PARIS.- On 16th May 2017,
Artcurial will hold its first sale of the year dedicated to Furniture and Works of Art. Comprising more than 300 jewellery, furniture, sculpture and tapestry lots, the sale will create an overview of 14th to 19th century Decorative Arts, alongside an exceptional antiquity: a marble bust of Venus dating from the 1st and 2nd century AD. Sculpted during the Roman era from a Greek model of the Hellenistic period, it belonged to the famous Parisian antiquarian dynasty, Bernheim-Jeune family. It carries an estimate of €300,000– 400,000 / $330,000 – 440,000.
The auction will commence with a section dedicated to scientific instruments, namely a Spanish 14th century astrolabe. This is the only example known, built by an Arab craftsman in a Christian city (estimate: €30,000 – 50,000 / $33,000 -55,000). This set will also include the Georges Baptiste collection (1920-1989), who was president of the Belgium Antiquarian Chambers and passionate about measuring instruments.
Furthermore, the section dedicated to Furniture and Art objects will present several pieces from the Baroque period, such as a Flemish tapestry from the end of the 16th century, depicting grotesque motifs and garden scenes, from the Mège collection, and a white marble sculpture by Filippo Parodi circa 1680 representing l’Enfant Jésus endormi(Sleeping Baby Jesus).
« This sculpture of Venus is of exceptional quality. The delicacy, the accuracy and the extreme sensitivity of the modelled anatomy are remarkable. It is a symbol of idealized Feminine Beauty. Of human size, it is comparable to the most celebrated models kept in museums. » - Isabelle Bresset, Director Furniture and Works of Art department, Artcurial
The Bernheim-Jeune Antique Venus
The start of the auction will be dedicated to the dispersion of an antique sculpture of exceptional quality. Torse d’Aphrodite, du type de Tauride (lot 57) was photographed in 1925, in the salons of the private residence of the Bernheim-Jeune family, famous dynasty of Parisian art dealers. The white marble representing a bust of Venus is dated from the 1st and 2nd century AD. It was created in the Roman era, from a Greek model of the 4th-3rd BC Hellenistic period.
With an estimate of €300,000– 400,000/ 330,000 – $440,000, the sculpture represents the goddess Venus walking out of the water. A multifaceted female goddess, she simultaneously symbolises love and fertility but also war and death. She is represented here with her arms raised, revealing her sex, leaning on her right leg and slightly twisting to the left.
Scientific instruments collection
This auction will present an important chapter dedicated to scientific instruments, including a 19th century Chinese gilded automaton clock, lot 45 (estimate: €30,000– 50,000/ $33,000 – 55,000). In the mid eighteenth century, a significant trade of high-end clocks is established between England and China. Dazzled by the productions of manufacturers such as James Cox, William Carpenter or Henry Borrel, Chinese mechanics, first in the imperial workshops and then in southern ports such as Canton, endeavoured to understand the maintenance and the manufacture of such parts. The manufactured clocks are all derived from the English models such as the one offered at auction. These clocks are often a mixture of parts imported from Europe and manufactured on site.
Amongst the key elements at the auction, a 14th century astrolabe created in 1336 in Tudela, Spain, signed by Ahmad ibn Abu Adb Allah al-Qurtubi al-Yamani, lot 56 (estimate: €30,000– 50 000 / $33,000 – 55,000).
Closing this chapter, 10 pieces from the Georges Baptiste collection (1920-1989), a Belgium antiquarian of great renown, and president of the Belgium Antiquarian Chamber. Passionate about instruments of measure, his name remains linked with the 1984 Brussels exhibition La Mesure du Temps dans les collections belges.
A selection of 5 Baroque and classical works
Belgium will also be honoured with a Flemish wool tapestry from the end of the 16th century, made in the Brussel workshops. (lot 143). It is composed of grotesque motifs and mythological scenes including humans and animals. (estimate: €40,000– 60,000 / $44,000 – 66,000). Several centres in the Flanders produced grotesque tapestries, such as Brussels, Bruges or Anvers. These were part of the Charles Mège collection.
Filippo Parodi’s sculpture, Enfant Jésus endormi, dating from around 1680 (lot 158), is a major work by the celebrated 17th century Genoese artiste, formed in Bernini’s studio. In white marble, it remained out of the spectrum of art historians for a long period of time. All the virtuosity of his art is expressed in this rough-edged, imposing bloc of marble, representing his personal vision of the Nativity, (estimate: €180,000– 220,000/ $198,000 – 242,000) which is reminisce of a sleeping cupid iconography. While the influences of Bernini and Puget are present, the particular writing and Parodi’s maestri legitimize the considerable place occupied by the Genoese artist at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, in the dissemination of Roman baroque in Liguria.
Another remarkable piece at the auction, attributed to Nicolas Sageot, is a Louis XIV dresser in tortoise shell, brass and tinted horn inlay, lot 145 (estimate: €70,000– 100,000 / $77,000 – 110 000).
For the classic furniture, a Louis XVI half-moon dresser marked by Charles Topino (lot 252) with floral decor marquetry, symbolises the inventiveness of the craftsmen of the time, mingling naturalism and Neoclassicism (estimate: €40,000- 60,000 / $44,000 – 66,000).
An Empire wool carpet from the manufacture de la Savonnerie (lot 262) will also be offered for auction. Founded by Henri IV at the beginning of the 17th century, the Savonnerie produced carpets which were housed at the royal palaces or used as diplomatic gifts. A rarity on the market, they embody France’s grandeur (estimate: €40,000- 60,000 / $44,000 – 66,000).
