exhibition was at Reid's Gallery in 1926 and his first in London at Alex Reid and Lefevre Ltd (Lefevre Gallery) in 1930. He was also a member of Glasgow Art Club, alongside recently arrived refugee artists Jankel Adler and Josef Herman, for whom he organised local Jewish community support. In 1942 he organised the important 'Jewish Art Exhibition' at the Glasgow Institute as an act of Jewish cultural identity during the Second World War. In 1981 Schotz was made a Freeman of the City of Glasgow and in the same year, Gordon Wright published his autobiography, Bronze in My Blood. During his career, Schotz produced several hundred portraits and compositions including figure compositions, religious sculptures, semi-abstracts and modelled portraits, the majority located in Glasgow and the surrounding area. A major retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh in 1971. He was Life-President of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts as well as Honorary Member of both the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland. His last sculpture was executed less than six weeks before his death, aged 93. He was a committed Zionist and was buried in Jerusalem. His work is represented in numerous UK collections including The National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh City Art Centre, The Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Aberdeen Galleries, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, BBC Scotland, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow Museums & Galleries, The Peoples Palace (Glasgow), The Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, Ben Uri Gallery & Museum (London) and the House of Commons (London). His work is also held in various public collections in Israel. Christie's held a major Studio Sale of Benno Schotz's work in Glasgow in 1997. 59cm high including wooden plinth

* BENNO SCHOTZ RSA (ESTONIAN 1891 - 1984), THE PRINCE OF GOALKEEPERS (JOHN THOMSON OF CELTIC F.C.),, CIRCA 1968 bronzed resinA bronze of this sculpture is in the collection of Celtic F.C.Note on both Schotz and Thomson:Benno Schotz was born to Jewish parents, Jacob Schotz, a watchmaker, and Cherna Tischa Abramovitch, in Arensburg, Russia (now Kuressaare, Estonia) in 1891. He was educated at the Boys Grammar School of Pärnu, Estonia. Later he studied at the Grossherzogliche Technische Hochschule in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1912, he immigrated to Glasgow, where he gained an engineering diploma from the Royal Technical College and from 1914–23 worked in the drawing office of John Brown and Company, Clydebank shipbuilders while attending evening classes in sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art. Schotz became a full-time sculptor in 1923 and subsequently a member of the Royal Scottish Academy, Head of Sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art (a post he held from 1938 until his retirement in 1961), and later, in 1963, Her Majesty's Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland. His pupils included Hannah Frank, Paul Zunterstein and Inge King (née Neufeld). His homes at West Campbell Street and later Kirklee Road were a focus for meetings of artists, writers, actors, and politicians. His first solo Glasgow exhibition was at Reid's Gallery in 1926 and his first in London at Alex Reid and Lefevre Ltd (Lefevre Gallery) in 1930. He was also a member of Glasgow Art Club, alongside recently arrived refugee artists Jankel Adler and Josef Herman, for whom he organised local Jewish community support. In 1942 he organised the important 'Jewish Art Exhibition' at the Glasgow Institute as an act of Jewish cultural identity during the Second World War. In 1981 Schotz was made a Freeman of the City of Glasgow and in the same year, Gordon Wright published his autobiography, Bronze in My Blood. During his career, Schotz produced several hundred portraits and compositions including figure compositions, religious sculptures, semi-abstracts and modelled portraits, the majority located in Glasgow and the surrounding area. A major retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh in 1971. He was Life-President of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts as well as Honorary Member of both the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland. His last sculpture was executed less than six weeks before his death, aged 93. He was a committed Zionist and was buried in Jerusalem. His work is represented in numerous UK collections including The National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh City Art Centre, The Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Aberdeen Galleries, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, BBC Scotland, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow Museums & Galleries, The Peoples Palace (Glasgow), The Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, Ben Uri Gallery & Museum (London) and the House of Commons (London). His work is also held in various public collections in Israel. Christie's held a major Studio Sale of Benno Schotz's work in Glasgow in 1997.John Thomson, The Prince of Goalkeepers, is one of the most important figures in the history of Celtic Football Club.Having signed for the team in 1926 at the age of 17, his natural athleticism and brave spirit ensured he would become a mainstay between the sticks. He helped the team to two Scottish Cups and three Glasgow Cups. He would also represent the national side and national select XI four times apiece.Thomson's name will forever be associated with the tragedy that befell him during an Old Firm clash on the 5th September 1931. The match was played at Ibrox in front of 80,000 fans. Early in the 2nd half, Thomson collided with Rangers player Sam English, whilst both going for the ball. Most people assumed the goalkeeper badly injured as he was stretchered off, Chic Geatons taking his place in goal.Upon being transported to the Victoria Infirmary, Thomson would soon be pronounced dead. The death of a young goalkeeper in his prime shocked the footballing world. Beyond that, the tragic loss of a young man's life, only 22 years of age and recently engaged, still stands as amongst the most profound moments in sporting history.40,000 people attended the funeral in his home town of Cardenden, including thousands who travelled from Glasgow, many walking the 55 miles to the Fife village. 101cm wide

* BENNO SCHOTZ RSA (ESTONIAN 1891 - 1984), THE PRINCE OF GOALKEEPERS (JOHN THOMSON OF CELTIC F.C.),, CIRCA 1968 bronzed plasterA bronze of this sculpture is in the collection of Celtic F.C.Note on both Schotz and Thomson:Benno Schotz was born to Jewish parents, Jacob Schotz, a watchmaker, and Cherna Tischa Abramovitch, in Arensburg, Russia (now Kuressaare, Estonia) in 1891. He was educated at the Boys Grammar School of Pärnu, Estonia. Later he studied at the Grossherzogliche Technische Hochschule in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1912, he immigrated to Glasgow, where he gained an engineering diploma from the Royal Technical College and from 1914–23 worked in the drawing office of John Brown and Company, Clydebank shipbuilders while attending evening classes in sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art. Schotz became a full-time sculptor in 1923 and subsequently a member of the Royal Scottish Academy, Head of Sculpture at the Glasgow School of Art (a post he held from 1938 until his retirement in 1961), and later, in 1963, Her Majesty's Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland. His pupils included Hannah Frank, Paul Zunterstein and Inge King (née Neufeld). His homes at West Campbell Street and later Kirklee Road were a focus for meetings of artists, writers, actors, and politicians. His first solo Glasgow exhibition was at Reid's Gallery in 1926 and his first in London at Alex Reid and Lefevre Ltd (Lefevre Gallery) in 1930. He was also a member of Glasgow Art Club, alongside recently arrived refugee artists Jankel Adler and Josef Herman, for whom he organised local Jewish community support. In 1942 he organised the important 'Jewish Art Exhibition' at the Glasgow Institute as an act of Jewish cultural identity during the Second World War. In 1981 Schotz was made a Freeman of the City of Glasgow and in the same year, Gordon Wright published his autobiography, Bronze in My Blood. During his career, Schotz produced several hundred portraits and compositions including figure compositions, religious sculptures, semi-abstracts and modelled portraits, the majority located in Glasgow and the surrounding area. A major retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh in 1971. He was Life-President of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts as well as Honorary Member of both the Royal British Society of Sculptors and the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland. His last sculpture was executed less than six weeks before his death, aged 93. He was a committed Zionist and was buried in Jerusalem. His work is represented in numerous UK collections including The National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh City Art Centre, The Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Aberdeen Galleries, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, BBC Scotland, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow Museums & Galleries, The Peoples Palace (Glasgow), The Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, Ben Uri Gallery & Museum (London) and the House of Commons (London). His work is also held in various public collections in Israel. Christie's held a major Studio Sale of Benno Schotz's work in Glasgow in 1997.John Thomson, The Prince of Goalkeepers, is one of the most important figures in the history of Celtic Football Club.Having signed for the team in 1926 at the age of 17, his natural athleticism and brave spirit ensured he would become a mainstay between the sticks. He helped the team to two Scottish Cups and three Glasgow Cups. He would also represent the national side and national select XI four times apiece.Thomson's name will forever be associated with the tragedy that befell him during an Old Firm clash on the 5th September 1931. The match was played at Ibrox in front of 80,000 fans. Early in the 2nd half, Thomson collided with Rangers player Sam English, whilst both going for the ball. Most people assumed the goalkeeper badly injured as he was stretchered off, Chic Geatons taking his place in goal.Upon being transported to the Victoria Infirmary, Thomson would soon be pronounced dead. The death of a young goalkeeper in his prime shocked the footballing world. Beyond that, the tragic loss of a young man's life, only 22 years of age and recently engaged, still stands as amongst the most profound moments in sporting history.40,000 people attended the funeral in his home town of Cardenden, including thousands who travelled from Glasgow, many walking the 55 miles to the Fife village. 51cm wide

* SIMON LAURIE RSW RGI (SCOTTISH b. 1964), GONDOLAS acrylic on board, signed, titled versoframedimage size 75cm x 81cm, overall size 93cm x 98cmNote: Simon Laurie is a contemporary Scottish landscape and still life artist, whose paintings are characterised by references to Scottish life and society, incorporating fish, boats, religious symbols and everyday items. These objects are arranged upon a rich textural ground created by the application of multiple layers of acrylic paint. He has worked with acrylic paint for almost 30 years, developing his own individual style and fundamental visual language. Laurie was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1982 to 1988. He was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW) in 1991 and the Royal Glasgow Institute (RGI) in 2000, where he served as convener for six years. He has had many solo shows, both in the UK and abroad, and has won many prestigious and major awards. His work is held in many public, private and corporate collections including Aberdeen Art Gallery, Contemporary Arts Society, London; Feren Art Gallery, Hull; Freshfields, London; Leicestershire Education Committee; Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie; Nationwide Building Society, London; Royal Bank of Scotland; TSB Headquarters, London; Unilever PLC; William Teacher and Sons Ltd; Wyse Group; Walter Scott Investments Ltd, Edinburgh; Biggart Baillie; Aberdeen Asset Management; The Whisky Society, Edinburgh; Adam and Co Bank; Provident Financial; The Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh.

Gregorio Vázquez de Arce (Bogotá, Colombia, 1638 - 1711) “The Mercedarians of the prison of Santa Fe de Bogota”Oil on canvas. 179,5 x 237 cm. This is one of the greatest examples of the undisputed quality of Gregorio Vásquez de Arce, an influential Colombian painter, the most important painter from 17th century New Granada.  This enormous canvas of exquisite workmanship is also a historical record of vital importance, testifying to the existence of specific jails and prisons in the 18th century.  Their population has been quantified through the study carried out by Doctor Juan Sebastián Ariza Martínez, “in this royal court jail of Santafé according to the visitor's books (1776-1783)”. On the ARCA website they report that Vasquez de Arce “was imprisoned in 1701 and a large part of his works, 42 of them commissioned by the Sagrario Chapel in Bogota, were finished in jail.”This information is particularly relevant to the painting we have here, as the artist would have been in the same prison (cell, hospital, convent...) that the painting depicts. In fact, the painter appears in a self-portrait in the right margin, contemplatively witnessing a Mercedarian, a religious order dedicated to captives and prisoners, washing the feet of one of the prisoners who was to be released on Holy Thursday. The moment of the “Washing of the feet” is only present in the Gospel of John and symbolically represents a reminder of the act of humility, service and forgiveness that Jesus performed during the last supper, and that is commemorated every Holy Thursday by the Catholic Church.  Once released from prison, in 1710, he fell into poverty and mental illness and died in 1711.  This painting bears undeniable similarities with one of the most important and popular artworks by Gregorio Vásquez, “The Abbot Joaquín de Fiore delivering the portraits of St. Francis and St. Dominic”, an oil painting on canvas dated in1680. On that canvas, the artist painted a self portrait, with his back turned, and showing his features in profile, with an aquiline nose. This corresponds to the character located more to the right of this scene we have here.Aditionally, we recognize an identical palette of soft and attenuated color based on grays and earthy colors, the same pictorial technique, which is characteristic of Vasquez, and the same treatment of the volumes of the characters in the painting and the use of architecture to situate the scene, creating spaces, shadows and light. It is usual in the very large Gregorio Vasquez paintings, he places the scenic narrative in an architectural space. We find it in this painting that we have here in the catalog and also in “Heliodorus shot by angels”, which was painted at the end of the 17th century, as well as in the Scene of "San Juan de Dios" that is in the Church of San Juan de Dios in Bogota. In the wonderful painting “St. Albertus Magnus preaching” belonging to a private collection in Bogota, we find similarities in the treatment of the religious characters, with a somewhat bluish complexion, the disposition of the bodies and once again the use of an architectural element.It is also interesting to note the similarities in the face of the character that we identify in our canvas as the painter, with his self-portrait made in 1685. These comparisons lead us to conclude that the character appearing at the extreme right of this canvas is undoubtedly the artist.An additional interesting point is that the model used for the "St. Jude Thaddeus" by Gregorio Vasquez, which is kept in the collection at the Museos Banco de la República, seems to be the same as the one used for the Mercedarian monk who is washing the feet of the prisoner; having same bone structure, with marked cheekbones, a long, thin nose, the same hairline with a widow's peak and a beard and mustache.The same model is used again by Vasquez to portray the Repentant Saint Peter found in the Sagrario Chapel in Bogota, or in the Head of the Apostle James the Less in the Rivas Sacconi collection in Bogota.Finally, as was usual in his subject matter, religious devotion takes center stage as his patrons were mostly members of religious communities, in this case dedicated to the Mercedarians.Marta Fajardo de Rueda, in an interesting article in the National University of Colombia magazine HiSTOReLo, affirms, in relation to the importance of the painter, that “with the work of Gregorio Vásquez and some of his followers, the existence of a Santa Fe school of painting can be identified. They had a similar interpretation of the engravings from which they assimilated the fundamentals of baroque painting. They are characterized by an attenuated use of color, which differentiates them from painters from other parts of Latin America. Undoubtedly, Vasquez stands out among them all for his mastery of drawing and balanced composition. With the training he received in the Figueroas' workshop and the skills he acquired through the continuous exercise of his work, he consolidated his own characteristic style.” The importance of Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos in the panorama of viceregal art is undeniable. Despite having produced a vast amount of paintings, his technical skill and the spiritual depth of his paintings continue to be admired and studied by scholars, collectors and museums around the world. The artist, of whom many biographies have been written, such as those by José Manuel Groot, Alberto Urdaneta and Roberto Pizano, has a large body of work that can still be found today in churches, convents and museums such as the Museo de Arte Colonial de Bogotá, which houses numerous canvases, some miniatures, and one hundred and five drawings: the largest collection of the painter's work.  Reference bibliography: - Fajardo, Marta. (2014). Grabados europeos y pintura en el Nuevo Reino de Granada. “HiSTOReLo” Vol. 6, Nº 11, 68-125. - Fajardo, Marta. (s.f.). “Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos”. Real Academia de la Historia. https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/21372/gregorio-vasquez-de-arce-y-ceballos - Sebastián, Santiago. (1985). "Gregorio Vásquez: la vida y obra del pintor más importante del Nuevo Reino de Granada". 

Federico Barocci Workshop (Urbino, 1535 - 1612)“Pietà: sorrow and lament on the death of Christ”Oil on canvas.93 x 73 cm.Exquisite canvas, very much of the Italian school, which invites silence and reverence. Devotion, colors full of delicacy and tenderness, nuanced out of respect for the moment that is being portrayed, where “the light almost dissolves the drawn forms”... “in delicate chromatic reverberations”. This is how Barocci and his workshop choose to make themselves felt in this painting.The canvas shows the transition between two moments: the Pietà -on the one hand- and a funeral lament - on the other- , similar in content, but the two different scenes are interspersed between the Descent from the Cross and the Holy Burial.  The Pietà shows the inert body of the crucified Christ resting in the arms of his mother, who receives him with contained pain.  In the lament or weeping over the body of the dead Christ, his body is placed on a shroud (already in the painting) and from there it passes to the stone of the anointing (the angels, with extreme and mystical delicacy, move the body towards the stone, in the foreground, with the symbols of the Passion).  Around the body are arranged all those who will burst into laments and sobs, here still contained.The face and the shape of the body of Christ is very similar to that of the Christ of the Descent from the Cross, a painting almost 5 meters high, by Barocci, which we can see today in the cathedral of Perugia, and which was painted in the last quarter of the 16th century.The Pietà does not appear in the Gospels, its origin is the mystical literature of the late Middle Ages, although from an art point of view it seems to derive from the theme of the Virgin of Humility, where the Child has been replaced by the inert body of the Crucified Christ.  It is derived from the lamentations before the dead Son, a theme of Byzantine origin that concentrates the attention on the drama of the Passion in a realistic and moving sense, giving rise to loving and sorrowful contemplation.Whether it be Our Lady of Mercy, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Anguish, Our Lady of the Passion, Weeping over the body of the dead Christ, Lamentation over the dead Christ, Planctus Mariae..... These are all scenes of popular fervor and of a mystical and religious attitude that invite us to meditate and to concentrate our attention on the drama of the Passion, and on loving contemplation, with a realistic and moving sense, of the adoration of the Redeemer by his mother and by us as faithful worshippers.  This is a scene that invites us to ascend on the path of our personal spiritual life, through meditation and contemplation and through keeping silence.

Anton Domenico Gabbiani (Florence, 1652 - 1726)“Mystical nuptials of St. Catherine of Siena”.Oil on canvas.228 x 183,5 cm.Attached is a study by Professor Paolo Erasmo Mangiante, from which we extracted information for this catalog description. The altarpiece that we have here, with a reinforced stretcher, is the work of the Florentine Antonio Domenico Gabbiani, and was made in the second half of the sixteenth century. The Prado Museum describes this author as “the most sought after and admired of the Florentine painters of his time [whose] frescoes and canvases decorate palaces and churches in Tuscany, such as the ceilings of Palazzo Pitti, those of the Villa of Poggio a Caiano, and the frescoes of the San Frediano di Castello church dome, at the time that Rococo style was emerging. In his artworks, Gabbiani recovers the Florentine tradition of meticulous draftsmanship and employs perfect technique, in the early years his style was spontaneous and light, and later, rigorous and cold, tinged with academicism”.Mangiante goes on to state that the “pictorial composition is, in fact, similar to that of other altarpieces executed in this period by Gabbiani” and that “Gabbiani's method for creating this stupendous altarpiece employs numerous, meticulous pictorial details, such as the folds of the clothes, the delicate anatomy of the fingers of the hands, their elegant gesture, the beauty of the angelic faces and the particular intensity of expression of the curly head of Christ. All these qualities, as well as the intense chromatism and the high quality of the pictorial material demonstrate the great commitment the Florentine painter had in the execution of this important painting, which is included among his most accomplished artworks.”It is, in short, an extraordinary canvas in the form of a door with a semicircular arch of authentic religious perfection, which captures the ineffable moment of union of the soul with God through love, with the ecstasy of the Dominican saint, already an abbess, and the revelation of the wounds of her Beloved. In a silent atmosphere of prayer and reverence attended by a choir of adoring and contemplating angels, everything in the painting shows veneration and plenitude.This large format canvas by Gabbiani that crossed the borders of Italy, to move the spirits of the devout faithful and dedicated nuns who contemplate it, was possibly made for a convent of cloistered Dominican nuns. The art of the brushstroke in this oil painting is direct and triumphant, almost theatrical, with the capacity to seduce, move and conquer the viewer with strong feelings of love. The expressions on the faces and in the glances are harmonious, this is a scene that directly appeals to the emotions on a visceral level. Saint Catherine, considered to be one of the great mystics of her time, also stood out as a preacher and writer. In the painting, in fact, a wise angel can be seen in the lower left margin holding the pages of her spiritual treatises: the famous Dialogue of Divine Providence. Her decisive contribution to the return of the papacy to Rome after exile in Avignon was also outstanding. Doctor of the Church, patroness of Europe and Italy, she is a highly venerated and popular saint in foundations, churches and sanctuaries of the Dominican Order.Reference bibliography:- Museo del Prado. (s.f.). "Gabbiani, Anton Domenico". https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/artista/gabbiani-anton-domenico/ce702620-9999-4bb3-a4b8-ec66229b5968

Étienne Barthélémy Garnier,  French 1759-1849 -   Portrait of a young lady, three-quarter length, seated in a garden;  oil on canvas, signed, dated, and inscribed lower right 'Steph. Barth. Garnier. / Parisüs[?]. 1805', 114.5 x 81.5 cm  Provenance:  Anon. sale, Sotheby's, Monaco, 30th June 1995, lot 78 (sold for FRF 150,000);  Pyms Gallery, London, F686 (label attached to the reverse) Note:  The subject of the present work is unusual in the context of the artist's oeuvre, which is dominated by history paintings on classical and religious themes. The unidentified and sensitively rendered woman is portrayed leaning on a rock, flanked by a rosebush and her basket, with a rolling landscape unfolding behind. Born in Paris, Garnier studied art under the painter Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809). He received second prize in the Prix de Rome of 1787 and first in 1788 with a painting on the subject 'The Death of Tatius', beating Louis Girodet (1767-1824). He lived in Rome until 1793.     Condition Report: The canvas is taut on the stretcher and sits well in the frame.Relined. The paint surface is stable on the support. Settled craquelure throughout. A clear and even layer of varnish throughout. Minor abrasion around the edges of the canvas from contact with frame. Some further minor abrasions, some marks and minor surface dirt. No other visible defects.Under UV lamp, some very minor scattered infilling to craquelure and spots of retouching (see images).In very good condition overall. 

Roman Period, 30 B.C.-323 A.D. The large liturgical rattle with a columnar handle composed of a bifacial figure of Bes standing on a lotus capital, flanked by seated sphinxes, his feathered crown supporting the bust of goddess Hathor wearing a broad collar and a curling wig, two rearing uraei emerging from the sides to support the base of the rattle, both wearing the pschent crown, above the cobras a standing figure of the goddess Hathor in cow form, wearing a tripartite wig and a sun disc between the horns; the rattle with a looped body with flared outer rims and set with three metal rods to accept metal discs, a pair of reclining lions to the base and the top with three felines surrounding a cockerel, and resting one of their front paws on the bird. Cf. Lacovara, P. et al., The Collector’s Eye: Masterpieces of Egyptian Art from The Thalassic Collection, Atlanta, 2001, for a sistrum with a Bes figure incorporated into the handle; see a late Egyptian prototype of a bronze sistrum with handle in the shape of the god Bes, 30th Dynasty, c. 350 B.C. (Neues Museum, Berlin); see a Roman sistrum in MET, accession no.97.22.2; a bronze sistrum, in the British Museum, inv.no.1756,0101.541; Daremberg, C.V. & Saglio, E. (eds.), Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, Paris, 1873-1917. 1.52 kg, 39.5 cm (15 1/2 in.).[A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions Website]German art market. European private collection, 1970s-early 2000s. Acquired from the above; thence by descent. Private collection, London, UK. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12348-225588.The sistrum (seshesh in ancient Egyptian) was a rattle-like musical instrument, played exclusively by women in religious ceremonies. It was often decorated with the bust of the goddess Hathor to whom the sistrum was sacred. Their use continued into the Roman period in ceremonies associated with the cult of Isis.

FLEMISH SCULPTOR OF THE 16TH CENTURY (Flanders / Flemish / Belgian) - The Entombment of Christ | 16th century | technique: sawn oak wood | 28.5 x 32 cm | Lot description | This masterfully carved relief from a 16th-century Flemish workshop depicts the traditional Christian scene of the burial of Christ. The work stands out for its distinctive plasticity and carefully worked-out details of the characters, which capture the deep emotional charge of this biblical scene. A high level of craftsmanship and aesthetic sense is evident here, typical of Flemish art of this period. This relief is an exceptional example of late Gothic sculptural art, where religious themes are combined with masterful woodwork. | condition report*In case of missing photos, please feel free to contact us.

SCULPTOR OF THE TURN 18TH / 19TH CENTURY (Flanders / Flemish / Belgian) - Madonna in Gothic style | turn of the 18th / 19th century | technique: cut wood, polychrome | 95 cm | Lot description | This 18th century statue of the Madonna and Child is created in the late Gothic style, which is characterized by strict verticality and spiritual symbolism. The sculptor was inspired by Gothic designs, which is evident in her calm expression and the fine workmanship of the drapery, which gives the figure lightness and an impressive grandeur. The Madonna holds the baby Jesus in her arms, symbolizing the salvation of mankind, and her expression is the embodiment of kindness and humility. The polychromy that decorates the surface of the sculpture underlines the emphasis on detail and color, thereby adding to the monumentality of the entire composition. This sculpture is a valuable example of the historicist approach of 18th century artists to Gothic art and represents a harmonious connection of religious iconography with aesthetic values. | condition report*In case of missing photos, please feel free to contact us.

Attributed to Sebastiano Ricci,  Italian 1654-1726- The Ascension of Christ, an oil sketch; oil on canvas, 74.6 x 62 cm. Provenance:  The collection of Mr. Paul Rich (circa 1970s).  With David Messum, Beaconsfield (according to label verso).  Private Collection, UK.  Literature:  P. Cannon-Brooks, 'A Modello by Antonio Bellucci for Canons', The Burlington Magazine, CXVII, 1975, pp. 238-9 (as Antonio Bellucci).  E.Young, 'Another Sketch by Antonio Bellucci for Canons', The Burlington Magazine, CXVII, 1975, pp. 240-2 (as Antonio Bellucci).  F. Magani, 'Antonio Bellucci: Catalogo Ragionato', 1995, pp.203, R34 (as erroneously attributed to Antonio Bellucci). Note:  Sebastiano Ricci was born in Belluno, but spent most of his career in Venice, and it is with the artistic climate of that city that he is most closely associated. A highly influential and successful artist, Ricci's dynamic and ambitious 'grand manner' style, which is often considered to bridge the gap between the Baroque and Rococo, gained him many international commissions, and the artist travelled widely, including to Britain. The present composition likely dates from the period Sebastiano Ricci spent here.  Ricci arrived in London the winter of 1711, before returning to Venice in 1716. During the short time Ricci spent in England he was in high demand with royal and noble patrons, including Lord Burlington (1694-1753), for whom Ricci painted a cycle of wall paintings that still adorn Burlington House (now the Royal Academy) today, as well as King George III (1738-1820), who purchased many works from Ricci that are still held in the Royal Collection. Another influential patron who commissioned Ricci to complete an extensive decorative scheme was the Duke of Portland (1682-1726), who employed the Venetian artist to paint a cycle of religious scenes for the interior of his now-lost chapel at Bulstrode House, Buckinghamshire.  The Bulstrode Chapel is known to have been adorned with scenes from the Life of Christ by Ricci, including the Last Supper and the Baptism of Christ, as well as, on the ceiling, a scene of Christ's Ascension. The work presented here, which is executed on a similar scale and with a comparable architectural surround to Ricci's surviving sketches relating to the Duke of Portland's chapel (including The Baptism of Christ, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1981.186, and the Last Supper, National Gallery of Art, 1943.4.32), could possibly be a preparatory oil sketch, or modello, for that now-lost work.  Another oil sketch attributed to Ricci also depicting the Ascension of Christ is held in the collection of the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear [TWCMS : C153]. That example is likely a version of the present composition in earlier stages of development. There are various small differences between the two sketches: the Shipley sketch shows the figure of Christ fully draped, has a slightly different distribution of supporting figures, and lacks the elaborate architectural surround that the present picture has in common with Ricci's surviving, more finished Bulstrode sketches at the Metropolitan Museum and National Gallery of Art. The variations between the two Ascension sketches may indicate that the artist was still experimenting with the composition.  Both the Shipley oil sketch and the present work were previously attributed to Antonio Bellucci (1654-1726), a Venetian, like Ricci, who found success with British patrons when he arrived in this country in the 1710s. When Eric Young published the present sketch and the Shipley example in the 1970s, he connected them both to Bellucci's quatrefoil ceiling painting of the Ascension for the Duke of Chandos' chapel at Cannons (now located in the central nave at the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels at Great Whitley, Worcestershire). The attribution of the present work to Bellucci was later disputed by Fabrizio Magani in his catalogue of Bellucci's paintings. In his catalogue entry for the painting presented here, Magani points out the overall similarities between this work and the Shipley sketch, which he notes is definitively attributable to Ricci.  The present, poignant scene shows the figure of Christ bare-chested, highlighting the greenish pale hue of his skin, which may be a reference to Christ's death and Resurrection. The partially draped figure of Christ recalls the central figure in the oil study now held in the collection of the Dulwich Picture Gallery [DPG195], which depicts Christ's Resurrection, and which was also painted during the period Ricci spent in Britain. That study relates to the fresco in the apse of the chapel at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. 

William Bell Scott,  Scottish 1811-1890- The Garden of Eden; Angel; The Nativity; and There shall be no more death...; etchings on paper, each after William Blake, each signed 'W.B Scott' (within the plate, lower right), and 'William Blake, inv:' (within the plate, lower left), 22.7 x 16.4 cm. and smaller, four (4). Provenance:  Private Collection, UK. Note:  Working against the backdrop of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Scott was closely associated with various prominent artists of the Victorian period, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) and Arthur Hughes (1832-1915). He worked as the Principal of the Newcastle School of Art between 1843 and 1864, and, in this capacity, was one of the first artists to record the development of the Industrial Revolution, which, over the course of the 19th-century transformed the city of Newcastle. His oeuvre was varied and he executed a large body of works exploring historical and religious themes, as well as the industrial revolution and modern society.  The present works exhibit Scott's skill as an etcher, depicting scenes after Blake's own original illustrations. 

Ignacio Lalanne -Contemporary Artist. " Sigillum Rigis" Original Oil on board Monogrammed lower left.  Signed, titled and  seal marked to Verso. 58.5cm x 43cm A rare opportunity to own an Original work by this artist. Ignacio Lalanne trained at Chelsea College of Art and Design and at Central Saint Martins. Art history, court painting, religious iconography, costume drama and diverse cultural references all influence and inform his art. Using narrative and symbolic elements he tries to discover the innermost sacred hidden deep within us.

David Dodsworth - British Postwar & Contemporary artist -  born 1952 Mixed media print (Pair) Integer  &  Integer I Artist Proof  Hand embelished.   Signed and Titled in pencil 63cm x 55.5cm frame inclusive He was influenced at an early age by religious paintings. Later, he became increasingly fascinated and pre-occupied with primitive mark making and hieroglyphics. His work is much influenced by his study of prehistoric cave art, and he is inspired by primitivism, religion and technology. He is noted for his use of highly textured hand-made paper, with metallic foil embedded within the print.

Tribal African Art. Original Dogon Granary Door With typical sliding lock Carving depicts typical images of sun lizards and a tortoise (or turtle), and figures with headress. These doors protected the window-like opening into each family's grain storage building, and used a simple sliding door lock. Primordial beings, ancestors, Kanaga masks, sun lizards and scenes of life symbolically served to protect the entrance by making it sacrosanct. The low reliefs are carved on several panels, held together by iron staples. The Dogon are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa, south of the Niger bend, near the city of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,0001. The Dogon tribe is famous for their unique religious beliefs, wooden sculptures, mask dances, and distinctive architecture.  They are believed to be of Egyptian descent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC

Oil on canvas. Dimensions 91 × 66 cm. It represents the "Mass of Saint Gregory", belonging to the colonial school of the 17th century, with a strong influence from European Baroque art. In the center, Saint Gregory the Great raises the host, while Christ descends from heaven to consecrate it, reinforcing the belief in transubstantiation. The assistant priests and the liturgical details, such as the chalice and corporal, are accurately represented, highlighting the importance of the Eucharistic rite. The use of chiaroscuro and a palette of warm colors create a solemn atmosphere, typical of the Baroque, in a dynamic composition that reflects the religious fervor of the time. The painting, in addition to its aesthetic value, served as a didactic instrument to reinforce the Catholic faith in a context of evangelization in Latin America.

Carved and polychromed wood. Dimensions 34 × 28 × 25 cm. These two candle-bearing angels are finely sculpted in a dynamic pose, with delicate details in their curly hair and serene faces, typical of 17th-century Spanish Baroque. The softly applied polychromy in warm tones highlights the naturalness of their childlike bodies. The candlesticks they hold in their hands reflect the liturgical function of these figures, possibly placed on altars or reredos to illuminate sacred scenes. The serene expression and careful finish underline the devotional and symbolic character of the work, evoking the spirituality and mysticism of the religious art of the period.

Carved and polychrome wood. Dimensions 68 × 26 × 22 cm. The late Baroque or Rococo sculpture from the 18th century shows the Infant Jesus standing, with a dynamic posture that conveys movement. His face, serene and full of tenderness, stands out for its childlike sweetness and its ability to evoke a devotional connection. The carving technique is detailed, especially in the face, hands and clothing, where the polychromy applied with natural pigments adds depth and realism. This work, very common in religious imagery of the time, represents the humanity of Christ in his infancy, being a piece appreciated both in private devotion and in churches. Its symbolism and style make it a valuable piece for collectors of religious art.

IN MEMORIAM OF HANNAH ELIZABETH PIPE 1831-1906, The Laleham Magazine, 1907. British headmistress, she opened her own school in 1848. By 1852 she had moved premises and she was taking in boarders. She was encouraged to move to London and her Manchester school was replaced by Laleham Boarding School for Girls which was based in Clapham in 1856 offering lessons in art, science and a religious education. Small cloth-backed volume with gilt title to upper board blocked in gilt and portrait to frontis.From Couzens-Hardy's library.

A RITUAL BRONZE FEMALE BREASPLATE, KERALA OR COASTAL KARNATAKA, INDIA, 18TH/19TH CENTURY the prominent breasts each with a cobra resting on top, with protruding belly, multiple beaded necklaces and crescent-shaped pendant, old inventory number painted on the reverse, 42 x 35 x 13cmProvenance: From the collection of the late Roy Elvis (1944 – 2022)This type of breastplate was worn by male Theyyam dancers during religious ceremonies as they impersonated various goddesses. For a similar breastplate from the collection of Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, sold at Christie's New York, see The Scholar's Vision: The Pal Family Collection, 20 March 2008, lot 370. For another of later date in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, see inv. no. 2022.2.

Pewter Antiques, Copper & Vintage Inkwells + Religious Wooden Art

An Islamic Ottoman Metal-threaded Embroidered Textile,20th Century, with Islamic Calligraphy and Ceremonial Motifs.Approximately 238 x 133cmThe embroidery features prominently on a red fabric, with the vibrant contrast of gold and silver metal threads adding a luxurious and regal appearance to the work. The use of metallic threads was a hallmark of high-quality Ottoman textile art, symbolizing wealth, power, and religious devotion.At the centre, the inscription of the Shahada (the Islamic declaration of faith) is boldly displayed in vibrant red against the gold and green background. Surrounding the central panel are additional inscriptions in flowing Arabic script, likely praising Allah and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), as well as other key Islamic figures. The corners and sides are embellished with ornate roundels containing calligraphic medallions that likely include further blessings or names of the Rashidun Caliphs.One notable feature in the centre is the depiction of a ceremonial vessel or lamp, symbolizing light and knowledge in Islamic tradition, surrounded by the names of the first caliphs, emphasizing the unity of religious and political authority in Ottoman culture.Provenance: Private UK collection.

Attributed to Miguel Cabrera (Antequera de Oaxaca, Mexico, 1695 - Mexico, 1768)‘Our Lady of Sorrows'Oil on copper. 57 x 42.5 cm.Cabrera is considered to be the greatest exponent of 18th-century Viceroyalty painting in New Spain, with an output that the Dallas Museum of Art defines as ‘legendary: more than 309 works from his large studio have been documented’.Miguel Mateo Maldonado y Cabrera was born on 27 February 1695 in Antequera, present-day Oaxaca, Mexico, a fact known from the painter's will from 1768.He was the son of unknown parents and the godson of a mulatto couple. He moved to Mexico City in 1719, where he began his artistic training in the studio of Juan Correa in the capital of the Viceroyalty.Cabrera painted altarpieces in the Jesuit church of Tepotzotlán, in the State of Mexico, in the church of Santa Prisca in Taxco, Guerrero, and in the cathedrals of Mexico City and Puebla.Cabrera was not only a painter, but was also involved in the attempt to found an academy of arts in 1753, and in 1756 he established himself as an intellectual, not only as an artist, as he published an account of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1756 entitled ‘Maravilla americana y conjunto de raras maravillas observadas con la dirección de las reglas del arte de la pintura’, an account of the image of the Virgin Guadalupe published by the printing press of the Jesuit college of San Ildefonso.In addition to easel painting, his output includes altarpiece designs, large-format paintings, as well as small ones on copper and nun's shields. Cabrera produced figures of remarkable beauty in his religious painting, a beauty understood through the ideological assumptions of the worship of the period. It is refined art with well-arranged chromatic richness, sustained by great compositional work and, no less important, subtle and expressive drawing.Of all the painters of that period, Cabrera was the one with the greatest personality; the conventional treatment of his figures undoubtedly formed the basis of his style of painting, as he placed in his paintings models that were not ideal, but who were people he knew and dealt with, such as when he incorporated portraits of donors or the so-called ‘prelates’ in some paintings.  He had the need to observe directly and copy from nature. He was appointed chamber painter to Archbishop Manuel Rubio y Salinas, who commissioned him to study and paint the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, an image made from "ayate" - a material made from local plants. Cabrera's version was sent to Pope Benedict XIV, from whom he received the highest recognition as a painter of Guadalupe. Outstanding portraits he painted include the one of Sor JuanaInés de la Cruz, kept in the National Museum of History, and the portrait of Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, located in the Museum of Colonial Art in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.He was also a painter for the Society of Jesus, producing numerous artworks for their churches.In 1753 he was appointed president for life of the Academy of San Carlos.His work is kept in many churches and convents in Mexico. Two of his images of the Virgin of Guadalupe are in the Vatican Museum. Another, painted in 1756 for the church of San Francisco Javier, is in the Museo Nacional del Virreinato.The Museum of Art in Dallas has a Saint Gertrude the Great by Miguel Cabrera and another painting of Saint Gertrude, also by Cabrera and dated 1768, is part of the collection of the José Luis Bello y Zetina Museum in Puebla, Mexico.Also of note is an important series of Caste paintings from 1763 in the collection of the Museo de América in Madrid. These depict families, father, mother and child of the various castes and social strata, in everyday situations.

Imposing carved and polychromed wooden cupboard. Viceregal work. Peru. 18th century.210 x 152 x 60 cm.Structurally, it has two front doors that close with a large original wrought iron bolt. It is topped with a cornice and supported by a long continuous base. The entire cabinet is completely carved with rich ornamentation of flat carving and moulding in square ribbed sections.The decoration on the doors is divided into three segments, the upper one shows the keys and the Mitre of St. Peter (elements that are repeated in the cornice), the central one shows two Eucharistic pelicans among branches and flowers, and the lower one is formed by a single large rose window, similar to a cathedral stained-glass window.The same decoration, somewhat smaller due to there being less space, can be found on the sides.An example comparable to this is the one in the Museo de Arte de Lima, and as María Campos Carlés points out in her book on Viceregal Peruvian furniture ‘Un legado que pervive en Hispanoamérica. El mobiliario del Virreinato del Perú de los siglos XVII y XVIII": it is ’a dazzling and majestic cabinet for civilian use. This piece was built in the last quarter of the 17th century by anonymous artisans from Cusco with Italian influence.Another example comparable to this cupboard is the one in the Vivian and Jaime Liébana collection in Lima, dating from the 18th century.Regarding the origin and style of this type of baroque furniture, we highly recommend reading chapter VI of the aforementioned book by Compos Carlés (Wooden, baroque style furniture with flat carving, bare, gilded and polychromed. Civil and religious, utilitarian and ornamental use. Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Puno and Trujillo) in which it is explained how: ’the local craftsman extracted artistic patterns from books of engravings and drawings of European art. This valuable data allowed them to ornament a piece of furniture with Europeanising morphology while inserting juxtaposed autochthonous elements. The Spanish Baroque underwent changes in the Viceroyalty of Peru as a result of the added ornamental fantasy of a typically Andean identity, avid for creativity...The three-dimensional volumetry was achieved by means of bevelled roughing on hard and ductile woods...It is relevant that on some occasions the carved wood was totally or partially gilded with gold leaf, and patinas and polychromy were also used.210 x 152 x 60 cm.Structurally, it has two front doors that close with a large original wrought iron bolt. It is topped with a cornice and supported by a long continuous base. The entire cabinet is completely carved with rich ornamentation of flat carving and moulding in square ribbed sections.The decoration on the doors is divided into three segments, the upper one shows the keys and the Mitre of St. Peter (elements that are repeated in the cornice), the central one shows two Eucharistic pelicans among branches and flowers, and the lower one is formed by a single large rose window, similar to a cathedral stained-glass window.The same decoration, somewhat smaller due to there being less space, can be found on the sides.An example comparable to this is the one in the Museo de Arte de Lima, and as María Campos Carlés points out in her book on Viceregal Peruvian furniture ‘Un legado que pervive en Hispanoamérica. El mobiliario del Virreinato del Perú de los siglos XVII y XVIII": it is ’a dazzling and majestic cabinet for civilian use. This piece was built in the last quarter of the 17th century by anonymous artisans from Cusco with Italian influence.Another example comparable to this cupboard is the one in the Vivian and Jaime Liébana collection in Lima, dating from the 18th century.Regarding the origin and style of this type of baroque furniture, we highly recommend reading chapter VI of the aforementioned book by Compos Carlés (Wooden, baroque style furniture with flat carving, bare, gilded and polychromed. Civil and religious, utilitarian and ornamental use. Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Puno and Trujillo) in which it is explained how: ’the local craftsman extracted artistic patterns from books of engravings and drawings of European art. This valuable data allowed them to ornament a piece of furniture with Europeanising morphology while inserting juxtaposed autochthonous elements. The Spanish Baroque underwent changes in the Viceroyalty of Peru as a result of the added ornamental fantasy of a typically Andean identity, avid for creativity...The three-dimensional volumetry was achieved by means of bevelled roughing on hard and ductile woods...It is relevant that on some occasions the carved wood was totally or partially gilded with gold leaf, and patinas and polychromy were also used.

Painter of the Andean viceroyalty. Attributable to Francisco José de Lerma y Villegas (Caracas, Venezuela. 18th century. Active between 1719 and 1753).“Patronage of Our Lady of Mercy over the Order of the Mercedarians”Oil on canvas.The canvas has some damage.52,5 x 39,5 cm. (with frame: 100 x 61 cm.)The painting with the same subject matter as this one, ‘The Patronage of the Virgin of La Merced’, which is kept in the Museo de Arte Colonial de Caracas Quinta de Anauco, is also by Lerma and is based on an engraving by Cavalli. The two have great similarities.As we read in the Royal Academy of History, ‘In his pictorial works we can observe careful drawing, harmonious colouring and an adequate knowledge of light and shade, as well as the combination of various stylistic features resulting from the imitation of prints and engravings from a wide variety of sources’. Our work is based on the engraving by Pieter de Jode I (1565 - 1639) ‘Our Lady of Mercy’ (PI 626A/3935B).Wonderful canvas from New Spain, richly framed, depicting one of the most popular themes in New Spanish art, the so-called "Patrocinio" (Patronage), which shows the Virgin Mary (in this case) or a saint (cf. parallels with the Patronage of Saint Joseph in this same auction, lot 62) protecting communities, religious orders, corporations and authorities under her mantle (with a clientelistic and corporate scheme typical of the Ancien Régime), as the main recipients of her heavenly benefits.Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives is the Queen and Lady of the Order of Mercy (Latin: Ordo Beatæ Mariæ Virginis de Redemptione Captivorum), a Catholic mendicant religious order, founded in 1218 by Saint Peter Nolasco (ca. 1180-1245) for the redemption of Christian captives in the hands of Muslims.  The Mercedarians committed themselves with a fourth vow, to liberate others who were weaker in the faith, even if their lives were endangered by it.This Virgin of Mercy, crowned ‘as queen’ of heaven under the Holy Trinity who contemplates and blesses the moment, protects the order of the Mercedarians, the Pope and the King under her wide mantle, raised and supported by two angels.The Pope we see is Gregory IX, who approved this religious order in 1235 with the Papal Bull "Devotionis vestrae"; next to him is Saint Raymond Nonnatus, another of the ‘principals’ of this order; the king, James I of Aragon, known as ‘the conqueror’ and, next to him, its founder Saint Peter Nolasco, and Saint Mary of Cervelló, left, founder of the female branch of this order, with some more of these Mercedarian sisters.All, without exception, are prostrate on a period checkered tiled floor: the king, the Pope and his bishops, and the entire religious order, kneel before the Virgin Mary and Lady Queen with both knees, an external gesture that expresses the greatest sign of submission.On the floor are scattered shackles, symbols of the redeemed captives.The painting has an imposing period frame, richly carved and gilded, with sections in painted glass (the polychrome is posterior). It is polychromed in blue, with flowery poinsettia, enclosing and completing the beauty and devotion of the painting. Bibliographic reference:- Ojeda, Almerindo. 2005-2024. Project for the Engraved Sources of Spanish Colonial Art (PESSCA). Website located at colonialart.org. Date accessed: 21/10/2024.

Miguel Cabrera (Antequera de Oaxaca, Mexico, 1695 - Mexico, 1768)‘Virgin of Guadalupe with apparitions’.Oil on copper. Signed "Michl Cabrera pinxit"42,5 x 42 cm. Important representation of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which includes the apparitions and the Indian Juan Diego.It has handwritten legend in Latin: "Non fecit taliter omni nationi" (He did nothing the same with any other nation) in reference to the words pronounced by Benedict XIV when he was presented with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and admiring its beauty, he approved the works of the Guadalupe patronage in Mexico.Cabrera is considered the greatest exponent of 18th century Viceroyalty painting, with a production that the Dallas Museum of Art defines as "legendary: more than 309 works from his great studio have been documented".Miguel Mateo Maldonado y Cabrera was born on February 27, 1695 in Antequera, present-day Oaxaca, Mexico, a fact known from the painter's will in 1768.He was the son of unknown parents and godson of a mulatto couple. He moved to Mexico City in 1719, where he began his artistic training, passing through the workshop of Juan Correa in the capital of the Viceroyalty.Cabrera painted altarpieces in the Jesuit church of Tepotzotlán, State of Mexico, in the church of Santa Prisca in Taxco, Guerrero and in the cathedrals of Mexico City and Puebla.Cabrera was not only a painter, but he also participated in the attempt to found an academy of Arts in 1753 and in 1756 he was consecrated as an intellectual, not only as an artist, since he published a narration about the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1756 entitled "Maravilla americana y conjunto de raras maravillas observadas con la dirección de las reglas del arte de la pintura", a narration about the image of the Virgin Guadalupe in the printing press of the Jesuit college of San Ildefonso.In addition to easel painting, his production includes the design of altarpieces, large format works, as well as small copper works and nun's shields. Cabrera's religious painting produces figures of remarkable beauty, a beauty understood under the ideological assumptions of the devotion of the time. It is a refined art that possesses a well-arranged chromatic richness, is sustained by a great work of composition and, no less important, a subtle and expressive drawing.Of all the painters of that time, Cabrera was the one with the greatest personality; the conventional treatment in his figures was undoubtedly the basis of his way of painting, because he placed in his paintings models that were not ideal, but corresponded to people that the artist knew and treated, as when he incorporated in some paintings, portraits of donors or the so-called "prelates" because he had the need to observe directly and copy from nature. He was appointed chamber painter of Archbishop Manuel Rubio y Salinas, who commissioned him to study and paint the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, reproducing the ayate. The image was sent to Pope Benedict XIV, from whom he obtained the highest recognition as a painter of Guadalupe. Among the portraits he painted, the one of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, kept in the National Museum of History, and the one of Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, located in the Museum of Colonial Art in Morelia, Michoacán,Mexico.He was also a painter for the Society of Jesus, for whose churches he produced numerous works.In 1753 he was named president for life of the Academy of San Carlos.His work is preserved in many churches and convents in Mexico.It is also present in numerous public and private collections.Two of his images of the Virgin of Guadalupe are in the Vatican Museum.Another, made in 1756, for the temple of San Francisco Javier, is preserved in the National Museum of the Viceroyalty.The Museum of Art of Dallas, conserves a Santa Gertrudis La Magna by Miguel Cabrera and another representation of the Saint, also by Cabrera and dated in 1768, is part of the collection of the Museum José Luis Bello y Zetina of Puebla, Mexico.Likewise, we highlight an important series of the Caste paintings of 1763 that is conserved in the collection of the Museum of America in Madrid. They depict families, father, mother and child of the various castes and social strata, in everyday life situations. Finally, mention should also be made of the Pinacoteca de La Profesa or the Andrés Blaisten Collection in Mexico, as depositories of Cabrera's work.The Museum of America in Madrid is currently exhibiting a very important retrospective of the painter. Procedencia:- Antigua colección Pedro Vindel.Pedro Vindel fue un librero anticuario conquense, como informa la Real Academia de la Historia, “el que llegó a ser el primer librero anticuario español de su época”, con una de las colecciones más importantes de libros de horas. Tal como sigue la RAH, “Pedro Vindel, al estilo de los grandes libreros europeos, publicó sus catálogos desde 1895, y organizó varias subastas de libros, en locales por él alquilados, como la de 1913, cuyo catálogo hizo imprimir. También fue quien inició en España lo que él denominó la “bibliografía gráfica”, al incluir en sus catálogos […] reproducciones fotolitográficas de las portadas u otros elementos de los libros”.Para más información, recomendamos la lectura de “Pedro Vindel: Historia de una librería (1865-1921)”, de Pavl Cid Noé. Reference Bibliography:- Andres Blaisten Museum. (n.d.). https://museoblaisten.com/Artista/79/Miguel-Cabrera- Sánchez Mariana, Manuel. (s.f.). "Pedro Vindel Álvarez". https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/67005/pedro-vindel-alvarez

Attributed to José Campeche (San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1751 - 1809)“Possibly portrait of a governor of Puerto Rico.”Oil on canvas. In its original carved and gilded wooden frame from the period.109 x 84 cm.  Campeche was one of the most recognised Puerto-Rican artists. The only disciple of Luis Paret y Alcázar (1746-1799), who arrived at the island after being exiled by King Charles III, between 1775 and 1778.The Puerto Rico Art Museum has some of his works of art in their collection. His biographical index card there explains: "He mainly developed religious themes and portraits in his painting. His work is considered to be rococo because of its interest in detail and ornamentation. Bluish greys and pinks dominate his palette, which he assimilated from Paret. In 2006 the Ponce Museum of Art organised an exhibition which travelled to the prestigious Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts and which included paintings by Campeche, Francisco Oller and Miguel Pou. Campeche has great mastery in portraits and miniatures, characteristics which lead him to be one of the most exalted and outstanding Hispanic-American painters of the late 18th century."Frequent in the style developed by our painter, elongated figures and cherubic angels with round faces can be perceived.

Viceregal School. Peru. 18th century."Our Lady of the Rosary"Oil on canvas. Relined. Accompanied by a cornucopia frame in carved and patinated wood of the period. It has some faults.104 x 82,5 cm. This canvas depicts one of the most outstanding episodes in the legend of Saint Dominic of Guzmán, the saint's presence at the apparition of the Virgin of the Rosary. In this painting, with the added presence of another saint. Tradition, which began in the 15th century, told that the Mother of God herself taught Saint Dominic to pray the rosary in 1208, telling him to propagate this type of worship and to use it as a powerful weapon against those he supposed to be enemies of the faith. During Spanish colonial rule in New Spain, a religious painting of this type was developed, intended to Christianise the indigenous people. This painting, by a local painter, was modelled on other Spanish artworks, which were followed and copied in type and iconography, but always with their own identity. The centre of interest is focused on the female presence with the child in her arms, the Virgin Mary and her Son. The gazes of all the figures, angels and saints, are directed towards her, and she is also placed in the most luminous area of the composition. The Virgin Mary, floating on clouds and crowned, is presented as a dignitary. Her red robe expresses divine love in Christian mysticism. Her blue mantle symbolises heaven and heavenly love. It is also the colour that the Church traditionally associates with the Virgin. The rosary she holds in her right hand points to the type of worship that is practised in reference to this invocation of the Virgin Mary and which is understood ‘as a means of prayer to facilitate salvation’. Three white lilies can be seen, which speak of purity and martyrdom. Two saints, in ecstasy, pray on their knees before her, founders of the two orders that were in almost constant conflict, but which symbolically are united and involved in the same worship, as in the embrace they gave each other at the doors of St. Peter's Basilica, which was so often depicted in art. In the lower margin, there is a sign that reads: "Nra. Sra. del Rosario. A devocn. del Sarg.to Mor. Dn. Joseph Ferimn Ruiz Pino y Dª. Carl [...] AV". The inscription ends with the initials ‘AV’, a clear allusion to the owner, and to the person for whom the work was made.

Diego de Aliaga (Andean Viceroyalty, Active between 1770 - 1780)‘Patronage of Saint Joseph’.Oil on canvas. Signed ‘Didacus ab Aliaga mi P...’ and dated in Jujuy, 1774.90 x 71 cm. A work comparable to this one, although smaller in size and depicting Our Lady of Mercy with the Holy Trinity, also dated in Jujuy a year earlier, 1773, was auctioned at Christie's on 19 May 2019, fetching $52,000 (auction no. 15922 Latin American Art).As noted by Arca (Colonial art project at the University of the Andes): ‘Aliaga was an artist active in the region of Jujuy, Argentina. He is best known for ‘The Way of the Cross,’ painted in the church of San Francisco in Jujuy, Argentina, between 1772 and 1776’.This is a wonderful canvas from New Spain with one of the most popular images in New Spanish art, showing a saint (in this case) or the Virgin Mary protecting communities, religious orders, corporations and authorities under her mantle (appealing to clientelism and corporations in a way typical of the Ancient Regime), the main recipients of her heavenly benefits. Saint Joseph is crowned ‘as King’ of heaven by two flying angels, with Mary his wife portrayed in the flaming sun of his tunic, who is also protector and mediator.  Under his broad mantle, raised and supported by two other figures who serve and adore, the saint protects the King and the Pope, in short, the rulers and the faithful (almost always nobles) and the bishops and clerics of the pilgrim church, including religious orders. Clement XIV and Charles III, King by the Grace of God of Spain and the Indies, the Pope who suppressed the Society of Jesus in 1773, and the sovereign who pointed out ‘their good deeds’, since he had already expelled them from Spain in 1767, are named. They all wear a special gala costume, and the two orders are distinguished by the colour of their habit, brown on the left and black in the background. The common folk are distinguished by their colourful coats, all of them thus demanding respect for this convention.Clientelism, the link between courtiers and the king, or lower-ranking nobles and relatives, established a relationship of submission and dependence. This clientelistic scheme ‘extended to heaven’, and the saints were seen as patrons of their faithful, and from there ‘their patronage’ descended to the court, where the monarch was compared to God, as he protected and preserved his officials, who were considered ‘his creatures and his workmanship’.  However, the great distance that separated earthly sovereigns (civil or religious) from the heavenly sovereign is emphasised by these signs: before the king, the subject puts only one knee on the ground, but before God, present in the Eucharist, or before the Virgin Queen, getting down on both knees was the greatest sign of submission, as we see in this painting.A low, centred cartouche gives the location as Jujuy, a province in Argentina, and the date 1774, and those who commissioned the painting appear, ‘as humble slaves of Saint Joseph’: ‘Devajo del Poderozo Nsanto de tu Soberano Patrosino Señor Patriarca Sn Joseph, viven, y morirán Voestros humildes esclavos Dn Francisco Joseph Dias y su esposa Da Maria Petrona Araoz: Jujuy, año 1774.Didacus (Diego) ab Aliaga mi p...(pingebat)’. (Under the powerful sanctity of your sovereignty, Lord Patriarch Saint Joseph, live and die your slaves Francisco Joseph Dias and his wife Maria Petrona Araoz: Jujuy, in the year 1774, followed by the painter's name).Its imposingt period frame is outstanding, the openwork basketry and scrolls of vegetation decoration, similar to those seen in lace are finely carved and gilded.  It draws attention to the nobility and quality of this work, not only from the historical point of view, but also from the artistic point of view. Bibliographic reference: - https://arcav1.uniandes.edu.co/artworks/8694 

A rare paste and garnet 'Order of Christ' brooch, Portugal, 19th century, designed as a cross within a foliate border suspended from a ribbon bow, set with foiled calibré-cut garnets and cushion-shaped pastes, in closed-back silver settings, length 5.5cm, case stamped Franklin, 37 Duke Street, St James'sThe Order of Christ was a religious and military order founded in Portugal as a continuation of the Knights Templar, following their persecution and disbandment in the early 14th century. Secularised by Queen Maria I of Portugal in 1789, it was one of the three 'Ancient Military Orders' conferred upon prominent political, cultural and military figures by the Portuguese monarchs. With the fall of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910 it was discontinued, but was revived shortly afterwards in 1917 and still continues, presided over by the President of the Republic as its Grand Master. Cf.: Leonor d'Orey, Five Centuries of Jewellery, National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon, 1995, p.112 and Diana Scarisbrick, Brilliant Impressions: An Exhibition of Antique Paste and Other Jewellery, SJ Phillips, 2010, p.97-8, for similar examples of these distinctive jewels.

THE DE ROTHSCHILD VASES: AN IMPORTANT PAIR OF CARVED IMPERIAL PORPHYRY VASES FRENCH, 18TH/19TH CENTURY Each in Egyptian porphyry with waisted neck flanked by dolphins, the gadrooned body embellished with a frieze carved with rinceaux and male masks, on a waisted socle and square plinth 53cm high, 34cm wide, bases 14.3cm square Provenance: Vase 1: Almost certainly the De Rothschild Collection, thence to an important Swiss collection, by repute, Alain Moatti, possibly acquired from Galerie Camoin Demachy, Paris Vase 2: The De Rothschild Collection, Exbury House, Hampshire Literature: P. Malgouyres et al., Porphyre: La Pierre Pourpre Des Ptolemées Aux Bonaparte, Paris, 2003 D. del Bufalo, Porphyry: Red Imperial Porphyry. Power and Religion, Turin, 2012 Quarried exclusively at Mons Porphyrites in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, Imperial porphyry has been prized since antiquity for its remarkable hardness and lustrous purple colour, which bears a close resemblance to that of a particularly expensive pigment developed by the Phoenicians, known today as Tyrian dye. Several literary sources from antiquity speak of Alexander the Great's partiality to this colour, of his custom of wearing purple robes and of decorating his palaces with porphyry. The heirs to his throne in Egypt, the Ptolemies, are said to have continued this tradition, but it is only with the Roman Emperors Nero and Vespasian, towards the end of the first century A.D., that the association of porphyry with secular and religious power became established in Western civilisation. Rome, the seat of the Empire, is where centuries later ancient porphyry statues, slabs, columns and vessels were excavated, as a result of the Renaissance period's renewed interest in classical art and architecture. The potent symbolism of porphyry, with its strong imperial connotation, thus assumed an additional level of meaning, as an emblem of Renaissance courts' erudition, fascination with antiquity and aspiration to parallel ancient Rome's splendour. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, porphyry was avidly collected by powerful figures such as the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the French cardinals Richelieu (1585-1642) and Mazarin (1602-1661), and the 'Sun King' Louis XIV of France (1638-1715), who had a buying agent in Rome for his acquisitions. The interest in porphyry was such that it prompted artists to rediscover the art of carving it, a practice for which ancient Roman columns and other fragments were used, since Mons Porphyrites in Egypt had become inaccessible, a fact that further enhanced the rarity and value of works in this material. The presence in Rome of influential figures such as Cardinal Richelieu introduced to Paris the taste for beautifully carved porphyry, which arguably culminated during the reign of the Sun King Louis XIV. In his residence at Versailles, the Gallery of Mirrors boasts to this day one of the most extraordinary collections of porphyry objects, comprising both vases and busts. Whilst no prototype has been identified for the design of the present pair of vases, the dolphin handles are emblematic of the Grand Dauphin (1661-1711), the son of Louis XIV. The zoomorphic handles follow in the tradition of Roman porphyry vases of the 17th century, such as the vase carved by Giovanni Battista Pozzi around 1684, now in the Wallace Collection (inv. F362). Another single porphyry vase, featuring a lid surmounted by a dolphin, was recently sold by Sotheby's Paris (16 June 2020, lot 4, EUR 200,000 including buyer's premium). These vases were almost certainly together as a pair whilst owned by the De Rothschild family in the 19th/20th century, whereafter they were separated, one remaining in the Rothschild collection until the 21st century, whilst the other found its way to an Important Private collection in Switzerland. After purchasing the vases separately, the vases have now been reunited, after decades apart, by Tomasso. Two further pairs of nearly identical form have been auctioned in the twentieth century at Christie's New York (26 October 1994, lot 108) and at Sotheby's Monaco (14 June 1997, lot 125). Condition Report: With wear as per age and use. In the flesh, the pink inclusions are slightly stronger in colour than main catalogue images suggest. Some mild variance to design by the very nature of the material. Natural flaws to material, some edge wear and minor losses. All noses to masks with small holes. First vase- quite shallow depth to internal aperture, dark marks around top rim, small area of old restoration to one cheek of mask and with natural flaw running through it up diagonally, fritting around top collar of socle base, spot restoration to corners of plinth, underside with distinctive square cut access to stem support, looks to possibly have had internal stem remounted for better stability. Second vase, deeper internal aperture- this has been suggested as being as a result of prior use as lamp base, old knock to top edge, small loss of leaf below handle, area of restoration to socle, plinth with old break and repair. Edge and small corner chips to base. Provenance: First vase: Almost certainly the De Rothschild Collection, thence to an important Swiss collection, by repute, Alain Moatti, possibly acquired from Galerie Camoin Demachy, Paris Second vase: The De Rothschild Collection, Exbury House, Hampshire Please see additional images for visual references to condition which form part of this condition report. All lots are available for inspection and Condition Reports are available on request. However, all lots are of an age and type which means that they may not be in perfect condition and should be viewed by prospective bidders; please refer to Condition 6 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers. This is particularly true for garden related items. All lots are offered for sale "as viewed" and subject to the applicable Conditions of Business for Buyer's condition, which are set out in the sale catalogue and are available on requestCondition Report Disclaimer

AN ENGRAVED BRASS ASTROLABE PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION Safavid Iran, dated 1125 AH (1713 AD), signed by the maker Amin Mohammad Shams al-DinOf typical circular shape, comprising five engraved plates and an openwork rete with scrolling, intertwined vegetal interlace and an ecliptic ring at the top, the rule and mater densely engraved with Arabic letters and references, the womb featuring six decreasing concentric circles with Arabic inscriptions, the central roundel marked with the date '1125' (1713 AD) and signed by the maker Amin Mohammad Shams al-Din, another six bands occupying half hemisphere on the reverse, the cusp once fitted with a qibla pointer, now missing, engraved with rosettes on the front and an arabesque composition with a lotus flower flanked by split palmette scrolls on the back, with an old Sotheby's London tag reading Ottoman engraved brass astrolabe, Turkey, and extra notes in pen.13cm diameter and 16.5cm long Provenance: Chiswick Auctions, 29 April 2022, lot 92. Used in astronomical observations and for timekeeping, astrolabes allowed users to chart celestial bodies; determine the direction of Mecca; and navigate. Astrolabe makers were highly skilled craftsmen who often worked closely with scholars and astronomers to achieve the greatest level of precision and detail in their creations. Often, these scientific instruments were engraved not only with celestial markers but also religious inscriptions, demonstrating the dual role these devices played in both practical astronomical navigation and religious observance (e.g. determining prayer times and the direction of Mecca). During the Safavid period, their purpose became even more multi-faceted. In fact, despite their functional purpose, astrolabes and scientific tools became symbols of the cultural advancement promoted by the Persian shahs. As an example of this, the renowned Safavid astrolabe made by Muhammad Muqim al-Yazdi in 1647 - 48 AD, created for the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas Il, acts as both an utilitarian instrument, as well as a work of art and reminder of the degree of excellency strived for at the Safavid court. 13cm diameter and 16.5cm long Qty: 10

DOROTHY SIMS WILLIAMS (BRITISH B.1943-) 'The Supper At Emmaus', design in tempera, initialled lower left, bears multiple exhibition labels verso including Russell Cotes Art Gallery and Central Institute of Art & Design National Gallery, London - Religious Art Competition, the back board of the frame is hinged to show a painting of mother and children in a kitchen on the back of the Emmaus painting, 20.5cm x 23cm (Condition Report: labels verso have some loss, frame is marked)

*MAX BAND (1900-1974) A portrait of a Jewish worker in an interior, depicted three-quarter length, signed lower left, oil on canvas, 98cm x 62cm,Framed dimensions: 113cm x 77cm  Provenance: Private collection, Dorset.Note: Max Band was born in Kudirkos Naumiestis, Lithuania in 1900. This small village offered very little artistic guidance, however the young Band was determined to create. His first oil painting was made with homemade brushes he created from sticks.Band made his way to Berlin to study art where his talents were first recognised by the public. One of his first drawings was selected by his teacher and entered into an open exhibition. Upon seeing the work, a wealthy collector tracked down Band to purchase the drawing. Never considering or putting much care into the financial value his artwork should garner Band could not name a price. Upon being pressed for a figure, Band responded that he valued time over money, so a figure was agreed upon based on two months’ worth of food.The French critic Paul Fierens described the early period of Band’s career stating, “The refinement of his color, this what he owes to France, that that he has taken something of Chardin, Corot or Bonnard, but the Parisian sky, after Lithuania and the Louvre, quite naturally became his third master. Paris, with its pale azure, its inimitable greys, its delightful white, offered itself to Max Band as an example and gave him excellent advice."Max Band’s artistic output was largely made up of still lives, landscapes, and portraits of the sea. These subjects offer a free flow of color and movement. He also created many works of the Jewish religious experience during his life. These paintings offer a deep richness of feeling that could only be reflected by an artist of his skill and above all experience living through WWII.If one label can be attached to Band’s artwork it is Humanism. Whether it be the natural world, or more personal subjects, Band had a unique expression for deeper qualities hidden beneath the surface. This unique vision was best stated by the artist in describing one of his paintings of Jewish Talmudic scholars, “After living in France for nearly twenty years I began to see something strange in the eyes of the people. As the threat of bombing grew ever more menacing, the proud French people, who for centuries had walked in pride and freedom, as befitted a nation universally regarded as the epitome of culture and spirit, began to live in fear. It showed in their eyes and gestures. They listened for threatening sounds in the night.”Max Band left France in 1940 for the United States where he lived and worked for the remainder of his career. He passed away in 1974.

§ Arthur Dooley (1929-1994), three bronze 'Workers Control of Fisher Bendix Kirkby Jan 72' fish, each moulded 'A.D. / 72' to the bodies 6.5cm wide Acquired by the vendor's husband, who was working at Conran's Design Group in Deansgate, central Manchester, at the time of the strikes. According to the vendor, he too too had come from a working class background and was thus keen to support their cause and purchased these during a working tour of the city in 1972, the year he and the vendor were married. Born on January 17, 1929, Arthur Dooley is remembered as a significant sculptor whose work was deeply intertwined with his political beliefs and advocacy for social justice. His life journey from a merchant seaman and welder to a celebrated artist is as compelling as his sculptures, which often depicted the struggles and resilience of the working class. Dooley's early life was marked by diverse and challenging experiences. Leaving school at the age of 14, he took on various jobs, including working as a merchant seaman and later as a welder at Cammell Laird shipyards in Birkenhead. These early jobs, particularly in heavy industry, had a profound influence on his artistic vision. It was during his time as a welder that Dooley began attending night classes in sculpture, which set him on the path to becoming an artist. His talent blossomed further when he enrolled at St Martin's School of Art in London, where his raw, expressive style began to take shape.Dooley's sculptures are noted for their powerful emotional impact and often feature religious and social themes. Working primarily with bronze and steel, materials that mirrored his industrial roots, he created pieces that were both robust and deeply evocative. Central to his art was a strong sense of social justice and solidarity with the working class. This commitment to social issues was not just thematic but also active, as seen in his involvement with the 1972 Fisher Bendix worker strikes in Kirkby, near his native Liverpool.The Fisher Bendix factory strikes were a pivotal moment in Dooley's life and career. Faced with job losses and poor working conditions, the workers went on strike and eventually occupied the factory in a desperate bid to save their jobs. Dooley's support for the workers went beyond mere sympathy; he actively participated in their cause, using his art and public presence to amplify their struggles. In solidarity with the workers, Dooley produced the present works as tokens to be sold at the factory gates, with the proceeds being donated to the striking workers. This involvement underscored his belief in art as a tool for social change and his deep connection to the working-class community. All three in good condition.

* SIMON LAURIE RSW RGI (SCOTTISH b. 1964), GONDOLAS acrylic on board, signed, titled versoframedimage size 75cm x 81cm, overall size 93cm x 98cmNote: Simon Laurie is a contemporary Scottish landscape and still life artist, whose paintings are characterised by references to Scottish life and society, incorporating fish, boats, religious symbols and everyday items. These objects are arranged upon a rich textural ground created by the application of multiple layers of acrylic paint. He has worked with acrylic paint for almost 30 years, developing his own individual style and fundamental visual language. Laurie was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1982 to 1988. He was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW) in 1991 and the Royal Glasgow Institute (RGI) in 2000, where he served as convener for six years. He has had many solo shows, both in the UK and abroad, and has won many prestigious and major awards. His work is held in many public, private and corporate collections including Aberdeen Art Gallery, Contemporary Arts Society, London; Feren Art Gallery, Hull; Freshfields, London; Leicestershire Education Committee; Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie; Nationwide Building Society, London; Royal Bank of Scotland; TSB Headquarters, London; Unilever PLC; William Teacher and Sons Ltd; Wyse Group; Walter Scott Investments Ltd, Edinburgh; Biggart Baillie; Aberdeen Asset Management; The Whisky Society, Edinburgh; Adam and Co Bank; Provident Financial; The Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh.

Igshaan Adams (South African, born 1982)Prada IV, 2015 woven nylon rope and string 210 x 165cm (82 11/16 x 64 15/16in).Footnotes:ProvenanceAspire Art Auctions Inaugural Cape Auction, March 2017, Lot 178;A private collection.ExhibitedCape Town, blank projects; Parda; (June - August 2016);Norway, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, KUBATANA, (May - September 2019).LiteratureJ. Ball, J. Higgins & R. Simbao, Igshaan Adams. Cape Town: blank projects, (Blank Projects), p. 93. (illustrated).Igshaan Adams embodies his captivatingly unruly and strikingly optic textiles in Prada IV, an exceptional example of the artist's ethos. The present work explores the complexities of identity through weaving. Navigating his personal identity through his work, Adams investigates themes of religion, race, and sexuality within himself, as well as his place in the world. Born and raised in South Africa during the Apartheid of the 1980s, Adams observes the hybridity of his identity, as a mixed-race homosexual man from a family of different religious practises in an environment where categorisation of society was intensely concentrated.'Navigating my way around the expectations imbedded within stereotypes of my social roles, I continue to search for new understanding, new ways of seeing my combination of identities.' (Igshaan Adams).Prada IV is a symbolically and metaphorically rich piece. The title itself refers to a veil or shroud, a mask concealing something from the lens of the world, displaying the boundary between one creates around them. The Muslim iconography of the present world indeed reflects Adams own religion and, raised by Christian grandparents, the sense of an intertwined narrative is evoked from the woven textiles. The tassels drooping from the work echo the appearance of Islamic prayer mats. Furthermore, Adams equates the act of weaving itself as having correlations with the action of prayer, explaining in his view that ' it leads to the same result internally'. The commonality of repetition and 'great consciousness and understanding'that the two actions share and also share an emotional navigation for Adams; ' internally what happens is you have to push against the feeling of wanting to give up, it's quite daunting to take on the task of weaving something huge', 'its something I experience when I pray too.'Adams therefore encapsulates the fluidity and malleability of identity, how one can both assemble and undo characteristics to enable an understanding of themselves throughout life. As the artist explains, 'need to unearth, unmask and unveil the mysteries hidden within the depths of the Self, beyond race, class, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. Who am I, beyond my identity?'. Through his work, Adams aims to deep-dive into his subconscious and his position in the cultural tapestry and imbedded ideologies. Holding his first UK solo show in 2021 at the Hayward Gallery, Kicking Dust, and currently on view at The Hepworth Wakefield with Weerhound until November 2024, Adams creates immersive installations with a focus on his weaving technique and textile art. With an extensive list of solo exhibitions globally, Adams' work is also included in the permanent collections at the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; the Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Art Institute of Chicago; Baltimore Museum of Art; Inhotim Museum, Brazil; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Standard Bank collection, Johannesburg; and the University of Cape Town.BibliographyIgshaan Adams, quoted in Christine Cronjé, Jonathan Garnham, Hannah Lewis, eds., Igshaan Adams, (Cape Town, 2015), p. 109.Igshaan Adams, transcript from 'Møt Igshaan Adams', Nitja senter for samtidskunst, (YouTube, 2019).For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

ATTRIBUTED TO CHARLES HARDGRAVE (1848-1920) FOR JAMES POWELL & SONS, WHITEFRIARS ‘OPUS SECTILE’ MOSAIC PANEL, CIRCA 1870 painted coloured glass and mother of pearl, framed   71cm x 29.5 (frame size 73cm x 31.5cm) Provenance: Collection of John Scott, LondonThe Fine Art Society Exhibited: London, The Fine Art Society The John Scott Collection: James Powell & Sons, Whitefriars Glass 1860-1960, no. 83Literature: Powell’s Opus Sectile Locations, The Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society (tilesoc.org.uk)Note: Opus sectile, a decorative technique originally developed in ancient Rome, involves the meticulous inlay of materials such as marble, stone, or mother-of-pearl into walls and floors to create intricate images. This method experienced a revival through the work of Powell & Sons, who introduced their innovative use of coloured and textured glass, expanding upon their established tradition of providing stained glass for ecclesiastical settings. The materials supplied by the firm were often offered as individual elements, such as quarries, or as prefabricated or custom-designed panels.According to analysis by Dr. Dennis Hardley, evidence from Powell’s Cash Window Books demonstrates that Powell & Sons had been producing reredoses, altar panels, and wall panels using the opus sectile technique as early as 1873. By the 1890s, the firm had expanded their operations internationally, exporting these works to countries such as India, the United States, France, Ireland, and Denmark for both religious and commercial commissions.The lily panel examined in this context is reminiscent of one installed in the Church of the Holy Cross in Owlpen, Gloucestershire, in 1887. This work is attributed to Charles Hardgrave, a key artist in the firm’s production during this period.

HENRY WILSON (1864-1934), W.E. MICKLEWRIGHT (MAKER) ARTS & CRAFTS 'ZODIAC' CHEST, CIRCA 1920 oak, with twelve relief carved Zodiac panels, each with inscription, cast brass lock plate 162cm wide, 84cm high, 60cm deep Provenance: W.E. Micklewright, Norton-sub-Hamdon, SomersetPurchased from his workshop by the father of the current owner. Literature: The Studio, vol. 86. 1923, p. 265 where a similar chest, exhibited at the British Institute of Industrial Art of the same year is illustrated.Note: The Arts & Crafts designer Henry Wilson trained initially as an architect under J. D. Sedding (1838-1891), who had himself been apprenticed to the leading Gothic revival architect George Edmund Street (1824-1881). Wilson continued his architectural commissions as his career progressed, but worked increasingly in metalwork, sculpture and jewellery. The Zodiac chest was illustrated in the Studio Magazine, Vol 86, 1923, and the relief carved panels are said to foreshadow the more sculptural bronzes Wilson designed in the final decade before his death in 1934.This chest was executed by W.E. Micklewright of Norton-sub-Hamdon, Somerset. Henry Wilson’s connection to the small village began in 1894 when he was engaged to design restoration work required for the parish church, St Mary the Virgin. Another chest by Micklewright still sits at the end of the church’s west aisle. The workshop responsible for completing Wilson’s church designs was Charles Trask & Sons, with whom Sedding and Wilson had collaborated from as early as 1869, on St Martin’s Church, Low Marple near Stockport. When Wilson first came to Norton-sub-Hamdon Micklewright was manager of the Charles Trask & Sons workshop, but by the 1920’s he owned and ran the premises.  A surviving W. E. Micklewright catalogue illustrates items including the zodiac chest, a clock, cabinet and bed. According to the account of Mr Reg. Sweet, an apprentice in the workshop from 1923-25, the business employed at least eight craftsmen carrying out work predominantly in oak and of a religious nature. Sweet recalls Micklewright’s perfectionist tendencies but lack of business sense, the latter a factor presumably behind the workshop’s premature closure in 1925. The current lot was purchased at this time and, until now, has not left Norton-sub-Hamdon.

Erik Nitsche (Swiss, 1908 - 1998) "Strawberry - Manuscript Illumination" Signed lower right. Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board.Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the Germany 50 + 20pf Medieval Manuscript Illumination stamp issued October 15, 1985.During the Middle Ages, the medieval mind delighted in ornate and colorful art. And nowhere is this love more evident than in medieval manuscripts, for they are alive with intricate and colorful drawings created in the margins and at the beginnings of chapters by patient monks working by hand. Known as illuminations, these miniature works of art virtually illuminate the pages of the ancient manuscripts with their bright colors and intricate designs. But beyond their beauty, the illuminations also mark an important milestone in history, for their disappearance -- with the invention of printing -- signified the end of an antiquated age and became a strong signal of the coming of modern culture. Illumination reached its highest form in the 14th and 15th centuries, when pages were decorated with gold, silver and all the colors of the rainbow. Indeed, the gray parchment was lighted with floriated letters, margins filled with leaves and branches and scenes from the painter's own life. Through their works, the illuminators imbued the written page with a beauty and attractiveness beyond the powers of a mere scribe alone. Since many of the illuminated manuscripts were religious in nature, the figures illuminated often had religious significance. One example is the strawberry, featured in thos artwork, for it symbolized the blood of Christ spilt for the redemption of the world. It is little wonder that the miniature illuminations were extremely popular in the Middle Ages.Image Size: 12 x 14 in.Overall Size: 15 x 20 in.Unframed.(B09830)

SAMUEL WEST (1810-1867) Cardinal Wolsey leaving London after his Disgrace Signed 'S.West' Oil on canvas, 102 x 140cmExhibited: Royal Academy 1841; British Institution 1842; Cork Art Union Exhibition, 1843.Literature: A Dictionary of Irish Artists, W.G. Strickland, Pg. 518Samuel West was born in Cork in 1810, to a bookseller father who had moved to Cork from London. West most likely commenced his artistic training in Cork, however, he also travelled to Rome to study during his formative years. Between 1840 and 1867, West exhibited works at The Royal Academy of Arts London and The British Institution. This work was exhibited at the RA in 1841, the B.I in 1842 and the Cork Art Union Exhibition in 1843. In his later years, West turned to copying works of old masters in watercolour such as Titan’s ‘L’homme au Gant’.   (A Dictionary of Irish Artists, W.G. Strickland, Pg. 517-518) Born in 1473, Thomas Wolsey was and English statesman and a Catholic cardinal. His rise in status coincided with accession of Henry VIII. As King of England, he appointed Wolsey as his almoner and gave him a seat of his privy council. By 1514, he became the controlling figure in virtually all matters of the state, reaching the position of the Lord Chancellor. Which he held from 1515 until 1529. He was appointed Cardinal Archbishop of York in 1514 by Pope Leo X.Wolsey fell out of favour after failing to negotiate an annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and was thus stripped of his government titles. He retreated to York to fulfil his ecclesiastical duties as an archbishop but was called to London to answer the charges of treason, charges commonly used by Henry VIII against those who fell out of his favour. Wolsey died of natural causes following an accident boarding a royal barge at Cawood, before he could reach London.  This impressive painting presents the moment Cardinal Wolsey was expelled from his London residence, The Palace of Whitehall, to board a royal barge to York after the loss of his government position. Whitehall was subsequently taken over by Henry VIII as his principal residence in the capital after the apartments of Westminster were destroyed by fire. Whitehall served as the seat for English Monarchs from 1530 until its destruction also by fire in 1698. It was an incredibly impressive complex of buildings and at one time the largest palace in Europe. In this work, West depicts the east side of the palace which faces onto the banks of the river Thames.A large crowd has gathered to witness the Cardinal departing, most of the faces seem forlorn, mourning his expulsion from the city. He is escorted by four armed guards, their halberds raised in the air above crowd. Despite his loss of title, he is still treated with great respect by his attendants and household. Courtiers lift the train on his robe, a tapestry carpet has been laid along the steps, and he is helped into the boat by a gentleman dressed in furs, holding in his hand the letter which sealed the Cardinal’s fate.To the right of the composition is figural group of a woman and two children, set slightly apart from the larger crowds. She looks on in distress at the Cardinal. Wolsey was in a ‘non-canonical’ marriage for a decade with Joan Larke of Yarmouth. They had two children, Thomas (born c.1510) and Dorothy (born c.1512), both were born before he was ordained bishop. While the children in this painting would be too young to be either his son or daughter, West may have used this figural group to add further sympathetic appeal towards the Cardinal.The composition follows two diagonals, the first created by the architectural façade of Whitehall stretching along the banks of the Thames, and into the distance. The second is created by the crowd of people following the Cardinal as he descends steps. He stands at centre of the composition, clad in a bright red clerical vestments and hat. Visually he commands the attention of the crowd and us as the viewer. At this time Cardinals wore red to distinguish themselves from all other clerics, signifying the importance of their standing in the religious hierarchy. Presenting him in his vestments may have been an attempt by West to convey Wolsey’s continued sense of pride in his position even after being stripped of his government titles.

A DUTCH BOOK OF HOURS FOR USE OF ROME LATE 15TH CENTURY,illuminated manuscript on vellum (tempera, ink and gold), Latin and Dutch; Gothic textura script, one column ruled for 19 lines; 455 pgs., 6.6cm x 11cm; Three fully illustrated pages, 6 title pages, 27 pages of illuminated borders etc.; tissue interleaves face the full page illustration; 18th century leather binding, inscribed with 'Roomsch Getijde Boek’ to spine (Roman Book of Hours). Incomplete, pages cut outProvenance: Private Dutch CollectionThe core text of a Book of Hours is a series of prayers, readings and psalms known as 'The Hours of the Virgin. These prayers were to be recited daily at eight set 'hours' to Mary, the Mother of God, who would act as an intercessor between man and God. Such devotions were a simplified imitation of the Divine Office, said by members of the clergy and monastic orders every day in the quest for salvation. The ‘Use of Rome’ refers to a book of hours intended for the "use" of Rome specifically, this will differ from a book of hours made for the use of Paris, or Utrecht, or Sarum (Salisbury). These differences might be reflected in the order and wording of certain prayers or the veneration of local saints or religious events. Entire cycles of prayer could also be added or excluded based on personal preference, as could a variety of additional texts. Other differences between books of hours arose from the need to accommodate the diversity of regional worship. Within the medieval church, certain aspects of the liturgy were determined, to at least some degree, by local custom, and individual books of hours were made to reflect these variations. The book opens with the twelve months of the year, divided into the specific saint days. The first illuminated leaf features the private scene of the annunciation, as Virgin Mary is kneeling to pray in her chamber when Archangel Gabriel appears to her. He announces that she will conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. Above the angles head is a white dove, the physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit, with gold rays which are pointing directly at Virgin Mary. Archangel Gabriel also points to Mary using his herald’s wand, which is terminated in a fleur-de-lys, the ancient symbol of royalty. The frame of the scene features several flowers and insects. The blue flowers are possibly Gentian blue which are native primarily to northern temperate areas of the world, especially alpine regions. The red flower is most likely a potted Carnation. The symbolism of the carnation is identical with that of the rose, in the Netherland and Germany carnations were preferred over roses. The carnation was, therefore, seen as a flower of love and the goddess Venus, however, as adapted by Christians, the carnation was a symbol of the divine love of God. The strawberry as a symbol is not only widespread but relatively early in origin. It is seen as the perfect fruit as it has no thorns nor stone and it is sweet in taste. The white flowers are seen to represent innocence and the leaves which are of trefoil form, were seen as a symbol of perfect righteousness. The illumination also features two moths or butterflies as well as a snail. Butterflies and flies were symbols for the soul and eternal life. It was common in the Netherlands for the scene of the Annunciation to feature insects. It is interesting to note that this illumination does not feature a white lily. Almost all scenes of the Annunciation included them, often known as the Madonna lily, as it is a symbol of her purity and perfection, both carnal and spiritual. The second illuminated leaf is a depiction of the episode from the life of the Virgin Mary. She is presented seated figure, presumably holding the new testament in her lap, with the old testament lying at her feet. The scene is set within a gothic architectural courtyard. The Holy Spirit once again appears in the form of a white dove, with rays of gold radiating down on the twelve apostles and Mary.In the Acts, it is described that after Jesus ascended to heaven, the Apostles waited in the Holy City for the sending of the promised Consoler, united around the Virgin Mary. Following the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, the decision was made to have Matthias take his place. Once the twelve apostles were complete again, they continued praying while awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised them. Finally, on the day of Pentecost, suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2-4). Once again, the scene is framed by botanical illuminations, this time the flax flower, and a variety of irises. The iris flower is the only symbolic rival to the white lily of the Virgin, and its first appearance as a religious symbol is in the work of the early Flemish masters. The symbolism of the iris and the lily at first appears to be identical, and the substitution of the iris for the lily seems to be the result of some confusion between ‘lys’ and ‘fleur-de-lys,’ accentuated by the likeness between the iris and the lilies of the French royal standard with which the people of the Netherlands were familiar, since they were emblazoned on the shield of the Dukes of Burgundy. In the Netherlands, in the fifteenth century, symbolism was usually very precise, and there does seem to be a slight difference in the use of the two. The lily is used exclusively as the symbol of virginal purity, more particularly in relation to the fact that the Virgin Mary was a mother, but the iris, the royal lily, appears to be the emblem or attribute of God incarnate. Interestingly, the pea is also featured which was a symbol humility as it was considered a humble plant that grew toward heaven. As it produced many fruits it represented the virtue of holy works. In direct contrast, it could also be seen as a symbol of instability and the danger of sin, because it has heavy foliage and a frail stem which often needed further support. The illumination also features a prominent dragonfly and a peacock. Earthly life, which was full of sin, was often represented by crawling insects such as beetles, caterpillars, and locusts, whereas life in the heaven was represented by flying insects such as butterflies, moths, dragonflies, and damselflies. Dragonflies were therefore used as a religious symbol of the eternal life of the soul. Beginning in Early Christianity, peacocks symbolized the opportunity for an eternal life in heaven enabled by Christ’s sacrificial death. Illustrations of peacocks were so frequent and widespread in Christian art.The last full-page illumination features the uncommon scene known as the Metterza. The term is derived from the medieval vernacular me is third, referring to Saint Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary, who places herself third in the hierarchy of the divine family, next to Mary and Jesus. This scene was popular in Germany since the 14th century, and later the term and its iconography spread throughout Italy and Northern Europe in the 15th century. Hence the three figures in this illustration are St Anne, the mother of Mary, Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. The figure of St Anne is seated on a large wooden throne, at her feet sits Virgin Mary with baby Jesus lying in her arms. The background also features a peacock along with a characteristic pink sandstone wall and turret. The frame around the scene features flowers such as gentians, irises, flax and most importantly roses. The insects featured are moths and flies. As mentioned above, symbolically the rose was seen to represent the divine love of God.

Ca. AD 400 - 1000 .A Roman cast-bronze bell with a hemispherical loop. Roman bronze bells were crafted using lost-wax casting techniques. These played crucial roles in religious, civic, and military contexts. In cities, they signalled events and emergencies. These bells varied in size and featured inscriptions and decorative motifs. For similar see: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 89.4.1938.Size: 170mm x 125mm; Weight: 990gProvenance: Private UK collection; From an old British collection formed in the 1990s.

Ca. AD 500 - 700.A splendid Byzantine gold pendant, adorned with a large garnet cabochon in the centre. The arms are decorated with an intricate border formed with geometric motifs, made with twisted rope-shaped threads. A loop is attached to the top of the pendant. The cross became a widespread religious symbol during the Byzantine Empire. This gold pendant was most likely created for an upper class individual, to display their wealth and religious devotion. For similar see: Byzantium and the West, Jewelry in the first Millennium, n. 14.Size: 43mm x 22mm; Weight: 4gProvenance: Private collection of an Oxford professional, formed in the 1970s-1990s on the UK art market. This item has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database and comes with a confirmation letter.

Ca. 2700-2300 BC.A terracotta eye idol with a bell-shaped body and flat base. The idol has stylised head features and expressive eyes. Originating from the site of Tell Brak, these idols emerged during the late fourth and early third millennium BC, representing a distinctive artistic and religious tradition.Size: L:125mm / W:105mm ; 265gProvenance: Property of a central London gallery; Ex. East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010. This item has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database and comes with a confirmation letter.This piece is accompanied by a historical report from Alessandro Neri, an international Cultural Heritage expert based in Florence, Italy.

Ca. AD 500 - 700.A beautiful Byzantine gold religious. The ring has a round hoop with two parallel ridges that divide at the shoulders. These ridges are adorned with two red garnet cabochons on each side. The ridged shoulders secure a bezel, bordered with four golden pellets. The round gold bezel depicts an empress, most likely St. Helena, with a halo and holding a cross in her left hand.Size: D:18.75mm / US: 8 3/4 / UK: R; Weight: 11gProvenance: Private UK collection; previously acquired on the UK art market in the 1990s. This item has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database and comes with a confirmation letter.This piece comes with an authentication report by Sami Fortune, ancient jewellery specialist.

FERNANDO BOTERO (1932-2023)Maternidad signed, stamped with the foundry mark and numbered 'Botero E-A 1/2' (on the back of the chair)bronze with brown patina47 x 19.5 x 32cm (18 1/2 x 7 11/16 x 12 5/8in).Conceived in 1955, this work is from an edition of 6, plus 2 artist's proofs.Footnotes:ProvenanceFoundation Veranneman, Belgium.Private collection, Madrid (acquired from the above in 2000).Thence by descent to the present owner. LiteratureJ.C. Lambert & B. Villegas (eds.), Botero Sculptures, Colombia, 1998 (illustrated p. 205 and n.p.)Renowned for his distinctive style of voluptuous and exaggerated forms, the Columbian artist Fernando Botero has left an indelible mark on the history of art. Acclaimed globally for his instantly recognisable paintings, Botero's venture into sculpture has further enriched his artistic repertoire over course of his career. Under the tutelage of Robert Longhi, a distinguished specialist on Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, Botero obtained a remarkable art historical knowledge of Western Classicism that permeates much of his oeuvre. The canon of art history, especially the European one served as a rich source of inspiration, yet he shifts classical art historical topics into the realm of the everyday and the trivial, infusing them with his own personal experiences and the essence of his native Colombia. Today, Fernando Botero is recognised as one of the most important Colombian modern artists and his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museo Botero in Bogota. In 1958 and 1992, Botero also participated in the Venice Biennale and represented Colombia in the 5th São Paulo Biennial, Brazil. Inspired by the great classical masters, from Raphael, Peter Paul Rubens and Titian, to Giotto and Paolo Uccello, Fernando Botero's style is a modern interpretation of the ever-evolving thread of form. After moving to New York in 1990, he continued to develop his trademark style of bulbous and exaggerated figures and animals, drawing inspiration from Rubens' full-figured representations of female beauty. Often profoundly satirical, Botero asserts that his now iconic style - aptly termed 'Boterismo' - allowed him to explore mass and the sensuality of form, as well as to stress notable features in an almost caricature-like manner. 'Sculpture was a natural experience in my evolution because of the obvious sculptural element in my paintings,' Botero acknowledges. 'This was a return to simplicity, to growing indifference to details and to a more geometric awareness of shape.' (the artist quoted in: Botero: Aquarelles, Dessins, Sculptures, Basel: Galerie Beyeler, 1980).Botero first began experimenting with sculpture in 1972, eventually expanding his métier from wood and clay to bronze, the medium in which has best translated the pillowy volumes of his paintings into three dimensions. Since the early 1980s, his summer were dedicated to sculpture, working from a studio in Pietrasanta, a small town on the Tuscan coast that has attracted many famed artist-residents from Michelangelo to Isamu Noguchi and Henry Moore. Botero's sculptures are characterised by the same aesthetic principles that define his paintings – exaggerated volumes, harmonious proportions, and a playful approach to form. Transitioning from canvas to the three-dimensional, Botero has given his iconic subjects a tangible and interactive presence, encouraging viewers to engage on a more physical level. Whilst humour and irony are present in his work, the magnified proportions of Botero's figures can be interpreted as an endearing nod to the pleasure of the tactility of life and beauty explored through the female form.This smooth sensuality and the fertile lyricism of the curvaceous form is palpable in Maternidad. The medium highlights the monumentality of the sculpture and accentuates the enduring timeless quality and solidity of the work. Botero himself recognised the significance of his sculpture within his canon, and the sensorial potential it has on viewers. 'Certainly, in a painting you give the illusion of truth, but with sculpture, you can touch its reality. . . If I paint a knife in my pictures, it's imaginary, but if I sculpt it, then the sensation of having it in your hand is real— it's an object from your spirit, it's a sensual experience even in its execution. It brings a special joy to touch the material with your hands.' (the artist quoted in: 'Botero: A Love Letter to Latin America', operagallery.com, 19 September 2023). Maternidad wonderfully captures the essence of motherhood; the plumpness of the bodies perhaps helps convey this sense of maternal abundance and the fertility associated with motherhood, while her gentle embrace and the placement of her hand on her chest suggestive of a sense of tenderness. Domestic life is a central motif in Botero's body of work, especially women's roles within it. Here, Botero portrays the quintessential woman as both mother and caregiver to her young child combined with the heavy weight of art historical and religious iconography and a sense of shared human experience.Botero's international recognition and ability to transcend geographical and cultural boundaries have boosted the visibility of Latin American artists on the global stage. His contributions to the world of art are substantial and his unwavering commitment to his artistic vision has earned him a notable place in the history of art. Botero's oeuvre serves as a bridge between traditional and contemporary art, developing a melange classical techniques and modern and innovative flair. By embracing diversity and celebrating the inherent charm in each of his subjects, he challenges conventional notions of beauty and representation and forces viewers to reconsider their preconceived notions and stereotypes.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Art Nouveau "Religious lady scene" pen drawing signed A.M.M Lunan [54x43cm]

This rare and historically significant Jewish glass pendant, dating from the 1st to 2nd century, features a depiction of the Menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum that is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish faith. The pendant, crafted from deep amber glass with rich red undertones, is a remarkable example of early Jewish art and religious symbolism. The Menorah design, though weathered by time, remains visible on the surface, offering a profound connection to the ancient world and the enduring faith of the Jewish people. The pendant's craftsmanship highlights the skill of ancient glassmakers, with the delicate, rounded form preserving the distinctiveness of the Menorah motif. D: 2cm  

This Byzantine Orthodox artwork follows traditional 19th-century models. The oil-on-panel depiction captures the solemnity and mysticism of Orthodox religious art, with refined detailing in the iconography and use of gilding.

Colonial School of Quito, 18th century. Carved in wood with glass eyes, the praying angels display an exquisite expression of devotion typical of Ecuadorian colonial art. The rich polychromy and finely carved details on the faces and wings denote a refined technique that sought to convey a profound religious feeling.

It represents St. George on horseback facing the dragon, made of carved and gilded wood, standing out for its realism and dynamism. St. George, with armor and a lance, shows determination while the dragon writhes beneath the horse. The dark base represents a rocky ground, and the use of gold leaf adds solemnity to the work. It is a notable example of 19th century religious art, combining classicism and baroque, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.

PIETRO ANTONIO ROTARI (ITALIAN 1707-1762) YOUNG BOY WEARING A TEAL GILET Oil on canvas 43 x 33cm (16¾ x 12 in.) In 1734 after studying in Rome and Naples Pietro Rotari returned to his hometown of Verona where he opened a private academy concentrating on the production of historical and religious paintings. By 1740 his success brought him the title Count of the Venetian Republic and the following year he travelled to Vienna, where he was introduced to Jean-Etiènne Liotard, the celebrated Swiss pastellist, whose work profoundly influenced him. He was in Dresden, in the service of Frederick Augustus III, when he received an invitation from the Empress Elisabeth of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great, to come to St. Petersburg as first painter of the court. He arrived in 1756 and soon amassed a large fortuneAlthough he continued to work as a history painter in Saint Petersburg, it was there that Rotari developed the genre still associated with his name: small paintings of idealized heads, delicate and studiously artless in style, depicting the emotions of young boys and girls. After Rotari's sudden death in 1762, Catherine the Great bought 340 of the artist's 'fancy pictures' for the salon of Peterhof. The pictures Catherine did not buy were returned to Rotari's family in Verona, where they remained in the possession of his descendants until the late nineteenth century.This lot is from a deceased's estate sold to benefit the Art Fund. Condition Report: The canvas has been lined. Stretcher marks and associated craquelure visible. Additional craquelure throughout. Some superficial spots of surface dirt throughout. Inspection under UV light reveals light retouching and infilling scattered throughout; however this is very sensitively done, there are also traces of a green cloudy varnish.Condition Report Disclaimer

The Uniform Coinage of India, British Imperial Period, George V, silver Rupee, 1911, Calcutta, crowned and robed bust left, b.m. [Bertram Mackennal] on truncation, elephant on decoration resembles a pig, george v king emperor, rev. one rupee india and date, yek rupiya surrounded by ornate scroll containing rose, thistle and shamrock, lotus flowers above and below, edge grained, 11.68g/12h (Prid. 207 [Sale, lot 133]; SW 8.11; KM. 523; cf. Fore III, 2439). Very light bagmarks, otherwise brilliant mint state £150-£200 --- Provenance: Bt 1980. Owner’s envelope. The obverse punch for the new coinage of George V, showing the king wearing the Imperial Crown, Robe of State, collars of the Orders of the Star of India and Indian Empire and the badge of the Order of the Bath, was received by the Calcutta mint in July 1911. This was paired with the new reverse engraved from a design by Percy Brown (1872-1955), head of the Government School of Art, Calcutta, and accordingly stocks of the new coins, in silver and bronze, were built up in preparation for their release into circulation on 12 December 1911, the day of the Delhi Durbar. Unfortunately, political agitators in the bazaars started a rumour that a ‘pig’ was depicted on the new rupee, claiming that the elephant’s body and legs on the collar chain of the Star of India were out of proportion, no tusks were visible and the short trunk looked like a pig’s snout. Among Muslims and certain other religious sects the pig is an unclean animal and public aversion to the coin was swift and hostile. The government was left with no option but to announce on 23 January 1912 that the rupee, of which some 700,000 had been issued, was to be withdrawn, and notices were placed in the Times of India to that effect (Garside, SNC March 1912, cols. 13455-6). Poor engraving of the design was to blame for the confusion; the image on the smaller denominations had not caused offence and most of these remained in circulation. The elephant was re-drawn with a longer tail, better-defined tusks and ears on rupees dated 1912 and later

ITEM: Applique with Apollo playing lyreMATERIAL: BronzeCULTURE: RomanPERIOD: 1st Century A.DDIMENSIONS: 88 mm x 36 mmCONDITION: Good conditionPROVENANCE: Ex Spanish private collection, bought in English auction house. Ex English private collection, Middlesex, formed in the 1980sComes with Certificate of Authenticity and Export Licence. If you are from outside the European Union, we will have to apply for the export licence again for your country, this takes 3 to 5 weeks and has a cost of 5% of the hammer price, this amount will be added to the final invoice.IMPORTANT: Stand not includedIn Roman religion, Apollo was a significant deity who was adopted from the Greek pantheon and integrated into Roman worship with some modifications. Originally a Greek god of the sun, music, prophecy, and healing, Apollo retained these attributes in Roman tradition. He was often depicted as a youthful, beardless figure, symbolizing beauty, intellect, and artistic inspiration. His worship in Rome was multifaceted, reflecting his wide-ranging influence over various aspects of life and culture.One of Apollo’s key roles in Roman religion was as a god of prophecy and healing. The Romans revered him as a source of divine insight and guidance, and his oracle at Delphi was highly respected even in Rome. Apollo was also associated with medicine and healing, particularly through his connection with his son Asclepius, who was worshipped as a god of healing. Temples dedicated to Apollo, such as the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill and the Temple of Apollo Sosianus, served as important religious and cultural centers where Romans sought his favor and guidance.Apollo’s influence extended into the arts and culture of Rome as well. He was considered the patron of music, poetry, and the arts, and his presence was a common motif in Roman art and literature. The Romans celebrated him with festivals and games, such as the Ludi Apollinares, which were held in his honor and included various public entertainments. Apollo’s role in Roman society reflected the broader adoption and adaptation of Greek deities into Roman religion, illustrating how the Romans synthesized elements of Greek culture with their own religious practices and values.

ITEM: Statuette of a LarMATERIAL: BronzeCULTURE: RomanPERIOD: 2nd - 3rd Century A.DDIMENSIONS: 60 mm x 44 mm (without stand)CONDITION: Good condition. Includes standPROVENANCE: Ex French private collection, acquired between 1970 - 1980Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Export Licence. If you are from outside the European Union, we will have to apply for the export licence again for your country, this takes 3 to 5 weeks and has a cost of 5% of the hammer price, this amount will be added to the final invoice.The Roman statuette of a Lar represents one of the most common household deities in ancient Roman religion. Lares were protective spirits of the home and family, often associated with ancestors or local spirits of the land. Typically, these statuettes were placed in a family’s lararium, a small household shrine, and were central to daily rituals that invoked protection and prosperity. The figure of a Lar is usually depicted as a youthful male wearing a short tunic, often holding a cornucopia or a drinking horn, symbolizing abundance and well-being.The worship of Lares highlights the importance of household and domestic religion in Roman life. While grand public rituals took place in temples, the veneration of Lares was a personal, intimate practice carried out by individual families. The presence of these statuettes in Roman homes reflects a deep belief in the divine influence on everyday life and the desire to maintain harmony and protection within the household. The rituals often involved offerings of food, wine, or incense, emphasizing the reciprocal relationship between the family and the protecting spirits.These statuettes also reveal insights into Roman art and craftsmanship. Usually made of bronze, but sometimes of terracotta or other materials, the statuettes are finely detailed despite their small size, showcasing the skill of Roman artisans. The Lar statuettes are not just religious artifacts but also representations of Roman social values, emphasizing the importance of family, tradition, and continuity.

ITEM: Pilgrim flask (Ampulla) of Saint Menas and Greek inscriptionMATERIAL: PotteryCULTURE: ByzantinePERIOD: 7th Century A.DDIMENSIONS: 100 mm x 65 mm (without stand)CONDITION: Good conditionPROVENANCE: Ex English private collection, acquired between 1960 - 1980PARALLEL: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession number 17.194.2291Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Export Licence. If you are from outside the European Union, we will have to apply for the export licence again for your country, this takes 3 to 5 weeks and has a cost of 5% of the hammer price, this amount will be added to the final invoice.The Saint Menas pilgrim flasks, originating from the Byzantine period (roughly 5th to 7th centuries CE), are iconic clay vessels used by Christian pilgrims who visited the shrine of Saint Menas in Egypt. Saint Menas was a revered Christian martyr, and his shrine, located in Abu Mena near Alexandria, was a major pilgrimage site during the Byzantine era. Pilgrims would purchase these flasks at the shrine to carry home holy water or oil, believed to have healing and protective properties. These flasks served not only as religious souvenirs but also as physical reminders of the spiritual journey.Typically made of terracotta, the Saint Menas pilgrim flasks are small, flat, and round with a pair of handles on either side of the body for easy portability. The flasks were often stamped with images of Saint Menas, who is usually depicted standing with outstretched arms, flanked by two camels. This imagery refers to the legend of his death and burial, in which camels miraculously carried his body to its final resting place. The flask's design was both symbolic and functional, encapsulating the holiness of the relics pilgrims brought back.These flasks provide valuable insights into the religious practices and devotional culture of Byzantine Christianity. They reflect the importance of pilgrimage in the lives of early Christians and illustrate the role of material objects in fostering a connection between the faithful and the divine. The widespread distribution of these flasks, discovered across the Mediterranean, indicates the far-reaching influence of Saint Menas' cult and the vibrant exchange of religious practices within the Byzantine world.