Deities & Demons

Deities & Demons

Suite 744, 2 Old Brompton Road, London sw7 3dq, uk Tel : 020 7689 7500 Mobile : 07836684133 / 07768236921 Email : enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk Website : www.finchandco.art

[1] Fine Netherlandish Baroque Ivory Plaque in High Relief of the Annunciation of the Virgin carved with a silhouette reveal­­ing a shaft of heavenly light descending from the Holy Ghost the Angel Gabriel holding a Madonna Lily foretelling the Virgin of her fate Her hands crossed in supplication the velvet drapery held aloft by two Cherubs Circle of Francis Van Bossuit (1635 – 1692) Third Quarter 17th Century

s i z e : 21 cm high, 12 cm wide, 2cm deep – 8¼ ins high, 4¾ ins wide, ¾ ins deep Francis Van Bossuit was born in Brussels and trained in Brussels and Antwerp before going to Italy around 1655–1660 where he became member of the Netherlandish artists guild in Rome. By 1685 he had returned to the Netherlands and settled in Amsterdam.

He specialised in ivory plaques carved in high relief, often with the background Wnely cut to reveal light shining through the scene as in a silhouette. He took his inspiration from the master painters of the baroque such as Titian for the religious and classical subjects of his plaques, which are distinguished by the skill of his carving. Before his death in 1692, he had an inXuential role in bringing the Roman baroque style in ivory sculpture to Northern Europe.

[2] West African Cote d’Ivoire Lagoons Region Attie Peoples Standing Female Figure Traces of Encrustation to Breasts and Shoulders Superb old smooth silky patina 19th Century

s i z e : 46 cm high – 18 ins high / 52 cm high – 20½ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex M & J Joubert, Rue Guegenaud, Paris Ex John Dintenfass collection New York Ex Pace Primitive Gallery New York, A label to the base Pace Primitive 53.1464 Ex Private collection New York Ex James Stephenson Ex English Private collection The south eastern coast of the Cote d’Ivoire is an area of lagoons and although small, contains a mosaic of peoples speaking around Wfteen languages living in villages which before colonisation were autonomous. Residing in close proximity to each other they have long used and been inXuenced by each others art forms and by those of their northern neighbours the Baule and Anyi.

Typical of the Attie is the elaborate detailed coiVure divided into raised cones or masses on the head. The remains of an encrusted surface to the upper breasts and the shoulders suggests that this was a shrine Wgure dedicated to a deity and that it was used for some time. The role of these Wgures was to convey messages to spirit’s living in the other world and may have been used by a diviner to focus and control spiritual forces used in traditional healing. Alternatively it could have been intended to represent and house a man’s spirit lover from the other world. It may also have been displayed at certain ceremonial dances as statuettes of similar form were put to all of these varied uses.

[3] Ancient Egyptian Large Green and Blue Glazed Faïence Pectoral Pendant Moulded in High Relief with a Scene of the Goddesses Isis and Hathor Fine unrestored condition Ptolemaic Period 332 – 30 bc

s i z e : 6.5 cm high, 5.5 cm wide, 0.7 cm deep – 2½ ins high, 2¼ ins wide, ½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Joseph Klein (1899–1987) New York U.S.A. acquired 1941–1980 The seven Cleopatra’s, Queens of Ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic period, favoured depictions of Isis and Hathor. Of them all it was the last Cleopatra VII (51–30 bc) who was the most illustrious. Intelligent and politically astute she was reputedly the only Ptolemaic ruler to have learnt the Egyptian language.

Pectorals were placed on the chest of a mummy and their use in funerary equipment was exclusively concerned with rebirth and resurrection. Isis and Hathor are portrayed as divine goddesses on the plaque and both had cults in post pharaonic times that were closely connected. The cult of Isis was adopted as one of the classical mystery cults gradually spreading through the Hellenistic world and Roman Empire. Temples were even erected to her in Rome itself. In Greco-Roman times her cult began to surpass that of Osiris in popularity seriously rivalling both the traditional Roman gods and early Christianity.

[4] Rare and Superb Pair of Chinese Canton Silver Enamel and Ivory Portrait Figures of a Mandarin and His Wife dressed in embroidered ceremonial robes seated upon miniature Zitan wood chairs the armrests carved as dragon’s heads their ivory heads and hands articulated and nodding when gently touched the man with long plaited queue of natural hair his rank indicated by the mandarin square to the front of his robe she with traditional tiny feet and elaborate jewelled coiVure holding a bouquet of peony Xowers and a fan Old trade label to the back of one chair No. 150 ….

Qing Dynasty / Circa 1760 – 1780

s i z e : 19 cm high – 7½ ins high and 18 cm high – 7 ins high c f : Royal Danish Kunstkammer vol. II Ebc, 255 – 258 for a similar group in clay dating to 1732 Canton was the second city of the Chinese Empire and the chief entrepôt for its overseas trade. The city boasted one of the largest and most diverse artisan communities which was highly responsive to foreign needs and inXuences. With a steady supply of silver in the form of Spanish eight reale pieces brought by foreigners to pay for Chinese goods, Cantonese silversmiths produced, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Wne silverware at a fraction of its labour cost in London.

The majority of Chinese portrait Wgures were made from clay and it is often assum­ ed that they were produced for the export market. However, it seems likely that many of them were also made for the internal market in China as ancestor Wgures.

This extraordinary pair of silver Wligree Wgures with life-like expressions, dressed in elaborately decorated enamelled silver clothing appropriate to their rank, would seem not to be made for export, but as revered ancestor Wgures for a native Chinese market.

[5] Two Fine and Rare Venetian Aventurine Glass Handled Eating Knives with Ornate Silver Filigree Ball Finials and Studded Silver Bolsters The long thin elegant iron blades of near parallel shape contained in original silver thread rose embroidered sheath Circa 1610 – 1620 s i z e : 20 cm long – 8 ins long (each) / 22 cm long – 8¾ ins long (with case) p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Bill Brown Aventurine glass was produced on the Island of Murano in Venice and became a popular exotic material. The shimmering golden inclusions in the reddish coloured glass was created by adding copper oxide and gold shavings. Developed on the Island in the early 17th century the recipe was protected and shrouded in secrecy for over one hundred years. Aventurine was made primarily for export, but could be purchased ready made or as cullet for further processing. The golden glass handles would be ordered from Murano and later mounted in England.

These pairs of knives were sometimes given as a wedding gift to the bride by the groom, and worn by the wife attached to her girdle by means of a long cord looped through the top of the sheath, as a symbol of her status as mistress of the household. This custom continued until the middle of the 17th century.

[6] Fine Venetian Carved Istrian Marble Formella or Relief Depicting the Tree of Life Surrounded by Lions and Peacocks in the Veneto-Byzantine Manner Displaying Lavorato a Giorno Venetian Drill Work used to Accentuate the Eyes Ears Manes and Tail Feathers the Single Pomegranate Finial Symbolising the Venetian Church Early 16th Century

s i z e : 78.5 cm high, 36 cm wide, 7.5 cm deep – 31 ins high, 14¼ ins wide, 3 ins deep / 79 cm high – 31 ins high (with base) These panels known as formella were used as decoration on Venetian palazzo above and between the arched windows. Some were saved relics, but many were picturesque examples of Renaissance workmanship expressive, and in many ways, like the Byzantine marble altar frontals of earlier times. In Venice the peacock, used in sculpture in preference to every other bird, is the symbol of the Resurrection. The medieval bestiaries had declared that the peacock did not decay after it died and so it became a symbol of immortality and resurrection. The bird was also the familiar of Juno, the Roman Queen of the Gods, and therefore became associated with the Virgin Mary, the Queen of Heaven. Her body was believed to have been assumed undecayed, like the peacocks, into heaven. The pomegranate carved to the top of the tree is a symbol of fertility and bounty, and a single one symbolises the Christian Church, as it has many segments and seeds within one fruit. The lions symbolising strength and majesty are the emblem of Christ. Believed to sleep with their eyes open they were also a symbol of vigilance as Christ was of the well-being of mankind.

[7] Japanese Carved Ivory Sashi Netsuke of Elongated Form depicting Ashinaga and Tenaga grappling with an Octopus Signed Ikkosai (Toun) Old silky creamy smooth patina Mid 19th Century

s i z e : 12 cm high – 4¾ high c f : Neil K. Davey Netsuke for examples of the work of Ikkosai Toun no’s 389 – 393 These legendary Yokai were said to have fabulously long limbs extending to seven or nine yards. Alone neither of them could catch enough Wsh to survive, but together with Ashinaga’s long legs they could wade far into the sea and Tenaga, sitting on his friends back, could with his very long arms, reach down and catch octopi and other tasty delicacies. They were also known for their abundant curly hair like the Ainu, an aboriginal race distinct from the Japanese who still inhabit Yezo in the far north of Japan.

[8] A Solomon Islands New Georgia or Bouganville Islands Ritual Male Spirit Figure the wood painted with black and red pigments, the eyes inlaid with shell One arm with old native repair Old smooth silky patina 19th Century

s i z e : 39 cm high – 15¼ ins high / 44 cm high – 17¼ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Taylor Dale Sante Fe, U.S.A. acquired 1970’s U.K. Ex Private collection California Ex Jaap Polak Amsterdam Ex English Private collection The Solomon Islands Wrst became known to the world through the voyage of Alvaro de Menda¢na from Spain in 1568, and it was the Spanish who were responsible for naming some of the individual islands such as San Christobal. However the archipelago’s precise location remained unknown until the voyage of Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768.

He was followed by gradually increasing numbers of explorers, whalers and traders in tortoiseshell and bêche-de-mer, pressed coconut, and in the mid 19th century by the Christian missionaries.

Captain Andrew Cheyne in the ship Naiad cruised the waters around the Islands of New Georgia in 1844 and wrote: I know of no islands in the Pacific where so much tortoiseshell can be procured. Whalers usually get from 1½ to 3 pounds of shell from the natives for a small hatchet or tomahawk... The reefs around New Georgia... produce bêche-de-mer of the first quality... pearl oysters of a large size are also to be found in abundance off the reefs...

The trade goods most suitable for New Georgia are axes, adzes, tomahawks, blue cloth... small beads of all colours... knives chisels etc. (Cheyne 1852: pg. 63–64) It is probable that this Wgure was carved for the concluding ritual of boys initiation rites. After their prolonged seclusion away from village life they were reintegrated into the community by rituals that included the making of new ceremonial headgear for them to wear and processing into the village preceded by younger uninitiated boys carrying wooden carvings of men, women and birds. These Wgures were not sacred and did not represent ancestors or any particular individual. There was no secrecy attached to them and both sexes could view them. After these rituals the Wgures were usually burnt, which accounts for their comparative rarity.

[9] A Rare Pair of German Erotic Ivory Gambling Dice the Crouching Nude Female with long braided hair the Male crouching in an aroused condition Three of the inlaid ebony dice points missing Probably Nuremburg Late 17th Century

s i z e : 2 cm high, 2 cm wide, 2 cm deep – ¾ ins high, ¾ ins wide, ¾ deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Alexander Boisquerin Ex Private collection Edric Van Vredenburg, Brussels, Belgium c f : Philip Malgouyres Ivories Collection du Musée du Louvre Paris; 2010 pg. 270 no.

232 for four similar. Originally catalogued 1849 as Two Small Obscene Dice (1849:2311) The ancient Romans were inveterate gamblers and many numbered square dice have been found in the ruins of Pompeii. The goddess Fortuna, daughter of Zeus, was worshipped as Lady Luck and she was believed to determine the outcome of every throw of the dice.

Dice such as these were used to generate random numbers with each value from 1 to 6 being equally likely when thrown.

[10] Georgian Mahogany Travelling Physician’s Apothecary Box the Top with Brass Carrying Handle the key unlocking a Wtted interior containing: Fifteen period glass bottles some labelled and with their original contents the stoppers tied with old leather covers to include: Laudanum Ticture of Rhubarb Lindereru Spirit and Polychrest Salt A series of small labelled drawers revealing brushes lint and linen bandages a mixing knife a glass phial of Genuine Black Drop A paper packet inscribed: The Worm Powders... As Before A glass mortar and pestle and four unguent jars containing ointment one labelled Mer Ointment A sliding panel to the back of the cabinet revealing a cupping instrument for use in bleeding three glass bottles two with labels and original contents Nitre and Sal Soda The Black Drop glass phial wrapped in a leaflet entitled To the Faculty and Those Who Take Opium or its Preparations is Recommended the Genuine Lancaster Black Drop…

Circa 1760 – 1780

s i z e : 26.5 cm high, 29.5 cm wide, 20 cm deep – 10½ ins high, 11½ ins wide, 8 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Private collection West London The 18th century saw the emergence of the physician in something of the modern style with his practice based Wrmly on scientiWc knowledge. However, only the very wealthy could regularly aVord the services of a qualiWed physician, so those of more modest means turned to apothecaries for advice. Many apothecaries had pharmacies in which were sold medicinal potions, tinctures, ointments and herbal based remedies.

The outstanding physician of the 18th century was the Dutchman Hermann Boer­ haave of Leiden, who upheld the Hippocratic doctrine of therapy depending on the curative powers of nature and emphasised the importance of the doctor at the bedside.

Instead of allowing his students to conWne themselves to the theory of medicine, he also instructed them in bedside teaching. He acquired an immense personal fortune through his practice and was greatly admired not only by his pupils, but also by the general public.

[11] A Rare English Georgian Apothecaries Glass Leech Jar with Turned Over Foot and Folded Top Rim Good undamaged condition Circa 1780

s i z e : 21 cm high, 18.5 cm dia. – 8¼ ins high, 7¼ ins dia.

In the 18th century barber-surgeons performed many of the functions of the modern doctor including blood letting, purging and tooth drawing. They were important Wgures in medicine and many hundreds of leeches would be kept by them for use in bleeding. Blood letting was a favourite form of treatment during the 18th century for diseases thought to be caused by an excess of bodily Xuid. Detailed directions were given regarding the most favourable days and hours for blood letting, the correct veins to be tapped, the amount of blood to be taken and the number of bleedings. Blood could be taken by opening a vein with a lancet or more usually by blood sucking leeches.

Jars for storing leeches were often the province of the apothecary rather than the barber-surgeon and are found in glass, creamware such as Leeds pottery, delft and stoneware. The leeches would be stored, before and after use on a patient, either dry or in water. The top of the jar would be covered by muslin to allow them to breathe.

[12] A Rare Greenland Thule Eskimo Carved Sperm Whale Tooth Amuletic Transformative Drag Handle in the Form of a Swimming Man / Polar Bear The holes worn smooth from extensive use Silky smooth creamy patina Circa 1200 – 1500 ad

s i z e : 9.5 cm long, 2 cm high, 3 cm wide – 3¾ ins long, ¾ ins high, 1¼ ins wide The Thule were whale-hunters and the taking of a single whale would be enough to provide food for a whole winter for the number of men required to stalk and kill it for their families. Along the Greenland and central Arctic coasts the Thule established permanent winter villages built of turf, stone and whalebone, smaller than those in Alaska and occupied for shorter lengths of time. The warmer temperatures attracted Norse settlers to Southern Greenland, and the Eskimo and Europeans began to encounter each other from around 1200 ad.

Polar bears hold a pre-eminent place in Eskimo mythology. They are regarded as transformative beings who when standing on their hind legs shading their eyes from the bright light of the sun can look very like men. Known as Tornartik or Tornarssuk in Greenland mythology, the supernatural bear is the master of the helping spirits who give power and aid to the shaman.

[13] An Ancient Iron Age Irish Celtic Granite Votive Head Probably from a Sanctuary or Shrine 3rd – 1st Century bc

s i z e : 30.5 cm high, 18 cm wide, 16 cm deep – 12 ins high, 7 ins wide, 6¼ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Irish collection John Doyle, Doyle’s School House, Castle Dermot Co. Kildare, Ireland Springs, wells and rivers are of Wrst and enduring importance as a focal point of Celtic cult practice and ritual, and the human head, symbolic of divinity and a powerful Celtic motif, was always associated with sacred springs, wells and rivers. Made of stone, wood or metal, images of heads were used in making votive oVerings and dropped into the waters. Many objects of a cult nature have been recovered from springs, wells, lakes, pools, bogs and rivers, suggesting that they were regarded as a focus for veneration and healing.

The Celts regarded the source of a river as a natural sanctuary and an entrance to the otherworld. In Ireland many rivers have goddess names and Irish cult legends purport to the naming of the Boyne and the Shannon. The goddess Boand and Sinann deWed the magic powers of the well of Segais and the well of Coelrind and as a result the wells rose up in anger drowning the goddesses and turning into mighty rivers, rushed down to the sea.

[14] Antique Blond Carapace of an Amazonian Arrau River Turtle Podocnemis Expansa Old smooth pale patina 19th Century

s i z e : 76 cm high, 61 cm wide – 30 ins high, 24 ins wide A 1655 engraving of the Danish collector Ole Worm’s Museum shows two large blond turtle shells hanging on the wall amongst a plethora of exotic naturalia gathered from around the new and old worlds.

Turtle meat tasted like a cross between veal and lobster and like caviar has long been regarded as a luxury in Europe. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was mostly eaten by sailors in need of fresh food on board ship during long voyages at sea. In the late 18th century merchants returning from the West Indies began to ship live turtles in seawater tanks to sell on the London market at lucrative prices. During the 19th century turtle soup became a favourite dish of Queen Victoria and was often served at Royal banquets.

Fortnum and Mason proudly displayed huge carapace behind their delicatessen counter piled high with tins of their turtle soup.

[15] A Superb Early Pair of Yoruba Oke Eho Northern Oyo Area Ibeji Twin Figures with Elaborate Plaited CoiVure their Wne long limbed bodies carved with waistbands prominent scariWcation to their faces and lower abdomen bronze bangles around their wrists and strings of glass carnelian and coconut shell beads to their waists Traces of red tukula powder Old smooth dark brown silky patina 19th Century

s i z e : 36.5 cm high – 14¼ ins high and 36 cm high – 14 ins high c f : Hans Witte: A Closer Look: Yoruba Art in Afrika Berg En Dal Museum no. 96 George Chemeche: Ibeji no. 37, for similar examples The Yoruba people inhabit the south western region of Nigeria and adjacent parts of the Benin Republic. They are said to have the highest rate of twin births anywhere in the world and the carved images that replaced the twins who died in infancy are among the best known and most loved of sculptural forms among the collectors of African art in Europe and America. The usual practice was for an image to be carved on the advice of a diviner to replace the twin that had died in infancy, and if both had died, a pair was carved. Palm oil and beans were fed to the images either by placing a small bowlful in front of them or by placing bits of the mixture on their lips. They were kept in the house and washed and dressed regularly by rubbing them all over with an oily camwood paste, which is believed to have healing properties and that over time gave the Ibeji Wgures a natural polished patina.

The town of Oke Iho is some eighty kilometres north west of Iseyin and the Ibeji from this area display a strong Shaki inXuence. The most striking feature of these long tall limbed Wgures is the high artistic hairstyle with two braids that meet above the head.

The male Wgure unusually displays a carved string of scariWcation, to resemble beads, around his hips, and this is regarded as having a marked erotic eVect and is often praised in song.

[16] Indo-Portuguese Goa Silver Filigree Bezoar Stone Case 17th Century

s i z e : 7 cm high, 6.5 cm wide – 2¾ ins high, 2½ ins wide Bezoars, from the Persian påd-zahr meaning poison antidote, are the ossiWed secretions from the stomachs of goats and camels, but they can sometimes be found in other herbivores such as cows and occasionally elephants. Ox bezoars are still used in Chinese medicine and these are gallstones made from the gall bladder bile of cattle, and are claimed to remove toxins from the body.

Bezoar stones were famed for their powers in the 16th and 17th centuries as an antidote to poison and a cure for melancholy. The Portuguese specialised in trading the stones and in making cases and Wligree mounts for them. Between 1625 and 1626 the greatgrandson of the famous explorer Vasco de Gama, D. Francesco da Gama, twice Viceroy of India, sent several bezoars back to Portugal at the request of his family and friends including a box with twelve stones collected in Malacca to his wife, the Countess of Vidigueira.

[17] Five Ancient Egyptian Linen Mummy Wrappings Said to have been Found in Thebes by the Great Giovanni Belzoni Contained in a maple wood frame a label in ink stating: Cloth Taken from Egyptian Mummies Discovered in Thebes by G.Belzoni A label to the reverse inscribed: Of These Five Specimens of Ancient Egyptian Manufactured Cloth, the 4 to the Left are Taken From a Mummy Exhibited at Bath – They are Arranged in the Order in which they were Found Wrapped the Undermost Being the Finest. The 5th Light Coloured Specimen was Taken from a Mummy Exhibited at the Egyptian Hall Piccadilly in 1823 Another label states: These Five Specimens of Ancient Egyptian Manufactured Cloth are Arranged in the Order in which they were Found Wrapped Around a Mummy Long Exhibited to the British Public / Beginning at the Left this Being the Undermost Covering and that at the Right the Outermost New Kingdom Probably 19th Dynasty 1294 to 1279 bc s i z e : 16.5 cm high, 25 cm wide – 6½ ins high, 9¾ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex Private English collection Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778–1824), one of four sons born to a barber in Padua, was a 6 foot 6 inches giant circus impresario, hydrologist and one time Italian Capuchin monk. His adventures as a pioneer archaeologist in Egypt's Nile Valley yielded some of the most imposing treasures in the British Museum, such as the seven ton bust of Pharaoh Ramesses II, and earned him the undying hatred of his successors in a Weld that only much later acquired the polish of a professional discipline.

He made famous excavations of Karnak and opened up the sepulchre of Seti I that is still known as Belzoni’s Tomb. He cleared the great temple at Abu Simbel of sand in 1817 and was the Wrst to penetrate into the second pyramid of Giza. During 1820 and 1821 he exhibited facsimiles of the tomb of Seti I in the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly London. Then having exhibited his model in Paris in 1822 he set out for West Africa intending to travel to Timbuktu. When he reached the Kingdom of Benin it is said he contracted dysentery and died, but according to the celebrated explorer and traveller Sir Richard Burton, he was murdered and robbed.

[18] PaciWc Fijian Half Shell Coconut Kava Drinking Bowl Bilo retaining a Wne Yaqona Bloom and Patina to the inside An old ink label attached Kava Bowl Made in Fiji and Used in Vaniporo for Drinking Kava Made From Yaqona Root Only. Presented by Mr C.L. Davis 23.1.28 19th Century s i z e : 12.5 cm dia. 4 cm high – 5 ins dia. 1½ ins high The bloom on this kava bowl was achieved by allowing the Yaqona to stand in the cup and coat the surface. The resulting layer or Kani could then be scraped oV and reused to make a more powerful version of the drink. Yaqona is made from the root and sometimes the lower stem of a species of pepper bush piper methysticum mixed with fresh water. Bilo were reserved for drinking Yaqona as water was poured directly into the mouth from water bottles made from whole coconut shells or bamboo sections. The chief ’s bilo was reserved for his exclusive use and some habitual yaqona drinkers often also had their own. During the 19th century in many places on Fiji the drinking of the highly alcoholic kava by the chief, his herald and senior oYcials, was a daily morning ritual.

[19] Papua New Guinea Trobriand Islands Massim Tortoise­ Shell Ritual Currency Holder and Lime Spatula Old deposits of Lime adhering to the lower blade and two lines of attached Spondylus shell discs to the top An inventory no. 70 – 1957 to the blade 19th Century

s i z e : 24 cm long, 2.5 cm wide – 9½ ins long, 1 ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex Charterhouse School Museum, sold at Sothebys Nov 5th, 2002 Ex English Private collection These delicately crafted tortoiseshell spatula had a dual function. They served as lime spatulas, the lower tip of the blade was employed to extract lime from a gourd container during the chewing of betel nut, and the upper portion with two lines of small holes with sennit attached small discs of bright pink and orange spondylus shell, served as ritual currency. As ritual objects used to hold and display an owner’s wealth, they are among the most important valuables in the region’s ceremonial exchange network and were traded throughout the region. A conspicuous and durable form of wealth, they were used to pay for feasts, land, canoes and were often part of a bride’s dowry. Larger and more elaborate examples were sometimes carried by women as dance accessories.

[20] Fine Italian Baroque Ivory of Christ CruciWed Attended by the Virgin Mary and Saint John by Giovanni Antonio Gualterio (Active Rome 1582–1620) The Artist’s Monogram and the Date 1613 to Reverse of Perizoma The whole group standing on a base with three enclosed reliquaries containing bones and relics one with label inscribed Chair de S.t F. de Sales Traces of red polychrome Early 17th Century

s i z e : 31cm high, 29.5cm wide – 12¼ ins high, 11¾ ins wide / 62cm high, 37cm wide – 24½ ins high, 14½ wide (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Northern British collection c f : A Fragmentary Statuette of Christ in the Victoria and Albert Museum by Gualterio A. 68 – 1927 and another in Dresden Grünes Gewölbe dated 1599 Gualterio’s muscular form of his Corpus Christi carvings have a similarity to the late drawings of Michelangelo (1475–1564). He made a speciality of ivory cruciWxes, and the carving of Christ’s loincloth is typical of his work. Gualterio is known to have carried out commissions for Cardinal, later Grand Duke, Ferdinand de Medici (1548 –1608) who ordered a cruciWx from him and then immediately sent it as a diplomatic gift to Spain. Two surviving cruciWxes both have Spanish provenances, and perhaps because he partially polychromed his ivories, Gualterio’s work was favoured and in demand in Spain.

[21] A Fine Central African Democratic Republic of Congo Antelope Horn Kongo Court Trumpet Extensively Decorated with Brass Binding and Studs Superb old silky smooth patina A label attached 538 19th Century

s i z e : 46 cm long, 5.5 cm dia. – 18 ins long, 2¼ ins dia. p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Baptist Missionary Society Sold Christies South Kensington September 1989 Lot 92 Ex Private UK collection of David Morris The Wrst missionaries from the society landed at Port Banana in 1878 and presented their credentials to the King of Kongo in San Salvador, now Mbanza, where they established their Wrst Baptist mission station. Over the years they set up several stations along the Kongo River to Stanley Falls, and also on the Zombo plateau in Angola.

Music was an integral part of the life of the Kongolese and it marked all major events.

Vast retinues of court musicians were a characteristic feature of early African Kingdoms.

They emphasised the King’s power, were always in attendance at State ceremonies and provided a musical commentary on events. Brass studs were regarded as a prestigious decoration and royal trumpets or horns along with drums, rattles and bells were played in the orchestra for court dances and ceremonies. The actual instruments that were used were nearly always reWned and beautiful of form, and this was an important part of the musicians ritual eYcacy, especially when they were attempting to make contact with the realm of the spirits and the ancestors.

[22a] A Japanese Carved Boxwood Memento Mori Netsuke Depicting a Small Human Skeleton Climbing on a Huge Skull the wide staring eyes forming the Himotoshi Meiji Period (1868 – 1912) Circa 1880

s i z e : 3.5 cm high, 3 cm deep, 2.5 cm wide – 1¼ ins high, 1 ins deep, ¾ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Arlette Katchen, Paris, France

[22b] A Japanese Carved Boxwood Netsuke of a Skeleton Placed in the Foetal Position Ready for Traditional Burial Memento Mori The Himotoshi passing through the Spine Early 19th Century Edo Period (1601 – 1867) s i z e : 6.5 cm long – 2½ ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Arlette Katchen, Paris, France Human skeletons and skulls have more than one meaning in Japanese art. Buddhist teaching, much like the Christian religion, warns that physical beauty deteriorates so that at the end, all that is left of us is a skeleton. Both doctrines denounce vanity and uphold the pursuit of inner spiritual growth. However, this particular skeleton is more than just a vanitas as it displays the earlier Japanese tradition of placing the deceased in the foetal position within the coYn before burial. Until the early 20th century most bodies were buried and cremation was limited to the wealthy, but in modern Japan with land at a premium, cremation is regarded as the most acceptable option.

[23] A Northern Romano-British Red Sandstone Head of a Youthful Deity Perhaps Mercury 2nd – 3rd Century ad

s i z e : 21.5 cm high, 13 cm wide, 16 cm deep – 8½ ins high, 5¼ ins wide, 6¼ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Yorkshire collection Found in a Garden Yorkshire circa 1920’s Religion in all its many aspects was so embedded in the culture of the ancient world that it is impossible to consider one without the other. It was an important facet of daily Roman life, evidence for which is provided by the many sculptures of gods and goddesses that have been found across Britain. A combination of Roman classical sculpture and Celtic control of line in the hair and eyes reveals a strong native Celtic inXuence, as in this example.

The Roman legions built small shrines outside their forts in Britain and placed altars and statues in them. Prayers were oVered and libations of honey, wine, milk or oil poured on the altar in order to make contact with the gods, and in the hope of divine intervention. However, many of the indigenous Celtic gods had a strictly local reference, with some of them giving explicit expression to the association between deity and tribal grouping, for example dea Brigantia the goddess of the Brigantes.

Caesar ignored the existence of a pantheon of Celtic gods as well as that of a multiplicity of local cult deities preferring to believe as he noted: of the gods they worship Mercury most of all. He has the greatest number of images; they hold that he is the inventor of all the arts and a guide on the roads and on journeys and they believe him the most influential for money making and commerce…. His succinct description illustrates the Roman virtues of clarity and precision, whilst dismissing all native Celtic mythology which overtime inXuenced all the deities of classical Rome.

[24] A Rare English Renaissance Courtly Ivory Handle from a Hunting or Carving Knife Decorated with a Heraldic Lion and Unicorn Locked in an Embrace the Unicorn’s Horn Pointing into the Lion’s Toothy Mouth the reverse decorated with the crowned head of a King Smooth silky creamy patina Circa 1580 / Late 16th Century

s i z e : 11.5 cm high, 4.5 cm wide, 2.5 cm deep – 4½ ins high, 1¾ ins wide, 1 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Bill Brown At Renaissance court banquets individual dishes and roast meat in particular were ceremonially carved before being served to the guests. The carving and serving constituted a ceremony conducted with consummate artistry before the guests at table for their enjoyment. This task was viewed as so important that it evolved during the 15th century into a special oYce at court, the carvership which was held by designated oYcials and chosen members of the nobility. Treatise upon treatise was written well into the 17th century describing the skills to be displayed by holders of the carvership, and the rules of conduct for those involved in serving. As the carving and serving cutlery was used in front of persons of high rank, such pieces had to look very impressive. As a result the handles became exceptionally Wnely worked in a variety of exotic valuable materials such as ivory, amber, coral, agate, silver and gold inlay designed to provide outward manifestations of wealth and status.

[25] A South African Zulu Chief ’s Black Rhinoceros Horn Knob­kerrie Old smooth lustrous dark patina 19th Century

s i z e : 58.5 cm long – 23 ins long Known by Linnaeus in the 18th century as the two horned rhinoceros, the black rhino is no more black than the white rhino is white. It is the prehensile upper lip which is an adaptation for feeding from trees and shrubs that distinguishes the black from the white rhinoceros. ₡hinoceros horn knobkerries were not generally used for hunting or skirmishes as the wood examples, but rather as chieXy staVs of oYce serving as symbols of rank and status. However, the size of the head of this knobkerrie suggests that it could deliver a lethal blow. Large knobkerries were used in the early royal courts for ceremonial executions, but were outlawed by the British at the end of the 19th century.

In the Cape a law was passed attempting to prevent men from carrying these weapons by decreeing that the knobs had to be small enough to Wt into the warrior owner’s mouth.

[26] A Rare and Large PaciWc Fijian Ironwood Shark Hook Nggio Siwa with attached Original Coconut Fibre Line and a Sennit Binding tied with a white Vau Bark Lure the Shank Incised with Marks from the Teeth of Sharks

18th Century

s i z e : 26 cm high, 20 cm wide, 5 cm deep – 10¼ ins high, 8 ins wide, 2 ins deep / binding approx: 102cm long – 40 ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex Private French collection Illustrated in Oceanic Art vol II A.J.P. Meyer, pg. 466 no. 531 Hooks of this size were rare in Fiji and were used by men for deep water Wshing for sharks from canoes. The main Wshing method used by men was with spears, but the taking of Wsh for household food rested largely with women, who used nets. The main sources of supply being fences or weirs which were renewed annually, not always in the same spot, and were made of stakes and sennit.

Sir Basil Thompson (1861–1939) was Governor of Fiji from 1883 to 1890. Writing to Harry Beasley later on he states that when I first arrived in Fiji in 1883 the native fish hooks had already gone out of use, only the European type was used, but I did once see a wooden hook with a lump of coral attached, which was alleged to have been used for sharks. I was told by natives that in Kanadabu and probably in other parts there were large wooden fish hooks, made, as far as I can remember, out of mangrove or ironwood. These hooks were not baited, but were used exclusively for trolling for large fish, such as Saga. A piece of vau bark which looks very white in the water, was tied on to attract the fish. The lines were also made of twisted vau.

(Harry GeoVrey Beasley Fish Hooks 1928)

[27] A Fine and Rare Mughal Indian Gujarati Mother of Pearl Casket Probably Made for the Turkish Market Constructed of two layers of shell the stylised petal shaped plaques of the exterior laid over longer strips of shell that constitute the interior inlaid to the outside with red lacquer geometric cypress trees the whole secured with iron pins the vaulted lid with brass hinges and front plate A few mother of pearl panels replaced Early 17th Century

s i z e : 12.5 cm high, 20 cm wide, 13.5 cm deep – 5 in high, 8 ins wide, 5¼ ins deep c f : Ashmolean Museum Casket Exhibited 1982 at V & A London Exhibition The Indian Heritage Court and Life Under Mughal Rule no. 551 described as Probably made for the Turkish Market Jan Huyghen Van Linschoten in his Voyage aux Indes Orientales writes about the Gujarati artisans in the 1580’s They make also al sortes of deskes, cubboards, coffers, boxes and a thousand such like devises inlaid and wrought with mother of pearl which are carried throughout al India, especially to Goa and Cochin, against the time that the Portingals Shippes (come) thether to take in their lading.

Mother of pearl fashioned from the shell of a nocturnal snail Turbo Marmoratus was a favoured material at the Mughal court. These luxurious, exotic articles were made in Gujarat in western India and equally prized in the Indian and European courts.

The Portuguese commissioned many articles exporting them to the Middle East and to Europe as precious novelties, and they were often prominently featured in Wunderkammer. The Dresden Green Vault still preserves examples from the 16th and 17th centuries. Although produced in traditional Western shapes, the delicate mother of pearl articles were never intended to be used for anything other than ostentatious display.

[28] An Interesting Venetian Renaissance Bronze Bust of an Enslaved African Wearing an Iron Neck Collar and Chains his Hair Tied Back with a Scarf Knotted with an Elaborate Bow Probably a cascabel terminal from a small cannon First half 16th Century

s i z e : 11 cm high – 4¼ ins high / 18 cm high – 7 ins high (on base) Small cannon, known as culverin were made in Italy in the early 16th century and the bronze casting of these decorated cannon represented a signiWcant technological step.

They were commissioned to be made with elaborate and costly ornament that required the combined skills of the gun-founder and sculptor to cast it. The 16th century saw the rise of gunnery as a formal science and a Venetian, Vannoccio Biringuccio attempted a classiWcation of the types and sizes of ordnance then in use. Writing in his De la Pirotechnia of 1540 he states lighter cannon are also made with a greater firing range, from which iron is not fired, but stone. These are not good against walls but serve only for firing at infantry or cavalry and at warships.

Venetian merchants supplied Italy with slaves as early as the 8th century, and although the Church did nothing to abolish this Xourishing trade, the Venetian state did pass laws to ensure that they were well treated. By the 17th century the demand for slaves in the New World, and the subsequent horriWc Atlantic slave trade, had caused a decline in domestic Italian slavery. The growing scarcity of slaves and the consequent rise in prices made it easier to employ cheap indentured labour than to purchase slaves, although the Venetian state still had galley slaves enlisted into their navy as oarsmen for another 100 years.

[29] Fine Mughal Indian Ivory Fly Whisk the Handle Inlaid with Amber and Black Coral Insets the Knop carved as a Lotus Bud the Whisk of Blond Horse Hair Late 17th – Early 18th Century

s i z e : handle: 17 cm long – 6¾ ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection The Werce descendants of Timur, the legendary Tamerlane, and Chenghiz Khan, the Mughals in 1526 established the richest and largest empire in nearly 2000 years.

They quickly transformed both the indigenous people and other conquerors. For the Wrst time in an Islamic state, Hindus were invited to join in government and religious tolerance was established. Mughal Kings married Hindu princesses and a new civilisation was born. The Empire’s fortunes soared and its frontiers expanded to include all of Hindustan by 1600 ad and all of Deccan by 1700 ad. Outside contact, and soon trade with Europeans was established, and as commerce prospered an opulent cultured class arose not only at court, but in all the cities of the realm. Patronage of the arts intensiWed to an unprecedented degree and in a far more international way than any of their brother Muslim Kings.

[30] An Ancient Egyptian Limestone Head of a Youthful Man with Short Stylised CoiVure Drawn Back Behind His Ears Perhaps from a small funerary statue Traces of pink polychrome and gesso to the sides of the face Middle Kingdom 12th Dynasty / 1985 – 1795 bc

s i z e : 9 cm high, 7.5 cm wide, 8 cm deep – 3½ ins high, 3 ins wide, 3¼ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection acquired 1950’s The ancient Egyptians took great care of their hair and were concerned to avoid greying and baldness. Their hair was usually washed and scented and wealthy individuals employed hairdressers. An 11th Dynasty sarcophagus of Queen Kawit from Deirel-Bahri (2055–2004 bc) now in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, shows a hairdresser at work on a very similar hairstyle to that portrayed on this head. This short ribbed hairstyle was particularly popular during the 11th and 12th Dynasties for both men and women.

Small funerary statues were made during this period showing the tomb owner in several diVerent ways. The variations were intended to show, and therefore perpetuate all aspects of the deceased, in both youth and in old age. The pose, hairstyle and dress details demonstrated his position in society and his career, as well as his hopes for the afterlife.

[31] A Fine Chinese Carved White Soapstone Standing Figure of the Goddess Guanyin her Flowing Robes Richly Decorated to Accentuate the Ivory White of the Stone Her face composed and serene with downward gaze and half closed eyes the hair dressed into an elaborate chignon partially covered by a shawl her feet exposed at the hem of her robes Qing Dynasty 18th Century s i z e : 17 cm high – 6 ¾ ins high Guanyin’s full name Guanshiyin means she who hears the cries of the world. This compassionate Bodhisattva as she is often referred to, was during the Tang and Song dynasties (7th and 13th centuries ad), portrayed as a male Wgure, but by the Ming dynasty the deity was shown as a female. This was mainly due to the lack of suitable Wgures for women to pray to. Her special reputed powers such as her ability to send sons were speciWcally concerned with women and their worldly cares.

[32a] Russian Archangel Carved Whalebone Box decorated with lattice work Xoral acanthus leaf designs the lid with a scene depicting a seated couple each holding a rose a huge urn overXowing with Xowers between them The inside lined with pink paper on spruce-wood Complete with key Circa 1800 – 1825

s i z e : 8.5 cm high, 29 cm wide, 24 cm deep – 3¼ ins high, 11½ ins wide, 9½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Russian Private collection

[32b] Another with a scene depicting a couple on horseback hunting a stag with hounds she with a spear he with a shotgun The interior lined with blue paper on spruce-wood and compartmentalised probably for gaming counters Complete with steel key Circa 1800 – 1825

s i z e : 7 cm high, 21 cm wide, 16.5 cm deep – 2¾ ins high, 8¼ ins wide, 6½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Russian Private collection c f : A similar lattice work box is in the Hermitage, St Petersburg (Russiches Elfenbein 1987 cat. no. 43) Kholmogory on the Dvina River near Archangel in North East Russia had a tradition of making decorative objects in marine ivory and whalebone, decorated with openwork and incised patterns and classical motifs in relief. Early Byzantine texts alluded to the practice of carving in this area as early as the 12th century and by the middle of the 17th century the trade had grown to such proportions that Tzar Alexis I Mikhailovich introduced a state monopoly. Initially the carving was practised by the local inhabitants as a craft when they were not working at sea or or on the land. As it developed master craftsmen emerged, some of whom were summoned to Moscow to work in the Armoury. The industry reached its zenith in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when quantities of carvings were shipped through the port of Archangel to cities in the south of Russia and sometimes exported abroad.

[33] A New Caledonian Kanak Chiefs Ceremonial Sceptre Gi Okono Set with a Fine Green Serpentine Disc Shaped Blade the wood shaft bound with tapa sennit Wbre and red Xying fox fur 19th Century

s i z e : 63 cm long – 24¾ ins long / 70 cm high – 27½ ins high (with base) Symbolising the strength and power of the chief and his clan, these ceremonial sceptres have beautiful circular blades made from a light green serpentine, sometimes erroneously called jade, that are sanded Xat to a special thinness. The blade is therefore quite fragile and is not capable of serving any practical purpose, although they are sometimes used as prestigious objects of ritual exchange. The serpentine was quarried from important deposits on Ouen Island near Nouméa. From there it would start out on a long cycle of barter that would take it north up the coast eventually reaching the Loyalty Islands. The symbolism embodied by these clubs, described in 1794 by Bruni d’Entrecasteaux’s ships crew as axe-monstrances, is said to be linked to ritual prayers for sun and rain. The blade can be so thin that when held up to the sunlight it is encircled by a golden-green tinged halo.

The stone blades are hafted to wooden shafts that are wrapped in tapa bark cloth held in place by a highly ornamental webbing design in cord teased out from Xying fox fur. Such strands are also status symbols as red dyed cords are also used in ritualised exchange. The strips of tapa and the red Xying fox fur were later ousted by imported colonial trade cloth.

[34] A Rare and Unusual Set of Five English Memento Mori Skull and Crossbones Decorated Buttons of Dark Blue and White Glass Each mounted in silver with a copper fixing contained in a small straw work box 18th Century s i z e : approx: 1.2 cm dia. – ½ ins dia.

Buttons are historical fragments of their times and place, to collectors they are irresistible small relics. Although considered by most as functional triXes they should be seen as minature works of art, elegant creations in precious materials including ivory, porcelain, silk, glass, tortoiseshell, diamonds, silver and gold. Throughout the 18th century buttons were luxury items aVorded only by those whose clothes required expensive embellishment. They were made in sets of Wve to thirty Wve, with even larger sets custom made for the nobility and garments for great occasions. The 18th century was their undisputed period of magniWcence and the variety on oVer increased as European fashion copied the French whose pre-revolutionary taste for conspicuous luxury over-embellished everything. Worn mainly by men rather than women, rivalry in the number and rarity of the buttons on show was part of courtly fashion. The Comte d’Artois wore a set of diamond buttons each of which encased a miniature watch. These rare glass examples decorated with a vanitas were perhaps worn by a wealthy buccaneer or even a successful Georgian undertaker; whatever their story may be they are a fascinating relic of time.

[35] A German Carved Ivory Memento Mori A Snake and Two Snails crawling across the top of the skull Mid 17th Century

s i z e : Size: 3.5 cm high, 3 cm wide, 4.5 cm deep – 1¼ ins high, 1 ins wide, 1¾ ins deep Symbolic of the transience of all human existence, the image of the skull has been used by philosophers and theologians, artists and sculptors, authors and poets, for centuries to provoke meditative thought on the inevitability and indiscriminate nature of death.

Whatever a person’s wealth or status in life, everyone must in the end come to the same condition.

[36] Thailand Ayutthaya Kingdom Devotional Figure of the Crowned Standing Buddha of Elegant and Stylised Form Old losses to flame finial and right hand Traces of old gilding to the crown 16th – 17th Century

s i z e : 66 cm high – 26 ins high / 68 cm high – 26¾ ins high (with base) A Thai prince Rama Thibodi I in around 1350 ad founded the new city of Ayutthaya on an island centred by the conXuence of three rivers in the south of the Chao Phraya basin and this city rapidly became the capital of a powerful state. Sukhothai became a vassal and the northern kingdom of Lan Nawai was conquered in the 15th century and with the great city of Angkor defeated in 1431, this new kingdom of Ayutthaya was to hold sway over most of the land of present day Thailand. Known as Siam, the kingdom was friendly towards foreign merchants and traders with the Chinese, Indians, Japanese and later the English, Portuguese, Dutch, French and Spanish setting up villages outside the walls of the capital. The kingdom reached a high point during the sumptuous reign of King Boromokot (1733–1758) but only one decade after his death the Burmese attacked the country and sacked the capital.

[37] An Interesting Complete Anglo-Chinese Export Carved Ivory Chess Set of Staunton Pattern Contained in a custom made wood carrying box A note inside stating: This Ivory Chess Set was Brought Back From China by My Grandfather (Benjamin Robert King R.N.) when he was Serving on H.M.S. Opossum in 1869. Joseph L.Weeks Circa 1860 s i z e : King: 10.5 cm high –4 ins high (max) p rov e na nc e : Ex collection B.R. King R.N. Ex collection J.L. Weeks Thence by descent

In 1847 Howard Staunton wrote the inXuential Chess Players Handbook which became the standard reference book for English chess club players until the end of the 19th century. A new design for an elegant and functional chess set was made by Nathaniel Cook, and in 1849 when a patent was secured, Staunton agreed to let his name be used to promote the new pieces, and even wrote a small Chess Players Textbook to be given away free to future purchasers. Nearly all the Victorian, Edwardian and even later sets intended for play were derived from the Staunton pattern. It is interesting that the craftsmen of the Cantonese workshops in China so accurately copied the weight and design of the pieces, all be it with an inXuence and Xavour of the Orient.

[38] An Interesting Northern Italian Veneto Istrian Marble Sculpture of a Pallonista a Player of the Renaissance Game Pallone Col Bracciale wearing a spiked wooden Braccia on his right forearm and appropriately dressed for the energetic sport

Restored crack 18th Century

s i z e : 82 cm high – 32¼ ins high c f : The Museum of the Austrian Schloss Mirabell Salzburg has a Stone Figure of a Dwarf wearing a Bracciale An Italian 17th century Montelupo maiolica plate in the Victoria and Albert Museum depicts two men dressed in striped pantaloons and waistcoats wearing braccia on their forearms and playing the game with a large inXated ball. The word pallone is Italian for an inXated ball and is the source of the English word balloon. Early on, the game must have been played with a larger, softer inXated ball and later a small, hard leather ball was used. The game is similar to the Valencian pilota, another traditional handball sport, but one that is played with bare hands.

Pallone col Bracciale was described by the Swiss art historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) as the classical game of the Italians. It was played in all the Renaissance courts in Europe and was regarded as a noble sport, as it was always played with the hands and never with the feet, which were thought an ignoble part of the body. Each side competing in the game has three players, the battitore, spalla and terzino, and the balls are struck back and forth with the bracciale either before they bounce, after the Wrst bounce or after hitting the lateral wall of a court. Today the game is only played in a handful of towns, but once professional players of pallone were the highest paid sportsmen in the world with some, like the modern footballer, achieving celebrity status.

[39] A Rare Example of a Northern Italian Carved Walnut Braccia used for Pallone Col Bracciale a traditional team game played with a hollow spiked glove gripped on the inside and worn on the forearm the protruding wedge shaped blunted spikes known as Bischeri 17th Century

s i z e : 19 cm high, 21 cm dia. – 7½ ins high, 8¼ ins dia.

From the mid 16th century when the Wrst oYcial regulations were invented by Antonio Scaino from Salÿ, Pallone con bracciale was a particularly popular street sport played with heavy spiked hollow walnut cylinders that were worn over the right or left forearm.

These would be used to strike inXated balls back and forth on courts often marked out on town squares or streets. A designated server called a mandarino Wrst puts the ball into play, but each receiving player can reject any of the serves. As in the game of tennis, scoring is by Wfteens and tens with the team that wins 12 games the winner of the match.

Weighing up to two kilos, braccia could cause serious injuries amongst players. It is said that the 16th century Renaissance artist Veronese was exiled from Verona for a time for putting out the eye of another player with an ill-judged swing.

[40] Collection of Five Ancient British Bronze Age Axe Heads Illustrating Their Development A. Early Bronze Age flat axe head B. Early Bronze Age double socketed flanged axe with loop, label reading: Unusual Type Traces of Limestone from a Cave Dorset Traces of Silver Stone Flakes Prob. Burial Goods 1800 bc C. Rare Middle Bronze Age Heavy Palstave Type Axe head with high copper content circa 1000 bc D. Late Bronze Age Round Socketed Axe Head with label Round Socketed Late Bronze Age Axe with Loop circa 700 bc Found on the Old Ford Brentford 1970 Rare Type circa 700 – 600 bc E. Late Bronze Age Oval Socketed Axe circa 650 bc s i z e : min: 8 cm long – 3 ins long / max: 15.5 cm long – 6 ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Oxfordshire collection Much of what we know about Bronze Age metallurgy comes from the Wnds of bronze hoards, usually of tools such as axe heads, but sometimes of weapons, which were left buried in the ground presumably for later recovery. Bronze axe heads and swords were also buried with the dead, and importantly acted as votive oVerings to the gods, whose world probably mirrored that of the living. Success was measured by Bronze Age society in the quantities of desirable materials and of objects available for their disposal.

Bronze acted as a material of prime value, a proto currency, not in standardised units, but somewhat like the family silver which can be used for elegant display and also exchanged for everyday necessities when times are hard.

[41] Central African Democratic Republic of Congo Bembe Male Figure of a Drummer Old smooth silky patina Late 19th – Early 20th Century

s i z e : 28.5 cm high – 11¼ ins high / 33.5 cm high, 13¼ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Belgian collection The Bembe are more generally known for their miniature sculptures and so the larger Wgurative pieces such as this example are comparatively rare. A distinctive feature of Bembe statues is the elongated torso upon which a rhythmic pattern of raised geometric scariWcation occurs. These designs would have originally allowed identiWcation of the individual portrayed and given his rank and status within the community. The oval shaped head has strongly modelled features with a thick beard extending from just below the chin. His eyes are inlaid with shards of porcelain suggesting an ability to see beyond the human realm.

[42 a–b] Two Rare English Carved Walrus Ivory Lottery or Teetotum Gambling Balls each Etched with a Excise Crown and Incised on Faceted Sides with the Numbers 1 to 32 Old smooth creamy patina Late 17th Century

s i z e a: 4.5 cm dia. – 1¾ ins dia. s i z e b: 4.5 cm dia. – 1¾ ins dia. p rov e na nc e : [b] Ex North Country English Private collection Although lotteries were Wrst begun under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1568, it was not until 1698 that a statute was passed stating that they were illegal unless speciWcally authorised by Parliament. Before the advent of eYcient mass communications people were able to run national lotteries claiming to one part of the country that the winner lived in another part and vice versa, thus taking all the stakes and paying nothing out.

As late as 1934 an Act of Parliament legalising small lotteries severely limited the stakes and the geographical scope that they could cover so that the organisers could not fraudulently deceive the bettors. The British state franchised lottery was set up under government license in 1993 and has so far raised billions of pounds which is distributed via grants to various good causes. 28% of the revenue goes towards this fund together with all unclaimed prizes, 12% goes to the government, 45% represents the prize money and the remaining 15% goes towards the running costs and proWts for the organisers and ticket sellers.

[43a] An Unusual Japanese Copper Netsuke in the Form of a Samurai Saddle Decorated with Gilt Kiri-Mon Edo Period (1601 – 1867) Circa 1820 – 40

s i z e : 2.5 cm high, 2.5 cm wide, 3 cm deep – 1 ins high, 1 ins wide, 1 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Arlette Katchen, Paris, France

[43b] A Japanese Naturalistic Copper Netsuke in the Form of a Bamboo Node Wnely inlaid with Silver Crescent Moon and Shakudo Leaves Signed to the reverse Yoshioka Inaba No Saku This Netsuke is an emblem of fidelity as the Japanese word for a Node of Bamboo is Setsu which also means Fidelity Meiji Period (1868 – 1912) Circa 1880 – 1890 s i z e : 4 cm high, 2 cm wide, 0.5 cm deep – 1½ ins high, ¾ ins wide, ¼ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Arlette Katchen, Paris, France Netsuke made of iron and soft metals were produced by the same artisans who created sword Wttings. Their skill was at a very high level to that expected by the Samurai patrons. These two Wnely sculpted examples are also rare as they are not Kagamibuta that is clasps made for sagemono or pipe cases, or Kanagu, the metal Wttings used on the front of pipe bags, all of which were more commonly made by the craftsmen of sword furniture.

[44] A Spanish Colonial Mexico Tortoiseshell Domed Casket inlaid with silver and brass rosettes the lid sgrafWto etched with Xoral urns the side panels with a dog and bird the back with a pair of trees birds and an inscription: Se Hizo en la mui Noble y Leal Ciudad de Guadalaxara Nuevo Reyno dela Galicia : Made in the very Noble and Loyal City of Guadalajara the New Kingdom of Galicia Silver hinges and lock the lid attached with silver chains the interior lined with blue paper Early 17th Century s i z e : 9.5 cm high, 17 cm wide, 7 cm deep – 3¾ ins high, 6¾ ins wide, 2¾ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Lady Ottoline Morrell (1873–1938) Society hostess and patron of the arts, friend of Aldous Huxley, Siegried Sassoon, TS Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, Mark Gertler, Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell, Lytton Strachey, Dora Carington and Roger Fry. Said to be the inspiration for D.H. Lawrences Lady Chatterley. She had a long term aVair with Betrand Russell and Augustus John Thence by descent Toribio de Benavente, known as Motolinía arrived in Mexico in 1523 with the Wrst Franciscans and quickly became one of the greatest advocates for the indigenous population of Mexico. In his History of the Indians of New Spain he writes eloquently of the ingenuity of the native craftsmen in the mechanical arts the Indians have made great progress both on those which they cultivated perviously and in those which they learned from the Spaniards later he added they never make anything without changing the style, seeking to create new models. From the 16th to the 18th centuries the European, Asian and African artists and craftsmen of Colonial Latin America, working alongside the indigenous people, created some of the most extraordinary decorative arts drawing freely upon the rich artistic traditions and techniques of their homelands.

The application of tortoiseshell with the use of sgrafWto was a common technique in the Spanish colonies of the New World for luxury items such as boxes, sewing cabinets and mirrors.

Guadalajara is a city in Western Mexico, Capital of the state of Jalisco and is famous for its historic colonial centre and cathedral with twin golden spires.

[45] A Fine Italian Renaissance Devotional Bronze of Christo Morto after a Model by Giambologna (Flemish Active Italy 1529–1608) Probably cast by the workshop of Antonio Susini (Active 1577 – 1624) Extensive traces of gilding Well figured heavy bronze cast with red brown patina Late 16th Century

s i z e : 36.5 cm high, 34.5 cm wide – 14¼ ins high – 13½ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex Private London collection As court sculptor to the Medici Grand Dukes, Giambologna modelled many versions of the cruciWed Christ and it became the religious subject most closely identiWed with his European fame. A popular image with the Counter Reformation, his cruciWxes were highly esteemed as expressions of the Catholic faith. Shortly after 1577 Susini was documented as a caster and in 1581 he was Wrst mentioned in relation to Giambologna.

He was working for him as a formatore or mould maker on a project Wnanced by Jacopo Salviati’s cousins, the Salviati chapel of St Antoninus in San Marco. It was probably Salviati who introduced Susini to Giambologna as in 1580 he was described as one of the Flemish sculptors greatest friends.

Susini became one of Giambologna’s closest collaborators and was the specialist in bronze statuettes. In 1600 Susini founded his own workshop, but continued to also make casts from Giambologna’s models. Due to his technical skill the workshop became famous for the production of high quality casts of his master's works.

[46] A Central African Democratic Republic of the Congo Luba Headrest Carved with a Female Figure Displaying a Cruciform Hairstyle Early 20th Century

s i z e : 16.5 cm high, 13 cm dia. (max) – 6½ ins high, 5 ins dia. (max) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Belgian collection By the late 19th century Luba men and women had perfected the cult of coiVure to such an extent that early European explorers visiting the region referred to them as the headdress people (Roberts and Roberts.1996) The need to protect their elaborate hairstyles, which took a considerable time to create, resulted in the making of small wooden headrests used to elevate the head whilst sleeping. It also keeps the head and neck cool during sleep in the hot, tropical climate.

The cross-shaped coiVure is often portrayed on Luba sculptures. Known as Kaposhi, it was the hairstyle of Luba chiefs and some of their wives. The hair was gathered into four tresses, braided and formed into a cross shape. A chief 's Kaposhi was always adorned with one white heron feather as white was the colour of purity, loyalty, the ancestors and the moon. CoiVures were, and still are, important to the Luba, and early 20th century travellers described the complexity and extravagance of the hairstyles they observed, with one missionary producing an entire book of watercolours showing the various styles worn by both sexes to indicate their status, title, and profession. A beautiful coiVure, like scariWcation was a sign of civilisation, a mark of identity and a visible measure of a person’s social worth.

[47] Unusual Sailors Scrimshaw Whalebone Walking Cane of Architectural Form with a Turned Free Rolling Spiral Twist Sperm Whale Tooth Column Floating and Caged within a Quadrangle Circa 1840 – 60

s i z e : 91.5 cm long – 36 ins long The most versatile material for scrimshaw of all kinds was bone from the lower jaws of the great whales. It is particularly dense and even-textured and provided large areas of useable material which was strong, durable and resistant to warping and splitting. It could be carved, turned or sawn into thin sheets and went to produce a wide variety of scrimshaw made by the sailors on board ship.

Jaw bones from the sperm whale were regularly salvaged for scrimshaw after the teeth were extracted. The broad area of the jaw behind each row of teeth was known as the panbone from the term jaw pans given to the depressions where the jaw articulated with the skull. Panbone was the main material for tools and ship’s Wttings: Wds, seam rubbers, belaying pins, blocks and sheaves, and the lower margin was suYciently long to be cut or turned into walking canes.

Architectural walking canes were a way for the scrimshander to boast and show oV his skills whilst warding oV the boredom of a long whaling voyage

[48] A Rare Chinese Export Miniature Zitan Wood Double Gate Legged Table with eight baluster turned legs four Wxed and four extending to support two folding scallop edged leaves that fold over four square brass hinges fastened with pins Qing Dynasty / 18th Century

s i z e : 14.5 cm high, 18 cm dia. – 5¾ ins high, 7 ins dia.

As Robert Ellsworth states in Chinese Furniture: To the Chinese this (Zitan) is the most highly prized of all woods.... This dark purple brown, subtly grained wood was also the most expensive and difficult to obtain and was the most imitated of all woods. This is a rare example of a Zitan miniature in the form of a late 17th English or Dutch model. In The China Trade an illustration (colour plate 92) of the interior of a Cantonese cabinet makers shop producing European style furniture shows two rectangular topped gate leg tables. A four legged gaming table with similar baluster turning exists in the Chinese Pavilion, Drottingholm, Sweden and is itemised in the 1777 inventory. It is illustrated in The Chinese Pavilion (pg. 151).

[49] William IV Marble Bust of Sir John Rennie (1794 – 1874) Civil Engineer and Builder of London Bridge by his Cousin the Sculptor George Rennie (1802–1860) Inscribed to the Reverse Sir John Rennie. G. Rennie Sculptor 1831 Circa 1830 – 31

s i z e : 73.5 cm high – 29 ins high c f : Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660–1851 by Ingrid Roscoe, lists this Bust as no. 17, Untraced Exhibited at the R.A. in 1831 George Rennie was born at Phantassie, East Lothian in 1802 the son of an agriculturist (1749–1828) and the nephew of John Rennie the Elder, an engineer (1762–1821). As a young man in the 1820’s he travelled to Rome to study sculpture and it is believed that he was a pupil under Bertel Thorvaldsen. By 1828 he had returned to London and exhibited his most famous classical work The Archer at the Royal Academy, about which the New Monthly Magazine commented that the almost naked Wgure showed an admirable knowledge of anatomy. It can still be seen in the Athenaeum Club.

This bust of his cousin Sir John Rennie was exhibited at the R.A. in 1831 when he also showed a bust of Thorvaldsen. He had a preference for sculpture in the after the antique classical style and two of his works that display this exist in the collections of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth House, a Wgure of Mars and a bust of Alexander.

In the 1830’s Rennie became concerned with the improvement of the state of the arts in Britain, and became involved with radical politician Joseph Hume in his eVorts to obtain public freedom of access to all monuments and works of art in public buildings and museums. In 1836 he suggested to the Liberal William Ewart that a special parli­ amentary committee should be formed leading to the establishment of the School of Design at Somerset House. He was one of the Wrst artists in London to conceive the idea of bringing Cleopatra’s Needle to the capital. His plan and design submitted for the 1839 competition placed the ancient Egyptian obelisk as a main feature of the National Monument to Admiral Nelson in Trafalgar Square. In 1841 he was elected Liberal M.P. for Ipswich. Six years later he became a Governor of the Falkland Islands enjoying great diplomatic popularity and achieving success in the economic development of the Islands.

He returned to London in 1855 and died at his home in Regents Park in March 1860.

His cousin, Sir John Rennie (1794–1874) was the second son of the Scottish civil engineer John Rennie the Elder F.R.S. F.R.S.E. (1761–1821) who designed many bridges, canals and docks including Waterloo Bridge which Canova called the noblest bridge in the world, and said that it is worth going to England solely to see Rennie’s bridge.

The younger Sir John Rennie was placed by his father in 1813 under the tutelage of the resident engineer of Waterloo Bridge, and by 1815 was assisting his father in the erection of Southwark Bridge. In 1819 he travelled to the continent to study the great engineering works of Europe. When his father died in 1821 he and his brother George Rennie (1791–1868) ran the business as J & G Rennie becoming heavily involved in completing the many projects and colossal schemes of engineering that their father had initiated. He undertook to run the civil engineering portion of the Wrm whilst the mechanical side was supervised by his brother.

Sir John Rennie’s most famous work was the building of London Bridge to the designs of his father. The bridge was completed and opened in 1831, the year he was knighted. Presumably this marble bust was sculpted and exhibited at the R.A. by his cousin in that year in honour of his Knighthood.

[50] Micronesia Caroline Islands Palau Tortoiseshell Womens Valuable Toluk a Ritual Currency Dish An old label inside the dish inscribed Tortoiseshell Dish Tellus Island Manila 29 Dec / 89 and a label to the reverse Beasley Collection Pelew 4017 2 – 3 – 36 19th Century s i z e : 3 cm high, 21 cm wide, 11 cm deep – 1¼ ins high, 8¼ ins wide, 4¼ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Finch and Co Ex English Private collection Palau is part of an archipelago of over 200 islands, only 8 of which are inhabited. The women of these islands regard these dishes as their exclusive property and they were used together with turtle shell spoons on ceremonial occasions as a form of currency in ritual exchange. George Keate observed on Palau in the 18th century that on occasions of particular ceremony, when at home, the great people have small plates or dishes of tortoiseshell.

(1788. 22) Keate’s book An Account of the Pelew Islands recounting the discovery of the Palau Islands and the life of Prince Lee Boo was one of the most popular books on the PaciWc produced in the 18th century, and between 1789 and 1850 it had been translated into over 20 languages.... The ship Antelope a china trade vessel was shipwrecked on the Island of Oroolong in Western Palau in 1783 on a voyage to China for the East India Company, its survivors including Captain Henry Wilson spent three months on Palau.

When they were Wnally rescued, the ruler King Ibedul permitted Captain Wilson to take his second son Prince Lee Boo back to Britain to acquire more knowledge of Europe. He arrived in Portsmouth about a decade after the Tahitian Omai had done and was quickly named The Black Prince by London society, who were charmed by his poise and intelligence. The Wilson family took him into their London house where he attended church ceremonies, dinner parties and a European school for several months.

Tragically he contracted and died of smallpox in May 1784, six months after his arrival in London. He was no more than 20 years of age.

[51] Rare English Silver and Ivory Travelling Knife and Fork with original Fish Skin Case the Xuted ivory handles decorated with silver tendrils of scrolling vines the fork with three silver tines the steel knife blade with cutlers mark Late 17th Century

s i z e : case: 18 cm long – 7 ins long Many crafts were involved in the making of a quality knife and although a cutler was required by his guild to make a complete knife, it is probable that the carved ivory, silver, bronze or agate handles were provided by specialist craftsmen, and may even have been imported from abroad. Ornately decorated knives were popular amongst the wealthy of London and at court, and were accepted as a fashionable part of dress.

Early 17th century travellers brought back reports from Italy of the usage of forks, not as is often thought to transfer food to the mouth, but rather to prevent contamination by holding the meat in place when cutting on the plate. After much resistance, the fork as an implement at table was eventually accepted in Britain, although not until around 1670.

[52] A Central Australian Desert Aboriginal Medicine Man’s Ritual Pointing Bone the End Enrobed in a Ball of Resin with an Attached Cord of Braided Human Hair Surmounted with a Plume of Feathers Probably from the Pitjantjatjara People An old label attached to the bone reading: Manutarka Aboriginal Witch Doctor’s Pointing Bone. Australia 19th Century

s i z e : 44 cm long (max) – 17¼ ins long (max) bone: 21 cm long – 8¼ ins long / 23.5 cm high – 9¼ ins high (on base) c f : Australia’s Aborigines Frederick D. McCarthy 1956 pg. 145, for several examples Aboriginal medicine men can be divided into two categories, the sorcerers and the healers. Every Australian Aboriginal has recourse to what is known as sorcery by which he can harm an enemy, the medicine men known as Kungara, the healers, are the only individuals who can counter those inXuences. The medicine man is the most powerful person in the community and is ritually sanctioned after undergoing special initiation into their magical craft. The Aborigines tribal name for them means intelligent, powerful and clever men.

Bone pointing, a symbolic or magical way of spearing a victim, is the most powerful, direct and best known method of projectile magic employed by the Aborigines. The instrument is made of the arm bone of a dead man or the Wbula of a wallaby, kangaroo or emu, usually from 3 to 8 inches in length the gum encasing the butt end secures a length of human hair to the bone. The sorcerer turns his back to his victim, stoops down and jerks the pointer at him several times while he mutters incantations. The sorcerer, in using the death pointer produces an instantaneous psychic shock, and captures the lifeessence of the soul or spirit of the victim. By a magical and secret rite he can provoke the death of a person from a distance by projecting invisible substances along the string and pointer into his victim’s body.

[53] Australian Central Desert Aboriginal Rain Makers Pearl Shell Ornament Ringili decorated with engraved lines worn smooth from use A label attached reading: North West Australia Cossack – Port Walcot 19th Century

s i z e : 14.5 cm high, 4 cm wide – 5¾ ins high, 1½ ins wide c f : C.P. Mountford; Nomads of the Australian Desert plate, 306, for a very similar ornament Originally only the Aborigines of the Dampier Archipelago in the extreme north west of Australia made these engraved pearl ornaments and they were used as pubic ornaments by partly initiated boys. After initiation, when the shells were no longer required, the youths traded them to neighbouring tribes and as the shell ornaments moved further and further away from their source they became magical objects such as the ringili shells used in the rain making ceremonies among the people of the central desert over 1000 miles away.

During rituals the ringili decreases in size as the edge is ground on a rough stone to release the life essence of rain. Remnants of the line decoration remain, but the surface is reduced and becomes soft to the touch as in this example. At the start of the ceremony native tobacco is chewed and the liquid spat onto a grinding stone. Having the same odour as rain it combines with droplets of spittle containing ground pearl shell which is the rain’s life essence. This forms the nucleus of the small clouds when spat by the rain maker into the air. Once started, the clouds will grow larger under the inXuence of the chanting of special songs. When this happens the essence of the grass mixed with ground pearl shell and some of the rain makers blood will cause the clouds to stick so closely together that the rain will fall.

The rain maker will touch the pearl shell ringili to individual clumps of mulga grass, which in their whiteness of colour and habit of growing apart, resemble fresh clouds and this ensures that the clouds once formed will run together quickly. The swinging of the pearl shell on its string will beckon the rain to the place of ceremony and at the conclusion of the ritual, the rain maker hangs it on a low bush so that it can swing freely in the wind beckoning the rain.

[54] A Fine and Elegant Thai Ayutthaya Hollow Cast Bronze Elongated Right Hand from the Buddha Shakyamuni Old smooth silky dark patina Ayutthaya Period 16th Century

s i z e : 21.5 cm long – 8½ ins long The outstretched right hand touching downwards to the earth is a gesture denoting enlightenment common to both Shakyamuni calling the earth to bear witness to his enlightenment, a symbolic gesture known as Bhumispara Mudra, and to the transcendental Akshobhya representing the moment of his enlightenment.

Buddhism was born in India in a particular spiritual climate. The 6th century bc was characterised by a partial disaVection for the ancient Vedic religion which was considered to have become too ritualised and which accorded little importance to the quest for the absolute on the part of individuals. From the turmoil of intense religious activity no longer centred on sacriWce, but on personal salvation, those renouncing worldly matters and moralists of all kinds, belief in the transmigration of souls and certain yoga techniques, emerged two major heresies which would result in two completely separate religions: Jainism and a little later, Buddhism. However, it was only Buddhism due to its supple dogmatism, which was able to break free of the conWnes of the Indian subcontinent and spread across Asia.

[55] Old Bering Sea Prehistoric Eskimo Okvik Carved Walrus Ivory Female Figure of Abstract Form The head has been deliberately detached and later re-attached when found Old worn smooth silky dark brown to creamy patina Said to be from St Lawrence Island 200 bc – 100 ad

s i z e : 17.5 cm high, 4.5 cm wide, 2.5 ins deep – 7 ins high, 1¾ ins wide, 1 ins deep The Alaskan cultures centred on St Lawrence Island and along the adjacent coasts surrounding the Bering Strait, are known as Old Bering Sea. The Okvik Old Bering Sea I is the earliest known period dating to approximately 200 bc to 100 ad. The Prehistoric Eskimos, like those of the later periods, were seasonal hunters. They spent the summer in skin tents pursuing the caribou on land and the Wsh in the rivers, and in Winter returned to the coast to hunt on the ice for walrus, seal, narwhal and sometimes polar bears.

Of all the animals which existed in the Arctic, both in prehistoric and modern times, none has been more important to human survival than the walrus. It provided essential food, its blubber was rendered into oil for heating and light and for cooking. Its skin was used for clothing and for constructing boats. Its intestines and sinews were worked into cords and lines, and its ivory tusks and bones were used for the manufacture of a wide variety of tools, and importantly for the making of objects of art such as this.

During excavations on St Lawrence Island the torsos of these human Wgures, both male and female, have been found in separate locations from the matching heads. It has therefore been suggested that the breaking oV of the head from many of the Wgurines that have been found was a deliberate ritual, and ceremonial act.

[56] Fine Ancient Egyptian Turquoise Blue Faïence Ushabti with Inscription to Pillar on reverse stating: Padi-Neith Son of Hetep-Bastet the Intendant of the Horses and Scribe of the Royal Stables of King Ahmose II Small chip under base With L.A.B 3153 1882.27 in black ink to base Late Period 26th Dynasty (664 – 525 bc)

s i z e : 14.5 cm high – 5¾ ins high p rov e na nc e : The Tomb of Padi-Neith was found by Alessandro Barsanti in the late 19th Century Ex Private English collection Mummiform funerary Wgures shabti developed during the Middle Kingdom out of the statuettes and models provided in the tombs of the Old Kingdom. In the Middle Kingdom there was usually just one shabti placed into the tomb, but when the manufacture of faïence shabtis became standardised mass production during the Late Period led to large numbers being placed in each tomb. Seti I (1294–1279 bc) is said to have had over 700 with him when they found his tomb. Their purpose was to spare their owner from menial labour in the afterlife which would be required for the deceased to produce his or her food. Shabti stood in for both the deceased, in whose name they would answer the call to work, and the servants of the deceased. It is unknown where the word shabti came from, but by the Late Period (747–332 bc) the term ushabti meaning answerer was in general use.

[57] A Fine West African Baule-Guru Portrait Dance Mask of a Woman Mblo Traces of red white and black pigments Late 19th – Early 20th Century

s i z e : 42 cm high, 19 cm wide – 16½ ins high, 7½ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex Hans Heller collection U.S.A. a friend of Hemingway and Picasso He fought in World War I and worked in Africa until 1950 He acquired the mask in the 1930’s By descent to his stepdaughter Judy Kleppe of Minnesota U.S.A. Purchased by James Stephenson from Judy Kleppe Ex Private London collection Mblo face masks are used by the Baule in entertainment dances. They are one of the oldest of Baule art forms and are usually a portrait of a particular known individual. They vary greatly, but more than other kind of mask produced, the Mblo embody the core Baule sculptural style that can be found in Wgures and objects such as heddle pulleys, spoons and combs. The lustrous curving surface suggests clean, healthy, well fed skin and is delicately set oV by the geometric textured carving representing scariWcation and hair.

The idealised oval face with high forehead and downcast eyes denotes an intelligent and respectful presence to the community.

The Baule believe that these masks have always existed and that they brought this type of mask with them when their ancestors emerged from the earth or descended from the sky. The Baule artists of the past seem to have never repeated their work, each mask is diVerent, probably because as portraits they represent particular people.

[58] Fine English Sailor’s Scrimshaw Narwhal Tusk Walking Cane a Silver Mount to the Top and two Silver eyelets for a wrist loop Old soft smooth silky patina Late 18th – Early 19th Century

s i z e : 92 cm long – 36¼ ins long Article 10 CertiWcate available The Whitby whaling Xeet was active in Arctic waters from 1753 and narwhals were then found in considerable numbers in the Greenland Sea. Their tusks have a natural pronounced spiral grain and were made by the scrimshanders into walking sticks that would gain a spectacular smooth and shiny patination over time.

Narwhals were referred to by the whalers as unies short for unicorn, as historically narwhal tusks were thought to be the horn of the unicorn, a mythical creature, half horse and half antelope with a huge horn growing from its forehead. The tusks were always a valuable curiosity, though prices of course, varied with availability. Charles Edward Smith, surgeon aboard the Hull whale-ship Diana in 1866–67 remarks on the ban put on men of the Scottish Xeet trading with the Eskimo. This seems to have been to prevent them spending too much time seeking out narwhal tusks: Mr Gilroy told me that the reason this new law was made was the the Captain of the whaling vessels had been getting great sums of money lately for unicorn horns which were a prerequisite of theirs, and that they thought they might be tempted to neglect the whale fishing, putting off their time going up the country getting these horns – that last year there was not a single whale got on the East Coast and that last year Capt. Walker cleared £600 by selling unicorn’s horns alone thus making more than his pay besides…. horns that formerly would have sold for 5 shillings each as mere curiosities were now worth £10 each. Mrs G. Gilroy said that last year the wife of one of the Captains had sold two horns and bought a piano with the money.

[59] A Fine Large Victorian Oval Walnut Artist’s Palette

With inscription in oil paint E HinchcliV 1888 (Hinchcliff is recorded by the NPG for producing a stipple and line engraving after a daguerreotype by A. Claudet of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond and Lennox 1860 or later) and trade stamp Young 187 Gower St WC 19th Century s i z e : 39 cm high, 60 cm wide – 15¼ ins high, 23½ ins wide The artist’s palette, as it exists today, began its evolution in the early 15th century as a small wooden bat-like surface upon which artists could work up a few colours prior to their application. Early palettes were of a small size due to the method and procedures of egg tempera painting and the tradition for finishing small areas bit by bit. The growth in the size of palettes coincides with the development of oil painting. In the 18th century the small bat-like English palettes continued to be used until they were Wnally displaced by the ovoid, and sometimes rectangular form with the thumb hole and brush bay.

In this shape the palette became representative as an attribute of the arts. In the 19th century it grew to remarkable proportions and this was entirely due to the introduction of cheaper, more available, manufactured oil paints produced in tubes.

Palettes were usually made of a close grained hardwood such as walnut, pear, rosewood or mahogany and until the 19th century were made on request. Balance was important and the palette was shaved to varying thicknesses in order to achieve it. The setting of a palette, the arranging of a series of paints in a deWnite sequence of colours and tones was a particularly basic need of the artist’s craft.

[60] A Portrait Miniaturist’s Carved Ivory Paint Palette

Incised perhaps Scrimshawed with the Armourial and Motto of the Prince of Wales and to the reverse with initials JB later etched J.Blackman Possibly used by a Ship’s Artist Silky smooth creamy brown patina Late 18th – Early 19th Century s i z e : 10.5 cm high, 16 cm wide – 4 ins high, 6¼ ins wide c f : Scottish National Portrait Gallery Portrait of Thomas Faed by John Faed (1820–1902) in which the subject holds an ivory palette of the type used by Painters in Miniature Portrait miniatures Wrst appeared as an art form in the 1520’s at the English and French courts. They became fashionable and diplomatically useful, and like medals they were portable. Painted in oils, watercolour and enamel they had a realistic colour and likeness.

The ivory palettes used by painters in miniature remained small, and sometimes minute, throughout the centuries. The materials, usually ivory and later porcelain, out of which they were made was consistent with the surface upon which the paint would come to rest, and during the 18th century watercolour on ivory became the standard medium.

William Cole writing in The School of Fine Arts lists the necessary tools for miniature painting: The chief materials in painting with watercolours are gum arabic, pencils, a palette commonly made of ivory; but a Dutch Tile or any other well glazed surface of a light colour, will serve the purpose; an ivory palette knife, because iron or steel injures the colours….

[61] An English Georgian Ivory and Tortoiseshell Monocular Contained in Original Fish Skin Case Belonging to the Artist Benjamin West P. R. A. Inscribed to the interior of the lid: Queen To… B. West Circa 1780 – 1790

s i z e : 4.5 cm high, 3 cm dia. – 1¾ ins high, 1 ins dia. / 5 cm high – 2 ins high (case) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private London collection Benjamin West (1738–1820) was the Wrst artist born in America to achieve international stature. From rural origins in the British colony of Pennsylvania he rose to become known as the American Raphael and to succeed Sir Joshua Reynolds as President of the Royal Academy in 1792.

Between 1768 and 1801 West painted over sixty pictures for George III, identifying himself in the catalogues of the Royal Academy exhibitions as Historical Painter to the King a position for which from 1780 he received an annual stipend of £1000. During this period he eVectively monopolised all Royal patronage and often succeeded in obtaining a large share of whatever non-royal commissions there were to be had leaving very few crumbs for potential rivals in the Weld.

In 1779 he painted a portrait of Queen Charlotte for the King entitled A whole length portrait of Her Majesty with all the Royal children in the background. Exhibited R.A. 1780 Queen Charlotte stands with Windsor Castle and the Queen’s Lodge behind with thirteen of the Royal children arrayed in the middle distance. From 1780 to 1782 he painted another version with modiWcations showing the composition in reverse, and with fourteen children as the additional Prince Alfred had been born in September 1780 after the completion of the Wrst portrait. Both of these paintings are in Her Majesty the Queen's collection.

[62] A Fine Chinese Ivory Court Tablet Hu Fine mellow golden brown colour with darker edges Soft silky patina Ming Dynasty 17th Century

s i z e : 50 cm long, 7.5 cm wide – 19¾ ins long, 3 ins wide / 53cm high – 21 ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Belgian collection In the Ming Dynasty ivory hu were traditionally used at the Imperial Palace by court oYcials from the Wrst to the Wfth rank, whilst those of the sixth to eighth rank used hu carved of boxwood. It is said that the ivory tablets were carried by oYcials only when they were actually in the Imperial presence, and that they were used at least as early as the Tang period. They were kept by the court doorkeepers and collected only on entering the Palace as they gave access to restricted areas, and it was an oVence to obtain them without permission. However, in the 16th century Ming Shi (juan 68 pg.

1665) records that there were many complaints that their distribution was very laxly supervised. During the Qing period hu fell from favour and were no longer used, but they remained a popular antiquarian curiosity.

[63] West African Yoruba Ijebu Cast Copper Alloy Ritual Oval Dance Anklet decorated with Eight Abstract Human Heads in the Ijebu Ode style Once having numerous small bells attached to the edge 18th Century

s i z e : 20 cm high, 15 cm wide, 2.5 cm deep – 8 ins high, 6 ins wide, 1 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection c f : A Closer Look: Yoruba Art Collection of the Africa Museum Berg-en-Dal by Hans Witte. 2004 no. 170, for a very similar anklet The abstract rudimentary decoration of faces consisting solely of two eyes, a forehead and nose can frequently be found on bracelets, rattles, and ritual objects from the Ijebu Ode region and was inXuenced by the iconography of Benin.

According to tradition the Yoruba reached Ijebu when a group of migrants led by Obanta left Ife for the Ijebu region. He is regarded as the founder of the Kingdom and the Wrst Awusale or King. Ijebu grew into a major kingdom with monarchs ruling in various towns and cities, but the Awusale in the capital Ijebu was considered the most important. The religion of the region developed a distinct character of its own owing to the presence of certain cults that are not found anywhere else amongst the Yoruba.

[64] Fine Pair of English Neo-Classical White Marble Profile Portrait Medallions of Mr and Mrs Benjmin Gott

By Joseph Gott (1786 – 1860) Incised to reverse J Gott F.t Contained within original ebonised round frames Circa 1834 – 1838

s i z e : 17.5 cm dia. - 7 ins dia. (each) / 27.5 cm dia. – 10¾ ins dia. (frame) p rov e na nc e : Mr and Mrs Benjamin Gott Thence by descent to Major W.M Gott of Trenython Hall, Cornwall Thence by descent c f : Exhibited 1972 Temple Newsum House Leeds and Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Joseph Gott Sculptor catalogue page 20 and 21, illustrated plate 10 Joseph Gott executed an unprecedented number of portrait medallions of the Benjamin Gott family. Twenty four are recorded in plaster, terracotta and marble. They were his most outstanding patrons and he owed his reputation almost exclusively to their interest. Benjamin Gott (1762 – 1840) was the son of a civil engineer and by 1800 had established a successful firm of woollen manufacturers in Yorkshire. From 1792 he built a vast complex of spinning mills equipped with steam engines supplied by his friend James Watt. In 1799 he was Mayor of Leeds. The couple’s artistic patronage seems to have begun with their restoration of Armley House. In 1810 Humphrey Repton laid out the grounds and in 1822 Robert Smirke completed improvements to the house which was the first and most influential Greek Revival house in Leeds. Their son, Benjamin Jr. was dispatched in 1817 to travel to Athens to acquire antique marbles, but

unfortunately died and so John Flaxman was commissioned to design a neo-classical monument for the Armley Chapel, but before he could begin the project he also died.

The project was eventually undertaken by his former pupil Joseph Gott.

At the age of twelve Jospeph Gott was apprenticed to JohnFlaxman, then the most outstanding neo-classical sculptor in England. In 1805 he entered the schools of the Royal Academy and won medals for his work in 1806 and 1808. From the outset of his career he was helped by the President of the Royal Academy, Sir Thomas Lawrence who during the period 1826 – 28 painted the portraits of Benjamin Gott and his wife Elizabeth. Lawrence declared they are two of the best that I have ever painted. Lawrence encouraged the family to commission sculpture from Joseph Gott who was Benjamin Gott’s second cousin. His work for the family over the next fourteen years was striking in its quality, diversity and quantity; portrait medallions, bust and figures, monuments and groups of children, animals especially dogs, ancient mythology and even, pugilism.

On January 24th 1834 Mrs Benjamin Gott recorded in her diary Mr Gott spent the day here and worked on the medallions. By early 1838 some of them had been sent to Leeds and in February Gott writes to her husband I am shipping a case …. the two marble medallions of Mrs Gott and yourself which you commissioned me to make for you was fixed at the price of 15 guineas each before I left Leeds which I trust you do not think too much as I would much rather execute a bust in marble than four medallions…. In the portrait medallions Joseph Gott records the strong determined personalities of each sitter. The elegant and fashionable hairstyles are rendered with great delicacy and blend brilliantly with a low relief technique giving them a neo-classical air. In the portraits of Mr and Mrs Benjamin Gott the fidelity of the sympathetic interpretation is confirmed by comparison with their portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence.

[65] A Papua New Guinea Lower Sepik River Murik Lakes Darapap Village Female Spirit Figure Depicting a Young Girl Traces of red ochre to head Old smooth shiny patina to contact areas The headdress and ears pierced with suspension holes for hair and feathers Early 20th Century

s i z e : 43 cm high – 17 ins high p rov e na nc e : Ex Chris Boylan Purchased 1980’s from a Murik Family in Darapap Village P.N.G. Ex German Private collection Ex Michael Hamson Los Angeles U.S.A. Ex English Private collection Near the mouth of the Sepik River a series of coastal lagoons, the Murik Lakes, are the last remnants of the inland sea that once Wlled the entire Sepik basin, but which gradually silted up until approximately one thousand years ago when the lakes were established. It is here that the Murik people live and inhabit a world of water, living on a narrow frontier between the lakes and the sea, their houses on stilts on the beach or above tidal Xats. They are without land to cultivate so they harvest Wsh and shellWsh from the mangroves and acquire vegetables and other food and resources by trade.

The roles of Murik men and women were complimentary and there existed both men and women’s secret societies which paralleled each other and involved interdependent ritual cycles that initiated members into successive grades. Young female novices in the women’s cult were shown Wgures such as this example and taught that they represented spirits that gave supernatural power and prophecies. The young women, as members of the cult, were also taught that their sexuality should be used in the service of prestige and as an access to spiritual power.

[66] A Rare English Knife the Ivory Handle with Lozenges Containing Green and Red Amber Insets The tip inset with a red amber medallion engraved with the initials EW the iron near-parallel blade with a cutlers mark Circa 1620 s i z e : 20 cm long – 8 ins long p rov e na nc e : From the collection of Bill Brown The handles of eating knives became much more elegant and decorative in the 17th century and changes to the shape of the blade occurred when eating habits dictated it was no longer necessary to spike food with a knife, so the blade became shorter with the sharp point removed.

As dining ceremony and cuisine changed so did the nature, provision and use of cutlery whether it was for the display of largesse and power, the cementing of political or business aYnities or the enjoyment of the company and conversation of friends.

During the 16th century cutlery was used at table for serving food rather than for eating it. However, during the next century this began to be superseded once the use of forks became the fashion.

[67] An Ancient Luristan Early Bronze Age Short Sword or Dagger Cast in One Piece with a Double Edged Straight Blade and Integral Hilt with Wood Grip Fine green patina with patches of reddish brown Early Bronze Age 3200 – 2800 bc

s i z e : 36.5 cm long, 3 cm wide, 2.5 cm deep – 14¼ ins long, 1¼ ins wide, 1 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Bill Brown By repute purchased from the Thames Mud Larks 1960’s Just as copper blades represented a great leap forward from prehistoric Xint implements so the discovery of bronze drove pure copper weapons into obsolescence. Bronze is a mixture of two metals, an alloy of copper and tin and it is much harder than copper resulting in stronger weapons that could take and hold a sharp edge better and could also be made narrower and longer. Molten bronze Xowed better than copper into moulds and so hilts began to be cast in one piece with the blade, eliminating the weak point of a riveted joint between hilt and blade. Early Bronze Age daggers from Luristan, an area west of modern Iran, were cast in one piece with recesses in the grip to take plates of wood or bone. These are the earliest known examples of grip scales and would later become one of the most common methods of grip construction in knife and dagger manufacture throughout the world.

[68] An Ancient Celtic Red Sandstone Votive Head of a Man with Typical Large Oval Eyes, Full Hair and Long Beard a Hollow to the Top for Libations 1st Century bc – 1st Century ad

s i z e : 45.5 cm high, 15 cm wide, 16 cm deep – 18 ins high, 6 ins wide, 6¼ ins deep / 54 cm high – 21¼ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Derbyshire collection c f : A similar head found near Appleby Cumberland illustrated in Pagan Celtic Britain

by Dr Anne Ross no. 276 It is from Roman Britain, under the inXuences of Roman provincial art that the majority of British Celtic cult heads stem. Heads constitute the most proliWc of Romano-Celtic cult objects, and the distribution of the heads found is revealing as they are nearly always from the north of England, often in the regions near Hadrian's Wall. In an area that was so turbulent and open to attack it is not surprising that the cult of human head became so prominent.

To the conquering Romans they were barbarians but the Celts believed that by possessing someone’s head, the seat of the soul, you controlled that person and his spirit, and that it would give protection to you, the family, and the community as a whole.

Livy writing in the 3rd century bc describes the Celtic ambush and killing of a Roman consul-elect, Lucius Postumius, they stripped his body, cut off the head, and carried their spoils in triumph to the most hallowed of their temples. There they cleaned out the head as is their custom, and gilded the skull, which thereafter served them as a holy vessel to pour libations from and as a drinking cup for the priest and temple attendants.

[69] Austrian Carved Ivory Statue of the Martyred Bohemian Saint John Nepomuk Dressed in the Cassock Lace Edged Stole and Ermine Fur Mantle of an Augustinian Canon standing on a Baroque base decorated with a Sacred Heart 1st Half 18th Century

s i z e : 21.5 cm high, 10 cm wide, 4 cm deep – 8½ ins high, 4 ins wide, 1½ ins deep John Nepomuk was canonised in 1729, but was depicted in paintings and sculptures before he was oYcially made a Saint. The most famous depiction of him is a bronze erected in 1683 on the Charles Bridge in Prague after a model by Matthias Rauchmiller (1645–1686) which has served as a prototype for other sculpted representations of the Saint and is very similar in pose to this ivory.

Nepomuk (1345–1393 ad) is considered the Wrst martyr of the Seal of the Confessional. As confessor to the Queen of Bohemia he was drowned at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, in the Vltava river as he refused to divulge the secrets of the Confessional. Due to the manner of his death, he is also considered a protector from Xoods and drowning. His baroque tomb monument cast in gilded silver stands in St Vitus Cathedral in Prague.

[70] A Fine South African Tsonga Figurative Prestige StaV Attributed to the Baboon Master Old smooth silky reddish patina Late 19th Century

s i z e : 120 cm long – 47¼ ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex Australian Private collection Ex Kevin Conru Remarkably complete, this long staV is carved from one piece of red ivory wood which was prized and favoured by the artists of the region for use in staVs made for important men of rank. They have been attributed to an itinerant Tsonga craftsman working in the Zulu kingdom during the late 19th century in the area of Durban or Pietermaritzburg.

The head of the staV would be vigorously rubbed as baboons symbolised good health, and in Swazi legend they are linked with sorcerers, witches and Tokoloshes a kind of short, hairy dwarf who at night ride their baboon familiars facing backwards holding the baboons tail as a rein. Appealing both to the indigenous leaders and the colonialists of Zulu Natal, the baboon master must have enjoyed considerable success.

[71] South African Tsonga / Zulu Carved Ebony Prestige StaV Depicting an Important Elder or Leader wearing a Head-Ring Isicoco his waistband neck-ring and eyes inlaid with brass studs his hands carved to his sides one holding a knobkerrie resting seated on a pillar his mouth open to convey speech Late 19th – Early 20th Century

s i z e : 108 cm long – 42½ ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex Australian Private collection Ex Kevin Conru It was common practice for the chiefs among the Tsonga speaking groups at the end of the 19th century to commission long staVs surmounted by male heads wearing head-rings as they were associated with the values of wisdom, age and maturity rather than just marital status.

The Zulu elder’s Isicoco or head-ring consisted of a Wbre or sinew circle into which the wearer’s own hair was woven and then covered with a mixture of gum, charcoal and oil.

[72] Ancient Roman Marble Head from a Dionysian Herm Depicting Bacchus the God of Wine his hair entwined with ivy leaves and berries 2nd – 3rd Century ad

s i z e : 13 cm high, 10 cm wide, 5.5 cm deep – 5 ins high, 4 ins wide, 2¼ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Private collection Hamburg Germany, acquired prior to 1950 Thence by descent The Romans became acquainted with the vine through the Etruscans who brought it with them from Asia Minor. Over time Bacchus became the god of viticulture and wine, the joy of mortal men and the sap of life. At Wrst wine was regarded as an article of luxury and was limited in its use, but by the 1st century ad there were over 80 famous brands in the Roman trade and nearly two-thirds of these were grown in Italy. Three sorts of wine were made distinguished by their colour; black or dark red which was considered the strongest, white which was thought thin and weak, and brown or amber which was considered good for promoting digestion. The wine often retained much sediment and in order to make it clear, it was strained through a cloth or sieve which was sometimes Wlled with snow to make it cool and refreshing. Both the Greeks and Romans generally drank their wine mixed with water.

[73] A Finely Carved French or Flemish Ivory Knife Sheath Decorated in Relief with the Naked Goddess Artemis holding a Spear and to the other side her Twin Brother the God Apollo Playing his Lyre The tops carved with a mask between two cornucopia the base with scrolling acanthus leaves Circa 1600 s i z e : 19.5 cm long – 7¾ ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Bill Brown c f : Royal Danish Kunstkammer Copenhagen Inv. no’s 10813, 10815 At the end of the 16th century ornate knives with handles in exotic materials were popular with the nobility of Western Europe and together with ivory, wood or embroidered sheaths, they became a fashionable part of dress. Identical pairs of knives held in divided sheaths were a symbol of status and wealth.

Personal knives were brought by the diners to be used at table for cutting up meat which was then eaten with the Wngers. It was said by the philosopher Erasmus that the French often managed with only two or three knives shared in common. However, if a guest arrived without his own knife in Italy they were displeased, in Germany they became positively angry.

[74] Very Rare Medieval English Alabaster Tomb Sculpture of a Hound Dog Seated on a Carved Mail Ground Extensive traces of polychrome decoration some gilding to the collar Old restoration to the tail, break to one leg Late 14th – Early 15th Century

s i z e : 22.5 cm high, 36 cm wide, 13 cm deep - 9 ins high, 14 ins wide, 5 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Private West Country collection acquired pre-second World War Thence by descent Dogs are a Christian symbol of faithfulness and regularly appear as such in religious art. In Churches they often occurred on tomb monuments in honour of the deceased’s fidelity. Dominican Friars were sometimes symbolised by a black and white dog: a pun on their name Domini Canes, dogs of the Lord.

The earliest English effigy in alabaster is of a Knight of about 1300 in the parish church of Hanbury some fifteen miles from Nottingham and close to the quarry of Tutbury.

His feet are placed on the back of a similar hound dog to this example. More usually the male effigy on a tomb chest is laid flat with his head resting on cushions or a tilting helm if a knight, and his feet against a lion. Pet dogs took the place of lions at a lady’s feet and were carved sometimes playing with the hem of her skirts.

Alabaster seems to have come into general use during the second quarter of the 14th century and after the Black Death its use increased rapidly until it set the fashion for all the other trades in religious and monumental tomb sculpture. The earliest reference to Tutbury alabaster is from 1362 when Queen Philippa arranged for six cartloads to be taken to London. Henry III gave Tutbury to his son Edmund, Earl of Lancaster and Tutbury remains today part of the duchy. This Royal connection probably encouraged the Crown’s early interest in alabaster, a preference which was also shown by other European courts. A few years later in 1374 John of Gaunt gave instructions to his agent at Tutbury to send enough alabaster for the tomb of his wife Blanche, who had recently died, and for his own monument in Old St Pauls. The Royal Castle at Tutbury was largely rebuilt by John of Gaunt, and just as Purbeck marble came into favour through Royal patronage, the same was very probably true of alabaster.

[75a] A Rare German Nuremberg Carved Ivory Anatomical Model of a Pregnant Woman by Stephan Zick (1639–1715) Memento Mori The stomach and chest disassembling to reveal the internal organs and a foetus within the uterus the body presented in a deathly repose upon a velvet and gold braid covered wood funeral bier Some internal organs missing Circa 1680

s i z e : 5.5 cm high, 24 cm long, 6 cm wide – 2¼ ins high, 9½ ins long, 2¼ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex Private collection Gunther Bloch, friend of Ernest Ohly London Ex Private European collection c f : An example in Herzog Anton-Ulrich Museum collections of Duke Carl I Braunschweig Inv. no. Elf 187 The most distinguishing feature of Stephan Zick’s work are the scored kneecaps of the recumbent Wgures

[75b] A Rare German Nuremberg Carved Ivory Anatomical Model of a Pregnant Woman by a follower or the workshop of Stephan Zick Memento Mori The stomach and chest disassembling to reveal the internal organs and a uterus with a foetus the body presented in a deathly repose upon a silk covered and braid edged raised wood funeral bier Late 17th Century s i z e : 4.5 cm high, 19 cm long, 5 cm wide – 1¾ ins high, 7¾ ins long, 2 ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex Private collection Gunther Bloch, friend of Ernest Ohly London Ex Private European collection In the 15th century artists and anatomists began to dissect cadavers to discover how the human body actually operates and these early investigations formed the basis of modern medical science. With the ground breaking drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, anatomical illustration, such as his Fetus in Otero, developed into an important art form, so that both art and science contributed to the development of medicine. During the 16th and 17th centuries interest in human anatomy grew with many books and prints illustrating the body dissected to reveal the organs, muscles, nerves and skin. The painting by Rembrandt the anatomy lesson of Dr Tulp shows a very similar Wgure of a deceased pregnant woman to these ivories.

However, although these models depict women who have died in childbirth, Zick and his followers did not produce them for study by the medical profession as the placement of the organs does not correspond with late 17th century anatomical Wndings.

For example in these models the heart is positioned at the centre of the thorax. These vanitas were made for viewers to contemplate their own mortality whilst removing and replacing the body parts that made life possible. Sometimes, instead of a funeral bier, the recumbent Wgures were placed inside a coYn-shaped box emphasising memento mori.

Bibliography Aboriginal Australia; National Gallery of Victoria, 1981–1982 Audenaerde Thys van den, D.F.E; Musée Royal De L’Afrique Centrale Tervuren, Ludion Editions sa, Gand, 1994 Audenaerde Thys van den, D.F.E; Treasures from the Africa–Musuem Tervuren, Verlag, Berlin, 1995 Ayers, James; The Artist’s Craft, Phaidon, Oxford, 1985 Baddeley, Jon; Nautical Antiques & Collectables, Sotheby’s Publications, 1993 Barry, Jeanne; Inua, Smithsonian Ins., 1982 Bassani, Ezio; African Art and Artefacts in European Collections 1400–1800, British Museum Press, 2000 Béguin, Gilles; Buddhist Art, River Books Ltd., 2009 Brake, Brian; Art of the Pacific, Oxford University Press, 1979 Braun, Barbara; Arts of the Amazon, Thames and Hudson, London, 1995 Brown, Steven C; Spirits of the Water, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2000 Bruemmer, Fred; The Narwhal Unicorn of the Sea, Swan Hill Press, Shrewsbury, UK Burch, Ernest, S; The Eskimos, Macdonald Orbis, 1988 Burn, Lucilla; Greek and Roman Art, British Museum Press, 1991 Burnie, David; Animal, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2001 Cheetham, Francis; English Medieval Alabasters, Phaidon – Christie’s Oxford, 1984 Clarke, Christa; Central African Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, 2001 Clunie, Fergus; Yalo i Viti, Fiji Museum, Suva, 1986 Clunie, Fergus; Fijian Weapons & Warfare, Fiji Museum, 2003 Coe, Ralph T; The Responsive Eye, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2003 Cole, H.M and Aniakor, C.C; Igbo Arts Community and Cosmos, University of California, Los Angeles, 1984 Conru, Kevin; The Art of Southeast Africa, 5 Continents, Milan, 2002 Cranstone, B.A.L; Melanesia A Short Ethnography, BMP, 1961 Cunliffe, Barry; The Pre History of Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994 Davies, Susan, M; Collected 150 Years of Aboriginal Art and Artefacts, The University of Sydney, 2002 Desautels, Paul. E; The Gem Kingdom, Random House, 1971 Dodd, Edward; Polynesian Art, Robert Hale and Company, London, 1967 Dyke Van, Kristina; African Art from the Menil Collection, Yale University Press, 2008 Edge-Partington; Ethnographical Album of the Pacific Islands, SDI Publications, 1996 Ewins, Rod; Fijian Artefacts, Tasmanian Museum, 1982 Fagg, William; Collecting African Art, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1979 Felix, Marc; Beauty and the Beasts, SMA African Art Museum, 2003 Fitzhugh, William and Kaplan, Susan, A; Inua Spirit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982 Fitzhugh, W and Crowell, A; Crossroads of Continents, Smithsonian Institute Press, 1988 Fitzhugh, William, Hollowell, Julie, Crowell & Aron.

L; Gifts From The Ancestors Ancient Ivories of Bering Strait, Yale University Press, 2009 Flayderman, E. Norman; Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders, N. Flayderman & Co., Inc., New Milford, 1972 Frank, Stuart M; Ingenious Contrivances, Curiously Carved, David R. Godine, Publisher, Boston, 2012 Freer-Cook, Gervais; The Decorative Arts of the Mariner, Jupiter Books, 1996 Gamester, David, Nurse, Bernard & Steele, Julia; Making History Antiquaries in Britain 1707–2007, Die Keure, Belgium, 2007

Gardner, Arthur; English Medieval Sculpture, Cambridge at the University Press, 1951 Garlake, Peter; The Kingdoms of Africa, Phaidon Press Ltd. Oxford, 1978 Geary, Christraud. M; Oceanic Art in the Teel Collection, MFA Publications, 2006 Ginzberg; African Forms, Skira, Italy, 2000 Grimes, J.R, Feest, C.F, Curran, M.L; Uncommon Legacies, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2002 Gundestrup, Bente; The Royal Danish Kunstkammer 1737, Denmark, 1991 Hail, Barbara A; Hau, Kóla!, Haffenreffer Musuem of Anthropology, 1980 Hales, Robert, Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour, Published by Robert Hales C.I. Ltd., 2013 Hartman, P.W.; Elfenbeinskunst, Wien, 1998 Haskell, Francis & Penny, Nicholas; Taste and the Antique, Yale University Press, 1998 Hathaway, Nancy; The Unicorn, Penguin, Penguin Books, 1980 Hauser-Schäublin, Brigitta & Krüger, Gundolf; James Cook Gifts and Treasures from the South Seas, Prestel, Munich, 1998 Heermann, I; Schmuck Der Südsee, Prestel, 1990 Herle, Anita & Carreau, Lucie; Chiefs and Governors Art and Power in Fiji, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge, 2013 Hooper, Steven; Pacific Encounters, British Museum Press, 2006 Hooper, Steven; Fiji Art & Life in the Pacific, UEA, 2016 Howarth, Crispin; Varilaku Art for the Solomon Islands, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2011 Johannesburg Art Gallery, Art and Ambiguity, 1991 Kaeppler, Adrienne, L; Artificial Curiosities, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 1978 Kaeppler, Adrienne, L; Kaufmann, C & Newton, D; Oceanic Art, Harry N Abrams, Inc., New York, 1997 Kaeppler, Adrienne, L; James Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific, Thames and Hudson, London, 2009 Kecskési von, Maria; Kunst Aus Afrika, Prestel, 1999 Kjellberg, Pierre; Objets Montés, Les editions de l’Amateur, 2000 Kjellgren, Eric; Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007 Koloss, Hans-Joachim; Africa Art and Culture, Prestel, Munich, Germany, Berlin, Prestel, 2006 Koudounaris, Paul; The Empire of Death, Thames and Hudson, London, 2011 Laue, Georg; Memento Mori, Munich 2002 Laue, Georg; Scientifica, Munich, 2004 Levenson, J; Encompassing The Globe, Smithsonian Institution, 2007 Linton, Ralph and Wingert, Paul, S; Arts of the South Seas, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946 Macgregor, A; Tradescants Rarities, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1983 Mack, John; Emil Torday and the Art of the Congo 1900–1909, British Museum Publications Mack, John; Ethnic Jewellery, The British Museum Press, 1988 Mauries, Patrick; Cabinets of Curiosities; Thames and Hudson, 2002 Miles, Charles; Indian & Eskimo Artefacts, Bonazo Books, NY Neich, Roger, & Pereira, Fuli; Pacific Jewellery & Adornment, University of Hawaii Press, 2004 Newton, Douglas; Arts of the South Seas, Prestel, Munich, 1999 Oldman, W.O; Catalogue of Ethnographical Specimens, Oldman Sale Catalogues, reprinted Pal, P; Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, (vol.

1,2 & 3,) Yale University, 2004 Pei, Fang Jing; Treasures of the Chinese Scholar, Weatherhill, New York and Tokyo, 1997

Petridis, Constantine; The Art of Daily Life Portable Objects From Southeast Africa, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011 Phelps, Steven; Art and Artefacts The James Hooper Collection, Hutchinson, London, 1976 Phillips, Ruth B; Trading Identities, University of Washington Press, 1998 Phillips, Tom; Africa, The Art of a Continent, Passavia Druckerie, Passau, Germany, 1995 Pinto, Edward H; Treen and other Wooden Bygones, Bell & Hyman, London, 1979 Pritchard, C.H, Peter. Dr.; Encyclopedia of Turtles, TFH Publications, 1979 Randall, Richard. H; Masterpieces of Ivory from the Walters Art Gallery, Richard H Randall, Jr., Sotheby’s, 1985 Robins, Gay; The Art of Ancient Egypt, B.M London 1997 Roy, Christopher. D; Kilengi, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, 1997 Sandars, N.K; Prehistoric Art in Europe, Penguin Books, 1968 Scammon, Charles. M; The Marine Mammals of the North Western Coast of North America, Dover Publications, 1968 Scott, Jonathan; The Pleasure of Antiquity, Yale University Press, 2003 Sieber, Roy; African Furniture & Household Objects, Indiana University, 1980 Seipel, Wilfred; Exotica, Skira, Vienna, 2000 Selman; 18th Century Ethnographic Collections in the Hancock Museum, Newcastle, 2003 Sloane, Kim; Enlightenment, Discovering the World in the 18th Century, British Museum Press, 2003 Stanley, Tim, Palace & Mosque, V&A Publications, 2004 Stepan, Peter; Picasso’s Collection of African & Oceanic Art, Prestel, Munich, 2006 Syndram, Dirk; Gems of the Green Vault in Dresden, Koehler and Amelang, Munchen, 2000 Syson, L, and Thornton, D; Objects of Virtue, BM Press, 2001 Tanner, Julia; From Pacific Shores, University of Cambridge, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1999 Trnek, H and Vassallo e Silva, N; Exotica, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisboa, 2001 Trusted, Marjorie; Baroque and Later Ivories, V&A Publishing, 2013 Trusted, Marjorie; The Making of Sculpture, V&A Publications, 2007 Varjola, Pirjo; The Etholén Collection, Vammalan Kirjapaino Oy, Finland, 1990 Visonà, M, Poyner, R, Cole, H, and Harris, M; Art in Africa, Thames and Hudson, London, 2000 Vogel, Susan. M; African Art Western Eyes, Yale University Press, 1997 Waite, D. and Conru, K; Solomon Islands Art, 5 Continents Editions, 2008 Walker, Roslyn Adele; The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1999 Wardwell, Allen; Island Ancestors, Univ. of Washington Press, 1994 Wild, Anthony; The East India Company, Harper Collins, 1999 Williamson, Paul; Netherlandish Sculpture 1450–1550, V&A Publications, 2002 Witte, Hans; A Closer Look, Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, 2004 Zandvliet, Kees; The Dutch Encounter with Asia 1600–1950, Rijksmueum, 2002 Zimmer, H; The Art of Indian Asia, vol. 1&2, Pantheon Books, 1955 Zwalf, W.; Buddhism Art and Faith, British Museum Publications Ltd., London, 1985 Design by Prof. Phil Cleaver & Yihong Huang of etal-design.com Photography by Phil Connor, 07831 151549 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Pureprint

© 2017 Finch & Co No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the permission in writing of the publisher.