Cougar jeune naturalisé entier sur une branche, puma concolor

Cougar jeune naturalisé entier sur une branche, puma concolor. photo Cornette de Saint Cyr

Annexe II/B Cites importation FR 1009319931 I - Estimation : 6 000 / 7 000 €

Cornette de Saint Cyr - Saint Quentin en Yvelines. Vente du Dimanche 3 avril 2011. Salon de la Chasse de Rambouillet - Saint Quentin en Yvelines. Expert André Marchand  (Tel : 06 16 02 17 84). Pour tout renseignement, veuillez contacter Maître Bertrand Cornette de Saint-Cyr et Olivier de Lapeyriere au 01 47 27 11 24 et/ou 06 99 28 45 26.

Ours blanc naturalisé entier, ursus maritimus.

Ours blanc naturalisé entier, ursus maritimus. photo Cornette de Saint Cyr

Annexe II/B Cites importation FR 1009315742 I - Estimation : 22 000 / 25 000 €

Cornette de Saint Cyr - Saint Quentin en Yvelines. Vente du Dimanche 3 avril 2011. Salon de la Chasse de Rambouillet - Saint Quentin en Yvelines. Expert André Marchand  (Tel : 06 16 02 17 84). Pour tout renseignement, veuillez contacter Maître Bertrand Cornette de Saint-Cyr et Olivier de Lapeyriere au 01 47 27 11 24 et/ou 06 99 28 45 26.

Tigre femelle naturalisé entier position assise, panthera grisis

Tigre femelle naturalisé entier position assise,  panthera grisis. photo Cornette de Saint Cyr

Annexe I/A CIC n° FR 1109305289 K - Estimation : 22 000 / 25 000 €

Cornette de Saint Cyr - Saint Quentin en Yvelines. Vente du Dimanche 3 avril 2011. Salon de la Chasse de Rambouillet - Saint Quentin en Yvelines. Expert André Marchand  (Tel : 06 16 02 17 84). Pour tout renseignement, veuillez contacter Maître Bertrand Cornette de Saint-Cyr et Olivier de Lapeyriere au 01 47 27 11 24 et/ou 06 99 28 45 26.

Record for Any Paul Gauguin Print Sold at Auction Established Today at Sotheby's

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Crouching Tahitian woman seen from the back (Field 75).

LONDON.- This morning at Sotheby’s in London , ten prints by Paul Gauguin from the Collection of Stanley J. Seeger, sold for £1.54 million ($2.47 million), almost four times the pre-sale low estimate for the group. A new auction record for a print by Paul Gauguin was achieved when Crouching Tahitian Woman Seen From The Back sold for £577,250 ($924,466), over three times the estimate (£180,000-220,000). The traced monotype, or ‘printed drawing’, was fiercely contested by a number of determined bidders, finally selling to a private collector on the telephone after a five-minute battle.

Earlier in the sale, there was much excitement surrounding a pair of rare woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer – widely considered the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance. The earliest printed star charts, A Map of the Northern Sky and A Map of the Southern Sky, sold for £361,250 ($578,542) to Daniel Crouch Rare Books, over three times the low estimate. The price achieved established a new record for a woodcut by Dürer at auction.

These two celestial maps are the oldest printed star charts published in Europe. Dated circa 1515, they were produced in Nuremberg under the patronage of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, and were the product of an innovative collaboration between Dürer, the eminent Viennese mathematician, cartographer and astronomer Johannes Stabius and German astronomer Conrad Heinfogel. The woodcuts depict the northern and southern skies known to European astronomers at the time, and combine with great skill the accuracy of the stars with constellation figures as visualised by the Greeks and Romans. There are only ten other examples of the 1515 star charts extant in institutions worldwide, and the present set – estimated at £120,000-180,000 – is one of only three recorded with contemporary hand-colouring. Aided by Dürer's reputation, these star maps were highly influential and became a source of inspiration for successive mapmakers.

Distilling iconography influenced by Antiquity, Greek geometrical studies and Islamic scholarship, the woodcuts display Dürer's virtuosity and interest in science and mathematics. The maps show the stars of the forty-eight constellations based on Ptolemy's second century star catalogue, the Almagest. Early western maps of the skies showing both stars and constellation figures appeared circa 1440; however, the present maps were the first to chart a coordinate system with accurate placement of the stars. They attest to the role that Nuremberg played as a centre of printing as well as for the manufacture of scientific instruments.

The map of the northern hemisphere is richly decorated with the twelve signs of the Zodiac, to be read counter-clockwise. Four ancient authorities appear at each corner of the northern chart, each in their national dress, holding a celestial globe: Aratus representing the Greek, Ptolemy the Egyptian, Al-Sufi the Islamic and Marcus Manilius the Roman tradition of astronomy. The map of the southern hemisphere displays distinctly fewer stars and constellations. At the time, Europeans had not yet charted the southern sky; this is reflected in the pared down composition of the map, with its areas of vacant constellations.

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Crouching Tahitian woman seen from the back (Field 75).

Traced monotype in sanguine and black, with the drawing in pencil and red crayon on the reverse,  circa  1901-02, a richly inked impression of this unique work with strong contrasts, cited and illustrated by Field, printed by the artist in the Marquesas, on fine japan paper; sheet: 318 by 258mm; 12 1/2 by 10 1/4 in. Estimate 180,000—220,000 GBP. Lot Sold 577,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: Ex coll. Aristide Maillol; John Rewald; Galerie Druet, Paris;
Sotheby's, July 7 1960, Lot 144; J. Speiregen, Cannes; August Laube, Zurich

NOTE: I have just done a series of experiments in drawings with which I am fairly well pleased, and I am sending you a tiny sample. It looks like a print, but it isn't. I used a thick ink instead of pencil that's all.

Paul Gauguin, 1900, in a letter to Ambroise Vollard.

The Crouching Tahitian Woman seen from the Back was printed in the Marquesas, where lacking any form of printing press, Gauguin continued to explore and develop the technique of the traced monotype. Initially employed as a cheap and easy method for the duplication of drawings, the monotype replaced the charcoal and pencil drawings produced during the last four years of Gauguin's life. A traced monotype involves tracing a design onto a sheet of paper which has been placed over a heavily inked sheet. The pressure of the drawing tool on the reverse of the top sheet picks up the ink of the second sheet underneath. Once the traced sheet is peeled off the inked sheet, the verso of the top sheet reveals the traced monotype and finished print.

The generic pose references Gauguin's painting Tahitiennes sur la plage (Wildenstein 462, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman, New York), made in 1892. In its present form, however, the print is a prototype of an idea that is perfected in the 1902 painting Femme Accroupie (W. 613, today lost) and L'Appel (W. 612, Cleveland Museum of Art). It is possible that the present work is a study in preparation for these works.

The process of tracing, repeating, reversing and changing scales was fundamentally a process of transformation and was essential to Gauguin's oeuvre. This can be seen in his explorations through different media which repeat the same motif: a drawing (exhibited in the recent Gauguin exhibition at the Tate, Private Collection, provenance Andre Fontainas), a traced monotype (printed in black only, sold at Christie's New York, 1997, lot 106, $266,500) and a gouache monotype of 1902 (Field 133).

Careful examination of Crouching Tahitian Woman reveals the white lines of the hid quarter of a dog, which is a trace of a lost monotype (Field 74); this enhances the rich complexity of the work.

The work has formally been in the collection of the artist Aristide Maillol (1861-1944) and the eminent Gauguin scholar, John Rewald (1912-1994). Aristide Maillol was a friend and supporter of Gauguin, who was influenced by his work; he modelled his terracotta Woman with Crabe of circa 1905 after this pose.

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Le Pecheur buvant aupres de sa Pirogue (G. 46; M. K. J. 33).

Rare woodcut printed in black and brown, with highlights in orange and purple crayon in the body and foreground, pale blue wash in the waves, 1894, the second (final) state, still printing with relief, cited in Kornfeld where only six other impressions are recorded, printed by the artist in Pont-Aven/Paris, on japan paper; sheet: 205 by 139mm; 8 1/4 by 5 1/2 in. Estimate 80,000—120,000 GBP. Lot Sold 361,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: Ex coll. Robert Bevan (given by Gauguin to the English painter, Robert Bevan, who lived in Pont-Aven during 1890-91 and 1893-94); Sotheby's London, 1981 (£12,100)

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Idole Tahitienne (Guerin 44; Mongan Kornfeld Joachim 32)

Extremely rare woodcut printed in black, with reddish-terracotta and orange-ochre printed in the manner of a monotype, the colours strong, circa 1894-95, cited in Kornfeld where only eight other impressions are recorded, printed by the artist in Pont-Aven/Paris, on thin japan paper; sheet: 151 by 117mm; 6 by 4 5/8 in. Estimate 30,000—50,000 GBP. Lot Sold 169,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: Ex coll. Frelinghuysen his sale Sotheby's New York, 20 January 1965, Lot 82 ($1,900); Richard S. Field his sale Christie's New York, 1 November 1983, Lot 247 ($19, 800)

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903),  Oviri (G. 48; M. K. J. 35.

A very rare woodcut printed in reddish brown, the figure remodelled in watercolour and the background reworked in pale blue, yellow and green wash, 1894, a fine atmospheric impression of this unique work, cited in Kornfeld where 18 other impressions of this highly important subject are recorded, only five of which have added hand-colouring, printed by the artist in Pont-Aven/Paris, on wove paper; sheet: 205 by 113mm; 8 1/8 by 4 1/2 in. Estimate 60,000—80,000 GBP. Lot Sold 133,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: Ex coll. Francesco (Paco) Durrio; Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, 7-8 June 1978, lot 321, SF 33,000; August Laube, Zurich

NOTE: "You were wrong that day when you said I was wrong to say I was a savage. It's true enough: I am a savage. And civilized people sense the fact. In my work there is nothing that can surprise or disconcert, except the fact that I am a savage in spite of myself. That's why my work is inimitable".

Paul Gauguin, 1903, in a letter to Charles Morice

Oviri means 'wild' or 'savage' in Tahitian. In the primitive mythology of the island, Oviri-moe-aihere or 'the savage who sleeps in the forest' is the goddess of death and mourning. It is also the title of a melancholy song transcribed by Gauguin in Noa Noa, the artist's illustrated journal from his trip to Tahiti.

The art historian Christopher Gray saw in Oviri the expression of the 47 year old Gauguin's disillusionment and discouragement: 'all his strength had been poured into his art and he felt that he was no longer making any progresses'. Although the title Oviri is by no means unequivocal, it is clear that the dominant notion is that of the savage and that the word expresses the artist's own attraction to the wild. Here, Gauguin illustrates his desire to reconnect with primitive society, whilst turning his back on Western civilisation from which he had voluntarily exiled himself.

One of the most fundamental principles in Gauguin's creative process was repetition. It is therefore not surprising that the present impression is only one manifestation of this mysterious creature. Aside from the seventeen or so uniquely printed impressions of the woodcut, Gauguin made at least one drawing, two monotypes (Field 30 and 31), one related woodcut (M. K. J. 36), two oils (Where are you going, 1892 Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; and The Idol, 1898 The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg) and the famous stoneware ceramic, arguably his greatest work in that discipline (1894 Musee d'Orsay, Paris). Gauguin referred to the sculpture as his 'Murderess' and asked in one of his letters dated 1900 to Daniel de Monfreid for the sculpture to be sent to Tahiti and placed over his tomb. Although Monfreid did not send it, one of the bronzes made from the plaster copy was placed on the artist's grave in Antuona in 1973. A number of exhibitions devoted to primitivism have revealed the influence of Gauguin's Oviri sculpture on Picasso by way of his friend Paco Durrio, the notorious previous owner of the present impression. It has even been suggested that one of the figures in Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907 Museum of Modern Art, New York) is based on the stoneware ceramic.

The sculpture as well as various other depictions of Gauguin's Oviri show a woman of monstrous proportions clutching a wolf cub to her hip with a beast, possibly a second wolf, curling in submission at her feet.

Gauguin also titled his plaster self-portrait of 1894-1895 "Oviri", making it his allegorical portrait. The plaster is now lost but is known to us through a few later bronzes taken from the model.

Gauguin is known for developing his own procedures. The interplay between monotype, hand-colouring and woodcut is therefore typical of Gauguin's pattern of creativity.

Richard Brettel states that "the woodblock for Oviri is unique in Gauguin's oeuvre because of the manner in which it was printed. In Pont-Aven during the summer, Gauguin had experimented with his methods of inking the block. The impressions of Oviri take this experimental inking to extremes that defy description. Indeed, most of the surviving impressions seem not to have been printed with printer's ink, but with mixtures of oil paint, ink, and solvents dabbed either on the block or possibly on a secondary support like a rough canvas or cardboard and then transferred on the block. For this reason, the figure of Oviri seems to arise from a primordial ooze of earthy blackness... She is a primal androgyne in a setting that is defined only by the flame like leaves of a palm tree with no trunk, no roots, and ultimately no reality".

See Richard Brettel, Françoise Cachin, Claire Frèches-Thory, Charles E. Stuckey, The Art of Paul Gauguin, Exhibition Catalogue, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., The Art Institute of Chicago, 1988, pp. 369-376.

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903),  changement de residence (G. 66; M. K. J. 54).

Woodcut printed in ochre and black, 1899, the chiaroscuro effect is produced by the imposition of the second (final) state printed in black over the impression of the first state (of two) printed in brown, numbered 23 in black ink verso, from an edition of approximately 30, cited in Kornfeld where he only records 19 impressions with this chiaroscuro effect, printed by the artist in Tahiti, on thin Japon pelure; sheet: 225 by 300mm; 8 7/8 by 11 7/8 in/image: 162 by 300mm; 6 3/8 by 11 7/8 in. Estimate 15,000—20,000 GBP. Lot Sold 97,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: Ex coll. Georges-Daniel de Monfreid; Paul Prouté S.A., Paris; August Laube, Zurich; an unidentified possible collector's mark 'G' in pencil at lower left tip of sheet (not in Lugt)

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Soyez amoureuses, vous serez heureuses (G. 58; M. K. J. 55).

Rare woodcut printed in brown and black, the colours rich and strong, 1898, the first state (of two) is printed in brown on wove paper, the second (final) state is printed in black on Japon pelure, the chiaroscuro effect is produced by the imposition of the second (final) state on Japan pelure over the impression of the first state (of two) on wove paper, numbered no 1 in ink at lower left of image, from an edition of approximately 30, cited in Kornfeld where he records only 19 impressions with this chiaroscuro effect, verso off-setting from another impression of the same subject, printed by the artist in Tahiti; sheet: 166 by 277mm; 6 1/2 by 10 7/8 in. Estimate 15,000—20,000 GBP. Lot Sold  73,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: Ex coll. George-Daniel de Monfreid; Paul Prouté S.A., Paris; August Laube, Zurich

Paul Gauguin  (1848 - 1903), le porteur de feï (G. 64; M. K. J. 46)

Woodcut, 1898-99, a good strong impression of the second (final) state, numbered 24 in ink at lower left of image, from an edition of approximately 40, cited in Kornfeld where only 20 other impressions are recorded, printed by the artist in Tahiti, on Japon pelure paper; image: 163 by 285mm; 6 1/2 by 11 1/4 in/sheet: 182 by 300mm; 7 1/8 by 11 3/4 in. Estimate 8,000—12,000 GBP. Lot Sold  46,850 GBP

NOTE: Kornfeld, June 1977, lot 301 (CHF 22,000); August Laube, Zurich

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Te Atua (les dieux) (G. 60-61; M. K. J. 53).

Rare woodcut printed in black with chiaroscuro effect, 1899, the first state (of two) printed on wove paper, the second state printed on Japon pelure, the grey and chiaroscuro effect is produced by the imposition of the second state on Japon pelure over the impression of the first state on wove paper, not cited in Kornfeld where 27 other impressions of this subject are recorded, only 12 of which have this spectacular chiaroscuro effect, printed by the artist in Tahiti; sheet japon pelure: 300 by 226mm; 11 7/8 by 8 7/8 in/sheet wove paper: 261 by 254mm; 10 1/4 by 10in. Estimate 18,000—22,000 GBP. Lot Sold 43,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: August Laube, Zurich

 

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Projet pour une Assiette: Leda (G. 1; M. K. J. 1).

Rare lithograph with watercolour and gouache hand-colouring in white and olive green, 1889, signed in pencil, inscribed Dessins Lithographiques by the artist, from the first edition, on canary yellow wove paper; sheet: 296 by 246mm; 11 5/8 by 9¾in Estimate 25,000—35,000 GBP. Lot Sold 32,450 GBP.

NOTE: The first printed work the artist ever produced, this rare lithograph served as the cover for Gauguin's Dix Zincographies, an album prepared for the important Synthetist exhibition at the Café Volpini in 1889. According to Boyle-Turner and Josefowitz in The Prints of the Pont-Aven School, unsold proofs of this subject were left uncoloured on large sheets of paper, while impressions such as the one offered here were cut down to fit the Dix Zincographies album covers. It was these trimmed proofs that were coloured with gouache and watercolour by the artist.

While the exact size of this first edition is unknown, Kornfeld states that 30-50 impressions were probably produced, and not all of the prints were assembled into albums. A second edition of approximately 50 impressions was published by Ambroise Vollard in the early 1900s. These works were printed in black and white on simili-japan paper.

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), L'Univers est cree (G. 93; M. K. J. 18).

Woodcut printed in orange and black, the fish in foreground printed in red and partially with stencil, printing with relief, 1893-94, on smooth japan paper; image: 204 by 354mm; 8 by 13 7/8 in./sheet: 250 by 398mm; 9 7/8 by 15 5/8 in. Estimate 15,000—20,000 GBP. Lot Sold  27,500 GBP

NOTE: Ex coll. Henri M. Petiet (cf. L. 2021a)

Paul Gauguin(1848 - 1903), Le titre pour 'le sourir' (G. 74; M. K. J. 61).

Woodcut, 1899, a strong impression, numbered 7 in ink at lower left of image, from an edition of approximately 30, cited in Kornfeld where only 17 other impressions of this subject are recorded, printed by the artist in Tahiti, on Japon pelure paper; image: 136 by 217mm; 5 3/8 by 8 1/2 in/sheet: 155 by 225mm; 6 1/8 by 8 7/8 in. Estimate 12,000—15,000 GBP. Lot Sold 21,250 GB

NOTE: Provenance: Gustave Fayet; with Paul Prouté, Paris 1978; August Laube, Zurich

Paul Gauguin(1848 - 1903), Femme Animaux et Feuillages (G. 59; M. K. J. 43).

Woodcut, 1898, a good, strong impression of the second (final) state, numbered 14 in ink to the left of the monogram, from an edition of approximately 40, cited in Kornfeld where only 26 other impressions of the same subject are recorded, printed by the artist in Tahiti, on Japon pelure paper; /sheet: 175 by 315mm; 6 7/8 by 12 3/8 in. Estimate 12,000—15,000 GBP. Lot Sold 20,000 GBP

NOTE: Provenance: Galerie Kornfeld, sale 162, June 1977, lot 300; August Laube, Zurich

Sotheby's. Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints, 30 Mar 11, London www.sothebys.com

Crânes en noyer, marbre, météorite, jais, os, ébèbe, septaria de Madagascar, bronze, pierre reconstituée, corne noire, pyrite,.

Crâne aumônière en noyer sculpté et gravé.. Travail probablement allemand, XVIIème s -XVIIIème siècle. photo Eve

en partie basse et sur les tempes de rinceaux entourant une réserve évidée. Le sommet comporte une fente entourée de feuillages sculptés pour recevoir les pièces. Il ouvre à l'arrière par un portillon en fer consolidé de croisillons permettant la récupération des offrandes. 14 x 14 x 14 cm - Estimation : 7 000 - 9 000 €

Crâne sculpté en marbre jaune Flandres XVIIème siècle. photo Eve

Haut: 14,5 cm - Estimation : 5 000 - 6 000 €

Rare crâne sculpté dans une météorite NWA. photo Eve

Haut: 8 cm Poids: 880 grs - Estimation : 5 200 - 5 800 €

Grand crâne de calvaire sculpté en marbre blanc XVII-XVIIIème siècle. photo Eve

Haut: 14,5 cm - Estimation : 4 000 - 5 000 €

Lunter. Vanité. Jais sculpté. photo Eve

de grandeur nature, monogrammé à l'intérieur de la mâchoire. Haut 16 cm, Long: 20 cm - Estimation : 3 300 - 3 800 €

L'artiste appartient à un collectif de sculpteurs partageant leur lieu de vie et qui estiment que leur travail est une oeuvre collective et ne signent donc que de leur prénom.

Grand crâne en bois sculpté laqué blanc. Italie XVIIème siècle. photo Eve

gravé sur les dessus d'une croix et des lettres IHS. Haut: 14 cm - Estimation : 3 200 - 3 800 €

Crâne, Mémento Mori, en os sculpté, XVIIème siècle. photo Eve

probablement dans une tête d'humérus sur une base en bronze argenté. Haut: 7,5 cm - Estimation : 2 500 - 3 000 €

Crâne en bois sculpté gravé « Mémento Mori » XVIIIème siècle. photo Eve

Haut: 16cm, Long: 21 cm - Estimation : 2 200 - 2 500 €

Crâne en ébène sculpté.  Début XIXème siècle. photo Eve

mâchoire inférieure mobile, dents en ivoire.Haut: 8,5 cm - Estimation : 2 000 - 2 500 €

Crâne en septaria de Madagascar sculpté. photo Eve

sur un socle en marbre vert de mer et bronze doré. Haut: 34 cm - Estimaton : 2 000 - 2 200 €

«Mélancolie», crâne et main patinés sur un socle en jaspe. photo Eve

Haut: 29 cm - Estimation : 1 500 - 1 800 €

Crâne en plâtre patiné et peint destiné aux étudiants en néphrologie. XIXème siècle. photo Eve

Haut: 23 cm - Estimation : 1 400 - 1 800 €

Deux crânes adossés en bois sculpté et laqué crème et vert dans les orbites. Allemagne XVIIème siècle. photo Eve

Haut: 11 cm - Estimation : 1 300 - 1 600 €

Philippe Cramer (1970). Head Light, 2007. photo Eve

Bronze et éclairage des yeux à LED, signé, daté et numéroté 1/12. 20 x 20 x16 cm. Estimation : 1 300 - 1 500 €

Un certificat d'authenticité sera remis à l'acquéreur

Important crâne sculpté en bois patiné XVII-XVIIIème siècle. photo Eve

Haut: 17 cm (éclats à la patine) - Estimation : 1 000 - 1 500 €

Chope d'étudiant en forme de crâne en porcelaine émaillée. Allemagne, vers 1900. photo Eve

monture en métal, bouton poussoir en forme de coquille. Gravée d'inscriptions « Réjouissons nous/ nous sommes toujours jeunes... » - Estimation : 1 100 - 1 400 €

Crâne en pierre reconstituée. photo Eve

Haut: 23 cm - Estimation : 1 000 - 1 200 €

Crâne sculpté en buis XVIIIème siècle. photo Eve

Haut: 8 cm - Estimation : 1 000 - 1 200 €

Vanité en bois sculpté et patiné  XIXème siècle. photo Eve

figurant un crâne posé sur des tibias croisés et un livre et sur lequel s'accroche les racines d'un tronc d'arbre. Estimation : 800 - 900 €

Crâne en os sculpté sommé d'un serpent enroulé. XIXème siècle. . photo Eve

monté sur un socle mouluré en palissandre monté sur un socle mouluré en palissandre  Haut.: 9 cm - Résultat : 900 €



Crâne en corne noire.  XIXème siècle. photo Eve

monté sur un socle en bois mouluré. Haut: 14 cm - Estimation : 800 - 900 €

Crâne en résine (?). photo Eve

orné sur le dessus d'un symbole maçonnique et reposant sur une base rectangulaire en palissandre et incrustations de nacre. Haut: 10 cm - Estimation : 800 - 900 €

Crâne en bois naturel sculpté. XIXème siècle. photo Eve

monté sur une base en bois naturel mouluré. Haut: 12,5 cm - Estimation : 800 - 900 €

Crâne en bois sculpté et laqué. Italie ? XVIIIème siècle. photo Eve

Estimation : 700 - 900 €

Demi-crâne en terre cuite patinée noire. photo Eve

Haut: 29 cm - Estimation : 700 - 900 €

Crâne sculpté en pyrite.

Haut: 7 cm - Résultat : 850 €

Colonne composée d'une enfilade de crânes en bois de cerf sur un socle en bois. photo Eve

Haut: 16 cm - Résultat : 200 €

Crâne aux tibias croisés Pierre calcaire et plâtre. photo Eve

Haut: 23 cm - Résultat : 280 €

Crâne anatomique. photo Eve

destiné aux études de médecine portant les références 1943/n°6 Haut: 16 cm  Estimation : 200 - 300 €

Provenance: Professeur Lapierre

Rare petit crâne en chrysocolla sculpté. photo Eve

Haut: 4 cm - Résultat : 320 €

Crâne sculpté en bois de cerf. photo Eve

Haut: 5,5 cm - Résultat : 420 €

Eve. Lundi 28 mars à 14h00. Drouot - Richelieu - Salle 11. EMail : contact@auctioneve.com - Tél. : +33 (0)1 53 34 04 04

 

Christie's to Sell Giant Pearl in Dubai, Expected to Sell for as Much as $250,000

The baroque drop-shaped natural pearl weighing 239.7 grains (59.92 carats). Estimate: US$180,000-250,000. © Christie’s Images Limited 2011.

DUBAI (REUTERS).- Auction house Christie's will put one of the world's largest pearls on the block at its Dubai spring jewelry sale on April 20 in a nostalgic reminder of the Emirate's pearl diving past.

The auction house is showcasing an array of pearls, diamonds, gems and gold jewelry ahead of the sale. Pearls are especially unique to Dubai, as pearl hunting was a major source of income a century ago in the port city.

Christie's -- who have been holding regular auctions in the Middle East since 2006 -- saw regional sales reach $51 million last year, up from recession lows of $18-20 million in 2009. Globally, the art and jewelry-selling powerhouse posted record sales of $5 billion in 2010.

"2009 was a very difficult year for us. Volumes were down and we had price softening," said Michael Jeha, managing director of the Middle East. "But, last year saw a real maturity in strength and return to growth. We had a general recovery."

One of the most interesting pieces on sale this year is a drop-shaped pearl in a silver and grey shade at almost 60 carats. One of the largest natural saltwater pearls recorded to date, it is mounted as a pendant on a diamond-studded chain necklace. Christie's has estimated it at up to $250,000.

"This part of the world likes things that are unique and rare," said David Warren, head of Christie's Middle East jewelry department.

"If you look out on the street, you'll see that quite a number of cars are customized by the manufacturers as special "one-offs.' Similarly, the collectors want something they think is unique."

Close to one hundred jewelry lots - estimated at a total $5-$6.5 million - will be available at the auction next month. Items range from an elephant-shaped gem ring worth $4,000-$6,000 to a diamond flower necklace which converts into a tiara with matching earrings worth $450,000-$550,000.

This sale will be much smaller than the previous one, estimated at approximately $13.5 million, since last year's sale included watches and a private collection. Warren added that it had been hard finding good jewelry to sell.

STRONG RETURNS
To date, Christie's has sold over $200 million worth of art and jewelry since the start of its twice-annual inaugural auction in the Gulf city in 2006.

Dubai is its only Middle East office. While there are no exact plans for more offices in the region, Jeha said they are looking to expand. His team also frequently travels throughout the region to meet with clients or stage events.

Alongside the jewelry auction is the contemporary and modern picture auction on April 19. Contemporary Middle Eastern art has gained interest in Dubai over the years, including the fifth annual Art Dubai earlier this month.

While unrest sweeping through the Arab world could be a worry for some, Jeha is confident that the strong sales from last year will continue in 2011.

"Recent sales show that we are performing extremely strong and picking up from where we left off last year," he said. "But of course, things in the Middle East could change very rapidly."

The clients at local auctions have diversified in the last few years, said Jeha. Approximately 70 percent of the clients at the last auction were from the Middle East while 30 percent came from cities such as New York, London and Hong Kong.

"It shows clearly that the market is continuing to internationalize. The interest is deepening and that's important for long-term sustainability" he said. "We want to continue to expand participation in the market."

While the backgrounds of the clients differ, Jeha added that preferences in taste have become similar.

"The Middle East clients are very international," he said. "They travel constantly, and their taste, accordingly, has become far more inline with that globally," he said. "The clients in the Middle East are global buyers.". By: Catherine Ngai. (Editing by Paul Casciato)

Enough is enough: Dior s’affiche sur le Palais de justice !

Palais de Justice côté Seine, Paris, France - Photo Pline - 2008 - Licence CC BY-SA 3.0

PARIS [30.03.11] – Une bannière publicitaire pour le parfum « J’adore » de Dior installée sur la façade du Palais de Justice provoque le mécontentement des magistrats, alors que le procès de Galliano aura lieu prochainement.

Cette campagne de publicité permet de financer les travaux de restauration de la façade, estimés à 2 millions d’euros.

Une affiche publicitaire pour le parfum « J’adore » de Dior a été installée lundi sur la façade en travaux du Palais de justice de Paris.

Un geste perçu comme indécent par l’Union syndicale des magistrats (USM), alors que John Galliano, l’ancien directeur de la maison de couture sera jugé pour injures et diffamation antisémites le 12 mai prochain. Dior aurait versé « près de 200 000 euros » pour obtenir cet emplacement sur le monument historique selon Richard Samas-Santafe, responsable de l’USM indigné, qui considère cet affichage « choquant sur le plan des principes » et révélateur de la « ruine » du service public.

De fait, le Palais de justice est classé Monument historique et la grande bannière sur fond noir recouvrant sa façade n’est pas du plus bel effet visuel. Cette campagne de publicité est amenée à se poursuivre jusqu’en décembre 2011 pour financer les travaux de restauration, estimés à 2 millions d’euros. Elle s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une nouvelle disposition à l’article 103 du Code du Patrimoine, adoptée en 2007 et autorisant « l’installation de bâches d’échafaudage comportant un espace dédié à l’affichage » sur les Monuments historiques en travaux, à condition que les recettes financent les chantiers.

En janvier 2011 le musée d’Orsay soulevait la controverse en s’habillant en Chanel pour masquer ses échafaudages et financer ainsi son plan de restauration de 11 millions d’euros. Pour les mêmes raisons, l’Opéra Garnier avait fait appel à Ralph Lauren et H&M, et Place Bellecourt à Lyon, un immeuble classé, arborait les couleurs de Google Chrome.

Ce type d’affichage qui semble envahir monuments et musées est encore plus frappant en Italie, où plusieurs directeurs de grands musées se sont mobilisés contre cet « empaquetage publicitaire ». (Avec AFP) www.artclair.com

Property of a Palm Beach Private Collector Brings $8.4 Million at Sotheby's New York

 A Rare Chinese ‘Famille-Rose’ ‘Millefleurs’ Altar Garniture, Qianlong Seal Marks and Period (detail). Photo: Sotheby's.

 NEW YORK, N.Y.- Following the success of last week’s Asia Week sales series at Sotheby’s New York, which brought an incredible $71.3 million for Chinese porcelain and works of art, today’s auction of Property of a Palm Beach Private Collector achieved $8,397,649, almost double the pre-sale high estimate*. The auction was led by a strong group of over 80 pieces of Chinese porcelain and works of art, most notably A Rare Large Chinese ‘Famille-Rose’ ‘Millefleurs’ Altar Garniture bearing six character Qianlong marks and of the period, which more than doubled it’s high estimate in selling for $2,098,500. The garniture has provenance going back to England at the end of the 19th century, and is further distinguished by the fact that all five pieces have survived together.

 

A Rare Large Chinese ‘Famille-Rose’ ‘Millefleurs’ Altar Garniture. Qianlong Seal Marks and Period. Photo: Sotheby's.

comprising a censer raised on three cabriole legs and set with curved upright handles, with a later carved and pierced wood cover set with a rock crystal finial, a pair of candlesticks and a pair of gu vases, each piece finely painted with a dense pattern of colorful flowerheads within gilt rims, the interiors and the undersides of the bases enamelled in turquoise. 6 pieces.; height of candlesticks 18 1/4 in., 46.3 cm. Estimate: $500,000-700,000. Lot Sold $2,098,500 (£1,309,843) to Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art

PROVENANCE: Richard Bennett, Esq., D.L., Thornby Hall, Thornby, Northamptonshire, from circa 1900.
Edgar Gorer, London, 1910
The Collection of Judge Elbert H. Gary, New York (by 1911).
American Art Association, Inc., New York, 19th April, 1928, lot 58.
Parish-Watson & Co., New York.
French & Company, New York.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker, Chinese Porcelains and Hardstones, London, 1911, vol. II, pl. 200.

NOTE: Complete altar garnitures are rare, and the present example appears to be the only known complete set in a millefleurs pattern. The complex and colorful decoration is extremely striking in combination with the simple, bold metalwork-derived forms of these devotional pieces and it is likely that the luxuriant flower decoration was intended to symbolize prosperity, a subject not inappropriate for an Imperial altar garniture. Millefleurs patterns first appear on wares made during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor, but seem to have reached a pinnacle of quality during the Qianlong period, as subsequent Jiaqing and Daoguang marked examples tend to be less finely executed.

Unsurprisingly, given the complex nature of the decoration, and the resultant skill and time required for their execution, millefleurs patterns are also very rarely found on wares of the scale of the present examples. Most closely related in size are a vase from the Grandidier Collection, now in the Guiment Museum, illustrated by M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain - Famille Verte, Famille Rose, London, 1987, pp. 118-9, no. 164; and a beaker in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, illustrated in The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 15, no. 37. The latter vase is also marked on the exterior and may have originally been part of a larger garniture set.

The present garniture has a distinguished provenance to two important collections. Richard Bennett (b. 1849) was a major collector of books and manuscripts as well as Chinese porcelain, and appears to have acquired many of his pieces direct from sources in China in the late 19th century. Much of his collection was sold through Edgar Gorer in 1911 to William Hesketh Lever, whilst the present garniture was already in the possession of the American Judge Elbert H. Gary by 1911, when Gorer and Blacker published their extensive two volume work Chinese Porcelains and Hardstones, in which the present garniture is illustrated. Gary (1846-1927) was an integral force behind the founding of U.S. Steel in 1901, for which he brought together J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and Charles M. Schwab. The steel town of Gary, Indiana was named for him on its founding in 1906. He lived in New York in grand style and collected primarily under the influence of Sir Joseph Duveen. The sale of his decorative arts alone was conducted over three days and his Chinese ceramics warranted a separate introduction in the auction catalogue.

Other highlights from the Chinese works included a group of six Rare Chinese ‘Famille-Rose’ ‘Soldier’ Vases offered over two lots–one as a pair and one as a group of four–which achieved $1,565,000 in total. Today represented possibly the first time that six vases of this rare, large and highly-decorative form have appeared together in one sale. Additionally, A Fine Chinese ‘Ru’-Type Vase, Qianlong Mark and Period soared past its pre-sale estimate of $60,000 in achieving $794,500.

 

A Fine and Rare Chinese ‘Famille-Rose’ ‘Soldier’ Vases and covers, Qing dynasty, circa 1740. Photo: Sotheby's.

each of tall baluster form, finely painted around the sides with two ladies standing on a terrace with two deer and a crane observing Xi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West, as she appears before them seated on a phoenix, attendants floating amongst clouds behind her, all beneath a deep, elaborately patterned border of iron-red foliate scrolls and blue enamelled clouds around the neck and shoulder, the domed covers similarly patterned and surmounted by gilt-biscuit lion-dog knops. Together with a pair of later giltwood stands. 6 pieces; height of vases 50 in.; height of stands 13 1/2 in. 127 cm; 34.3 cm. Estimate 300,000—500,000 USD. Lot Sold 872,500 USD (£544,598) to Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art

PROVENANCE: Property of a Gentleman, sold, Sotheby's, London, 4th November, 1969, lot 182.

NOTE: The terms 'soldier' or 'dragoon' which are frequently applied to vases of this massive size are taken from an event in 1717, when Augustus the Strong, (1670-1733), King of Poland and Elector of Saxony and inveterate porcelain collector, traded a regiment of soldiers for a group of porcelain including several blue and white Kangxi period vases of this very large size. Those vases came from the collection of Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia and had been housed within his own porcelain collection at Schloss Oranienburg.

'Soldier' vases, despite their large size, appear to have been made in some quantity, and examples exist in blue and white, iron-red and gilt, Imari and famille-rose palettes. Most of these are now found in the West and it is generally assumed that they were made for the export market, although the subject matter and particularly fine quality of the decoration on the present examples might suggest otherwise. Figural decoration, particularly on the large scale of the present pieces, is an extremely rare subject for vases of this size, which are usually decorated with flowering plants or exotic birds. Only one other pair is known with directly related figural decoration. Depicting large figures of ladies on a terrace playing a game of go, that pair was formerly in the collection of Alfred Morrison at Fonthill House, and was sold at Christie's, London, 18th October, 1971, lot 30; and again at Sotheby's, Paris, 27th June, 2001, lot 316

 

A very Rare Set of Four Chinese 'Famille-Rose' 'Soldier' Vases and Covers. Qing Dynasty, circa 1740-50. Photo Sotheby's

each of tall baluster form, finely painted with a continuous scene of peonies and other flowering plants in a garden with rockwork and blue fencing, beneath a ruyi-edged border filled with flowerheads on a blue scroll ground and a formal border of flowerheads around the waisted neck beneath a bamboo and flowerhead band around the rim, the covers each painted with matching patterned panels beneath a lotus knop. Together with four later giltwood stands. 12 pieces. Estimate 200,000—300,000 USD. Lot Sold 692,500 USD (£432,245) to an Anonymous

NOTE: No other groups of four identically decorated famille-rose 'soldier' vases which have survived together appear to be recorded. A pair of vases with the same subject matter and same distinctive palette dominated by pink, blue and purple, was sold at Christie's, London, 2nd July, 1962, lot 107.

 

A Fine Chinese ‘Ru’-Type Vase, Qianlong Mark and Period. Photo Sotheby's

of archaistic form, with rounded shoulders beneath a cylindrical neck set with two short tubular handles, all covered in an even, unctuous gray-blue glaze, thinning to white at the neck rim and at the tops of the handles, the footrim dressed in dark brown; height 7 5/8 in., 9.4 cm. Estimate 40,000—60,000 USD. Lot Sold 794,500 USD (£495,912) to a, UK Dealer.

NOTE: Imitations of the celebrated Song dynasty 'Ge', 'Ru' and 'Guan' glazes were extremely popular during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, and appear most often on vessel of archaistic form. 'Ru'-type glazes appear in a number of different blue and blue-gray shades, with some exhibiting a crackled surface and others smooth as in the present example. The brown wash on the foot was intended to simulate the dark brown bodies of many of the Song wares, and may also be seen on lots 15 and 19 in the present sale.

Although many different archaic forms were copied or adapted, the form of the present lot is extremely unusual, with tubular handles of this type appearing most frequently on 'Ge' or 'Ru'-type glazed vases of conventional fang hu form.

 

A Pair of Chinese ‘Famille-Rose’ Fish Bowls, Qing Dynasty, circa 1735-40. Photo Sotheby's

each very finely painted on the exterior between gilt biscuit mask handles, with peonies, prunus and other flowers between narrow pale green diaper bands below the rim and on lower body, the flat rim reserved with panels of flowers on a green and lavender diaper ground, the interior painted with fish amongst weed and peony and magnolia. Together with later giltwood stands. 4 pieces; diameter of fishbowls 22 1/2 in., height of stands 12 in. 57.2 cm; 30.5 cm. Estimate 80,000—120,000 USD. Lot Sold 314,500 USD (£196,305) to an Asian Private Collector

PROVENANCE: Collection of Alfred Morrison (1821-1897), Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire (bearing 'Fonthill Heirlooms' paper labels numbered 592/2)
Collection of John Morrison
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Margadale of Islay, T.D.
Christie's, London, 18th October, 1971, lot 12.
Vita Juel, London.

NOTE: During the middle of the 19th century Alfred Morrison assembled one of the finest English collections of Chinese porcelain and works of art. Justly celebrated for both its quantity and quality, the porcelains in the collection included both Imperial pieces and fine examples of wares made for export to the West during the reigns of the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. The present fishbowls, which fall into the latter category, are of a general type made in some quantity - judging by the number of surviving examples - but which are rarely so finely decorated. An example of the more usual type is illustrated by George C. Williamson, The Book of Famille-Rose, Tokyo, 1970, pl. LIII; and another pair may be seen in the present sale, lot 60, below.

 

 

A pair of Chinese Export 'Famille-Rose' Fish Bowls. Qing Dynasty, circa 1775. Photo Sotheby's

each painted wtih phoenix birds amongst flowers and blue rockwork in a fenced garden, set with gilt biscuit handles. Together with later giltwood stands. 4 pieces; diameter 23 in. 58.4 cm. Estimate 30,000—50,000 USD. Lot Sold 86,500 USD

 

Two Chinese Underglaze-Red Bottle Vases, Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period. Photo Sotheby's

each globular body well painted in varying tones of underglaze-red with three Buddhist lions, their eyes picked out in underglaze-blue,  all beneath a slender neck and border of stiff leaves and fretwork below the slightly flared rim. Together with two later gilt-metal stands. 4 pieces; heights 15 3/4 and 16 in. 40 and 40.6 cm. Estimate 30,000—40,000 USD. Lot Sold 182,500 USD (£113,913) to an American Private Collector

NOTE: Bottle vases decorated in underglaze-red with this subject matter appear to have been made in at least two sizes, with examples of the smallest size - usually 6 to 7 inches in height - more commonly found. The present examples are also unusual in having the addition of the stiff leaf border around the neck, which appears on only one other recorded example, that from the Collection of Lord Barnard, sold at Christie's, London, 28th July 1975, lot 126. An interesting variation on the same theme, however, can be found a bottle from the Collection of Augustus the Strong, now in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, illustrated by Eva Strober, "La maladie de porcelaine." East Asian Porcelain from the Collection of Augustus the Strong, Leipzig, 2001, p. 51, (together with two other smaller examples). This bottle has the addition of large stiff leaves beneath the rim and a ruyi border around the base of the neck, both executed in iron-red enamel and gilding, as well has having gilt highlights on the body of the lions. This overglaze decoration was almost certainly added in Europe. For a fine example of a large bottle of the more usual type without the stiff leaf border, see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. II, p. 109, no. 734.

 

A pair of Chinese Hardstone Figures of Cranes. Late 19th / 20th Century. Photo Sotheby's

each with jadeite body, grey jade beak and carnelian crest, supported on separate green hardstone, possibly spinach jade, legs and rockwork base. 4 pieces; height 18 1/2 in. 47 cm. Estimate 15,000—25,000 USD. Lot Sold 146,500 USD (£91,442) to an Asian Dealer

Eighteenth-century English furniture also performed strongly, led by A Fine and Large George II Giltwood Side Table in the Manner of Matthias Lock, circa 1750 that brought $362,500, more than triple its high estimate, as well as A Pair of George III Giltwood Mirrors that sold for $122,500.

 

A fine and large George II giltwood side table in the manner of Matthias Lock, circa 1750. Photo Sotheby's

the later rectangular marble top with molded edge above a pierced frieze carved with rocaille and foliate conjoined C-scrolls centered by an acanthus spray flanked by C-scrolls with feathered flamework, raised on cabriole legs made of conjoined acanthus foliate and rocaille-carved legs headed by cabochons and centered by floral garlands and ending in scrolled acanthus-carved feet; height 35 in.; width 73 in.; depth 27 in. 89 cm; 185.5 cm; 69 cm. Estimate 70,000—100,000 USD. Lot Sold 326,500 USD (£203,795) to an Anonymous.

PROVENANCE: By repute, Rothschild family of Vienna
Wildenstein & Co., New York

NOTE: The present table with its bold carving and robust design bears numerous similarities to the designs and work of Matthias Lock (b. c. 1710-d. 1765). During the 1740s Lock embarked on a new facet of his career issuing a series of engraved plates illustrating carvers' ornament in the French taste, the first of these issued in 1740 being A New Drawing Book of Ornaments, Shields, Compartments, Masks &c., this being followed in 1744 by Six Sconces and in 1746 by Six Tables. A number of these were re-issued in the 1760s, and in 1752 he published a number of designs in collaboration with H. Copland.

Similar manuscript drawings for the present table are included in two folio volumes of drawings which were acquired by the Victoria and Albert in 1862 and 1863 from his grandson George Lock. Largely unpublished, they include many original compositions and others which are closely related to the published work of Thomas Chippendale and to Ince and Mayhew.

Two designs from Six Tables, 1746, and several drawings from the Lock Album contain carved elements found on the present table. These include: the C-scroll and cabochon carving to the heads of the legs, the conjoined C-scroll apron (Six Tables, plate 9), the floral garland to the legs (Six Tables, plate 10), the central cartouche made up of C-scrolls surrounded by ruffled flamework (Lock Album, no. 108), the large acanthus spray to the central cartouche (Lock Album, no. 2584), and the foliate scrolled feet which scroll inwards (Lock Album, no. 2584). The pierced rocaille and flamework to the frieze is found in almost all of the table designs. It is also interesting to note that the present table has a flat front, which follows the design of the two tables in plate 9 of Six Tables, as well as the two manuscript drawings, no. 2584 and 108.

Matthias Lock is recorded as one of a number of joiners and carvers bearing the same name and probably members of the same family which appears to span three or more generations. After being apprenticed to his father, also Matthias, a joiner in the parish of St. Paul's, Shadwell in London, and to Richard Goldsaddle, a carver in the Parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, he appears to have become a journeyman in his own right in 1731. Other than his recorded marriage to a Mary Lee in 1734, no other documents appear to survive regarding his career until 1744 when his name appears in Thomas Johnson's The Life of the Author. Johnson (b. c. 1714-c. 1778) was an eminent carver, gilder and designer who, in 1744, was employed in the workshop of Thomas Whittle, the London carver and gilder. It is obvious from Johnson's memoirs that Lock was also employed by Whittle at that time, describing him as 'the famous Matthias Lock, the most excellent carver, and reputed to be the best Ornament draughts-man in Europe'. It is further apparent that Lock had been employed in Whittle's workshop for some years and that he held an influential position within it. Lock obviously became Johnson's mentor, lending him his drawings to copy and furthering his skills as a craftsman, designer and draughtsman. Although Lock's association with Whittle and his partner Samuel Norman seems to have continued until at least 1755, Johnson does note that he had 'greatly declined in his health, so that he did not attend the shop so much as their business required'. While his precise role with Whittle's firm still remains unclear, his parallel career as an independent contractor is equally not fully documented, although Christopher Gilbert believes that he did work in this capacity for Thomas Chippendale.

A table with similar pierced rocaille apron to the present table originally in the collection of Sir John Mordant Cope of Bramshill, Hants., is now at Temple Newsam House, no. 451 (illustrated in Christopher Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall,, London: 1978, vol. II, p. 360); the form of the legs is very similar to a mahogany altar table by William and Richard Gomm made for Stoneleigh Abbey, circa 1764; the robust carving also bears similarity to a pair of tables which were at Lowther Castle, Westmorland before 1947 and sold in these rooms, Property from a Private Collection, October 28-29, 1988, lot 474 ($480,000) and a table from the collection of the Earl of Wilton, formerly at Ditchley Parks, sold in the same aforementioned sale, lot 476 ($190,000), another smaller table with very similar feet and legs sold at Christie's, New York, October 21, 1999, lot 218 ($66,000); another table with similar legs sold at Sotheby's, London, John Keil, Furniture from 154 Brompton Road, April 7, 1998, lot 25. Furthermore it is worth comparing the carving of these tables to the carving and form of a pair of wall brackets attributed to Lock and sold at Christie's, New York, Property from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Saunderson, April 15, 2005, lot 200.

A pair of George III Giltwood Mirrors in the manner of John Linnell, circa 1760. Photo Sotheby's

height 6 ft. 7 in.; width 41 in. 200.6 cm; 104.1 cm. Estimate 50,000—70,000 USD.Lot Sold 122,500 USD (£76,462) to an Anonymous

An early Victorian Mahogany and Parcel-Gilt Composition Center Table. Photo Sotheby's

with associated inset circular brocatelle marble top; height 29 1/2 in.; 4 ft. 8 1/2 in. 74.9 cm; 143.5 cm. Estimate 20,000—30,000 USD. Lot Sold 104,500 USD (£65,227) to an Anonymous

Sotheby's. Property of a Palm Beach Private Collector, 29 Mar 11, New York www.sothebys.com

La gestion des grands musées nationaux est tancée par la Cour des comptes, qui prône un changement de cap

Entrée de la cour des comptes dans le 1er arrdt à Paris - Photo TouN - 2005 - Licence CC BY SA 3.0

Un rapport très fouillé de la Cour des comptes passe au crible dix ans de gestion des musées nationaux. La juridiction financière conteste notamment les orientations prises par les grands établissements publics comme Versailles, le Louvre ou Orsay, ainsi que le laxisme stratégique du ministère de la Culture. Au détriment des comptes publics et de la conquête de visiteurs jeunes ou défavorisés.

PARIS - Si les magistrats de la Cour des comptes n’ont pas l’habitude de tremper leur plume dans le vitriol, les conclusions du rapport que sa 3e chambre vient de publier sur les musées nationaux sont pourtant cinglantes. En près de 200 pages, elles constituent le premier bilan chiffré de dix années de gestion des 37 musées nationaux, période marquée par l’accession à l’autonomie des plus grands d’entre eux.

Celui-ci est tellement édifiant que la phase contradictoire – précédant toute publication de ce type – a été très tendue, le prérapport ayant provoqué la fureur de chefs d’établissement dont la politique y est contestée. Si la Cour distribue quelques satisfecit, concernant notamment la gestion scientifique des collections, la teneur globale du rapport est accablante. De 2001 à 2010, la politique des musées serait devenue « plus coûteuse, plus concentrée sur la région capitale et plus éloignée de plusieurs de ses objectifs qu’elle ne l’était il y a dix ans ». Chiffres à l’appui, le rapport balaie la vieille antienne d’une diminution des ressources des grands musées. En dix ans, « les dépenses directes et les dépenses fiscales de l’État au bénéfice des musées nationaux ont augmenté deux fois plus vite que celle du ministère de la Culture et trois fois plus vite que celles du budget de l’État ». Soit une hausse en fonctionnement de 58 %. Or, en prenant en compte la dépense fiscale – c’est-à-dire le mécénat (lire l’encadré) –, cette hausse serait comprise entre 70 et 90 % ! « Peu de secteurs, peu de services publics peuvent se prévaloir d’un tel effort », notent les rapporteurs.

Contrairement à nombre de rapports simplistes sur la valorisation du patrimoine, la Cour ne s’est pas contentée d’aligner des chiffres pour dénoncer le coût des musées. Plus subtil, son raisonnement est aussi implacable dès lors qu’il est mis en perspective avec les objectifs assignés aux institutions par les textes réglementaires, comme la démocratisation et l’élargissement des publics. Or, si la décennie a été celle d’une forte croissance de la fréquentation, le rapport déplore qu’elle n’ait été accompagnée ni d’un rajeunissement ni d’une ouverture sociale plus grande des publics. De 1989 à 2008, le taux d’ouvriers a chuté de 23 % à 15 %. Et ce sont les touristes, retraités et inactifs, en majorité parisiens, qui se sont précipités au musée. 

Absence de pilotage
Comment en est-on arrivé là ? La Cour pointe l’absence de pilotage stratégique de la part du ministère de la Culture alors que cette période a été marquée par la transformation de tous les grands musées en établissements publics autonomes. Sans que le mot ne soit cité, le phénomène de féodalisation du paysage muséal y est décrit par le menu, « les dirigeants des grands musées étant parvenus à s’extraire de l’encadrement des administrations ministérielles tout en continuant à dépendre des dotations de l’État ». Or, en l’absence de contractualisation, cette autonomie ne s’est pas accompagnée d’une recherche d’efficience, perpétuant une logique de dépenses, en multipliant, par exemple, les expositions temporaires, éditions ou activités culturelles non-muséales. Pour la Cour, cette politique de l’offre – jamais autofinancée – est contestable. Elle recommande de « réorienter cette offre au profit d’actions vers les publics prioritaires ».

Face à l’indépendance de fait des grands musées, provoquant un « perpétuel embarras du ministère de la Culture », il a donc été impossible de construire une véritable politique muséale nationale. Deux exemples sont significatifs : la coopération avec la Réunion des musées nationaux, qui a fait l’objet de précédents rapports (lire les JdA no 300, 3 avril 2009, et no 301, 17 avril 2009) et la question de la politique tarifaire. Alors que loi « musées » de 2002 prévoit que le droit d’entrée doit « favoriser un accès au public le plus large », les musées ont augmenté leurs tarifs librement. Les rapporteurs notent que la dernière trace écrite d’une intervention du ministère sur ces questions remonte à… 2000. « Ce sont les tarifs qui ont le plus souvent servi de variable d’ajustement et non les dépenses », déplore le rapport. Et de poursuivre : « Nul ne peut se hasarder à dire qu’il n’existe aucun lien […] entre cette progression des tarifs et le repli de la fréquentation des musées par les Français issus des catégories socioprofessionnelles les plus modestes. » Par ailleurs, la mesure de gratuité pour les jeunes, instaurée en 2009, a tourné à la farce. Ses résultats « imperceptibles » ont permis aux musées de récupérer une lucrative compensation financière versée par le ministère et largement surestimée.

Si la Cour ne remet pas en cause une autonomie pour laquelle elle avait plaidé dans un rapport de 1997, elle déplore le manque d’objectifs d’efficience et appelle à faire mieux à moindre coût. Quitte à provoquer l’ire des syndicats, les magistrats militent pour des gains de productivité. Car cette politique « n’est plus soutenable pour l’avenir, étant donné l’état des finances publiques ». Or, les grands chantiers dans les tuyaux, dont la « pertinence économique et budgétaire devrait être démontrée », représenteraient un milliard d’euros d’engagements pour les années à venir, soit le double de la décennie étudiée. D’où, face à ce vertige, ce vigoureux appel à la sagesse. Sophie Flouquet. Le Journal des Arts - n° 344 - 1er avril 2011 (www.artclair.com)

Quelques vérités sur le mécénat

Le concert de louanges a souvent été unanime. Mais la Cour des comptes vient éclairer d’un jour nouveau le mécénat culturel. La Cour rappelle que le mécénat est une dépense fiscale, qui peut atteindre 90 % de déductibilité de la somme versée lorsqu’il s’agit d’acquérir un trésor national, sans compter les contreparties, jugées comme une « altération de la nature originelle du mécénat ». « C’est en réalité l’État qui finance ces acquisitions mécénées dont il ne supporte pas le coût en trésorerie », note le rapport. Plusieurs points font également l’objet de réserves : l’absence d’évaluation de coût global et le manque d’encadrement du dispositif, les attestations fiscales étant délivrées directement par les musées, sans contrôle.

Chinese bronze mirrors @ Christie's. Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections

Two silvery-grey bronze circular mirrors. Tang dynasty (618-907). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

The first cast in relief with the four divine beasts, dragon, phoenix, tiger and black tortoise, surrounding the knob which rises from a flower head encircled by stamen; the knob of the other flanked by a seated Daoist immortal and a phoenix in flight, with bamboo above and rocks amidst waves below; 5 and 5 1/8 in. (12.7 and 13 cm.) diam. (2). Estimate $4,000 - $6,000. Price Realized $52,500

Provenance: Both: J.T. Tai & Co., New York, 1966.

Two bronze mirrors. Tang dynasty, 8th-9th century. photo Christie's Ltd 2011

One of square form with indented corners, cast in low relief with a scaly dragon encircling the knob; the other large and of circular form, with a square flat knob within square outer fields, the inner field with angular scrolls flanked by characters arranged in quadrants, the outer field with broken lines, all surrounded by celestial motifs flanked by clouds; together with a thin circular mirror, the knob encircled by two incised long-tailed birds; 6¼ in. (16 cm.) square, 9 3/8 and 5 5/8 in. (24 and 14.5 cm.) diam. (3). Estimate $7,000 - $9,000. Price Realized $30,000

Provenance: All: J.T. Tai & Co., New York, 1966 or earlier.

Exhibited: First two: The Columbia University Exhibition of the T'ang Dynasty and Its Antecedents, Low Memorial Library, 1967, nos. 40 and 41, respectively.

Two bronze mirrors. Warring States Period (475-221 BC). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

Both flat cast with intertwined scrolling dragons reserved on a patterned ground, the larger with four dragons, one leg of each dragon extending back and then forming a zigzag terminating in a claw, all within narrow hatchured bands; the smaller with three dragons, the knob in the center rising from an openwork surround of a striding dragon; both mirrors with satiny black patina; 9½ and 7 5/8 in. (24.2 and 19.3 cm.) diam., box (2). Estimate $4,000 - $6,000. Price Realized $27,500.

Provenance: Both: J.T. Tai & Co., New York; first 1966 or earlier, second 1965.

Exhibited: Larger mirror: Aspects of Ch'ang-Sha Culture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 21 August - 24 September 1967.

Two large bronze lobed mirrors. Tang dynasty (618-907). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

The larger of octafoil form finely cast in high relief with two phoenixes standing either side of the knob and suspending tassle-hung emblems from their beaks, with two geese standing on lotus above the knob and a pair of mandarin ducks standing on a lotus leaf between two lotus flowers below, with two cranes and two geese also trailing tassels alternating with foliate sprays in the lobed outer field; the smaller of hexafoil form, the knob encircled by petals and a border of stamen, all surrounded by six flowers; 11¼ and 8 5/8 in. (28.5 and 22 cm.) across (2). Estimate $6,000 - $8,000. Price Realized $22,500

Provenance: Both: Frank Caro, New York, 1966 or earlier.

Three bronze lobed octogonal mirrors. Tang dynasty (618-907). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

One of barbed outline, the central field cast in relief with four immortals alternately riding cranes or horses, and with insects and clouds alternating in the lobed outer field, with blackish patina; the second cast with two ducks grasping tassels in their beaks standing on lotus stems flanking the knob, with a smaller duck below the knob and a lotus stem above; the third of barbed outline cast around the knob with alternating ducks and birds in flight separated by flower sprigs, with further sprigs and insects in the lobed outer field; together with a bronze circular mirror, Sui/early Tang dynasty, cast with four animals racing amidst grapevine in the center field and various animals and birds amidst grapevine in the outer field; 4¾, 5 1/8, 4¼ and 4 5/8 in. (12, 13, 11 and 11.7 cm.) across (4). Estimate $4,000 - $6,000 . Price Realized $13,750

Provenance: First mirror: J.T. Tai & Co., New York, 1966.
Second, third and fourth mirrors: Frank Caro, New York, 1966 or earlier.

Exhibited: First three mirrors: The Columbia University Exhibition of Art of the T'ang Dynasty and Its Antecedents, Low Memorial Library, March 1967, nos. 28, 24 and 30, respectively.

Two bronze circular mirrors. Eastern Han dynasty.(25-220). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

Both crisply cast, the first mirror with two groups of immortals, a tiger and a winged mythical beast, all separated by four nipples, within a hatchured band and an outer band of elongated dragons and scrolls; the other with Xiwangmu and Dong Wangfu, both with Daoist immortals and separated by four nipples and a horse-drawn chariot and a dragon, within a hatchured band and an outer band of dragons and clouds; 7 5/8 and 7 7/8 in. (19.5 and 20 cm.) diam., stand (2).. Estimate $4,000 - $6,000. Price Realised $13,750

Provenance: Both: J.T. Tai & Co., New York; the first acquired prior to 1977, the second 1966 or earlier.

Three bronze mirrors. Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

One crisply cast in high relief with an unusual mountain-like knob within a scalloped border similar to the outer border, between the two are four large pointed nipples surrounded by smaller nipples joined by scrolls; the largest with a large central knob encircled by six celestial creatures alternating with small bosses below bands of dogtooth and various animals flat-cast on the rim; the third of 'TLV' type, the central knob within a circle and then a square, the outer field with eight small nipples amidst T, L and V motifs, with narrow bands of dogtooth and zigzag pattern on the rim; 4¼, 5 and 4¼ in. (11, 12.7 and 11 cm.) diam. (3). Estimate $5,000 - $7,000. Ptice Realised $12,500

Provenance: First two mirrors: J.T. Tai & Co., New York, prior to 1977.
Third mirror: Frank Caro, New York, 1966 or earlier.

Three bronze circular mirrors. Eastern Han dynasty/Three Kingdoms period  (25-265). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

One with striding lions alternating with seated celestial beings and attendants around the knob, encircled by an inscription and a hatchured border, below dogtooth and zigzag bands on the rim; one of small size, the knob encircled by four celestial beings and various birds and animals, within a band of characters set between half circles, below bands of characters and scrolls on the rim; the third crisply cast with Daoist immortals seated within hexagonal panels separated by dragons, within a narrow band of squares enclosing four-character inscriptions alternating with various animals, some in pairs, including elephants and winged horses, and a further band of Daoist immortals and various animals including six dragons pulling a chariot racing around the rim; 5 3/8, 3¾ and 5 5/8 in. (13.5, 9.5 and 14.3 cm.) diam. (3). Estimate $5,000 - $7,000. Ptice Realised $11,875

Provenance: First and second mirrors: Frank Caro, New York, acquired 1966 or earlier.
Third: J.T. Tai & Co., New York, acquired prior to 1977.

Two bronze circular mirrors. Three Kingdoms period (220-280). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

Both crisply cast, the first with a dragon and a tiger confronted above the large knob, within a hatchured border and a band of scroll on the rim; the second with two pairs of dragons and tigers confronted around the knob, encircled by an inscription and a hatchured border below dogtooth and zigzag bands on the rim; 5 1/8 and 4 7/8 in. (13 and 12.4 cm.) diam. (2). Estimate $3,000 - $5,000. Price Realised $3,000.

Provenance: Both: J.T. Tai & Co., New York, 1965.

Christie's. Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 24 March 2011, New York, Rockefeller Plaza www.christies.com