Andy Warhol, Myths: The Star, 1981; Reigning Queens (Royal Edition): Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, 1985 & Liz, 1964
Andy Warhol, Myths: The Star, 1981. photo Phillips de Pury & Company
Screenprint in colors with diamond dust, on Lenox Museum Board, the full sheet, S. 38 x 38 in. (96.5 x 96.5 cm) signed and numbered 47/200 in pencil on the reverse (there were also 30 artist's proofs), published by Ronald Feldman Fine Art, Inc., New York, minor rippling, pressure marks in places along the perimeter of the sheet, occasional minor wear along the sheet edges (with associated minor ink loss), otherwise in very good condition, framed. ESTIMATE $40,000-60,000
Property of Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada
Andy Warhol, Reigning Queens (Royal Edition): Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, 1985. photo Phillips de Pury & Company
Screenprint in colors with diamond dust, on Lenox Museum Board, the full sheet, S. 39 1/4 x 31 3/8 in. (99.7 x 79.7 cm) signed and numbered R16/30 in pencil (there were also 5 artist's proofs), published by George C.P. Mulder, Amsterdam, occasional very minor scuffing visible in the blue inks, otherwise in very good condition, framed.ESTIMATE $35,000-45,000
LITERATURE Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann 335A
Andy Warhol, Liz, 1964. photo Phillips de Pury & Company
Offset lithograph in colors, on wove paper, with full margins, I. 22 x 22 in. (55.9 x 55.9 cm), S. 23 x 23 in. (58.4 x 58.4 cm) the colors exceptionally bright, signed and dated `65' in black ball-point pen, from the edition of approximately 300 signed and dated copies, published by Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, a few minute white spots, a pale foxmark at lower left, mat staining along the sheet edges, occasional minor creases in the margins, otherwise in very good condition, unframed. ESTIMATE $20,000-30,000
Property from the estate of Mrs. Harry N. Abrams
LITERATURE Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann 7
Phillips de Pury & Company. 8 June 2010. New York www.phillipsdepury.com
Robert JULIA (1920-2003) Les poivrons, 1964
Robert JULIA (1920-2003) Les poivrons, 1964
Tirage au gélatino bromure d'argent d'époque. Cachet au dos. 40 x 30 cm - Estimation : 200 / 250 €
Bibliographie : Robert Julia, Profession photographe, Couvent des Minimes, Perpignan, 2008, reproduit au catalogue
Catherine Charbonneaux - Paris..Experts : Hervé Naudy. Vente du Mercredi 9 juin 2010. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 10 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris. Pour tout renseignement, veuillez contacter la maison de ventes au 01 43 59 66 56
Treasures of the Chinese Scholar @ Nagel
A carevd agate brushwasher with lotos and boy on a carved wood stand, China, 19th ct. © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
B. 18,5 cm - Few very small chips, good condition - Estimate (EUR) 1500 Sold (EUR) 3 600
Property from an European private collection
A fine carved carneol brushwasher with tree and rock, China, 18th/19th ct © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
L. 13,7 cm. - Slightly chipped - Estimate (EUR) 3500 Sold (EUR) 3 600
A spinach-green jade seal with dragon handle, China, seal to base: jize huangxuan © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
7,5x7,5x8 cm - Minor wear - Estimate (EUR) 3000 Sold (EUR) 3 600
A rare large carnelian bowl with lingzhi and chilong, China, 19th ct. © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
L. 25 cm - Slightly chipped, one chip to rim restucked, fine age cracks - Estimate (EUR) 1900 Sold (EUR) 2 600
Property from an European private collection
A fine carved small jade ruyi scepter, China, 18th ct. © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
L. 19,3 cm - Old silver mounts to handle, possibly covering a break otherwise good condition - Estimate (EUR) 400 Sold (EUR) 2 600
Property from an old European private collection
A scholar's rock of yingshi type on a wooden stand, China © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
L. 27 cm - Good condition - Estimate (EUR) 900 Sold (EUR) 2200
A fine carved rhinoceros seal set in shape of a flask, China, 18th/19th ct © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
H. 7,7 cm. - Three small chips to edges - Estimate (EUR) 800 - Sold 2000
A fine carved ivory seal with recumbent ox, China, 18th/19th ct © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
H. 4,2 cm - no carved seal to base - Fine age cracks, good condition - Estimate (EUR) 700 - Sold (EUR) 1400
Property from an old German private collection
A carved crystal brushwasher with lingzhi branch, China © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
B. 13,7 cm - Good condition - Estimate (EUR) 1200- Sold (EUR) 1400
A fine carved jade brushwasher with three dragons amidst waves on carved wood stand, China, 18th ct. © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
D. 10,2 cm - Estimate (EUR) 30 000 Unsold
Property from the Fischer collection, Ascona
Cf. Sotheby's Hongkong 'Yuanmingyuan - The Garden of Absolute Clarity', Hongkong, 9.10.2007, Lot 1335
A well craved carneol brushwasher with bats and gourds, China, 19th ct © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
B. 17,7 cm. - Small chips - Estimate (EUR) 8000 Unsold
An oval opal cabochon on chinese wood stand © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
weight 223 gr. - Good condition - Estimate (EUR) 3500 Unsold
Property from an important German private collection
A very rare carved white coral dragon-shaped brushrest, China or Japan, 19th ct. © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
L. 17,2 cm - Few small chips to extremities Estimate (EUR) 3000 Unsold
Property from an old German private collection
A burlwood brushpot with zitan base, China, 18th ct. © 2010 Nagel - Auctions
H. 18,2 cm - Very slightly chipped, short age cracks - Estimate (EUR) 2500 Unsold
An inkstone, China, early 19th ct. © 2010 Nagel - Auctions L. 16,7 cm - Inscribed Kiri box: qingke shezhou yan - zhishi shanfang cang - Jijimu cover - Very minor wear, good condition - Estimate (EUR) 1500 Unsold A carved crystal brushwasher with lingzhi and chilong, China © 2010 Nagel - Auctions B. 15,2 cm - Good condition - Estimate (EUR) 1500 Unsold A taihu type scholar's rock on a wooden stand, China © 2010 Nagel - Auctions H. 22,5(39) cm - Small chips - Estimate (EUR) 1100 Unsold Nagel Auctions. Fine Asian Art. May 7th 2010 www.auction.de
La Roche Laffitte (née en 1943) Coquillages de Polynésie
La Roche Laffitte (née en 1943) Coquillages de Polynésie. photo Camard & Associés
Aquarelle. Signée en bas à droite. 52,5 x 79 cm (à vue) - Estimation : 1 000 - 1 500 €
Camard & Associés. Tableaux Modernes et sculptures. Mercredi 09 juin à 14h30. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 14. EMail : infoventes@camardetassocies.com Tél. : 01 42 46 35 74
Pierre-Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-Anvers 1640) Le sommeil de Pan.
Pierre-Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-Anvers 1640) Le sommeil de Pan. photo Camard & Associés
d'après un marbre attribué à Montorsoli Sanguine et rehauts de craie blanche sur papier beige 43 x 26,5 cm Papier filigrané (une sorte de R surmonté d'une forme, sur deux pontuseaux). Pliures. Deux taches grises sur le ventre (diamètre environ 1 cm). Estimation : 120 000 - 150 000 €
Provenance : - ancienne collection de Sir Charles Greville, son cachet au verso (L.549) ;
- ancienne collection Earl of Warwick, son cachet en bas à droite (L.2600) ; sa vente, Londres, Christie's, Manson and Woods, les 20-21 mai 1896
- ancienne collection Jules Augry (qui fut directeur de la Galerie Georges Petit)
Notre dessin, inédit, est à rapprocher d'une autre copie par Rubens du marbre attribué à Montorsoli (vers 1507-1563), vu sous un autre angle (anciennement au palais Barberini, la sculpture est actuellement conservée au City Art Museum de Saint-Louis, Missouri). Il s'agit d'une contre-épreuve à la sanguine, largement reprise et enrichie de lavis et de gouache, qui faisait également partie des collections Greville et Warwick (maintenant conservée à la National Gallery de Washington). Le dessin de Washington représente donc le motif du marbre de Montorsoli, un Pan couché en ronde-bosse, vu sur le côté, en sens inverse de la sculpture originale. Burchard et d'Hulst (Rubens Drawings, Bruxelles, 1963, n° 161) datent la contre-épreuve sous-jacente au dessin de Washington du séjour de Rubens en Italie, entre 1601 et 1608, tandis que madame Logan évoque la possibilité d'une datation plus tardive, peut-être d'après des dessins de Poelenburgh (gravés par Jan de Bishop), vers 1630 (voir A.M. Logan, compte-rendu de « Rubens-selected Drawings » par Julius S. Held, dans « Master Drawings », volume 25, n° 1, 1987, note du catalogue n° 40, p. 69). Cependant, la précision du rendu anatomique dans notre dessin de Rubens laisse perplexe face à la synthétisation induite par une copie d'après une oeuvre interprétée, en gravure ou en réduction.
D'autre part, notre dessin représente le Pan endormi vu par les pieds, dans le sens de la longueur. Cet angle de vue surplombant, donnant une vision inhabituelle et originale de la sculpture, s'explique si le dessinateur domine le motif du regard. Compte tenu du format du bloc de marbre - une figure grandeur nature en longueur posée sur le sol, comme un sarcophage antique -, Rubens devait s'être placé debout au pied de l'oeuvre.
Lors de son voyage en Italie, Rubens prit un soin particulier à étudier les antiques, comme le Sénèque qu'il dessina sous six angles différents. Il continua à copier les antiques qu'il pouvait voir lors de ses divers voyages en Europe, ou ceux dont il fit l'acquisition. Rubens avait dans sa maison un cabinet particulier où il conservait précieusement ses dessins d'après l'antique et ses dessins de grands maîtres : le Cantoor. Seuls quelques proches et élèves privilégiés avaient accès à ce trésor jalousement gardé (voir K. Lohse Belkin et F. Healy, « A house of art : Rubens as a collector », Anvers, 2004). Rubens, collectionneur insatiable, s'entoura d'antiques ou de représentations d'antiques, dont il décorait sa maison d'Anvers. C'est ainsi qu'il acheta en 1618 à Dudley Carlton un ensemble important que ce dernier avait acquis à Venise (voir K. Lohse Belkin et F. Healy, « A house of art : Rubens as a collector », Anvers, 2004). Rubens rédigea un traité, « De imitatione Statuarum », non publié de son vivant, que Roger de Piles édita en 1708 dans son « Cour de peinture par principes », où il affirme qu'il est nécessaire de comprendre l'art de la sculpture antique pour atteindre la perfection en peinture (voir A.M. Logan, « Peter Paul Rubens, the drawings », Metropolitan Museum, New York, 2005, p.115). La connaissance de la sculpture copiée doit devenir si parfaite qu'on ne doit plus sentir la pierre dans le motif repris, afin de lui redonner vie. Comme pour ses plus célèbres copies d'antiques, Rubens étudie donc le Pan endormi sous plusieurs angles.
Cette sculpture, peut-être exécutée vers 1533 par Montorsoli, fut au temps de Rubens tour à tour attribuée à Michel-Ange ou considérée comme un antique. Sa force d'évocation dût impressionner au plus au point Rubens pour qu'il en fasse des copies sous toutes les coutures. Rubens put voir le marbre du Pan endormi en Italie, où il séjourna entre 1601 et 1608. Cette oeuvre était regardée au début du XVIIe siècle comme pouvant être un antique.
La critique moderne l'attribue à Giovanni Angelo de Montorsoli (vers 1507-1563). Elève d'Andrea Ferrucci, il travaille pour Michel-Ange, en particulier à la sacristie de San Lorenzo, où il sculpte la statue de saint Côme. Il restaure pour le pape Clément VII des antiques, dont le célèbre Laocoon. Il est appelé également à Naples, Volterra et Messine, s'illustrant dans la sculpture funéraire. En Sicile, il travaille à la cathédrale de Messine et réalise dans cette ville deux fontaines importantes. On peut envisager que le Pan endormi soit une figure destinée à orner une fontaine, l'ouverture de l'outre sur laquelle s'appuie Pan ayant été évidée. La conjonction de cette hypothèse aux influences michelangelesque et antique sensibles dans la figure du Pan endormi amena la critique à attribuer ce marbre à Montorsoli.
Le professeur Jeremy Wood, sur la base d'une photographie, a reconnu en ce dessin une copie entièrement de la main de Rubens d'après une sculpture en marbre attribuée à Montorsoli. Nous le remercions pour son aide. Le professeur Wood prévoit de présenter ses recherches sur ce dessin dans sa future publication (prévue en 2011) du volume XXVI-III du « Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard », dans le segment consacré aux « Copies et adaptations d'après les artistes de la Renaissance et des époques postérieures », divisé en trois parties. La première, sur « Raphael et son école », vient d'être publiée (janvier 2010) ; la seconde, sur « Titien et les artistes d'Italie du nord », sortira en octobre 2010 ; la troisième, « Léonard de Vinci, Michel-Ange et les artistes d'Italie centrale », est prévue pour 2011.
Camard & Associés. Tableaux Modernes et sculptures. Mercredi 09 juin à 14h30. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 14. EMail : infoventes@camardetassocies.com Tél. : 01 42 46 35 74
'Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Qianlong reign' @ National Palace Museum
Pair of soup bowls in yang-ts'ai enamels with incised red ground pattern of flower brocade and landscape décor © National Palace Museum
The fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains in the collection of the National Palace Museum can be divided into two categories, painted fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains and yang-ts'ai porcelains. Masterpieces of unprecedented quality, these works had earned themselves the favor of the Ch'ien-lung emperor. During his reign, they were kept in the Ch'ien-ch'ing-kung Palace, where the emperor would admire them. The present exhibition concentrates on yang-ts'ai porcelains, although a number of fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains are also on view to demonstrate the differences between the two.
The Museum has in its collection more than five hundred fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains, with the majority made between the 5 th and 9 th years of the Ch'ien-lung reign(1741-1744). They are, in fact, a manifestation of the emperor's vibrancy and confidence in the early years of his 60-year reign, a period of great achievement in many spheres, as well as in the arts. At the request of the emperor, the supervisor of the imperial kilns at Ching-te-chen by the name of T'ang Ying(1682-1756) personally oversaw the production of the imperial wares twice a year, in the spring and then again in the autumn. It was here that T'ang developed a continuous line of innovative techniques to please his emperor, to produce porcelains which would be admired as "the work of the gods," such as the openwork revolving vases. It was also T'ang Ying that developed the "pattern of flower brocade" technique of incised decoration, which brought out the best in the enamel colors of yang-ts'ai. T'ang Ying was also the first to employ the term yang-ts'ai to refer to these porcelains. The Chinese character yang hints at the connection to the West, as it means "ocean" and, by extension, objects from overseas. Also, the decoration on these porcelains employed Western painting techniques. The yang-ts'ai porcelains had the personal stamps of Ch'ien-lung all over them, bearing poetry composed by his own hand as well as imperial seals belonging to him. Clearly, then, the Ch'ien-lung emperor greatly admired these porcelains, and perhaps even saw them as an innovative style adequately reflecting his reign when at the height of his powers.
Both yang-ts'ai and fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains used fa-lang enamel glazes, and this accounts in some way for the confusion that has surrounded them for many years. In fact, there are differences between the two in terms of where and how they were manufactured, as well as the decoration, poetry, seals and reign marks used. In the early Republican period the confusion was further exacerbated by the identification of the yang-ts'ai porcelains with the term fen-ts'ai. This exhibition will not only show 110 examples of yang-ts'ai porcelains, it will also seek to clarify the differences between yang-ts'ai and painted fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains, and clear up the confusion over the issue of fen-ts'ai wares.
Pair of dishes in fa-lang-ts'ai enamels with painting pattern of flower brocade and figures décor © National Palace Museum
The vast majority of yang-ts'ai porcelains and painted fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains kept in the Ch'ien-ch'ing-kung Palace were made in pairs. However, whereas both pieces in the yang-ts'ai pairs were virtually identical in their shape, decoration, composition and the details, the fa-lang-ts'ai pairs had slight differences in decoration. This is one of the ways in which the two types of porcelain can be distinguished from each other.
Pair of gall-bladder vases in yang-ts'ai enamels with incised blue ground pattern of flower brocade and band décor © National Palace Museum
Pair of gall-bladder vases in fa-lang-ts'ai enamels with sparrow and mynah bird décor © National Palace Museum
What are yang-ts'ai porcelains? According to T'ang Ying, supervisor of the imperial kilns, they are "porcelains on which a new technique borrowed from Western painting method is used." He also said that they were "white ceramics with paintings in wu-ts'ai colors, using Western techniques, hence the name." They were porcelains with outstanding paintings of figures, landscapes, flowers and plumage, using painting techniques from the West. The Archives of the Imperial Workshops of the time classify them as "fa-lang enamel ceramics in the Ch'ien-ch'ing-kung Palace," and the Ch'ing Court Inventories list both yang-ts'ai and fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains as "ceramics bearing Ch'ien-lung's seals." Clearly, then, the two types were closely associated with each other. Yang-ts'ai porcelains are classed as fa-lang-ts'ai enamel wares, and are painted porcelains employing Western painting techniques and décor.
Square vase in yang-ts'ai enamels on yellow ground with western floral décor © National Palace Museum
Ku vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with plantain leaves décor on yellow ground © National Palace Museum
1.The Introduction and Incorporation of Western Elements
From Ch'ing historical archives and actual examples we can identify the following criteria which qualify a piece of porcelain as yang-ts'ai:
(1) The use of Western shading techniques, especially in the rendering of the décor on the porcelains to give the body a three-dimensional quality.
(2) The use of white pigment on many of the leaf patterns on the flower illustrations, to represent light and shadow (a painting technique rarely seen on the painted fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains).
(3) The reliance on Western shading and perspective painting techniques on figurative compositions.
(4) The use of Western-style flowers, such as the chrysanthemum and anemone, and the liberal use of Western floral compositions for a number of decorative patterns.
Vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with décor of western floral and fungus © National Palace Museum
Gall-bladder vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with figures décor © National Palace Museum
2.Traditional Court Decoration Accompanied by Ch'ien-lung's Own Poetry and Seals
The yang-ts'ai porcelains were decorated with traditional Chinese landscape paintings together with floral decoration, predominantly with realistic paintings of flowers representing the four seasons, mixing white enamel pigments to create a more varied palette of tones. Stylistically, these paintings were similar to those of contemporary court painters, and the styles could be traced back to the flower paintings of the T'ang and Sung dynasties. Although one can see great similarities between the floral décor on both yang-ts'ai and fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains, the poems and seals used to decorate the two types were completely different. On fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains most of the poems and seals dated as far back and the T'ang and Sung, whereas with yang-ts'ai porcelains the selection of poems was mostly from Ch'ien-lung's oeuvre. The seals, too, were the emperor's.
Mei-p'ing vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with imperial poem and chrysanthemum décor © National Palace Museum
Mei-p'ing vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with imperial poem and chrysanthemum décor © National Palace Museum
Dish in fa-lang-ts'ai enamels on green ground with incised pattern of flower brocade and flowers of the four seasons décor © National Palace Museum
3.The Pattern of Flower Brocade Décor and Technique
The pattern of flower brocade began to be used on large amounts of painted fa-lang-ts'ai and yang-ts'ai porcelains in the 5 th and 6 th years of the Ch'ien-lung reign (1740-1741). This involved the application of decorative motifs over a dense brocade pattern on the surface of the porcelains. There were two types of brocade ground, the incised and painted forms, with the former involving incising intaglio lines and the latter being raised above the surface. These two techniques were used to create intricate brocade patterns of floral patterns, the wan (卍) character, floral roundels, hexagonal tortoiseshell, square calyx patterns and floral scrolls, as well as lotus petal patterns, geometric fret patterns and auspicious cloud patterns to decorate the borders and edging. This period represented the apogee of incised brocade work. All of the empty spaces and borders on examples seen in this exhibition, such as the openwork revolving vases, were filled with this type of brocade pattern, and it was to this that the term "pattern of flower brocade" referred. It was, in fact, one of the main features of T'ang Ying's yang-ts'ai porcelains.
Lidded spittoon in yang-ts'ai enamels with incised pattern of flower brocade © National Palace Museum
Vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with incised red ground pattern of flower brocade and butterfly décor © National Palace Museum
Teacup in yang-ts'ai enamels with incised blue ground pattern of flower brocade © National Palace Museum
Pair of small dishes in fa-lang-ts'ai enamels on yellow ground with incised pattern of flower brocade © National Palace Museum
4.Openwork Revolving Vases: the Work of the Gods
T'ang Ying, the supervisor of the imperial kilns, knew that Ch'ien-lung wished to preside over a renaissance in the arts, and he devoted his energies to creating innovations that would satisfy the emperor. The yang-ts'ai porcelains he created started to become more intricate from 1742, the 7 th year of the reign, onwards. The artisans at Ching-te-chen became adept at openwork carving, revolving parts, multilayered designs and complex decoration. These involved complex and difficult production processes, presenting the artisans with considerable challenges. The openwork revolving vase featured in the exhibition was to be lauded as the "work of the gods." In a memorandum presented to the emperor in 1743, T'ang Ying informed Ch'ien-lung that he had developed nine new designs, and all of these can be found among the yang-ts'ai porcelains in the Museum's collection.
Revolving gourd vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with Chang-kuan glaze and golden bats, clouds décor © National Palace Museum
Revolving bowl in yang-ts'ai enamels with landscape and imperial poem décor © National Palace Museum
Revolving openwork vase in yang-ts'ai enamels, with fish and aquatic plant décor, painted blue ground and gold tracery © National Palace Museum
There are entries to the yang-ts'ai porcelains in the Museum's collection in the Archives of the Imperial Workshops, the Court Inventories and T'ang Ying's memoranda to the emperor. A detailed review of these materials allows us to find out the time and place of manufacture, title and other information about the ceramic works. Before they were sent to the Ch'ien-ch'ing-kung Palace to be put on display, they would have had boxes made for them. Their titles would have been carved onto these boxes, and it is from here that we have obtained the names of the porcelains for this exhibition.
Kuan-yin vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with Indian lotus décor on cream-coloured glaze © National Palace Museum
Gall-bladder vase in yang-ts'ai enamels with cranes and plum blossom décor © National Palace Museum
The firing process used to create the pattern of flower brocade effect was very complex. First, the ceramic body was fired at a high temperature, and then the pattern would have been created over three or more successive firings at a lower temperature. The procedure was as follows:
1. Mold the clay into shape
2. Apply the reign mark with cobalt-based pigment
3. Cover with transparent glaze
4. Fire the biscuit in high temperature
5. Cover with red overglaze enamel and incised scrolling leaf pattern
6. Fire again to fix the incised pattern of flower brocade on red ground
7. Paint the landscape and flower décor over the enamels glaze
8. Fire again to fix the enamels glaze
This was the procedure used to fire the modern work, the soup bowl in yang-ts'ai enamels with pattern of flower brocade and landscape décor on a red ground.
國立故宮博物院著作權所有 Copyright © National Palace Museum. All Rights Reserved.
Archéologie : les squelettes de 80 gladiateurs exhumés en Grande-Bretagne
Gros plan sur l'un des crânes mis au jour à York
Grande-Bretagne - Si les combats de gladiateurs font généralement penser à la Rome antique, des historiens pensent avoir mis au jour un cimetière regroupant les corps de plusieurs dizaines de ces guerriers dans le nord de l'Angleterre.
Vieux de 2.000 ans, les restes de près de quatre-vingts jeunes hommes, tous ayant succombé à de profondes et multiples blessures, ont été exhumés par une équipe d'archéologues près de la ville de York. Leur découverte a tout d'abord laissé de nombreux spécialistes pantois, ceux-ci supposant que ces corps témoignaient d'une exécution de masse survenue dans la région il y a deux millénaires.
Mais en y regardant de plus près, archéologues et médecins légistes pensent avoir résolu le "mystère" engendré par cette étonnante découverte. Pour eux, les blessures caractéristiques relevées sur les corps, et en particulier de nombreuses décapitations et une morsure de fauve, prouvent que ces hommes n'étaient autres que des gladiateurs, ayant connu une fin tragique et sanglante.
Pour le Dr. Michael Wysocki, maître de conférence en anthropologie médico-légale : "La présence de traces de morsure est l'une des preuves les plus évidentes suggérant une connexion avec les arènes. Il semble peu plausible que cet individu ait été attaqué par un tigre alors qu'il rentrait chez lui à York, il y a 2.000 ans !" www.maxisciences.com
Découverts par une équipe d'archéologues près de la ville de York, les corps d'environ quatre-vingts jeunes hommes identifiés comme des gladiateurs témoignent de l'exportation des jeux du cirque par les Romains outre-Manche.
Kurt Hunter-Mann, l'un des responsables des fouilles, examine un squelette
Le Dr Michael Wysocki examine des ossements issus du site
Vue partielle de l'un des squelettes
Treasures: Aristocratic Heirlooms for Sale @ Sotheby's
A rare amber casket made to celebrate the union of Prince William IV of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal of Great Britain, North German, probably Danzig, 1734. Est: £200,000-300,000. Photo: Sotheby's
LONDON.- On Tuesday 6th July 2010, in the first ever sale of its type, Sotheby’s will bring together some 21 lots, the intrinsic quality and importance of which will be matched by extraordinary nature of their provenance. Ranging in date from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and emanating from all corners of Europe, the works in the sale span the entire range of the decorative arts, from porcelain to silver, snuff boxes to furniture, and textiles to objects of Vertu.
Mario Tavella, Sotheby’s Deputy Chairman Europe, who has spearheaded the sale, describes what first triggered the idea: “Someone asked me once: what makes something a treasure? I thought about it.... In my world, the world of objects, a treasure would be something which is not only beautiful, precious, rare and hidden, but which also tells a captivating story. These are the kind of pieces that provoke an almost visceral reaction when we look at them. It struck me that, in the general course of life, encounters with real treasures happen all too rarely. And so I made it my job to set about finding them. Now, with this sale, we have 21 works of art to which I feel the term treasure can justly apply. It is more than many might hope to see in one place in a lifetime.”
Having once formed part of some of Europe’s most prestigious aristocratic collections, the pieces selected for this sale constitute the pinnacle of their collecting category and have been chosen due to their combination of exceptional provenance with extraordinary craftsmanship. During the long and varied history of these works they have been associated with names such as Queen Marie Antoinette, the Dukes of Devonshire, the Rothschild family, the Imperial family of Russia, the Princes Carafa of Roccella, the Duke of Urbino, the Medici family and the Earls of Macclesfield, Strafford and Dartmouth. Although redolent with the names of Europe’s greatest families, what these pieces also share is a freshness to the market.
An Italian Engraved Ivory Inlaid Rosewood Centre Table made for the Duke of Urbino Francesco Maria II Della Rovere (1549-1631), c 1596-7, and subsequently part of the collection of the Medici family. Est: £500,000-1,000,000. Photo: Sotheby's
This extraordinary piece of furniture, probably made by a German craftsman working for the noble families in Italy, was commissioned sometime between 1596 and 1598 by the Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria II della Rovere (1549-1631). The circumstances behind the commission are poignant: Francesco was born blessed with good looks, intelligence strength and courage, but after a brief moment of freedom and youthful indulgence in Spain in the 1560s, he was promised in marriage Lucrezia d’Este, a princess of exceptional noble lineage, but a woman some 15 years his senior. Their loveless match did not produce the heirs their parents had hoped for and Lucrezia died childless in 1598. One year later, Fransceso married his sweet-heart cousin Livia della Rovere, and this table, together with a matching cabinet now in the Urbino Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, with their intertwining oak leaves, may well have been commissioned to celebrate the occasion.
Their marriage produced a son, Federico Ubaldo, who in turn married into the Medici family. His daughter, Vittoria della Rovere, was born in 1623 and it was to her that Franceso bequeathed the table. He sent it to her in Florence just months before he died, knowing that when he passed away Urbino would be taken over by the Church and would no longer enjoy the independence and freedoms of his rule.
His note to Vittoria, sent with the table and other precious things, is full of sadness: “I am sending to Your Highness all the jewels that remain in this house, after so much misfortune; and I am sending them to you whilst I am still alive because after my death who knows what will happen, Your Highness should receive them willingly as a demonstration of my affection poured out for you, and in your time may they adorn you; remembering first to adorn your soul with those virtues that are appropriate for ladies of your rank, and which make you ever more dear to your husband, his Serene Highness. And I kiss your hands.”
The table remained in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence until the death of Vittoria in 1694. It then passed to her second son, Cardinal Francesco Maria de’ Medici. After this, all trace of the table was lost until it reappeared, some twenty years ago1, in a Christie’s auction, whence it had been consigned by the descendents of Charles Butler, whose collection also included, for instance, Titian’s Tarquin and Lucretia (now in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge), as well as pictures by Rubens, Bellini and others, many of which now hang in major national museums.
The Great Silver Wine Cistern of Thomas Wentworth, 3rd Baron Raby, Ambassador Extraordinary to Berlin, 1706-1711. Made and engraved in the workshops of Philip Rollos Senior and Junior, and John Rollos, c.1705-6, bearing the arms of Queen Anne. Est: £1.5 – 2 million. Photo: Sotheby's
Among the most important pieces of English silver to have come to the market in the last 50 years, this monumental wine cooler measures 129.5cm from end to end, and weighs 11½ stone (2597 oz). Capable of holding many bottles or flasks of wine and a great quantity of ice, it is as “large as a small bathing-tub” and is one of only a very small number of English cisterns surviving from the late 17th/early 18th century.
Completely unrecorded since 1722 and unknown to scholars, it was made for the ‘fractious and gallant’ (as Winston Churchill described him) Lord Raby, an ambitious, quick-thinking Yorkshireman, who – having proven himself in various military and ambassadorial postings - was, in 1706, appointed Ambassador Extraordinary at the Court of the King of Prussia in Berlin.
In order that her ambassadors should dazzle in their respective posts, Queen Anne provided for each of them an “allowance” of silver and silver-gilt. The amount issued to Raby was 5893 ounces of silver – a huge amount by any standards. The allocated allowances could be used as each ambassador saw fit, and Raby chose to apply the lion’s share of his to the production of this gigantic tour de force of the silversmith’s art. Raby’s insistence that the cistern should be as large, heavy and impressive as possible was taken rather too literally by the silversmiths, with the result that far more silver was used than the Queen would pay for, leaving Raby with a substantial £40 bill to foot for the difference.
The cistern was made by Philip Rollos. One of the finest and most celebrated goldsmiths working in London at the time, Rollos was responsible for many of the largest and most important pieces of silver produced in England in the 17th and early 18th centuries. His son, John Rollos, was equally celebrated as an engraver. Both Philip and John also worked on a large silver-gilt basin for Raby on his appointment in Berlin. Sold at Sotheby’s in 1963, that piece is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Meanwhile, the cistern to be sold this summer has passed through the Wentworth family and their descendents, and has never before appeared on the market.
A rare amber casket made to celebrate the union of Prince William IV of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal of Great Britain, North German, probably Danzig, 1734. Est: £200,000-300,000. Photo: Sotheby's
This extraordinarily rare and beautifully crafted box was probably made to celebrate the union of Prince William IV of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain. They married at St James’ Palace in 1734, further reaffirming the strong ties between Great Britain and the Netherlands.
The amber from which the casket is made would have been dredged from the Baltic Sea, where it had been collected as fossilized resin from the forested land which had been there over 100,000 years ago. Since Paleolithic times, amber had been regarded as a precious material not only prized for the many hues of gold and yellow, but also because of its association with healing. Each piece found was rarely over two inches long, and this casket, copiously engraved with the arms of William IV, Prince of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal of Great Britain, is constructed of many hundred of such pieces. Never having appeared on the market before, it comes to sale by descent through the family of Wilhelm Adolph Maximilian V. Furst zu Weid, whom Anne married in 1871, William having died some 20 years earlier.
A set of three ivory painted and parcel-gilt Royal Pliants by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Séné (1748-1803) made for Queen Marie Antoinette’s Salon des Jeux at the Châteaux of Compiègne and Fontainbleau, Louis XVI, circa 1786-87. Together with a later 19th century copy. £150,000-250,000. Photo: Sotheby's
Together with a later 19th century copy. £150,000-250,000. These elegant folding stools were made for one of the most romantic figures in French history – Queen Marie Antoinette. They are three of a set of 64 she commissioned for the Royal Châteaux of Compiègne and Fontainbleau. 24 of these are still at Fontainbleau, while the remaining 40 were dispersed after the Revolution. Some of these have since found their way into museums and distinguished private collections, while the whereabouts of many others remains a mystery.
George III Axminster Carpet, England, by Thomas Whitty, late 18th century approximately 1323 by 572cm; 43ft. 5in. by 18ft. 9in. Photo: Sotheby's
This enormous and beautifully executed carpet was Axminster carpet at Powderham Castle was made by Whitty for the Music Room at Powderham Castle by 1798. Accounts vary as to who designed the carpet; it has been attributed to William, 3rd Viscount Courtenay (c.1768 - baptized 30 August 1768 – d. 26 May 1835), who together with some of his thirteen sisters, were accomplished amateur artists and who painted the medallions on the walls of the Music Room. It is equally possible that James Wyatt, the fashionable architect who designed the Music Room, which was added to the castle between 1794 and 1796, had a hand in its design, perhaps doing the cartoon for the instruments roundel which is apparently unique in Axminster carpets; the surrounding flower baskets and swags are paralleled in other surviving late 18th century Axminster carpets.
It was the tradition at Axminster, when a carpet had been completed, to take it to the Congregational Church of which Whitty was a member and to lay it out over the pews for the workers and townspeople to admire before it was packed up and dispatched to its new home. The great carpet from Powderham, having made its short journey to the church, then travelled the thirty odd miles to the castle, where it has remained for over 200 years; it is a rare occurrence for an 18th century Axminster carpet with such provenance to be made available for sale.
The Stowe State Bedchamber Mirrors; A Pair of Late George III carved giltwood mirrors, c 1759-60, the design attributed to Giovanni Battista Borra and possibly carved by Jean-Antoine Cuenot. Est £300,000-500,000. Photo: Sotheby's
Exhibited in the landmark The Treasure Houses of Great Britain show at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in 1985-6, this beautiful pair of wall-mirrors once formed part of the furnishings in the State Bedchamber at Stowe House, in Buckinghamshire. They were commissioned by Richard Grenville, 2nd Earl Temple, and supplied by Giovanni Battista Borra, who had recently travelled with Robert Wood and James Dawkins on their celebrated tour of Asia Minor and Syria. Borra had prepared the drawings for the ensuing book The Ruins of Palmyra and Baalbeck, and many of the precocious neoclassical motifs that are evident in the mirrors were surely inspired by what Borra had seen in Palmyra.
The mirrors were sold at auction in 1921, and have subsequently changed hands twice. Having remained in the same family for some 40 years, they now come to sale with an estimate of £300,000-500,000.
Blue and White stoneware Dish with Phoenix Design. Vietnam, 15th/16th century
Blue and White stoneware Dish with Phoenix Design. Vietnam, 15th/16th century © Theresa McCullough
Diameter: 13 ¾ in (35 cm) - Price on application Provenance: Private German Collection Theresa McCullough. By appointment. 311 East 72nd Street, New York NY 10021, USA. Tel: + 1 646 368 1717 - Cell: + 1 646 460 6950 - Email: info@theresamccullough.com - www.theresamccullough.com
Published: John Stevenson and John Guy, Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition, Avery Press, 1997, p. 310, fig. 246
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Lehman Brothers envisage de vendre sa collection d’art moderne
John Currin's "Shakespeare Actress" is among the works from the Lehman Brothers collection to be auctioned on Sept. 25. photo Sotheby's
NEW YORK (ETATS-UNIS) [07.06.10] – Lehman Brothers, la banque d’investissement qui a fait faillite en septembre 2008 envisage de vendre une majeure partie de sa collection d’art moderne chez Sotheby’s en septembre 2010.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., la banque d’investissement en faillite depuis 2008 et la société Neuberger Bernam, qui l’a racheté depuis, ont demandé à un juge de la US Bankruptcy Court de New York d’autoriser la vente de leur collection d’art moderne aux enchères publiques par la maison de ventes Sotheby’s New York en septembre 2010, a annoncé Bloomberg Businessweek.
Lehman et Neuberger Berman avaient réuni une collection d’œuvres d’art moderne – peintures, sculptures, dessins, gravures et installations – d’une valeur d’environ 10 millions de dollars selon le NY Times, soit environ 8,3 millions d’euros incluant des œuvres de Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Richard Prince ou encore Takashi Murakami.
Depuis sa faillite, Lehman Brothers a vendu une partie de sa collection, mais a gardé quelques œuvres. Le rétablissement progressif du marché de l’art en 2009-2010 conforte la tenue d’une vente. « C’est le bon moment pour maximiser la valeur de l’art » a déclaré un porte-parole de Lehman. Le produit de la vente servira à payer les créanciers de la société.
La vente de Sotheby’s comprendra plus de 400 œuvres acquises par la société dans les années 1990 d’artistes contemporains dont la côte a substantiellement augmenté depuis. Parmi les pièces maîtresses figure notamment un cabinet en bois de Hirst intitulé « We’ve Got Style (The Vessel Collection – Blue) » de 1993 rempli de verre et d’objets en céramique, une œuvre qui précéda la réalisation de ses célèbres cabinet remplis de mégots de cigarettes, de crânes ou de diamants. L’œuvre est estimé entre 800 000 et 1,2 millions de dollars. A quoi s’ajoutent des photographies de Felix Gonzalez-Torres ou encore une installation de 1986 de l’artiste californien John Baldessari, qui fait actuellement l’objet d’une exposition à Los Angeles et en octobre au Metropolitan de New York. www.artclair.com
