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A Taste For Luxury: Exceptional Interiors, Silver, Jewellery and Handbags

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Lot 26 - A MASSIVE EARLY 19TH CENTURY FRENCH SILVER SOUP TUREEN AND STAND BY LEBRUN, PARIS, 1819-1838 - A MASSIVE EARLY 19TH CENTURY FRENCH SILVER SOUP TUREEN AND STAND BY LEBRUN, PARIS, 1819-1838 PROBABLY MADE FOR BARON HEINRICH, WITH THE ARMS OF VON BULOW, 255 OZ TROY IN WEIGHT the large Charles X centrepiece in the Empire style designed as a classical urn and cover, the oval body with leaf-tip borders, the bowl cast on both sides with heraldic crest, arms and comte coronet flanked by birds holding rings, the leaf-capped scroll handles springing from grapevine and terminating at rim in cornucopiaes of fruit and flowers, raised on a conforming oval pedestal base with foliate border, the domed cover with reeded, acanthus wrapped handle issuing vines and grapes, opening to the removable silver gilt liner, raised on a very large oval plinth stand, also decorated with the same coat of arms to both sides and with stiff leaf and beaded border, raised on four paw feet issuing acorn leaves, marked throughout with maker's mark and French guarantee marks for 1819-1838, 7945 grams (255.43 oz troy) in weight 47cm wide x 43cm high A similar soup tureen by Lebrun but without the large stand was sold at Sotheby's, New York, 4th November 2011, lot 261, $22,500. The arms that are appliqued upon this massive soup tureen and stand by the noted Paris Silversmith Marc-Augustin Lebrun, Paris, dating to circa 1819 – 1838 are those of the family of von Bülow. They are blazoned as follows: Arms: Azure fourteen bezants four four three two and one Supporters On either side an oriole proper each holding in its beak a ring or The whole ensigned with a baronial (Freiherr) coronet. The oriole is also borne by the Von Bülow family as their crest standing between elephant’s trunks and wings, the elephant’s trunks each being charged with seven bezants (see image on page 2). The use of the oriole as both the crest and supporters as seen here is an example of an heraldic pun or cant as ‘bülow’ was also a word for the oriole in the local dialect based on Wendish roots. Given the date of manufacture of this tureen and stand, together with the use of the baronial coronet the likely candidate for its ownership is Baron (Freiherr) Heinrich. Baron (Freiherr) Heinrich Ulrich Wilhelm von Bülow (1792 – 1846) was the second son of Bernhard Joachim von Bülow and his wife Elisabeth Marie von der Lühe. Heinrich married Matilde Constance Eleonore Gabriele von Humboldt5 (born 28th May 1802 died 16th April 1887) at Berlin in Brandenburg- Prussia6 on the 28th May 1802. She was the youngest daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Carl Ferdinand von Humboldt and his wife, Carolina Friederica von Dacheröden. Although Heinrich studied law, he later served in the Prussian Army and distinguished himself in several campaigns. After his military service, he joined the Prussian diplomatic service working at one time under Wilhelm von Humboldt, his future father-in-law. In London, he worked with his father-in-law in the Prussian Embassy as the Embassy’s Secretary in 1817 and was subsequently appointed to head the section for trade and maritime affairs in the Prussian Foreign Office in Berlin in 1819. In 1827, Heinrich was appointed the Prussian Ambassador to the Court of St James in London. His last appointment within the Prussian Government was as the Foreign Minister of Prussia took place on the 2nd April 1842. On retirement, he lived at Schloss Tegel, Tegel in the Reinickendorf district of Berlin. The Schloss being a von Humboldt family estate which his wife, Matilde had inherited from her father. The House of Bülow is of ancient noble German and Danish stock of Mecklenburg origin. Members of the family over the centuries have been created as Barons (Freiherr), Counts (Graf) or Princes (Fürst). The family can trace its main line back to a knight named Godofridus de Bulowe who was mentioned in a deed dated 1229 and is named after the village of Bülow near Königsfeld, then part of the Bishopric of Ratzeburg. Use this link for a bespoke instant shipping quote to your location: https://app.thepackengers.com/en/product_widgets/cczZ3e9XoF/destination/new

Estim. 6 000 - 8 000 GBP

Lot 65 - WELLINGTON, 1852, A MARBLE BUST BY MATTHEW NOBLE, (BRITISH, 1817-76) - WELLINGTON, 1852, A MARBLE BUST BY MATTHEW NOBLE, (BRITISH, 1817-76) the mid 19th century portrait bust of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), signed and dated to the reverse 'M. NOBLE Sc. LONDON 1852 / WELLINGTON' on a cylindrical socle, 75cm high Use this link for a bespoke instant shipping estimate to your location: https://app.thepackengers.com/en/product_widgets/SxLTznj5Dg/destination/new Related Literature: See R. Gunnis 'Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660 - 1851. Gunnis list's Matthew Noble's bust of Wellington dated 1852 made for the Grocer's Hall. The Grocer's Hall version was apparently destroyed in a fire, however at least three other versions dated 1852 are known. One was sold at Christie's, London, 'The Property of Madame Tussauds's London', 24 November 2004, lot 477, £7648. A further version is in the Bank of England Museum, London, Accession number 1798, and a further version is in the Walker Gallery, Liverpool. The prime version is dated 1851 and was commissioned for the Army and Navy Club, this was exhibited at the RA the following year (no.1442). The only other known example dated 1851 was sold at Dreweatts, 11 November 2015, lot 70, £26,000. Matthew Noble won the important commission for the Manchester monument of Wellington completed in 1856, no doubt based on the success of the bust as it incorporated many of the same features. Noble is also known for his portraits of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Robert Peel and other important Victorian figures and was one of the most renowned sculptors of his day.

Estim. 15 000 - 20 000 GBP

Lot 66 - WORKSHOP OF BERTEL THORVALDSEN, C. 1823-24, RELIEF WITH CUPID RECEIVED BY ANACREON, 'WINTER' - WORKSHOP OF BERTEL THORVALDSEN (1768-1844): A MARBLE RELIEF WITH CUPID RECEIVED BY ANACREON, 'WINTER' ONCE OWNED BY THE GUINNESS FAMILY AT ELVEDEN. Carved in marble, of rectangular form with arched top, the carved relief panel depicting Cupid, who stands frontally and nearly nude, warming his proper left hand over the brazier as his solicitous host is removing with both hands his rain-sodden tunic, Eros is identified by his standard attribute (a bow), while a strap running over the chest indicates a quiver, full of arrows, that is strung behind his back, on the right hand side stands an elegantly tall bronze Greco-Roman lamp with in front a squat brazier burning brightly, beside the elderly bearded and stooped ancient Greek poet Anacreon, who has been struck by one of Eros’s arrows, (the tiny fleches of which in this example have been lost from Cupid’s proper right hand), behind Anacreon is lodged a thyrsus, while the plump bolster on his bed is draped with the skin of a ‘big cat’, probably a panther, both being symbols of the god of wine, Bacchus. In the lower left corner stands a substantial wine jug with a trail of vines or ivy carved in relief around its shoulders (another symbol), tilted at 45 degrees against it is a lyre, accurately made from a large tortoise or turtleshell with ridged horns to hold a stretcher, later mounted iwithin a purpose made gilt slip and rosewood frame, 52cm x 38cm Provenance: The Guinness Sale at Elveden, lot 402, listed as 'from Farmleigh, The Nursery Corridor'. Museum Comparable: A rectangular example in the Thorvaldsen Museum, Inventory No. A827. Auction Comparable: See Sotheby’s, London, 'Treasures’, 4 July 2018, lot 26, by Thorvaldsen himself and the actual example shipped to Schönborn in 1840, and not the one in the Oldenburg Museum: Sold for £180,000. This atmospheric relief depicts the ancient subject of Anacreon, who wrote a poem about how on a cold, rainy night the poet took a rain-soaked youngster into his home, delicately removed his wet attire and warmed him by the fire. It turned out to be Cupid, but the god laughed at his host and pierced his heart with an arrow. The panel was originally designed as a series of four depicting the Four Seasons, the present example representing Winter. Anacreon’s Ode III, stanza 1, translated by Thomas Moore, 1869: “Twas noon of night, when round the pole The sullen Bear is seen to roll; And mortals, wearied with the day; Are slumbering all their cares away; An infant at that dreary hour, Came weeping to my silent bower, And waked me with a piteous prayer, To save him from the midnight air! ‘And who art thou’, I waking cry, ‘That bids my blissful visions fly?’ ‘O gentle sire,’ the infant said, ‘In pity take me to thy shed; Nor fear deceit: a lonely child I wander o’er the gloomy wild.’ Related Literature: M. Misserini, Intera Collezione Di Tutte Le Opere Inventate E Scolpite Dal Cav. Alberto Thorwaldsen..., Rome, 1831 (Schönborn relief); H. Le Grice, Walks Through the Studii of the Sculptors at Rome, Rome, 1841, vol. I, pp. 55, 67 (Schönborn relief); C. Keisch, Italia und Germania: Deutsche Klassizisten und Romantiker in Italien, exh. cat. Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Winckelmann-Museum, Stendal; Kunstsammlungen, Weimar, 1975, no. 80; J. Birkedal Hartman, Antike Motive bei Thorvaldsen, Studien zur Antikenrezeption des Klassizismus, Tübingen, 1979, p. 59, pl. 14.3; K. Bott, 'Die Italienreise des Franz Erwein von Schönborn und seine Begegnung mit Thorvaldsen', in Festschrift für Gerhard Bott zum 60. Geburtstag: 14. Oktober 1987, Darmstadt, 1987, pp. 139-158 (Schönborn relief, the Thorvaldsens Museum relief is illustrated); E. di Majo, B. Jornaes, & S. Susinno, Bertel Thorvaldsen, 1770—1844, scultore danese a Roma, Rome, 1989; K. Bott, Ein Kunstsammler zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts. Franz Erwein von Schönborn (1770-1840), Weimar, 1993; Laila Skjøthaug, 'Catalogue', in S. Grandesso (ed.), Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), Milan, 2015, no. 329.5; see L. Skjøthaug, in Sotheby’s, London, ‘Treasures’, 4 July 2018, lot 26, p. 142 (for the most up-to-date summary of important new information on this composition).

Estim. 4 000 - 6 000 GBP

Lot 68 - ITALIAN, ROMAN MID 16TH CENTURY: GUGLIELMO DELLA PORTA (C.1500-1577) AND HIS CLOSE CIRCLE - ITALIAN, ROMAN MID 16TH CENTURY: GUGLIELMO DELLA PORTA (C.1500-1577) AND HIS CLOSE CIRCLE CHRIST AT THE COLUMN silver figurine, with minutely granulated surface to the skin, 8cm (3 1/8 in.) high, standing lashed against a silver-gilt fluted Corinthian column on a rectangular plinth., 13 cm. (5 1/8 in) high. The figure is set diagonally at 45 degrees to the square plinth below, mounted in its original, late Mannerist, ebony tabernacle, with silver-gilt appliques of (above) the Dove of the Holy Spirit descending against an integral pattern of rays of light; with (upper corners and below centre) three Cherubim; and the tabernacle flanked by a pair of repousse metal volutes, formerly silvered. Though slightly more ornate, this ebony tabernacle is closely related in style to that of a silver Mount Calvary in the Monastery of El Escorial, Madrid (inv. 10048054), see Coll & Cortes, 2012, p.109, fig 57. PROVENANCE: New York, Collection of the late Michael Hall., his sale Christie’s, New York…; Private collections. ADDITIONAL ATTACHED IMAGES: Image 2. - Victoria & Albert Museum, Image 3. - Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Image 4. Detail from a folio with five sketches for the Flagellation of Christ Fig. Image 5. another single sketch, more closely related to the present variation on the theme. Image 4 and 5 both from the Museum Kunstpalast, Duesseldorf, Small Sketchbook, folios 82 and 93. Image 6. ‘Coll & Cortes’ Christ, silver. Image 7. Michelangelo, Christ the Redeemer, Michelangelo, Christ the Redeemer, marble, San Vincenzo Martire, Bassano Romano. COMPARATIVE LITERATURE: W. Gramberg, Die Düsseldorfer Skizzenbücher des Guglielmo della Porta (Berlin, 1964)H.-W. Kruft, “Porta, della”, in J. Turner [ed.], The Dictionary of Art, London, 1996, vol. 25, pp. 255-57V.J. Avery, Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, exh.cat. Daniel Katz Gallery, London, 2002, pp. 151-53E.J. Olszewski, "Guglielmo della Porta”, in Antonia Bostrom [ed.], The Encyclopedia of Sculpture, New York/London, 2004, pp. 1333-36R. Coppel, C. Avery, M. Estella, Guglielmo della Porta: A Counter-Reformation Sculptor, exh. cat., Coll & Cortes, Madrid, 2012, pp. 40-41, fig.18; and pp.118-21, figs. 68-69. Examples with Christ in a dramatic contrapposto1] Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum: Bequeathed by C.B. Marlay, 1912, No. Mar M.265-1912(Avery, V. 2002, No. 19, pp. 151-153) – see Fig.22] Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello: Carrand Bequest, No. 752, silver, 9.5cm high (see R. Coppel, C. Avery & M. Estella, Madrid, 2012, Fig 45, p. 88)3] Formerly in the collection of Mr George Durlacher of Hilcote, Lancaster Road, Wimbledon, and then of his widow (sold Sotheby’s, 9 November 1938, lot 100) Victoria Avery in her 2002 catalogue of bronzes from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, wrote of their example as follows (Image.3): ‘This unpublished silver figurine is clearly derived from a model by Guglielmo della Porta, a Lombard sculptor and bronzist who trained in Milan under his father, and then worked in Genoa, before settling in Rome where he found great favour with Pope Julius III Farnese. In 1547 Guglielmo was appointed to the Office of the Papal seal, a sinecure that he retained until his death in 1577. The Fitzwilliam Christ is identical in type, elongated proportions and pose to the free-standing protagonist of a multi-figural composition in high relief of the Flagellation of Christ in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (see image.2) [as is the formerly Durlacher example]. The high relief composition is derived from a folio of five rapidly executed, but sensitive, sketches begun in chalk and finished in pen and ink for the Passion of Christ (Gramberg, 1964, Small Sketchbook, p. 82). Two represent scenes of the Flagellation, while three are excerpts of the focal figure of Christ at the Column. That on the lower right is closest to the figure as sculpted (Image 4). However, Rosario Coppel in the comprehensive catalogue of works by Della Porta presented in 2012 by Messrs Coll & Cortes (figs. 35 & 48-49) was the first person to describe a separately made silver figurine of virtually the same size (8.6cm) as ours (8cm) in another, larger, heterogeneous rendering of the Flagellation set within an octagonal ebony frame with a variety of ornaments. She also drew attention to the existence - on a slightly later page - of a separate sketch for a more soberly posed figure which accords more closely with the ‘Coll & Cortes’ and with the present version (Image 6), save for the fact that the Saviour’s hands are now lashed behind his back, presumably to avoid confusion with the folds of his loincloth in front. These figurines of Christ are not so agonizingly twisted about under the hail of blows from his savage executioners as in the narrative scenes or single figures discussed above. In a separate essay Charles Avery (pp. 128-29) remarked on the influence on Della Porta of Michel

Estim. 4 500 - 5 500 GBP
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