Works of art

To transform your interior, decorative arts auctions provide functional ornamental objects in various materials including bronze, wood, ceramics, glass, metal, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, ivory and textile.
“When you can't change the world, change your surroundings," wrote Daniel Pennac. Online decorative arts auctions feature ornamental objects produced by fine bronze-makers, cabinetmakers, ceramicists, glass-makers, silversmiths and tapestry-makers, which include modern and antique frames, caskets and boxes, mirrors, vases, showcase items, carpets and tapestries.
The ornament triumphs in carved gilt wood mirrors, glass vases by emile gallé and daum, and printed textiles by William Morris. Art nouveau, art deco and arts and crafts combine the beautiful and the useful in items featuring in these decorative arts auctions, which encompass contemporary design.
Did you know ? One of the ancestors of the jewellery box is the reliquary: a large richly ornamented casket in stone, wood or metal designed to containing the body or relics of a saint.

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Marie Eléonore GODEFROID (1778-1849), attribué à. - Portrait of Marie-Joséphine Louise de Savoie (1753-1810) as Queen of France. Oil on canvas, unsigned (lining). N°463 on the back of the stretcher. In a wood and gilded stucco frame. H. 97 x L. 81 cm. Exhibition CMN, L'anti Marie-Antoinette, Marie-Joséphine Louise de Savoie. Chapelle expiatoire, Paris, September 5 - October 26, 2019 (on display). Provenance - Osenat sale, June 10, 2012, lot 129. - Private collection, Paris. History This royal and historic portrait is the only known oil-on-canvas depiction of the Comtesse de Provence in the 19th century. Probably posthumous, painted between 1810 and 1814, just before the accession of her husband, the future King Louis XVIII, to the throne, it was long considered lost. The Queen of France is seated in an armchair upholstered in gold fleurdelisé fabric on a royal blue background. Dressed in a white gown and adorned with pearls, she wears a diadem and a bodice clasp adorned with a fleur-de-lys on a blue background. Although Marie-Joséphine Louise de Savoie is not listed among the queens of France, as she died in 1810, four years before her husband's accession to the throne, Louis XVIII wrote in his memoirs, published in Brussels in 1833 by Louis Hauman: "This year of 1810 was to be unfavorable to me, ending with the death of my wife the queen, who died at Goldfield Hall on November 13, 1810. This excellent princess, to whom our misfortunes had doubly attached me, had borne them with uncommon magnanimity: quiet, when vulgar friends gave in to their despair, she never did one of those acts of weakness which lower the dignity of a prince. Nor did she ever give me any domestic trouble, and she was as queenly in exile as she would have been on the throne. Her gentle cheerfulness suited me; her courage, which nothing could dampen, tempered mine; in a word, I can say of the queen my wife what my grandfather Louis XIV said of his when he lost her: "Her death is the first sorrow she has given me. The queen, aged fifty-seven, had not only all my regrets, but also those of my relatives and our servants. The royal family lavished upon me a host of delicate and sustained attentions. They wanted Her Majesty's remains to be buried in London with all the honours accorded to the queens of France in the fullness of their power. It is in Westminster that these dear remains rest; may the earth be light to them! I am convinced that the soul who dwelt there now dwells in the heavenly regions, where she prays with the blessed members of our family, for her husband and for France". In 1811, her body was transferred to the Chapel of Saint Lucifer in the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Cagliari (Sardinia), where it remains to this day. Literature - Charles Dupêchez, La reine velue, Paris, Grasset, 1993. - Vicomte de Reiset, Joséphine de Savoie, Comtesse de Provence, Paris, Emile-Paul Frères, 1913.

Estim. 6,000 - 8,000 EUR

German or Flemish painter from the Dürer Renaissance period (active around 1600) Madonna Mary sitting on a bench in a window recess, wearing a long red dress and a blue and red cloak, holding the child to her right cheek; a small bird on the windowsill, through the window a landscape view of a cloudy, light blue sky, trees and a round tower. The composition of the figure is based on Albrecht Dürer's copperplate engraving "Holy Family with the Dragonfly", created around 1495. By omitting Joseph and transferring the Madonna to an architectural context in which the landscape only plays a subordinate role, the depiction is not only given a different context, but also a significantly different pictorial expression focused on the Madonna herself. During the "Dürer Renaissance" around 1600, many artists were not necessarily interested in making copies of the originals with the intention of forgery, but also in creating new works of art in the style of Dürer. In doing so, they alienated and transformed Dürer's motifs, altered the dimensions, transposed them into mirror images, transposed prints into paintings, etc.; oil/wood panel. L. and modified "Dürer" monogram "AD". Old brand stamp verso, furthermore mounted adhesive label dated 1840 with appraisal and assessment by Johann Friedrich Morgenstern for Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz (1797 - 1869). 40 cm x 28 cm. 19th century oak watermark frame. In the appraisal mounted on the reverse, the Frankfurt painter, graphic artist, restorer and art dealer Johann Friedrich Morgenstern (1777 - 1844) is of the opinion that the painting is not by Albrecht Dürer, but assumes it to be by Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480 - 1538), Dürer's contemporary, whose pupil he is also considered to be, on the basis of the monogram. The sculptor and art historian Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz (1797 - 1869), also based in Frankfurt, taught at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt and at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf. Provenance: from the important collection of the Frankfurt banking family von Bethmann, which grew over generations. German or Flemish painter of the period of the "Dürer-Renaissance" active circa 1600. Oil on panel. Monogrammed "AD" lower left. Old mark on the reverse, further a mounted expert's opinion by Johann Friedrich Morgenstern (1777 - 1844) for the art historian Eduard Schmidt von der Launitz (1797 - 1869), dated 1840.

Estim. 10,000 - 20,000 EUR

MORCEAU DU DERNIER CORDON DU SAINT-ESPRIT DE LOUIS XVI - Fragment of a large cordon of the Order of the Holy Spirit, in celestial blue moiré silk, preserved in folded paper inscribed in ink: "Morceau du dernier cordon bleu porté par Louis XVI", "et donné au père de Mlle de Scoraille par le valet de chambre du Roi Hue". L. 2.5 cm (fragment). Provenance - Louis XVI, King of France and Navarre (1754-1793). - His valet de chambre, François Hüe (1757-1819). - Given to Jean François dit Frédéric de Scorailles (1792-1834), brigadier des gendarmes de la Garde royale in 1814. - To his daughter Jeanne-Reine dite Amélie de Scorrailles-Chanterelle (1815-1894), marquise de Scorrailles-Langhac. - Then by descent. History François Hüe (1757-1819), bailiff to Louis XVI, followed the royal family to the Temple. Assistant to Jean-Baptiste Cléry for Louis XVI, he was arrested on September 2, 1792 and dismissed. He accompanied Marie-Thérèse of France to Vienna in 1795. Louis XVIII created him a baron in 1814. He had appointed him First Chamber Valet and Treasurer General of his Household. In 1806, François Hüe published his Mémoires sur Les dernières années de règne et de la vie de Louis XVI. In an 1860 dictionary, he wrote: "Hüe François, valet de chambre to the Dauphin (son of Louis XVI), was imprisoned in the Temple with the royal family, and showed them heroic devotion. He survived his masters, and was able to leave France; he returned during the Restoration, and became first valet to Louis XVIII. His work includes Dernières années de Louis XVI, Paris, 1814.

Estim. 600 - 800 EUR

A RARE CARVED ROSSO ANTICO MASK IN THE MANNER OF BENEDETTO BOSCHETTI (1820-1860), ITALIAN - A RARE CARVED ROSSO ANTICO MASK IN THE MANNER OF BENEDETTO BOSCHETTI (1820-1860) ITALIAN, LATE 19TH CENTURYThe mask or 'mascaron' of Greek theatrical form, set on a polished black marble base overall height 56cm, base 18cm wide, 13.5cm deep Provenance:Daniel Katz Ltd. London, where purchased by Count Manfredi della GherardescaBenedetto Boschetti (active c.1820-1870) exhibited at the Crystal Palace Exhibition 1851 where he won a medal for a pair of mosaic tables in the Byzantine style, representing the Triumph of Love and the Blessed Soul. The Boschetti workshop at 74 Via Condotti, Rome, was renowned for the exceptional quality of its copies, mostly in marble of Antique vases and objects, for example a rosso antico reduction of the Warwick vase in the Toledo Museum, Ohio (A. Gonzalez-Palacios, Il Tempo del Gusto, Roma e il Regno delle Duo Sicilie, Milan, 1984, Vol II, fig.286). F.S. Bonfigli noted in 1856 that 'The Establishment is particularly conspicuous for its great variety of marble works, bronzes, etc.' (A. Gonzalez-Palacios, The Art of Mosaics, 1982, p.166). Pieces by Boschetti are in many public and private collections, including that of Mario Praz, the famous Italian critic and connoisseur (now held in the Museo Mario Praz, Rome).In Greek theatre of the third and second century BC, all performers, except musicians, wore masks. A full-face character mask would probably originally have been in painted, starched linen when worn on the stage. Much admired- these masks were often reproduced in stone, terracotta or, occasionally as here, in more expensive marbles. Perhaps the best known collection, now housed in the Cortile del Belvedere, Vatican Museums, adorned the odeon (theatre) at Hadrian's Villa. The Grand Tour saw a considerable rise in interest and use of the mask as a decorative device- reaching its apogee in the work of Thomas Hope. In part the interest was driven with the publication in the mid-18th century of Le Maschere Sceniche e le Figure Comiche d'Antichi Romani by Francesco de' Ficoroni (1664-1747).

Estim. 6,000 - 10,000 GBP