Verdura & Salvador Dalí

Étiquettes

“Ameoba” brooch, “Medusa” brooch, Cigarette case, Salvador Dalí, Verdura

“Ameoba” brooch of diamonds, rubies and gold by Verdura and Salvador Dali.

“Medusa” brooch of gold, morganite, ruby and miniature painting by Salvador Dali, 1941.

Cigarette case by Verdura of gold, antique ivory, opal, pearl and lacquer with miniature painting by Salvador Dali.

“Apollo and Daphne” brooch of gold, pink tourmaline, turquoise, and ruby by Verdura with miniature painting by Salvador Dalí (courtesy Verdura).

“Anthropomorphic subjects appear and reappear in my jewels,” Dalí once wrote. “I see the human form in trees, leaves, animals; the animal and vegetable in the human.” –

(Source thejewelryloupe)

Heart of ruby, Portugal, Rococo, c. 1780

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c. 1780, Heart of ruby, Portugal, Queen Maria of Portugal, Rococo

Portugal, Rococo, c. 1780, Heart of ruby ​​mounted in settings of silver and gold are tears of diamond, crown of thorns by emerald surrounds it, and diamond cross fire of ruby ​​are crowned. Photo courtesy Albion Art

This badge is something reminiscent of the Order of Christ of Portugal, but its authority is one that is dedicated to (1734-1816) Portuguese Queen Maria.

Insignia of the Order of Christ. Rococo, c. 1780, Portugal

Étiquettes

c. 1780, Diamond, Emerald, Gold, Insignia of the Order of Christ, Portugal, Rococo, ruby, silver

Insignia of the Order of Christ. Rococo, c. 1780, Portugal. gold, silver, diamond, ruby, emerald. Photo courtesy Albion Art

The Order of Christ founded 1532 as the prestigious rank of Portugal, which was intended to involve the authority dedicated to the royal family with limited to Roman Catholics.

A blue and white dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670

Étiquettes

'Master of the Rocks' style, Blue-and-White, circa 1670, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, early Kangxi period

A blue and white dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670. Estimate $10,000 – $15,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The dish, with flat, everted rim, is decorated in the ‘Master of the Rocks’ style with a mountainous river scene including a solitary figure of a sage walking beneath a pine tree. The underside is decorated with two further mountain scenes. 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm.) diam. Lot 3576 – Price Realized $18,750

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, 1985.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: Dishes like this example and the previous lot (3575), where the entire surface of the vessel is given over as the major decorative area, provided the Kangxi ceramic artist with a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate his skills in landscape painting. The style chosen to paint the scene on this dish is a version of the so-called ‘Master of the Rocks’ style. This style, which seems to have developed towards the mid-17th century in the final years of the Ming dynasty, continued to be popular in the early years of the Kangxi reign, with a very few examples being made as late as the turn of the century. The ‘Master of the Rocks’ style was by no means limited to the brush of a single artist, and appears in a number of versions on porcelains from about 1640 to 1700. It was used on porcelains decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and also those decorated in underglaze blue and copper red. There are even very rare examples where the style has been combined with famille verte enamels. The style itself is characterized by the use of ‘hemp-fibre’ strokes to produce rocky landscapes full of movement and drama, often combined with the use of fluid dots to depict scrub and foliage.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A large underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670

Étiquettes

circa 1670, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, early Kangxi period, Romance of the Western Chamber, Ten Choice Selections of Song Medleys Elegantly Illustrated, underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated, Woodblock illustration, Xiuxiang Gelin Shicui

A large underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670. Estimate $10,000 – $15,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The dish is decorated on the interior with a scene from the Romance of the Western Chamber, depicting Yingying’s servant Hongniang kneeling before Yingying’s mother and an attendant in a curtained pavilion. An inscription referring to the scene appears on the wall behind the mother. The dish is supported on an unglazed channeled foot. 13 1/8 in. (33.2 cm.) diam. Lot 3589 – Price Realized $62,500

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, 1986.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: Julia B. Curtis, ‘Decorative Schemes for New Markets: The Origins and Use of Narrative Themes on 17th-Century Chinese Porcelain’, International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London, 1997, p. 23, fig. 10.

Notes: In this scene, which is known as ‘Hongniang in the Dock’, Yingying’s maid Hongniang is shown being interrogated and rebuked by Yingying’s mother regarding her daughter’s relationship with Zhang Sheng. The text behind the seated mother reflects Hongniang’s view and reads rather bluntly: ‘Why persist in stopping them? Daughters and dead fish are not items to be retained’. A differently composed scene from the Xixiang ji depicting a tense encounter between Yingying’s mother and Hongniang decorates the Yuan dynasty meiping in the Victoria and Albert Museum, but the scene on the Curtis dish was almost certainly inspired by an illustration in the 1659 woodblock printed edition of the tale. (fig.1)

Fig. 1: Woodblock illustration to Xiuxiang Gelin Shicui (Ten Choice Selections of Song Medleys Elegantly Illustrated), 1659.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

An unusual underglaze-blue and green-glazed yellow-ground petal-lobed bowl, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722)

Étiquettes

'Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup', Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Du Fu, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period, Li Bai, petal lobed bowl, underglaze-blue and green-glazed yellow-ground, Yinzhong baxian

An unusual underglaze-blue and green-glazed yellow-ground petal-lobed bowl, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722). Estimate $12,000 – $15,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The deep bowl is molded with lobed sides and conforming rim and foot. Each lobe is decorated in underglaze blue, and aubergine and green glazes with one of ‘The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup’ as described in Du Fu’s Tang-dynasty poem, all set against a rich, egg-yoke yellow ground. The interior is also covered in yellow glaze and the center is decorated in underglaze blue with a robed figure, possibly the drunken poet Li Bai, reclining next to a wine jar. 7 ¾ in. (19.5 cm.) diam. Lot 3587

Provenance: Heirloom & Howard, Ltd., London, 1984.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: The poem ‘Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup’ (Yinzhong baxian) was written by the famous Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (AD 712-770) who, like many Tang dynasty men of letters, derived considerable enjoyment, and, apparently, inspiration, from drinking wine. In his poem he chose to celebrate the drinking habits of other literary men of his time, including that of his great friend Li Bai (AD 701-62). This poem provided the subject for paintings at least as early as the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), and appeared as decoration on porcelain in the Qing dynasty Shunzhi reign (1644-1661), although it was particularly popular in the Kangxi reign (1662-1722). For a stem cup and a blue and white bowl also decorated with scenes from this poem see lots 3557 and 3588.

All of the Eight Immortals are pictured on this bowl. Of them, Du Fu said:

Li Jin, Prince of Ruyang:
‘Ruyang can drink three gallons [of wine] by daybreak,
But when a wine cart passes his mouth still waters,
He would prefer to take up an appointment in Jiuquan [Wine spring].’

He Zhizhang:
He Zhi-zhang sits crosswise in his saddle
as if he were riding across seas
in his befuddlement he seeks a cool well
to sink into a deep sleep.

Li Shizhi:
Minister Li Shi-zhi spends daily for his wine ten thousand cash
and he drinks as a whale drinks from the sea
each time his lips are so happy they burst into song
the eternal words, keep it straight, no diluting for me.

Cui Zongzhi:
Cui Zongzhi light-hearted and carefree, handsome young master, raising the wine cup, the whites of his eyes look toward the clear sky, he sways like a jade tree in the wind.

Su Jin:
Su Jin has made a vow to the Buddha embroidered on his vest
but for his drunkenness he takes care to forget all his rules.

Li Bai:
Li Tai-bo drinks a gallon of wine, writes a hundred poems
then sleeps it off in the back of a wine shop in Chang-an
when the emperor asked him to board the royal barge
he shouted back, I am a drunken immortal.

Zhang Xu:
Zhang Xu needs three full beakers for his art
then his brush brings fairy clouds down to the silk
his cap tossed aside in his frenzy, bareheaded before princes.

Jiao Sui:
‘Jiao Sui needs five gallons [of wine] before he can become erudite,
Then the loftiness of his rhetoric amazes those vigorously debating in the four halls.’

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A rare blue and white rouleau vase, Kangxi period, 17th century

Étiquettes

17th Century, Blue-and-White, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Kangxi period, Rouleau Vase, style of Mi Fu

A rare blue and white rouleau vase, Kangxi period, 17th century. Estimate $12,000 – $18,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The vase is painted in muted tones of cobalt blue in the style of Mi Fu, the Northern Song Master, with a continuous mountainous landscape beneath bamboo sprays on the neck. The base bears a chrysanthemum spray within a double circle. 17 ¼ in. (43.8 cm.) high – Lot 3578 – Price Realized $43,750

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, 1985.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: Julia B. Curtis, “Markets, Motifs and Seventeenth-Century Porcelain from Jingdezhen, The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No. 16, London, 1992, p. 139, pl. 15.
Julia B. Curtis, Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century: Landscapes, Scholars’ Motifs and Narratives, New York, 1995, pp.78-79, no. 23.

Exhibited: China Institute Gallery, New York, Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century: Landscapes, Scholars’ Motifs and Narratives, 22 April – 5 August 1995.

Notes: In her comments on this vase in the exhibition catalogue Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century: Landscapes, Scholars’ Motifs and Narratives, New York, 1995, p. 78, Dr. Julia Curtis notes that it is one of a small group of porcelains from the early Kangxi period decorated in the style of the painter Mi Fu. A large vase from this group, from the Collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 16 May 1989, lot 43.

Mi Fu’s paintings were admired and emulated by 17th century Chinese painters such as Dong Qiching (1555-1636). The style of the mountains on the present vase can be compared to those in a painting attributed to Dong Qiching,Landscape in the Style of Mi Fu, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Landscape in the Style of Mi Fu, Attributed to Dong Qichang (1555-1636), Dated AD 1611 and 1612. Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

Eight small blue and white dishes, Chongzhen period, circa 1643

Étiquettes

'The Romance of the Western Chamber', Blue-and-White, Chongjiao Bei Xixiang Ji, Chongzhen period, circa 1643, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Li Zhuowu, The Collated Story of the Western Wing, Tianqi Period, Woodblock illustration, Wuxing, Xi Xiang Ji

Eight small blue and white dishes, Chongzhen period, circa 1643. Estimate $12,000 – $18,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Each small dish has a foliate rim and is delicately decorated with a different narrative scene from The Romance of the Western Chamber and other literary sources. The reverse of each is decorated with a continuous river landscape and is inscribed with an apocryphal Jiajing mark on the base. 3 ½ in. (8.9 cm.) diam. Lot 3516

Provenance: The Property of Captain Michael Hatcher; Christie’s Amsterdam, 14 March 1984, lot 200 (part), lot 201 (part).
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: Julia B. Curtis, “Transitionware Made Plain: A Wreck in the South China Sea,” Oriental Art, Volume XXXI, No. 2, Summer, 1985, pp. 169-170, figs. 13, 16,17, 18 a,b.
Colin Sheaf and Richard Kilburn, The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes, The Complete Record, London, 1988, p. 66, pl. 97 (four).
Julia B. Curtis, “La porcelaine chinoise de Transition,” La porcelaine chinoise de Transition: et ses influences sur la céramique japonaise, proche-orientale et européenne, Geneva, 1993, no. 7.

Notes: This interesting group of dishes is decorated with a variety of scenes that most likely derive from popular novels, as well as one generic scene with a scholar and attendant, and one showing four immortals. Two scenes can be directly compared to woodblock illustrations from The Romance of the Western Chamber. The small dish with two ladies in a garden depicts the heroine Yinying offering incense in honor of her deceased uncle. (fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Woodblock illustration to Xi Xiang Ji (Romance of the Western Chamber). From an edition published at Wuxing in the Tianqi period (1621-1627), from Craig Clunas, “The West Chamber: A Literary Theme in Chinese Porcelain Decoration,” Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1981-82, p. 76, pl. 9.

Another direct comparison can be drawn between the small dish decorated with a lady seated on a garden rock beneath a tree and a woodblock illustration with the scene known as ‘Repudiation of the billet-doux’. (fig. 2)

Fig. 2: Woodblock illustration to Chongjiao Bei Xixiang Ji (The Collated Story of the Western Wing), commentary attributed to Li Zhuowu, 1598.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

Vanité en ivoire sculpté en ronde bosse. Travail français, Epoque XVIIIe siècle

Étiquettes

Epoque XVIIIe siècle, ivoire sculpté, Travail français, Vanité

Vanité en ivoire sculpté en ronde bosse. Travail français, Epoque XVIIIe siècle. Estimation : 1 000 € / 1 200 €. Photo SVV Prunier

H:4,8 cm.

Cet objet a été réalisé en ivoire d’éléphant (Loxondonta africana).

La nature de l’ivoire, la couleur et la stylistique dans le traitement du crâne permettent de garantir que cet objet a été réalisé au cours du XVIIIe siècle voire au début du XIXe siècle.
Il s’agit probablement d’une représentation du crâne d’Adam qui à l’origine était placé au bas d’un crucifix monumental (cf. trou de fixation).
Nous pouvons ainsi garantir que cette sculpture est conforme aux dispositions réglementant le commerce de l’ivoire (Convention Cites 18 janvier 1990).
Il peut ainsi être commercialisé sans CIC car travaillé et datant d’avant 1947.

SVV PRUNIER EURL, Moyen Âge, Haute Epoque, Curiosités… le 15 Février 2015 à 14h15. HÔTEL DES VENTES – 28, RUE PIERRE MENDÈS FRANCE – 27400 LOUVIERS. Tel: +33 (0)2 32 40 22 30.

Marie-Madeleine en ivoire sculpté en ronde bosse, Dieppe, XVIIIe-XIXe siècle

Étiquettes

Dieppe, ivoire sculpté, Marie-Madeleine, XVIIIe-XIXe siècle

Marie-Madeleine en ivoire sculpté en ronde bosse, Dieppe, XVIIIe-XIXe siècle. Estimation : 1 500 € / 2 000 €. Photo SVV Prunier

la sainte représentée debout vêtue d’une robe au profond drapé et tenant dans ses mains un crâne. H:13 cm

SVV PRUNIER EURL, Moyen Âge, Haute Epoque, Curiosités… le 15 Février 2015 à 14h15. HÔTEL DES VENTES – 28, RUE PIERRE MENDÈS FRANCE – 27400 LOUVIERS. Tel: +33 (0)2 32 40 22 30.