This wooden replica of Peckham Rock by Banksy recreated by the British Museum in 2018 is Lot 43 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s off the wall online art auction which runs until January 10. Unframed it measures 4.9″ x 7.2″ and the framed size if 14.6″ x 13.8″. It is estimated at 500-600. There are 447 lots on offer and the catalogue is online.
This late 17th century Italian table top in the manner of Cosimo Fanzago comes up at Sotheby’s Stone III sale online in London from January 3-19. It is estimated at £50,000-70,000. Exquisite works of art, objects and pieces furniture made of, or incorporating, marbles, hardstones and micromosaics feature in an auction which explores the incredibly rich use of these materials in European Decorative Arts, with an emphasis on their rarity, colour and craftmanship.
The practice of painting on mirrors developed in China after 1715 when the Jesuit missionary Father Giuseppe Castiglione arrived in Beijing. He found favour with the Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong and was entrusted with the decoration of the Imperial Garden in Beijing. He learned to paint in oil on glass, a technique that was already practiced in Europe but which was unknown in China in 1715. Chinese artists, already expert in painting and calligraphy, took up the practice, tracing the outlines of their designs on the back of the plate and, using a special steel implement, scraping away the mirror backing to reveal glass that could then be painted. Glass paintings were made almost entirely for export, fuelled by the mania in Europe for all things Chinese.
This c1760 mirror in a beautifully drawn giltwood frame following the designs of London’s pre-eminent cabinet-makers such as John Linnell or Thomas Chippendale represents the ingenuity and collaboration between Chinese and British artists of the mid-18th century. From the collection of Pierre Durand it comes up at Christie’s in New York on January 27 with an estimate of $100,000-$200,000. The late philanthropist and collector co-founded The Chinese Porcelain Company. The sale offers a glimpse into a life well lived with objects and art and features the contents of his New York apartment which artistically combined walls of gallery-hung Old Master Drawings with contemporary glass by Yoichi Ohira, and contrasted Chinese paintings by Liu Dan with fine French and English decorative arts.
A previously hidden sketch has been discovered during examinations of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch at the Rijksmuseum. The genesis of the famous painting is revealed in an underpainted sketch discovered using new technologies. This allows researchers to look through the layers of paint with greater specificity than ever before and analyse in minute detail the materials that Rembrandt used. The artist applied a brown ‘quarts’ ground and used a beige paint with a high chalk content for his rough sketch. To date, no other paintings by Rembrandt have been discovered that were prepared using this type of paint.
A team of Operation Night Watch researchers have been meticulously mapping the painting for the past two-and-a-half years and produced an unprecedented volume of data. Rembrandt originally painted feathers for the helmet of militiaman Claes van Cruijsbergen, but later painted them over. The artist also adjusted the leg position of Rombout Kemp – the many scans revealed that the leg initially was painted in a different position at an earlier stage. There are also indications of the presence of an additional sword between the captain and the lieutenant and it has become clear that Rembrandt originally indicated have a larger number of spears projecting above of company.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 17, 2018)
This Chinese cinnabar vase is lot 56 at Matthews annual holiday auction online on December 30. It will feature 896 lots of jewellery, silver, art and collectibles. The catalogue is online and the vase is estimated at €50-€80. The sale will be followed on January 2 with a timed online vintage costume and jewellery auction.
This nativity scene by Piero della Francesca in the collection of London’s National Gallery has been re-located from Bethlehem to a summer day in the hills of Tuscany. The town on the right is perhaps Piero’s birthplace, Borgo Sansepolcro. It was made for the artist’s family palace in his home town and is one of the last surviving paintings by Piero before his death in 1492. It remained in Borgo Sansepolcro until it was bought in 1861 by Alexander Barker, who brought to London. The National Gallery acquired it at the Barker sale at Christie’s in June 1874 for £2,415 (2,300 guineas). One of the most admired 15th century Italian painters it is believed that Piero taught Luca Signorelli, who was noted for his use of foreshortening. Vasari says Piero became blind in old age. He was buried in Sansepolcro. The damage to the faces on the right is thought to be the result of over zealous cleaning.
We wish all our readers a happy and safe Christmas.
Eruption by Cian McLoughlin sold for £52,950 at Sotheby’s in London in November in what has been a very good year for Irish art and artists, established and up and coming. The top estimate was £18,000. McLoughlin features in in Ireland’s National Collection and is participating in the blockbuster Grayson Perry Art Club and Exhibition at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery until next September. Based on Perry’s tv series this is a show made by the public, established artists, and celebrities as powerful and very personal responses to the pandemic. Collectively, they form a lasting artistic record of these unprecedented times.
This oil on canvas portrait by the Irish artist Charles Jervas comes up at Sotheby’s online Royal and Noble sale in London which ends on January 20 with an estimate of £4,000-6,000. The sitter is said to be Catherine, Lady Paisley, wife of James Hamilton, Lord Paisley. Born in Co. Offaly Jervas succeeded Sir Godfrey Kneller as principal painter in ordinary to King George I in 1723 and was a popular artist often referred to in works by literary figures of the period. His portraits of his friends Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope are in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Bidding for the Royal and Noble sale opens on January 3.
This action packed watercolour by Alfred Jacob Miller comes up at Christie’s in New York next month during Americana week. The auction house will introduce a 19th century American Art sale, a curated sale of 69 lots, which takes place on January 19. The week consists of a series of three live and one online auction, starting with 19th century American Art. This will be followed on January 20 by the collection of Peter and Barbara Goodman, Important Americana on January 20-21 and an online sale of Chinese Export Art from January 11-February 2. The watercolour illustrated above is estimated at $80,000-$120,000.
Rembrandt in Print at the Crawford Gallery in Cork until January 9 offers a rare opportunity to see 50 of the finest works from the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Hailed as the greatest painter of the Dutch Golden Age Rembrandt was one of the most innovative and experimental printmakers of the 17th century. This touring exhibition shows him as an unrivalled storyteller with prints dating from 1630 to the late 1650’s. They are displayed here together for the first time. Opening hours over the Christmas period are extensive.