Distant Times, Distant Lands

Distant Times Distant Lands

Suite 744, 2 Old Brompton Road, London sw7 3dq, uk Tel : 020 7413 9937, Fax : 020 7581 4445 Mobile : 07836684133 / 07768236921 Email : enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk Website : www.finch-and-co.co.uk

[1] An Ancient Prehistoric British Standing Stone Circa 3500 – 2500 bc

s i z e : 194 cm high – 76¼ ins high (6 feet 4¼ inches) p rov e na nc e : Discovered by a Stone Mason in an Farmer’s field near Wensley, Derbyshire Purchased by him from the Farmer early 20th Century Thence by descent Ex Private Yorkshire collection Since the work of early antiquarian pioneers in the 18th century there has been considerable interest in standing stones, and rock art has now become recognised as part of the historic British archaeological record. From the late Neolithic to the early Bronze age it functioned as one of the earliest forms of visual communication. However, in previous times British prehistoric history was not always thought of as an important part of the Kingdom’s heritage.

The first objective record of Stonehenge was made by the Dutch artist Lucas de Heere who visited the monument in 1568–9 together with another Dutchman Joris Hoefuagel, and recorded the legend of the stones where they still stand, in this manner, as I myself have drawn staying on the spot. In 1620, James I whilst staying on a royal progress with the Earl of Pembroke at Wilton, commanded Inigo Jones, the architect for Pembroke, to write an account of Stonehenge. His text starts from the standpoint that the ancient Britons were not the builders …there is little likelihood of any such matter, considering especially what the Druids were; also what small experience the Britons, anciently inhabiting this Isle, had in knowledge of whatever Arts, much less of building with like elegancy and proportion, such goodly works as Stonehenge. He went on to proclaim the monument to be a work built by the Romans, and they the sole Founders thereof.

[2] An Exceptionally Large Heavy Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth Engraved with a Scene Depicting Numerous Whale Boats in Action in the Midst of a School of Sperm Whales the Schooner with a Lookout up top The reverse with a scene depicting a cottage with a maiden carrying a basket and a manor house and garden the borders of each scene encircled with flowering tendrils Circa 1830–60

s i z e : 8.5 cm high, 26 cm long, 5 cm deep – 3¼ ins high, 10¼ ins long, 2 ins deep w e ig h t : 1136 grams / 2.5 lb’s c f : Pair of Sperm Whale Teeth in New Bedford Whaling Museum polished by Captain John Marble circa 1857–61 of record size at 10 7/8 ins – 27.7 cms By their artistic depictions the scrimshander created the common impression of whaling as a romantic and exciting activity, and it was true that on such occasions as the chase and the catch there were periods of high adventure, danger and excitement. However, it was the fact that for most whale men these times were so infrequent, that created the necessity for the craft of scrimshaw to occupy the long hours of dreary idleness spent on board ship.

[3] A Rare Double Roll of Pacific Santa Cruz Solomon Islands Red Feather Currency Tevau 2nd half 19th Century

s i z e : approx : 39 cm high, 75 cm wide, 7 cm deep – 15¼ ins high, 29½ ins wide, 2¾ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Gifted to Gordon and Mary Cook by a Chief on Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands In honour and to celebrate the bicentenary of Captain James Cook’s 1776 last voyage of discovery, Gordon Cook sailed from Plymouth in 1976 with his wife Mary and their two small children in a 70 foot schooner Wavewalker. Following Cook’s route the voyage took them to Madeira, Canary Islands, Rio de Janeiro, Tristan da Cunha, Cape Town, Freemantle, Sydney, Hobart, Auckland, Fiji, Samoa, Fanning Island and lastly Hawaii, completing the voyage in 1978. The family then spent many years visiting the Solomon Islands. Sometime was spent anchored off the island of Santa Cruz where they helped the Islanders to repair their outboard motors and sewing machines. As former teachers Mr and Mrs Cook took an interest in the local school and donated the books that they had used on board to educate their own children. In return, and in recognition of their help the chief of the village presented them with this red feathered currency roll, or bride price, which he told them had been stored in the roof of his house, to keep it dry, for over 100 years.

Mr Gordon Cook has written a book Schooner to the Southern Oceans (2011) about their adventures. s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 14, item no. 45, for another red feather Tevau Made from the feathers of the scarlet honey eater bird myzomela cardinalis red feather currency is one of the most curious, unusual and beautiful forms of currency in the Pacific. They were used throughout the Islands of the Santa Cruz group and acted as an important medium of exchange when purchasing brides, pigs and sometimes another man’s labour. Each new roll had a negotiable value in relation to others; the finer and richer the colour of the feathers and its size determined a greater value.

[4] A Curious Victorian Taxidermy Specimen of a Miniature Bull Terrier Rose Standing on a Velvet Cushion Wearing Brass and Leather Collar Mounted under an original glass dome Three metal labels attached reading : Breed by Mr John Jones at 23 Smiths Buildings Long Lane Bermondsey London Another : This celebrated Little Wonder Rose the smallest Bull Terrier ever seen weight 1lb 14oz aged 2 years and 3 months died Nov 6th 1880 Another : … Heywoods, Bermondsey one eved dog out of Jones’s breeder, Lady, by Bulls Dick out of his Bull Bitch, Nell 24lb weight Circa 1880 s i z e : 48 cm high, 46 cm wide, 24 cm deep – 19 ins high, 18 ins wide, 9½ ins deep One of the first instruction manuals for taxidermy was published by Belon in 1555, but decoys used by bird trappers probably consisted of stuffed and crude mummified specimens long before. The first major use of taxidermy was to preserve the specimens collected by explorers and brought back from across the world. Not all the live specimens captured survived the journey and although shells, corals, insects and some fish could be dried successfully, the larger mammals and birds posed a bigger problem to preserve. Thus, most of the old European Renaissance cabinets of curiosities contained those exotic specimens most easily dried rather than stuffed, such as crocodile skins, armadillos, chameleons, sawfish blades and pufferfish. All of these were more resistant to insect attack than taxidermied birds and mammals, and so some still survive in old collections such as those that can be seen at Ambras Castle in Innsbruck in Austria.

[5] Native American Northern Plains Cheyenne Beaded Deer Hide Tobacco Bag with Porcupine Quill Wrapped Fringe Circa 1850–75

s i z e : 65 cm long – 25½ ins long / 70 cm high – 27½ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Duperier collection, Paris Women made tobacco bags that were designed to hold a warrior’s ceremonial pipe and tobacco. The designs they used were symbolic of an individual’s tribal identity.

The quality of hide tanning, the cutting and decoration, were all hallmarks of an accomplished, industrious and talented woman and her extended family of multigenerational female relatives. Individually sometimes, but usually collectively, they created the bulk of their material wealth. A man counted his wealth in the number of fine trained horses he owned. Women produced extra robes and apparel which they traded at pre-reservation trading posts for metal, cloth, brass and glass beads.

Their nomadic lifestyle presented a problem in moving and storing the extra goods that they made and this dilemma was often resolved by giving them away. A generous person attained high status in the minds of fellow tribesmen. Women were accorded accolades for their generous hospitality and were recognised for their artistic excellence, industry and loyalty to traditional tribal identity.

[6] Cased Set of Brass Scales with Weights used for Klondike Goldrush in Alaska containing a small collection of panned Gold Nuggets and a stereoscopic slide depicting miners and prospectors ascending the Chilkoot Pass Late 19th Century

s i z e : 3.5 cm high, 19.5 cm wide, 10 cm deep – 1¼ ins high, 7¾ ins wide, 4 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Swiss collection The Klondike gold-rush began on the 16th August 1896 on Bonanza Creek, some 50 miles east of the Alaskan border, near a town called Dawson. The Chilkoot Trail was an old trade route historically used by the Northwest Coast Tlingit, which became the main path for the prospectors to get through the snow-covered, treacherous mountains. The dangerous Chilkoot Pass with its risk of avalanches had to be crossed in order to reach the Klondike. In the Winter, steps were cut into the ice of the pass, but were too narrow for more than one person to climb up at a time and so the 1500 steps were limited to a single-file line up the mountain. The travelling miners, known as stampeders, named them the Golden Stairs and those workers who had carved the steps charged the prospectors to ascend them.

[7] Fine Californian Gold Rush Presentation Ebony Walking Cane Set with a Block of Gold Quartz Mounted in a 14 kt Engraved and Inscribed Top

The inscription reading : Presented to Hon. H.B. Newell by the Engrossing Clerks of the Assembly The Hon. Hugh Bell Newell was a Member of the California State Assembly from El Dorado County from 1867–70 and possessed vast land holdings in Gold Hill one of the richest Gold Mining regions in California. The Engrossing Clerks of the California State Assembly are responsible for the specialist proof reading and editing of all Bills, Resolutions and Constitutional amendments arising within the State Assembly Circa 1870 s i z e : 93.5 cm long – 36¾ ins long James Marshall’s discovery of gold along the American River near Sacramento in January 1848 precipitated an influx of immigrants from all over the world to California in search of promised wealth. Rumours of gold began circulating soon after Marshall took his find to John Sutter at Sutter’s Fort where the two confirmed that the metal was indeed gold. Sutter tried to keep their discovery a secret, but word soon travelled and by mid March announcements appeared in the San Francisco newspapers. However, it was Samuel Brannan, who operated a store at Sutter’s Fort, arriving in the city on the 12th May with a bag of gold dust in his hand and shouting Gold! Gold! that set off the stampede. Workers abandoned their jobs to head for the Sierra foothills and the gold fever then quickly spread across the American continent and before long it had infected the entire world.

[8] A Fine Pair of English Regency Cast Bronze Royal Portrait Busts of George IV and the Duke of York After the Antique in Classical Attire Inscribed to reverse Published by T.Hamlet 1 Jan 1823 Circa 1823

s i z e : 29 cm high – 11½ ins high and 28 cm high – 11 ins high Frederick, Duke of York, brother to the King George IV, was a handsome, affable, military-cum-sporting type who had to leave the army when it was publicly discovered that his mistress was up to her neck in the sale of military commissions and promotions.

The Prince Regent was devoted to him, and soon made him Commander-in-Chief of the army again. His marriage to a German princess quickly failed and she retired to Oatlands Park in Weybridge, Surrey where she amused herself with her pet dogs, up to 100 of them at any one time! Popular in his early years, his rigid Tory attitudes, the scandals and his spectacular waste of money on building projects eventually lost him his popularity. He died of dropsy in 1827.

Known as the Prince of Pleasure during the years of his regency from 1811 to 1820 George IV was crowned King on July 19th 1821, and his coronation was a truly magnificent affair. Nothing was spared. At midnight, all the church bells of London pealed and guns roared and continued to do so every half hour. Westminster Abbey was decorated in crimson cloth and fitted out with boxes, galleries and benches as if a giant playhouse. The King wore a 27 foot train of red velvet emblazoned with gold stars, with a black Spanish hat with huge plumes of white ostrich feathers, and the curls of his wig fell gracefully over his forehead. His coronation coat had cost 3½ times as much as later did that of Queen Victoria, but for George IV now able to wear anything he had ever fancied, the show was well worth it. The painter Benjamin Robert Haydon described the scene : The way in which the King bowed was really royal. As he looked towards the peeresses and foreign Ambassadors he showed like some gorgeous bird of the East.

[9] A Rare Neolithic Early Scottish or Pictish Stone Sphere or Ball Divided into Six Sections Smooth old patinated surface with some small surface abrasions Circa 3000 – 2500 bc

s i z e : 7.5 cm dia. – 3 ins dia. p rov e na nc e : Ex Scottish Private collection Reputedly purchased at an auction of the contents of Crawford Priory, Cupar, Fife in the 1960’s Thence by descent s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 7, item no. 56, for another example that was ex Pitt Rivers Museum, Dorset c f : D.V. Clarke Symbol of Power at the Time of Stonehenge Catalogue National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh 1985 pg. 56–62 and pg. 171 for related examples (An Export License was approved and granted on the 14th December 2015) These ancient curious Scottish stone balls embody the mystery of mathematics, physics and cosmology and reveal a wealth of prehistoric knowledge of astonishing sophistication. The form of the balls varies, but the majority of those found have a regular distribution of knobs carved on the surface. Around 400 have been found over a fairly wide area of Scotland with a particular concentration of finds within a 50 mile radius of Aberdeenshire.

Carefully made of hard stone in the shape of ornamented spheres or platonic solids with carved bosses and facets, these objects argue a sophisticated understanding of geometry by an ancient people. Some people believe they were used for divination purposes, however they are certainly one of the earliest examples of experiments in solid geometry.

[10] Northwest Coast Queen Charlotte Islands Haida Spruce Root Ceremonial Hat Painted with Abstract Bear and Raven Late 19th Century

s i z e : 42.5 cm dia., 15 cm high – 16¾ ins dia., 6 ins high p rov e na nc e : Ex American New York collection Acquired Sothebys early 1990’s Finely woven and twisted spruce root basketry conical hats were worn at feasts and other ceremonial occasions. Woven by women, they were painted by men, usually their husbands. The weaving on the upper part of the hat is finer and smoother than the textured skip stitch on the flaring brim which could adequately protect the wearer from rain. The design forms that make up the bear and the raven have been reduced to essential minimums giving the decoration the look of a modern work of abstract art.

However, these hats are an old tradition amongst the peoples of the Northwest coast, being produced before the arrival of Europeans.

[11] Superb North American Sailors Scrimshaw Whalebone Walking Cane Knop of Carved Spermwhale Tooth Inlaid with Tortoiseshell Hearts and a Star the Four Square Mid Section Inlaid with Tortoiseshell Scenes Depicting Whaleboat Between Two Giant Sperm Whales an American Eagle Stars Coyotes Cats and Native American Horseman the Octagonal Stem Profusely Inlaid with Tortoiseshell Muskets Harpoon Guns Knives Hearts and Diamonds Circa 1830–60

s i z e : 88.5 cm long – 34¾ ins long Patriotic American motifs always loomed large in the whale men’s artistic repertory.

Some of them may have been copied from tattoos, especially the American eagle.

Walking sticks were a favourite product of the ships carpenter made in order to while away the time on a two or three year voyage. In the Cruise of the Cachalot Frank Bullen recorded how one such carpenter started work on half a dozen walking sticks …a handle is carved out of a whale’s tooth and insets of baleen, silver, cocoa-tree or ebony give variety and finish.... The work turned out would.... take a very high place in an exhibition of turnery, though never a lathe was near it.

When the whale men brought their scrimshanding art to the peak of perfection they created an important North American indigenous folk art, but scrimshaw did not survive the death of the American whaling industry in the early 20th century.

[12] Democratic Republic of Congo Luba Peoples Headrest Fine old silky smooth patina 19th – Early 20th Century

s i z e : 12.5 cm high, 12.5 cm wide, 8.5 cm deep – 5 ins high, 5 ins wide, 3¼ ins deep Headrests were primarily utilitarian objects used as pillows on which to sleep or rest whilst preserving intricate hairstyles. The Luba were noted for their elaborate coiffures which took almost fifty hours to complete, and with the use of a headrest at night, could be made to last two to three months. As well as being appreciated aesthetically the Luba regarded these coiffures as an integral element of social identity. They were associated not only with different status and ranks, but with different events and periods in an individual’s life.

The Luba empire extended over a vast territory so there are a large number of stylistic variations in their artistic repertoire.

[13] African Democratic Republic of Congo Pende peoples Wood Pendant Mask Head from an Oracle or Divination Instrument Galukoji wearing a Crown with Raised Coiffure Two drilled holes in the centre for attachment Old inventory number to the reverse 24177 Smooth dark patina Early 20th century

s i z e : 8 cm high, 4.5 cm wide, 5.5 cm deep – 3¼ ins high, 1¾ ins wide, 2¼ ins deep c f : Africa Museum Tervuren, Belgium no. 380–1 a Galukoji divination instrument with attached pendant mask collected in 1928 Galukoji are divination instruments used by the Pende in the first half of the 20th century. The wooden pendant head is tied with raffia to a scissor like object made of five interlinked crosses carved of double and single bamboo sticks. Made as a miniature version of a larger mask, the head is representative of spiritual forces and would have worn a diadem of feathers. During a consultation the diviner would place the galukoji on his knees, with one of his fingers between the scissors, as he recounted the names of those suspected of having committed the crime in question. If one of the names mentioned was that of the actual perpetrator, the oracle would jump up and the mask would end up just in front of the diviner’s face, thus creating a very theatrical effect.

[14] An Unusual English Naive Portrait of an Early Victorian Veterinary Surgeon Thomas Holford of Middlewich Cheshire in his Study Inscribed to reverse Thomas Holford M.R.C.V.S. of Middlewich, Cheshire. Veterinary Surgeon. Buried in Middlewich Churchyard. Maternal Grandfather of Thomas William Holford Bagley also with a printed and handwritten label for framer Hugo Lange & Co Ltd 19 Whitechapel Liverpool Ref B627H Circa 1830–50 s i z e : 32 cm high, 27.5 cm wide – 12½ ins high, 10¾ ins wide 35.5 cm high, 31 cm wide – 14 ins high, 12¼ ins wide (frame) The art and science of veterinary surgery and medicine is of great antiquity. The laws of Hammurabi, 2100 bc mention a doctor of oxen and asses. Treatises on the subject were written by Simon of Athens, Xenophon and Aristotle. One of the most detailed was by the Roman Apsyrtus, chief army veterinary surgeon to Constantine the Great. Apart from the importance of the horse in warfare, the Romans were great farmers and set up a remarkable tradition of medical knowledge applicable to all domestic animals.

By the 14th century, in Britain there were practitioners of the art known as Marshalls and by 1356 the Master Marshalls had formed a trade guild. Later the practice fell into the hands of the farrier, the beast-leech who handed down his recipes from generation to generation, and by the end of the 18th century veterinary surgery was in disrepute.

Through the efforts of the Odiham Agricultural Society and others interested in the welfare of horses and cattle, a veterinary college was set up in London in 1791. A French veterinary surgeon Charles Vial de St Bel (1750–93) was appointed the first professor.

In 1823 William Dick (1794–1866) established a similar college in Edinburgh and by 1844 these two schools had granted certificates of competency to about a 1000 practising vets. In that year a Royal Charter was granted incorporating the schools into the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and declaring the practice to be a profession.

[15] A Japanese Ivory Okimono of a Human Skull Entwined with a Snake Memento Mori Meiji Period late 19th Century

s i z e : 4 cm high, 2.5 cm wide, 4 cm deep – 1½ ins high, 1 ins wide, 1½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection The increased production of Japanese okimono, a carving to stand in an alcove or tokonoma, came about through Western demand for larger sized netsuke-type carvings with the same highly detailed workmanship. They were often made on commission for the Western patron of a carver and were almost always of ivory, considered an expensive material. With the arrival of significant numbers of Japanese netsuke and okimono in the West, a direct influence over European artists was exerted, such as the Russian goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé (1846–1920), whose workshop produced intricately carved miniature animals and figures in agate, nephrite, rock crystal and lapis lazuli. The distinctive subjects and poses of certain Fabergé animals have identical Japanese counterparts except for the use of semi-precious stone rather than that of boxwood and ivory.

[16] Japanese Carved Ivory Okimono of a Human Skull with Two Toads their eyes of inlaid horn Memento Mori Meiji Period 1868–1912

s i z e : 5 cm high, 3 cm wide, 4 cm deep – 2 ins high, 1¼ ins wide, 1½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 25, item no. 61, for another Okimono of a skull In Japan the symbol of the human skull was an allegory for the vanity of life. The toad was a symbol of transience, and was thought to have the ability to straddle various worlds. As an amphibian it can exploit the symbolic switches between attraction and repulsion, between water and earth, and permanence and impermanence. It also represented the succession of the seasons and was known in legend for its attraction to gold, another vanity.

[17] A Rare German Turned Blonde Rhinoceros Horn Goblet of Unusually Large Size Old smooth silky pale honey coloured patina 17th Century

s i z e : 15 cm high, 12.5 cm dia. – 6 ins high, 5 ins dia. p rov e na nc e : Ex Belgian collection s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 9, item 12, and catalogue no. 10, item 128, for other examples A passionate collector of curiosities, the Emperor Rudolf II of Prague (1552–1612) owned a collection of 13 turned rhinoceros horn drinking vessels, one of which, now in Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen, he had made himself. He believed them to be unique in having the magical ability to detect the presence of poison. Goblets and wine cups made of rhinoceros horn became extremely popular amongst the Princely courts of Renaissance Europe, not only for their powers of detection, but because rhinoceros horn was also considered to be a powerful aphrodisiac, a belief that had already been held in the Middle East and Asia for centuries.

[18] Exceptional Large Rowland Ward Specimen of a Pacific Arctic Walrus Skull Complete with Tusks Odobenus Rosmarus Mounted on an Oak Shield with the Roland Ward Gallery Label to the reverse, used 1891–1926 (mostly used 1900–1914) Old inventory number to reverse : 5253 Circa 1900 s i z e : walrus : 70 cm long – 27 ins long s h i e l d a n d wa l ru s : 81 cm high, 32 cm wide – 32 ins high, 12½ ins wide The largest, heaviest pinniped the Pacific male walrus is a huge animal. Record specimens can measure more than 13 feet long and weigh up to 3500lbs. Ranging the Polar Seas at the top of the world they are the constant inhabitants of the ice floes, following them south in the Winter and north in the Summer.

An agile and expert swimmer in spite of its great bulk it often cruises leisurely with slow alternate strokes of its hind flippers. The walrus uses its tusks to hoist itself upon the ice, in defence, to prod its neighbours and to gather clams and other shellfish. The walrus, when hungry, will dive to the sea bottom, stand on its head and move slowly backward using its tusks and stiff cheek bristles to loosen shellfish from the sand. The literal meaning of their scientific name Odobenidae is those that walk with their teeth.

[19] Four Ancient East Greek Phrygian Terracotta Tiles from an Architectural Frieze Decorated with Equestrian Scenes Probably from the Ancient City of Duver Late 6th Century bc

s i z e : A. 34 cm high, 28.5 cm wide – 13½ ins high, 11¼ ins wide B. 25 cm high, 20 cm wide – 9¾ ins high, 8 ins wide C. 23 cm high, 17 cm wide – 9 ins high, 6¾ ins wide D. 23 cm high, 16 cm wide – 9 ins high, 6¼ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex Private London collection Acquired Sotheby’s early 1960’s The archaic period of the 6th century bc witnessed a number of important developments in Greek Art. Politically, the period saw the rise to power in the city states of a series of benevolent dictators, called in Greek tyrants, who had a beneficial effect on the arts as they promoted their own popularity by seeking to outdo each other in the scale and splendour of their public building programmes and in their promotion of trade.

During the great age of colonisation (circa 750–550 bc) Greek settlement spread to Asia Minor’s northern and southern coasts. These settlements prospered along the great sea and caravan trade routes and it was during this period that the earliest Greek achievements in science, philosophy and architecture were produced.

Reliefs such as these four fragments were incorporated into the architecture of buildings and combined to create a fluid and rhythmic scene of horses and their athletic riders.

[20] A Fine Italian Bronze of the Naked Mercury in Flight his Toes Upon the Head of Zephyrus on whose breath he glides After Giambolgna Caduceus now missing Remains of brown lacquer under a greenish black patina Standing on a modern green serpentine base Mid 18th Century

s i z e : 48 cm high – 19 cm high / 70.5 cm high – 27¾ ins high (with base) The athletic figure of Mercury is shown naked in flight moving in extreme contraposto.

Each ankle is winged on the outside and on his head is a winged Pegasus. He is the divine messenger carrying out Jupiter’s behests, with the impressive upward gesture of the index finger of his right hand he alludes to the higher power by whom he is sent. By choosing the motif of a figure in flight, which had previously been reserved to two-dimensional media, Giambologna broke away from the static laws that had governed sculpture and opened up entirely new prospects. His flying Mercury, first cast in around 1565, was effective from every angle of vision and ranked as a mannerist figure par excellence. It influenced the development of sculpture into the Baroque period and beyond.

In the famous old master painting The Art Gallery of Cornelis Van Der Geest by William van Haecut a whole collection of bronze statuettes after models by Giambologna can be seen on the hexagonal table in the foreground. As Giambologna became well known throughout Europe every collector wanted an example of his exceptional work, and for generations to come Giambologna remained a classic of sculpture. Casts continued to be made from his models on a scale exceeding that of any sculptor before or after him. This particularly fine model dates from the mid 18th century.

[21] A Superb Norton Sound Yupik Eskimo Carved Walrus Ivory Bladder Dart Harpoon Socket Piece in the Form of a Bearded Seal The toothed mouth embracing a whalebone barbed point an attached walrus ivory toggling point carved as the head of a wolf Early 19th Century s i z e : approx : 54 cm long – 20¼ long p rov e na nc e : Ex American New York collection The Yupik Eskimo used these weapons for hunting bearded seal, known as Mukluk, walrus and Beluga whale. Mukluk are the largest and most important seal frequenting these waters with full grown males weighing between 600 and 800 pounds. As well as an important source of food they provide rawhide thong, boot soles, kayak and umiak boat covers, bladder floats and gut skin for clothing.

Hunting equipment, and especially bladder dart socket pieces, often display land or sea predators whose cunningness is engaged spiritually to enhance the hunter’s success.

The socket piece on this example is engraved with a seal’s head with open mouth, teeth and whiskers, ears, eyebrows and eyes set with Russian blue glass trade beads. The stylised tooth pattern of the seal is often found on artefacts from the Norton Sound region where hunting magic and animal symbolism are important.

In the Spring, seals are hunted from kayaks and advantage is taken of the large congregations of seals basking upon the ice floes. At such times the hunter wears a white shirt so he can be camouflaged against the ice, disembark and rapidly approach the seals before they became alarmed. Walrus are also taken around the ice floes.

[22] A Fine Chinese Scholar’s Calligraphic Bamboo Wrist Rest Carved in the Liu Qing Style with a Vast Landscape of Mountains Trees and Rivers with the Figures Walking Over a Bridge Towards a Scholar in a Pavilion a Raised FourCharacter Inscription Yi Ting Fang You (Meeting a Friend at the Wellspring Pavilion) and the Signature Xiaosong (Little Pine) and a Seal Zhu a Chinese Surname This is an optimistic Attribution to the Famous Bamboo Carver Zhu Ying One of Three Famous Late Ming Carvers of One Family from Jiading, Now Shanghai, Who was Active in the Wanli Period Qing Dynasty / 19th Century s i z e : 25.5 cm high, 7 cm wide – 10 ins high, 2¾ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Purchased from Gerard Hawthorn 2005 Ex English Private collection One of the most important tools of the Chinese Scholar’s studio, wrist rests were used in the art of calligraphy to steady the hand whilst painting graceful brush strokes. The bamboo wrist rest in its function, material and decoration accurately reflects the work and ideals of the Scholar. Although very little is known of the origins of wrist rests most were composed of simple segments of bamboo, and their carvers were also skilled in the arts of painting, poetry and calligraphy.

[23] Ancient Central Indian Madhya Pradesh Buff Sandstone Shrine a Model of a Sacred Temple Shikhara Guarded by a Pair of Makaras with a Musician and Dancing Female Attendant Issuing from Their Mouths 10th – 11th Century ad

s i z e : 41.5 cm high, 40 cm wide, 21 cm deep – 16¼ ins high, 15¾ ins wide, 8¼ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Simon Ray 2008 Ex collection The Late Bruno Cooper Thence By Descent Although the Shikhara or convex sided temple tower is primarily a northern architectural feature there is one very similar to this model at a site of nine Shiva temples of Alampur, Andhra Pradesh which was built during the 7th and 8th centuries.

The door guardians, Makaras are fantastical mythical aquatic creatures that combine the body of a crocodile with the head of a lion and the trunk of an elephant. An ancient symbol in India they are considered by the Hindu’s to be auspicious and purifying.

Related to a fertility cult the Makara is the vehicle of Varuna, god of the waters of heaven and earth and is the emblem of Yama, the god of love. The combination of a beautiful jewelled, near naked swaying woman and a musician with sharply incised detail of costume issuing from the mouths of the Makaras portrays an image of pronounced sensuality, and ensures a protective auspiciousness for the small shrine.

[24] Unusual Bering Strait Inupiak Eskimo Shaman’s Ritual Object the Walrus Tusk Incised with Abstract Pictographs of Animal Spirits Inua a Whale and Dancing Men With a fragment of an old collection label E S Andrews … 1815 …

18th Century s i z e : 27 cm long – 10½ ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex Private UK collection Probably used as a shaman’s wand or baton, the tusk is decorated with a mythological being known as a Tirisuk, a caterpillar-dragon with long feelers and teeth who was greatly feared and believed to be able to easily pluck an Eskimo umiak boat from the water. Eskimo shaman have fantastic powers, flying to the stars and swimming to distant shores. They are the key figures in ceremonies, performing ritual dances, and one is shown on this tusk flying and then dancing whilst a surfacing walrus looks on.

Pictographic art first appeared in Punuk culture around 800 ad and over time became more elaborate. These incised engravings on walrus ivory are one of the most unusual and unique legacies of ethnographic art left to the world by a people with no literary traditions.

[25] A Rare Early Bering Strait Inupiak Eskimo Walrus Ivory Drill Bow with Incised Pictographic Designs on Three Sides Including Hunting Scenes on Land and Sea, Herds of Caribou Fish Drying by an Igloo and People Foraging An old break to one end redrilled and perhaps used later as a bag handle Old dark smooth silky patina Thule Culture 18th Century s i z e : 19 cm long – 7½ ins long p rov e na nc e : Excavated near Brevig Mission, Alaska Ex American New York collection A drill bow handle is one part of a bow drill which is used to make holes or create a combustible level of heat. The first known drill bow was obtained by Captain Cook’s expedition of 1778 when the decoration was incised with the sharp edges of flints. These incisions were then applied with a mixture of oil and graphite or wood ash to bring the design dramatically to life. There are two kinds of pictorial decoration found on drill bows. One is a record or tally of animals killed or boats made during a certain period and the other is a visual narrative of activities, perhaps detailing specific personal experiences, the adventures of a lifetime.

Engraved over a period of months or even years, the best ones were kept and handed down in the family. No other ethnic art form is so distinctly identifiable as that of the Eskimo and these incised designs present an unmistakable and unique image of a vanishing Arctic culture.

[26] Rare Northern German Sycamore Maple Wunderkammer Standing Covered Cup Containing a Finely Turned and Pierced Worked Goblet with an Intricate Spiralling Knopped Stem of Sycamore and Lignum the Lattice Worked Base with a Chamber Containing a Trapped Ball the Bowl Housing a Nest of One Hundred Very Thinly Turned Sycamore Dipper Cups the Base Marked with a Series of Etched X’s Some small dipper cups missing Late 17th Century

s i z e : 20.5 cm high, 9 cm dia. – 8 ins high, 3½ ins dia. c u p : 18 cm high, 6.5 cm dia. (max) – 7 ins high, 2½ ins dia. c f : The Royal Danish Kunstkammer 1737 Vol I pg. 324 illustrates a very similar example 771/409 that also has the multiple etched x marks to the base A tour de force of the court turner there are examples of these curious vessels in the Royal Danish Kunstkammer in Copenhagen, but are otherwise very rarely seen. Perhaps intended as precious spice cups they are more of a work of art than objects seriously meant for use. The accuracy of the individual turning and the extreme thinness of the nest of cups required great skill. In Joseph Moxon’s 1696 book of Mechanick Exercises he describes engine and oval turning in detail, whilst the 1701 French author Charles Plumier in L’Art de Tourner en Perfection illustrates the processes and nearly all the designs found on 17th century work and gives copious instructions for executing his elite craft.

[27] A Victorian Cased Taxidermy Specimen of a Patagonian Mara Dolichotis Patagonum 19th Century

s i z e : 26 cm high, 40.5 cm wide, 14.5 cm deep – 10¼ ins high, 16 ins wide, 5¾ ins deep The Patagonian mara fills the niche of the hare in an area where they and jack rabbits don’t exist. It has upstanding ears, long slender legs and feet that are well adapted to running and bounding along at speeds as much as 30km/h. On each hind foot there are three digits, each with a hoof-like claw, each forefoot bears four digits, armed with sharp claws. Mara’s are active in the daytime and will feed on any available plant material.

They dig burrows or take them over from other animals, and the litter of two to five young is born in a nest made in the burrow. They mostly live in small social groups of up to 15 individuals, and despite harsh low temperatures they do not hibernate.

[28] Victorian Diorama Displaying a Specimen of a European Hornets Nest Vespa Crabro 19th Century

s i z e : 48.5 cm high, 25.5 cm wide, 13.5 cm deep – 19 ins high, 10 ins wide, 5¼ ins deep At the end of the summer they will often fly into orchards to feed on overripe fruit.

Gnawing a hole into the fruit they immerse themselves in the soft sugary pulp. The nest is made in the Spring by a queen, a fertilised female, usually in a dark sheltered place such as a hollow tree trunk. She builds a series of cells out of chewed papery bark into which she lays an egg. The larva hatches after five days and is fed a protein rich diet of insects by the queen. It then goes through a period of metamorphosis and is transformed into an adult female worker. The first generation always consists of female workers who undertake all the tasks of nest building, foraging and caring for the brood which were previously the tasks of the queen who will now only perform her exclusive job of egg laying. Fertilised eggs develop into females and unfertilised ones become male. Known as drones they do not participate in the maintenance of the nest or foraging. In early Autumn they leave the nest and mate during nuptial flights and die shortly afterwards.

The workers and queens survive until late Autumn. Only the newly fertilised queens will survive over the Winter.

[29] A Western Polynesian Fijian Chief ’s Split Whale Tooth Ivory Necklace Wāseisei Composed of 33 carefully shaped points strung on a plaited sinnet fibre cord Early to Mid 19th Century

s i z e : longest tooth : 13 cm long – 5 ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Captain Sir Bryan Godfrey-Faussett G.C.V.O. C.M.G. (1863–1945) the longest serving Naval Equerry to King George V for 34 years and his Shipmate and Friend for 24 years before that. Both were dedicated to convention, correct dress and decoration, punctuality, to shooting and stamp collecting.

From March to October 1901 he accompanied George, then the Duke of Cornwall and York, on a tour of the British Empire when the islands of Fiji were visited. After presentation the necklace was gifted by the future King to Sir Bryan Godfrey-Faussett Thence by descent s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 22, item no. 48, for another example Sometimes described as sabre-toothed by Europeans these necklaces were highly prized as chiefly regalia on the Islands of Fiji. They were often given, as was this example, as important strategic gifts and highly valued for their beauty. A refinement of the 1810– 1850 period they were made by Tongan craftsmen Tunfunga Fono Lei who specialised in cutting, carving and polishing the whales teeth into curved points in decreasing sizes so that when strung and drawn close around the neck the pointed extremities spread out creating a dramatic fierce warlike effect.

[30] A Fine Small Flemish Tortoiseshell Engraved Ivory and Ebony Framed Wall Mirror with original silvered plate and solid oak back board The ivory elaborately engraved with hunting scenes of hounds chasing foxes and hares Late 17th Century s i z e : 43 cm high, 38.5 cm wide – 17 cm high, 15¼ ins wide The ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians all valued mirrors and made them from polished copper and bronze. Before this a reflection of one’s appearance could only be gained from a pool of still water or from a naturally occurring slab of black obsidian, a form of volcanic glass. The first mirrors of metal backed glass were produced in the Lebanon in the 1st century ad, and the Romans also made crude mirrors from blown glass with a lead backing.

During the Renaissance in Europe mirrors were expensive luxury items made by a method of coating glass with a tin and mercury amalgam, and by the 16th century, Venice had become the centre for their manufacture. In Germany during the 17th century decorative mirrors such as this example were made by workshops whose main occupation was in making hunting weaponry. The elaborate engraved ivory inlays which normally graced the stocks of crossbows and firearms would be used for more domestic items, and would be produced for sale to a wider public when orders and commissions for weapons were slow.

[31] Iranian Qajar Tehran Rectangular Moulded Stonepaste Tile Underglaze Painted in the Safavid Revival Style with a Courtly Hawking Scene Late 19th Century

s i z e : 32.5 cm high, 40 cm wide, 4 cm deep – 12¾ ins high, 15¾ ins wide, 1½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection The great Safavid ruler Shah Abbasi (1587–1629) brought Persia a sense of national unity and Istahan became a capital city famous throughout the civilised world. On the walls of the royal palaces and pavilions erected during his reign Cuerda Seca tiles were used, in a manner without precedent in Islamic art, to form large pictures with human figures spreading over a number of rectangular slabs. This tile is an accomplished example and is characteristic of the Safavid revival style based on late 19th century nostalgia for earlier tile panels. It may have originally been part of a border framing a doorway.

The vividly coloured scene of two royal lovers riding pure white stallions shows her offering her companion a rose whilst he has a hawk or falcon upon his gloved hand.

They are accompanied by a hunting long dog standing in the flower strewn foreground.

The intensity of the scene is heightened by the plethora of fine detail, and this dense overall patterning of every surface replicates the combination of myriad patterns found in Safavid miniatures.

[32] A Small Ancient Egyptian Calcite or Alabaster Headrest constructed in three parts with traces of original mortar Middle Kingdom 12th Dynasty 1981–1802 bc

s i z e : 9.5 cm high, 17 cm wide, 4 cm deep – 3¾ ins high, 6¾ ins wide, 1½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection Acquired early 20th Century c f : Musée Granet Aix-en-Provence. No 90 When sleeping, wealthy ancient Egyptians laid their heads on ivory, wood or alabaster headrests. These were used from the time of the Old Kingdom up to the end of the New Kingdom and consisted of a crescent shaped support, its radius only slightly bigger than that of the user’s head, joined by a thick support to a broad horizontal base. Headrests also protected elaborate hairstyles whilst allowing sufficient movement for comfort.

Objects of fine stonework were a hallmark of wealth, and used in a funerary context, head rests were a mark of a man’s status and authority. Although a great deal of the material buried with the deceased in a tomb was ritualistic in nature, an extraordinary number of objects of daily life were also deposited so that life in the next world would not be too different from that on earth.

[33a] Rare Bering Sea Thule Eskimo Walrus Ivory Shamans Drum Handle Carved with an Anthropomorphic Face the Eyes Inlaid with Pyrites Old smooth creamy patina 18th Century

s i z e : 10 cm long – 4 ins long and 11.5 cm long – 4½ ins long Prov e na nc e : Excavated Shishmares Area, Alaska Ex American New York collection

[33b] Rare Bering Sea Thule Eskimo Caribou Antler Shamans Drum Handle Carved with an Anthropomorphic Face with Smiling Mouth Old smooth dark patina 18th Century

s i z e : 10 cm long – 4 ins long and 11.5 cm long – 4½ ins long p rov e na nc e : Excavated Inupiak Area, Alaska Ex American New York collection Shamans Drum Handles were much shorter than those of ordinary dance drums and were used during ceremonies to cure the sick. Carefully carved with grooves for the fingers, the end has a human face with a wide mouth to imitate singing. Drums are held in the left hand and beaten with thin wood rods held in the right. The resonant repetitious beat is played in measured time in rapid succession, followed by a pause and then two strokes again. The rod strikes the rim at the same time it hits with the membrane, producing a sharp rap that mingles with the more sonorous tone of the skin. The membrane is stretched across a rim of bent spruce wood and is made from the bladder of a sea mammal, often a seal. The shaman intones with the beat of his drum speaking predictions or singing, sometimes offensive songs, whispering the words to the drum skin so that only the one to whom the service is addressed can hear. These special meditative songs were only sung when communicating with the spirits, when scrutinising events, and during ceremonies to cure illness.

[34] A Rare German Apothecary’s Jar and Cover for a Bezoar the Name Carved in the Stained and Painted Pinewood Vessel the Interior Lined with a Marbled Paper containing a Bezoar Stone the lid and base with stamped red wax tags displaying the sign of a mortar and pestle and the legend …Gemeeni Apothek Den Haag Small old crack to the Bezoar Stone Late 18th Century – Early 19th Century s i z e : 21 cm high, 11.5 cm dia. – 8¼ ins high, 4½ ins dia.

Bezoar : 8.5 cm dia – 3¼ ins dia (max) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private collection of a deceased London Chemist Thence by descent Towards the end of the 13th century the first public pharmacies in the form of apothecaries began to become established in Italy. Based on the Arab model they originally developed in the monasteries and courts of Europe, later becoming private shops where physicians came to buy drugs, meet colleagues and even to see their patients. The apothecary was often also an astrologer and alchemist who practised a type of shamanic medicine. The drugs used in treatment were drawn from all sources, especially from plants and many preparations with genuine pharmacological properties were known. However, there was widespread use of various complicated prescriptions containing innumerable constituents ranging from precious stones to viper’s flesh, from ground narwhal tusk to bezoar stones which had to be compounded according to the most rigid and often nonsensical instructions; one of which was theriacum said to have been invented by Nero’s physician which contained 57 substances.

Bezoar stones were regarded as a universal antidote to poison. The term was originally applied to the concretions that formed in the stomachs of Central Asian goats and is derived from the ancient Persian word for antidote, bad-sahr.

[35] An Antique Blonde Carapace of a Giant South American Amazonian River Turtle Podocnemis Expansa 19th Century

s i z e : 68 cm high, 52 cm wide – 26¾ ins high, 20½ ins wide CITES documentation available for export Commonly known as the Arrau River Turtle or Charapa by the Amazonian Indians, Podocnemis Expansa is the most ancient turtle genus extant, occurring from the late Cretaceous period onwards in South America. Entirely herbivorous, mature females have wide and distinctly flattened shells and can weigh up to 200lbs.

In the mid 19th century the American naturalist Henry Walter Bates estimated that 48 million eggs were gathered from the turtle nests on the large exposed sandbanks of the Amazon river. The oil from the eggs was used for lamps, lubrication and for cooking.

The adult turtles were killed in large numbers for food, and often taken on board ship

by European sailors to utilise as fresh meat on their long voyage home.

[36] Superb English Sailors Scrimshaw Carved Walrus Tusk and Whalebone Architectural Walking Cane The octagonal knop set with an early Victorian silver groat and inlaid with tortoiseshell two bands of silver picqué worked tortoiseshell set upon a rope twist open worked shaft inlaid with tortoiseshell another section of architectural form encasing a panel of cross hatched ebony atop a whalebone shaft decorated with cut diamonds and a spiral the whole inlaid with panels of tortoiseshell the ferrule of carved sperm whale tooth Circa 1850–1875 s i z e : 94.5 cm long, 4 cm dia. – 37¼ ins long, 1½ ins dia.

An exceptionally fine example of sailors scrimshaw, this walking cane proves that the ingenuity of the whale man artisan who made it was amazing, but his work was never hurried as time was his most expendable commodity. It was in his choice of design as well as object that the whale men evolved an art peculiar to his trade and developed scrimshaw as a special sort of folk art. His carved objects were the trophies of a successful hunt to be given as a thoughtful present, or bartered for cash on a quayside.

[37] An Ancient Early Medieval Indian Shahi Kingdom Hindu Marble Sculpture of the Demi-God Kinnara standing with feathered legs holding a Kalasa to his chest wearing a three strand necklace 7th – 8th Century ad

s i z e : 24 cm high, 19 cm wide, 14.5 cm deep – 9½ ins high, 7½ ins wide, 5¾ ins deep 31.5 cm high – 12½ ins high (with base) The Shahi dynasties ruled the old province of Gandhara and the Kabul valley during the classical period of India from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century. They produced a highly distinctive corpus of religious imagery often sculpted in a fine white marble that displays inherited stylistic conventions from the 5th and 6th century Gupta period. The dynasty was split into two eras, the Buddhist and the later Hindu Shahis. Although predominantly rulers of believers in these two main faiths, they were also patrons of numerous others resulting in a multi-cultural population. Archaeological sites, including a major Hindu temple north of Kabul, of the 9th century contain both Hindu and Buddhist statuary displaying a close interaction between the two religions.

The Hindu demi-god Kinnara was a popular image in early Indian sacred art. A celestial musician and paradigmatic lover he is portrayed as half-human, half-bird or swan or half-horse. He is said to be from one of the exotic tribes of ancient India who were inhabitants of the Himalayan mountains.

[38] A Rare Northwest Coast Haida Cedar Wood Ceremonial Potlache Portrait Mask Representing a Man Painted blue, red and black polychrome decoration Old smooth worn patina with surfaces front and back with polished points from original use Mid 19th Century s i z e : 25.5 cm high, 18 cm wide, 12.5 cm deep – 10 ins high, 7 ins wide, 5 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex American New York collection c f : British Museum has a similar example of the same date No. 55.12-20.195 Masks such as this were used to represent spirit beings, ancestors or important figures in historical dramatisations. They were worn by chiefs and people of high rank at Potlatches, a ceremony that established and reaffirmed Haida laws and during which names were given and chiefs claimed their rightful position. The Haida were a matrilineal society and names, titles and social privileges were all inherited through the female line. Names were extremely important carrying prestige, responsibility and sometimes the ownership of land, and so were granted and carefully bestowed within the clan.

To emphasise human qualities or the spiritual bond between people and the world of animals a humanoid face was worn. The word mask in Haida Niijaang.U means imitate and so they are known as portrait masks and are intended to represent particular people such as clan ancestors. Highly naturalistically carved, this mask portrays an actual man with a beard and moustache, which the Haida men grew and wore pre-contact. The mask was intended to make the unseen spirit visible, and so the carver would strive to make these manifestations as vivid as possible, recreating what had been seen in dreams and visions. Unmasked dancers would often paint their faces with designs symbolising family or clan crests and the painting on portrait masks comes from this tradition.

[39] Ancient Roman Marble Head of Eros or Cupid Son of Venus perhaps from a Sarcophagus Panel 1st – 2nd Century ad

s i z e : 9 cm high, 12.5 cm wide, 11.5 cm deep – 3½ ins high, 5 ins wide, 4½ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Private German collection From the 3rd century bc Venus was the patron of all persuasive seductions between gods and mortals and between men and women. Her son Eros or Cupid was the God of Love and symbolised all the attractions that provoked love. The Archaic poets portray him as young and beautiful, walking over flowers and the rose is portrayed as the plant of Eros which he uses to make his crown. He is described as sweet and warming the heart, but his effect can come upon his victims suddenly like the wind, shaking them with frenzies and confusion, and so because his power brings peril, he is also described as cunning and unmanageable.

[40] English Veined Blue John Neo Classical Urn and Cover Raised on a Straited White Marble Base Circa 1780–1800

s i z e : 22.5 cm high – 8¾ ins high s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 12, item no. 115, and catalogue no. 15, item no. 1, for other examples Blue John is a brittle fluorspar, and when crushed to a powder and dropped onto a hot plate in a darkened room can be seen to emit flashes of light, releasing the energy stored in its crystal structure. It is naturally thermoluminescent.

Blue John only occurs in the Treak Cliff cavern near Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District and was originally found by the Romans mining for lead. Attracted by its imperial purple colouring, each piece had to be extracted carefully by hand. However, upon their retreat from Britain the mines lay abandoned and were forgotten until the late 18th century. Blue John then became extremely fashionable with King George III commissioning Matthew Boulton and Thomas Wright to make him a splendid clock. Boulton made the case of blue john mounted with ormolu at his workshops in Birmingham whilst Wright made the clock. Boulton continued to satisfy a growing demand by producing vases, ornaments and candelabra as well as clocks, whilst the architect Robert Adam incorporated blue john into many of his house interiors, notably the fireplaces at Kedleston Hall near Derby.

[41] A Pacific Cook Islands Spindle Shaped Calcite Throwing Stone Mangaia or Niue Island Inscribed Hooper Coll No 625 Early 19th Century

s i z e : 11 cm wide, 6.5 cm dia. (max) – 4¼ ins wide. 2½ ins dia. (max) p rov e na nc e : Ex James Hooper collection no. 625 Ex English collection s e e : Finch and Co catalogue no. 7, item no. 20, for an ex Hooper collection Raratonga Basalt Sling Stone In the Southern Cook Islands clubs, spears, slings and throwing stones were the main weapons of warfare which was usually confined to the boundaries of a particular Island.

Fighting took place both between and within tribes. However, due to their isolation and very small populations the northern atolls experienced very little warfare.

[42] A Melanesian New Caledonia Kanak Carved Hardwood War Club with a large mushroom shaped indented head Smooth silky old dark patina Early 19th Century

s i z e : 66 cm long – 26 ins long s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 20, item no. 63, for another New Caledonian club The archipelago eluded European discovery until Cook sailed down the east coast in 1774. Comparing the islands to the west coast of Scotland from the deck of the Resolution he named them New Caledonia. In the two weeks Cook spent in the islands he found little hostility from a people who had developed their culture in relative isolation until his arrival. In contrast to most areas of Melanesia a system of hereditary chieftainship operated. Many diverse dialects were spoken, but there was a general cultural homogeneity throughout the islands. Both religious and secular art was produced, but now the extinction of traditional culture has been so complete that little or nothing is known of the function or significance of the objects that were created. Now known as Kanak, the islands are surrounded by barrier reefs and warm Pacific seas, and still have a unique indigenous flora and fauna.

[43] A Fine and Exceptionally Large French Baroque Carved Ivory of Christ Crucified Christo Vivo Attributed to Pierre Simon Jaillot (b. Avignon 1631/3 : d. Paris 1681) Old smooth silky creamy patina with aged Ivory surface Second half 17th Century

s i z e : 54 cm high, 34 cm wide – 21¼ ins high, 13½ ins wide c f : Victoria and Albert Museum No A.1 :0-1984 for a signed example circa 1664 part of a Calvary group Also in Trusted, M.; Baroque and Later Ivories London 2013 pg. 241–244 for the same example at V&A Museum illustrated Created by the artist for use as a devotional object, this crucifix was meant to be viewed from below within the confines of a chapel. The baroque sculpture shows Christ crucified calling out to God. His open mouth and lowered eyelids suggesting the final moment of supreme exhaustion is near at hand.

Pierre Simon Jaillot was based in Paris from 1657 onwards where he enrolled as a student at the Académie de St Luc. When he had become an established artist he was particularly praised for his ivory crucifixes, but also became well known for his difficult and temperamental personality.

[44] A Rare South West Alaska Yupik Eskimo Nunivak Island Hooped Shaman’s Wooden Mask the two hoops indicating the upper world attached stylised appendages representing a seal and its flippers and two whale’s tails all fastened to feather wands Traces of black, red and white pigment Circa 1900 – 1930

s i z e : 60 cm high, 60 cm wide (max) – 23½ ins high, 23½ ins wide (max) 69 cm high – 27 ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Collected in Bethel, Alaska Ex American New York collection s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 23, item no. 67, for another Nunivak Mask Much admired and collected by the members of the surrealist movement such as the artist Georges Braque, Eskimo masks were created for specific ceremonial events under the direction of a shaman. They were used to facilitate communication by the shaman between the human and animal worlds, and between the living and the ancestors.

Ritually powerful when in use, they were often discarded afterwards, their power and spiritual energy spent.

[45] Finely Carved Japanese Boxwood Okimono of a Human Skull Entwined with a Snake Memento Mori Signed Tomotsugo / Nagoya School Meiji Period 1868–1912

s i z e : 4.5 cm high, 7 cm deep, 4 cm wide – 1¾ ins high, 2¾ ins deep, 1½ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex Finch & Co catalogue no. 4, item no. 96, 2004 Ex English Private collection By the last quarter of the 19th century the demand for netsuke was in decline, and when Commander Perry’s ships entered Japan’s waters in 1853 and finalised treaty negotiations, Japan was opened up to trade with America and subsequently the rest of the world. Once trade with the West was established and the adoption of Western dress and the cigarette became normalised, the need for netsuke was entirely eliminated. The Japanese had always traditionally regarded netsuke as functional and necessary, and not as works of art, and so the skilled artisan netsuke-shi needed to find new markets.

They continued to produce netsuke, but with an eye to Western tastes, and soon their Western patron-collectors began to demand a larger Okimono sculpture be made of a favourite piece or subject which could be admired in a cabinet more easily.

[46] English Regency Neo Classical Turned Ebony and Ivory Urn Shaped Vase with Ring Handles Fine Condition Circa 1810 – 30

s i z e : 16.5 cm high, 9.5 cm dia. (max) – 6½ ins high, 3¾ ins dia. (max) A great debt was owed by numerous artists and craftsmen from the Renaissance onwards to the art of Ancient Greece and Rome. They borrowed and copied all the classical shapes and forms that were so much admired from antiquity to make artefacts for a contemporary market that regarded them as the height of good taste.

[47] Italian After the Antique Fluted Siennese Yellow Marble Tazza on a Green Serpentine Marble Foot Fine condition and patina Early 19th Century

s i z e : 9 cm high, 16 cm dia. – 3½ ins high, 6¼ ins dia. p rov e na nc e : Ex Private English collection The impact of the Grand Tour, and the consequent passion for collecting antiquities, on contemporary taste in the 18th and early 19th century was immense. In the second half of the 18th century the hunt for antiquities became a regular part of the Grand Tour.

A whole excavating industry developed largely promoted and financed by British entrepreneurs who explored the Roman Campagna under fixed licenses yielding a portion of all discoveries, as a royalty, to the papal collections, but retaining the balance for sale to visiting tourists and to their mail order clients in England. As a result of their excavations a large quantity of Roman antiquities came onto the market, but these were regularly supplemented by replicas after the antique for buyers who wanted easier to acquire, and cheaper versions of antiquity.

[48] Two Bering Sea Thule Eskimo Whale Bone Fishing Lures or Decoys Carved as Effigies of King Salmon with Inlaid Eyes and Incised Markings Old smooth dark polished patina 18th Century

s i z e s : 18 cm long – 7 ins long and 16.5 cm long – 6½ ins long p rov e na nc e : Excavated at Cape Rodney Inupiak Area Alaska Ex American New York collection Sometimes these effigies were used as decoys for pike fishing in the Yukon area.

Attached to a rod they were moved back and forth on the water’s surface attracting pike and other big fish to come up which were then speared or harpooned. Several species of salmon ascend the rivers of the Bering Sea coast from June to October. Owing to their great numbers the salmon constituted a large and relatively stable food and oil resource, with their skin also used for clothing and bags. Although of huge economic importance salmon do not figure strongly in ceremonial life and so are rarely portrayed except as weights or fishing lures.

[49] Rare Sailors Scrimshaw Engraved Sperm Whale Panbone Depicting a Scene of two Whaling Barks and Four Whaleboats Pursuing Two Whales off a Distant Coast First Half 19th Century

s i z e : 29 cm high, 81 cm wide – 11½ ins high, 32 ins wide Much sailor’s scrimshaw was decorative rather than practical with many articles being made as conversation pieces. Large sections of panbone provided the surface for more elaborate and extensive engravings often depicting several ships in an Arctic whale hunt.

Sometimes, as with this example, the panbone was used in its original form, other pieces were cut in a rectangular shape. Occurring as a section at the back of a sperm whale’s jaw, panbone served as a perfect canvas for a whale man’s depiction of events when out hunting the elusive sea mammal. The design was first outlined or scratched upon the surface, and patience was the key to the actual engraving. The use of inks to complete the picture was customary, but as India ink was often not available, lamp black, tar, soot or ship’s paint were utilised. Painstaking efforts produced outstanding pieces and some whalers revealed an artistic insight which has made their scrimshaw both valuable and sought after.

[50] A Curious Wunderkammer Walking Cane Fashioned from the Long Tail of a Giant Atlantic Eagle Ray Myliobatis Aquila Mounted with a silver gilt handle and ferrule housed in original red morocco leather case Early 19th Century

s i z e : 92.5 cm long – 36½ ins long – 94 cm long – 37 ins long (case) p rov e na nc e : Ex collection Spanish Member of the Royal House of Savoy Thence by descent Eagle rays swim in the Atlantic Ocean from Britain to Senegal, and in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. They are large graceful fishes with pointed, wing-like pectoral fins and long thin tails. They feed on the seabed on crustaceans and molluscs and are more active than sting rays.

[51] An Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Romano-Egyptian Limestone Head of a Woman Probably Alexandrian 30 bc – 395 ad

s i z e : 9 cm high, 7.5 cm wide, 5 cm deep – 3½ ins high, 3 ins wide, 2 ins deep 16.5 cm high – 6½ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection Alexandria was Egypt’s largest port and the greatest city of the eastern Mediterranean, second only to Rome itself. A complex administrative apparatus throughout Egypt reported to officials in Alexandria. Even when Egypt was divided into multiple provinces from the time of Diocletian onwards, Alexandria remained the head of the whole country. The hub of eastern Mediterranean trade both with the orient and locally, Alexandria also became the hub of Egypt’s social scene with many of the wealthy elite owning property and businesses in the city.

Grain for shipment to Rome or Constantinople was funnelled through Alexandria, taxes were gathered there, and it was an important centre for the registration of legal documents or for litigation before Imperial officials. The population at its peak numbered almost half a million, and it was by ancient standards a huge city with a diverse population.

[52] An Ancient Egyptian Coptic Bone Plaque Carved with a Dancing Deity 400 – 650 ad

s i z e : 4 cm high, 2.5 cm wide, 4 cm deep – 1¾ ins high, 1 ins wide, 1¾ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection After the death of Cleopatra and Mark Antony in 30 bc, Egypt was made a province of the Roman Empire and over time became a majority Christian country before later having a mostly Muslim population. The introduction of Christianity was perfectly timed. Great social and institutional changes due to the Roman conquest of Egypt provided a spiritual need for a simple religion that promised a wonderful afterlife in exchange for suffering in this world.

The Christians of Egypt found protection in the symbols of their ancestors. The Ankh, the ancient symbol of life was adapted as a secret symbol of Christ. The cross was a Roman symbol of shameful death, but with the ankh became the new Christian symbol assuring the survival of the ancient hieroglyph.

The deity represented on this plaque dancing and wearing a tunic is perhaps Isis or Demeter who was the goddess of the earth’s fertility and of bountiful harvests. As divine mother she was protectress of regeneration, and her cult was gradually assimilated into the Christian worship of the Madonna.

[53] Rare Pair of Ancient Alaskan Bering Sea Eskimo Carved Caribou Antler Snow Goggles I Gauk Fine old smooth polished dark patina Circa 100–600 ad

s i z e : 3.5 cm high, 16 cm wide, 2 cm deep – 1¼ ins high, 6¼ ins wide, ¾ deep p rov e na nc e : Excavated on the shoreline of the Tuksuk Channel, Alaska Ex American New York collection s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 23, item no. 34, for a later pair of goggles The Eskimo are the most far-flung single tribe of peoples in the world, stretched out over 4000 miles mostly along the northern fringes of the American and Russian continent. Their 3000 year old culture is unique, and is not shared with any other subpolar peoples, such as the Lapps. Their nomadic way of life gave them a remarkable tenacity of culture over vast distances.

Snow blindness is a debilitating and painful condition and is an occupational hazard for Arctic hunters. The retina of the eye becomes burned by excessive ultraviolet radiation reflected from the snow covered landscapes. By wearing goggles the amount of light entering the eye is cut down.

[54] A Fine Sri Lankan Ivory Kandyan Court Staff of Office The tall cane decorated with a traditional polychrome red and black design Early 19th Century s i z e : 105 cm long – 39½ ins long Ivory was a favourite medium and was widely used by the Sinhalese craftsmen of the mountain Kingdom of Kandy. The royal palace was a centre that attracted the best skilled artists who formed a guild called the Pattal Hatara. Members included painters, jewellers, gold and silversmiths and ivory workers. They enjoyed the King’s protection and received royal donations. Their presence attracted other artists and performers, such as musicians and dancers, to the Court and the Kings of the small independent Kingdom of Kandy became famed for their patronage of the arts.

[55] A Japanese Sawasa Parcel Gilt Tobacco Box with Figures in a Landscape the Gilt Interior with a Cipher of European Initials H.W.W. Dated 1823 Encircled by Leafy Branches 18th Century with Later Inscription

s i z e : 2.5 cm high, 9.5 cm wide, 7.5 cm deep – 1 ins high, 3¾ ins wide, 3 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Purchased Gerard Hawthorn Ltd 2003 Ex Private English collection c f : Rijks Museum Exhibition 1998 Sawasa : Japanese Export Art in Black and Gold 1650 – 1810 pg. 57–62 It was once traditionally thought in the antiques trade that these boxes were made in Tonkin, which is now in north Vietnam, and exported to China, Japan and the West.

However, the exhibition at the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam in 1998 established that Sawasa wares were made as a result of the intercontinental Asian connections in commerce and trade created by the Dutch East India Company or V.O.C. Whilst searching for export markets to appeal to European tastes they created with the skill of Asian artists and craftsmen boxes and other artefacts with refined gilt reliefs and engravings on a lustrous lacquered surface. Sawasa was the Japanese name given to these objects made by oriental artists adopting European models combined with Japanese and Chinese materials and decorative techniques.

[56] Fine Renaissance Florentine Bronze Figure of the Naked Christ Child in a Gesture of Benediction After Giambologna (1529–1608) Attributed to the Workshop of Antonio Susini Two labels to the base reading : Hodgson Bequest 599 and The Cyril Humphris collection Sothebys 1995 Rich light brown natural patina Late 16th Century

s i z e : 15 cm high – 6 ins high / 22.5 cm high – 8¾ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : The Hodgson Bequest Cyril Humphris, London Sotheby’s New York, January 1995, Cyril Humphris collection Daniel Katz Ltd, February 2000 The collection of the Late P. J. Rankin c f : Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas for a similar Christ Child in the arms of the Virgin Mary by Susini Antonio Susini (active 1580, died 1624) was a Florentine who worked as a specialist in bronze statuettes and achieved fame with the fine finished casts he made from Giambologna’s models, as well as miniature versions of antique statues. It is thought that he was working with Giambologna by the early 1580’s later becoming his principal assistant, and it is known that the Master regarded the bronzes which Susini made from his models as his own.

Although Christ is portrayed as a naked infant he is shown in a gesture of benediction as the Divine King, mature beyond his years. The attributes of the adult and eternal Christ have been foisted upon his infant self. Christian art is theology in visual form, and so he is presented to the viewer as both victor and victim, divine ruler and earthly infant; the duality of his nature at its most apparent in his early childhood.

[57] Antique Specimen of a Narwhal Tusk Monodon Monoceros with a Silver Tip Old smooth silky patina 19th Century

s i z e : 175 cm long – 69 ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Herefordshire collection C.I.T.E.S Article 10 available Narwhals were once known by European sailors as the sea unicorn. Inhabitants of the Arctic seas, they are often found in the company of Beluga whales. They are the most curious and interesting of all the toothed whales. The adults are a pale mottled grey-white colour whilst the young are quite dark, sometimes an almost shiny black.

Males can grow to be six metres long and have the distinctive long spiral tooth that juts forward from the left side of the upper jaw. This magical ivory lance was thought to possess many wonderful qualities including the ability to counteract the effects of poisons, and so became worth its weight in gold.

[58] South African Zulu Chief ’s Rhinoceros Horn Prestige Knobkerrie Old lustrous smooth patina Mid 19th Century

s i z e : 45.5 cm long – 18 ins long s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 7, item no. 33 and 99 for other examples Knobkerries, essentially a club/staff, were turned from the exceptional horns of long lived black and white rhinoceroses. They were used by the Zulu to denote significant status and were an essential part of an important chief ’s regalia functioning both as a staff of office and as a symbol of personal dignity. An engraving of 1833 by E.Casalis depicting the great Zulu chief Mosheshwe shows him holding a rhinoceros horn knobkerrie as an indication of his royal standing.

[59] A Large French Polynesian Marquesas Islands Nuku Hiva House Post Carved with Ritual Tiki Figures Late 19th Century – Early 20th century

s i z e : 288 cm high – 113½ ins high / 9 feet 5½ ins p rov e na nc e : Brought from the Marquesas Islands with three other posts to Tahiti in the 1930’s to form the veranda of the notorious Quinn’s Bar in Papeete. Purchased

by Mr John Letham upon closure in 1973 and shipped back to Scotland on the deck of his yacht Thence by descent Sold together with a 1950’s postcode showing Quinn’s Bar with the post in situ c f : Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection University of East Anglia (UEA 192) a smaller tiki post figure of similar date and style collected in 1881–2 by H W Eyres during a voyage round the world Another weather worn example in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Hawai’i (A radio-carbon report dates the post to the late 19th century – early 20th century) These large human images are the most imposing of all Marquesan wood sculptures and although there must have been many of them in the populous islands, very few sizeable wooden Tiki’s have survived. Most of them were set on the Me’ae, a communal ritual site, exposed to the elements and often surrounded by mountainous jungle. The best preserved tiki are the house post figures that remained for the most part under cover supporting the fronts of large communal meeting houses. Both at the Me’ae and on the front of these structures, the tiki represented the deified ancestors etua whose supernatural powers sustained and protected the community. The enlarged head is typical of Polynesian sculpture, but these large tiki have the most persuasive eyes of all Polynesia, even when eroded by time and weather they can still cast a spell that is inescapable.

[60] Fine French Napoleonic Prisoner of War Carved Ivory Snuff Box Modelled as a 12 Gun Fighting Sloop The one piece hull carved with canon emerging from their ports the lid formed as the main deck carved with an anchor and oars stowed within a coiled length of rope the lid pull as a capstan with silver hinge a detailed figurehead of a lion rampant retained with silver brackets Mounted on ivory display stand The underside of the lid marked in ink 1089 Late 18th – Early 19th Century

s i z e : 3.5 cm high, 14 cm long, 4 cm deep – 1¼ ins high, 5½ ins long, 1½ ins deep 5 cm high – 2 ins high (with base) s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 20, item no. 33, for a rare Napoleonic Prisoner of War ivory model of an 84 Gunship of the line The Frenchman taken captive by the British during the Napoleonic Wars of 1792– 1815 were incarcerated in the hulls of decommissioned naval warships in the harbours and estuaries around the coast of Britain. Stripped of all masts, rigging, sails and embellishments these hulks held captive unknown French craftsmen who, attempting to overcome the wretchedness of their cramped, confined and sordid conditions, patiently produced with primitive tools and materials, accomplished works of art. These models were not meant to be accurate portrayals of any particular vessel, but were intended as mementoes. Mostly made of scrap animal bones, it is rare to find an example in ivory.

[61] A West African Guro Peoples Carved Heddle Pulley Holes to the top of the head for attachment to loom Old smooth dark rich crusted patina 19th Century – Early 20th Century

s i z e : 15 cm high, 5.5 cm wide, 6 cm deep – 6 ins high, 2 ins wide, 2¼ ins deep / 17.5 cm high – 7 ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private USA collection Acquired 1960’s The Guro people live surrounded by forest and savannah near the Baule and Yaure who live to the west. They were originally called Kweni, but the invading French gave them the Baule name of Guro during their colonisation of the Côte d’Ivoire between 1906 and 1912.

The pulley from which the double heddles of the men’s horizontal weaving loom are suspended has provided the local sculptor’s with the opportunity of creating these works of art that depict human heads or faces. Continual handling and usage by the textile weaver gives the heddle pulley its rich patina.

[62] A Bering Sea Yupik Eskimo Walrus Ivory Thread Spool Nemrusvik of Anthropomorphic Form 19th Century

s i z e : 5.5 cm high – 2 ins high p rov e na nc e : Ex Russian Private collection Sinew from the legs or backs of caribou is a favourite thread for Yupik women to use in sewing. The sinew is dried, beaten and cleaned with small combs and the women divide it into strips which are then twisted or braided depending on their intended use.

Prepared lengths of sinew are wrapped around spools or reels like this example and stored with other sewing equipment in a special bag called a housewife.

[63] An Ancient Bering Sea Chukchi Eskimo Walrus Ivory Amulet carved as a pregnant female and drilled for inverted suspension as a pendant Old smooth worn dark silky patina 100 – 500 ad

s i z e : 9 cm high – 3½ ins high p rov e na nc e : Ex Private Russian collection Worn by pregnant women upside down, pendants such as this were believed to ensure proper delivery. Fear that an infant might not be born head first was especially strong amongst women in primitive societies. They obey taboos imposed by shaman and wear inverted suspended amulets, employing reversal as a magical technique.

There were no rigid boundaries between different Eskimo societies and their art was one of the most effective ways of maintaining cohesion in their ancient culture, and a useful tool for sustaining unity of spiritual tradition among small groups of primitive hunters scattered along the endless Arctic coast. Although of crude form, this figure has a certain dynamism. There is a suggestion of movement in the flowing curves of the arms around the pregnant belly, giving her the look of a prehistoric Venus.

[64] The Heppington Bell Cast from the Cabinet Collection of more than 5000 Ancient Roman Bronze and Silver Coins of the Antiquarian Bryan Faussett (1720–1775) Bearing the Date 1766 and a Latin Inscription Avdi.Qvid.Tecum.Loquitvr.Romana.

Vetvstas.Exaere.Romano.Me.Conflari.Fecit.B.F.A.S.S.1766 18th Century s i z e : 48 cm high, 47 cm dia – 19 ins high, 18½ ins dia.

Sold with an 1890’s photograph of Heppington House, Kent showing the Bell in situ in the Tower and documentation relating to its loan to the London Museum p rov e na nc e : Cast from his Collection of Ancient Roman Bronze and Silver Coins

by Bryan Faussett in 1766 for his Kent Residence near Canterbury, Heppington House By descent to Captain Sir Bryan Godfrey-Faussett GCVOCMG (1863–1945) Thence by descent Bryan Faussett (1720–1775) was a member of the society of Antiquaries and from 1750 devoted his attention to the antiquities of Kent, mainly through barrow-digging. He kept a journal of all of his excavations in which he meticulously recorded each grave’s contents. This was edited and later published with notes and engravings in 1856 as Inventorium Sepulchrale. A note on page 204 relates to the history of the bell… He... amassed a cabinet of more than 5000 Roman and British coins. However precious these may have been four generations ago, when the scarcity of the article in any state made the quality and preservation of less moment; and though they contained many specimens considered fine and rare, and a few unique, even in the present day, the verdict of the public, under the auspices of Messrs Sotheby and Wilkinson has lately pronounced them more numerous than valuable.

But some idea of his diligence at least in this branch of science, may be gained from the fact, that these 5000 were the select of his cabinet; the remainder, chiefly duplicates, to the weight of 150lbs, he melted down into a bell, which still swings on the roof of Heppington (the old family seat near Canterbury)…

Faussett formed an impressive collection of Anglo-Saxon finds mainly of objects of personal adornment, including the gold Kingston Brooch, all of which remained almost unknown after his death until it was exhibited in 1844 by his ancestor Dr GodfreyFaussett at the Canterbury Archaeological Association. In 1853 it was offered to the British Museum who declined it. After some outcry was raised to no effect, the entire collection was sold to Joseph Mayer in 1855 who bequeathed it to the Liverpool Museum. From 1914 to 1919, during the 1st World War the bell hung over the Police Station in Hyde Park and was sounded to warn the public of approaching air raids. Sir Bryan Godfrey-Faussett lived in the Ranger’s Lodge in Hyde Park and after the Great War gave the bell to the Museum of London on extended loan. It was returned to the family upon request in 2005.

[65] A Fine Small German Turned Blonde Rhinoceros Horn Footed Cup Early 18th Century

s i z e : 6.5 cm high, 9 cm dia. – 2½ ins high, 3½ ins dia. p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection Many European rhinoceros horn carvings were produced as a direct result of contact with those carvings made in China. However, it is not known when vessels of rhinoceros horn first arrived in Europe. The earliest documented evidence occurs at the end of the 16th century when a vessel made of rhinoceros-bone ornamented with silver, most artfully and prettily made was presented to the Governor of Portugal by a group of Japanese Christians travelling on a Portuguese ship, visiting southern Europe between 1584 and 1586. In 1601 it is recorded that un corno di rino ceronte was one of several rare and precious articles taken to Beijing by the Jesuit missionary Father Matteo Ricci, who most probably believed he was presenting the Chinese Emperor with an object he had never seen before. He did not realise that this rhinoceros horn was already very familiar to the Wanli Emperor, and that the beliefs in the magical powers and abilities of rhinoceros horn had originated more than one thousand years previously in China.

[66] A Rare Early English Marine Ivory Lottery or Teetotum Gambling Ball carved on 24 sides with numbers 1 to 24 Old smooth creamy patina Late 17th century

s i z e : 4.5 cm dia. – 1¾ ins dia. s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 20, item no. 42, and catalogue no. 21, item no. 35, for other examples Lotteries first began to be an acceptable form of gambling in the reign of Elizabeth I. In 1568–69 the government needed to quickly raise a substantial sum of money for urgent repairs to the harbours and coastal fortifications of England in order to repel the threatened seaborne invasion from the Spanish. Successive Acts of Parliament then established lotteries as a legitimate means of increasing revenue and over time they became a lucrative source of government income.

Unlike spinning dice, teetotum balls give the gambler more of an opportunity to win, because when thrown the faceted numbered sides of a ball give an equal chance of any number turning up.

[67] Rare Pre-Contact New Zealand Maori Wooden Wahaika a Sharp-Edged Short Hand Club carved with a small Tiki The neck with a hole for a wrist thong the butt with traces of a worn masked head Fine old smooth silky patina 18th Century

s i z e : 38 cm long – 15 ins long c f : A very similar example in the Oxford Pitt Rivers Museum inv no : 1887.1.388 collected on Captain Cook’s 1st voyage and presented by Joseph Banks to Christ Church College as part of a collection of five Maori clubs Another in the James Hooper collection Steven Phelps page 56 no. 221 and another in the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology collected on Cook’s first voyage illustrated by Shawcross 1970 :313.

European influence was minimal before the arrival of Captain Cook who first sighted the North Island on 6th October 1769. On the ship Endeavour Cook then circumnavigated the islands until the end of March 1770 in order to produce a thorough survey which was used primarily to establish whether they formed part of the elusive Great Southern Continent. On the second voyage the islands became a base for extensive South Pacific explorations and a longer period of time was spent there at Dusky Sound and Queen Charlotte Sound. During the third voyage sailing eastwards from Tasmania he called again in early 1777 whilst en route to Tahiti and the west coast of America.

It is interesting to compare and distinguish between the objects collected on the three voyages as the later ones appear to have been influenced by European tools, ideas and values. The narrow form, the rudimentary lateral figure and the conically pierced hole are all features that point to a mid 18th century, pre-contact date for this club.

In addition to their function as lethal weapons short hand clubs were also a status symbol for men of rank who carried them as a sign of dignity on the Marae, the ceremonial open space or courtyard within the Maori fortified village. Maori weapons formed a significance class of their own within the decorative arts of New Zealand, and were quite separate and distinct from the rest of Polynesia.

[68] A Rare North German Baltic Amber Devotional Figure of Christ the Redeemer Depicted gazing upwards his face framed by long locks of hair his hand on his heart the other in a gesture of benediction Probably Königsberg First half 17th Century

s i z e : 16.5 cm high, 6.5 cm wide, 6 cm deep – 6½ ins high, 2½ ins wide, 2¼ ins deep Königsberg was the leading centre for amber carving in the late 16th and early 17th century and as the industry flourished, guilds sprang up along the Baltic coast. Until 1618 Königsberg was also the seat of the Prussian court and a centre for goldsmiths and their works. However, the great interest and demand for amber was over by 1730 and although production continued it was reduced to the making of jewellery.

Devotional objects, statuettes and house altars were made using the translucent red amber, cloudy and dense white amber. White amber resembles meerschaum and is created by microscopic droplets of water or air bubbles being caught up in the resin.

It was much sought after and particularly used, as here, for the faces and hands of clear amber figures, The lighter colour successfully drawing the attention to the facial expression and the symbolism of the hands.

Carved amber works of art fulfilled the two demands of the Renaissance Kunstkammer, being both highly worked and made of a magical and mysterious substance. Amber was also believed to have the power to detect poison and many goblets, cups and tankards were fashioned from it to be used in the princely courts of 17th century Europe.

[69] An Unusual and Fine Bugbear Coconut Flask Carved in the Form of a Scaly Sea Monster with Snakes Entwined Amongst Flower Filled Urns Initialled IF Early 19th Century

s i z e : 12.5 cm wide, 9.5 cm dia. (max) – 5 ins wide, 3¾ ins dia. (max) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private English collection s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 4, item no. 112, catalogue no. 7, item no. 69 and catalogue no. 10, item no. 113, for other examples Coconut flasks were carved on board ship by sailors and whale-men who had visited the Tropics. When fresh the nut is soft to carve and later hardens with age accentuating the decoration. Examples can be found from South America, Mexico and the Polynesian Islands of the Pacific. The Pinto collection of treen in Birmingham City Art museum contains a Mexican example signed Pedro Peratta.

[70] Unusual Northern British Treen Engraved Yew Wood Folk Art Walking Cane Dated 1841 Signed by James May Decorated with the alphabet numerous fantastical animals and birds including a Giant Mouse, Hedgehog, the Sun and Moon, a Windmill and a Kilted Scotsman Circa 1841 s i z e : 89 cm long – 35 ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex English Private collection During the long Winter months, before the coming of electricity, there was little work that could be done outside in Northern Britain. Woodworking tools provided men with indoor work whilst women sat at looms, spinning wheels, lace or needlework.

With so many hours compulsorily spent indoors time is often of even less account than material and in consequence each man developed the patience to create for the farm and home a wealth of objects in accordance with his taste and skill.

Folk art was a natural and unconscious form of self expression and traditionally the craft of wood carving was a masculine occupation. The carving and decoration of objects such as this engraved yew wood cane were essentially labours of love and as such were given to sweethearts. In daily use, these objects would provide a constant reminder of the maker.

[71] A North American Finely Engraved scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth Depicting Naval Engagements on Lake Erie during the War of 1812 decorated with flying fish doves a whale and an American House and Church inscribed : Commodore Oliver H Perry Victory over the British Fleet on Lake Erie on the 10th September 1813 surrounded by leafy flowering tendrils Superb golden colour and patina Circa 1816 – 1830

s i z e : 9 cm high, 19 cm wide, 4.5 cm deep – 3½ ins high, 7½ ins wide, 1¾ ins deep w e ig h t : 703 grams – 1.55 lb’s p rov e na nc e : Collected by Commander Thomas Henry Wilson who emigrated to Canada in 1824 and having served in the Royal Navy obtained a grant of land on the terms prescribed for half pay officers. He died October 1834 Thence by descent The Naval battle on Lake Erie on September 10th, 1813 was one of the biggest naval battles of the war of 1812. Fought off the coast of Ohio, it is sometimes called the Battle of Put-in Bay and under Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry nine vessels of the U.S Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the British Royal Navy which ensured American control of the lake for the rest of the war. These scenes were copied by the scrimshanders from illustrations in Abel Bowen’s Naval Monument a profusely illustrated popular compendium of heroic yankee naval anecdotes from the war of 1812 that appeared in a least three cheap editions between 1816 and 1837.

[72] An Ancient Late Hellenistic Greek Marble Torso of a Youthful Dionysus Circa 3rd – 1st Century bc

s i z e : 31 cm high, 14.5 cm wide – 12¼ ins high, 5¾ ins wide 38.5 cm high – 13¼ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Private collection Sussex, UK Purchased London early 1960’s The Greek god of wine, fruit-bearing trees, vegetation and religious possession, Dionysus was an agrarian deity whose cult was more popular amongst ordinary citizens than among aristocrats. He was a god with whom humans could commune either through intoxication or through spiritual ecstasy. His followers got agreeably drunk at his festivals, the most important of which was held in early Spring when masked worshippers would impersonate the god speaking words in his character.

Divinely inspired frenzy or ecstasy could be achieved by his followers in which the human personality briefly vanished to be replaced, it was believed, by the identity of the god. The frenzies wrought by Dionysus were the natural complement to the virtues of reason and restraint embodied in the god Apollo. He represented the irrational aspect of the human soul and in the Hellenistic age amid a hunger for personal religion, Dionysus was one of the few Greek deities whose worship produced a mystery cult offering the hope of rebirth and a happy afterlife to its initiates.

[73] Two Bering Sea Yupik Eskimo Walrus Ivory Amulets Iinrut in the Form of Polar Bears and a Carved Walrus Ivory Amuletic Spear Holder Akagyailkutet in the Form of a Tusked Walrus Early 19th Century

s i z e s : [a] : 2.5 cm high, 5.5 cm long – 1 ins high, 2 ins long [b] : 2.5 cm high, 5.5 cm long – 1 ins high, 2 ins long [c] : 2.5 cm high, 2.5 cm deep – 1 ins high, 1 ins deep Iinrut are shamanic devices made as amuletic protecting spirits carved by the shaman for a particular person, often a child. They performed a similar function to that of a Christian crucifix worn around the neck.

Amuletic devices were attached to the gunwales of a kayak by means of the leather ropes that run across the top of the vessel. The walrus stood tied with its tusks in an upright position preventing the hunter’s lance or spear from falling overboard as he approached his quarry. Once attached the amulets were never removed from the kayak.

[74] Sailors Scrimshaw Whalebone Walking Cane the handle carved as a clenched friendship fist of Sperm Whale Tooth with decorative inlays of tortoiseshell and abalone to the shaft a brass ferrule to tip Circa 1840–60

s i z e : 86 cm long – 33¾ ins long The spiraling lower shaft of this cane is carved to resemble the tusk of a narwhal, the upper section with a diamond pattern. These custom made canes were never used on board a whaling ship, but they were popular items for scrimshanders who often sold them for some spare pocket money next time they went ashore. Available material and tools dictated what the sailor could make aboard a whaling ship. With skill and imagination sailors could change scraps of whalebone, baleen, abalone shell, sperm whale teeth, exotic woods, tortoiseshell, lengths of twine and walrus ivory into amazing creations.

[75] A Sailors Scrimshaw Carved Whalebone Walking Cane the Knop of Sperm Whale Tooth Decorated Insets of Baleen and Silver the lower shaft with a spiralling twist replicating a narwhal tusk Old smooth mellow creamy patina Circa 1840–50

s i z e : 92 cm long – 36¼ ins long Scrimshaw rescued the whale man from despondency and kept his mind and hands occupied. One journal (Barbeau) states : I am unsettled in mind for want of work. Saw nothing, and work all dun. An idle head is a workshop for the devil. Employed scrimshaw.

The Captain of the bark, John.A.Robb, wrote in 1861 : Today, I feel the best that I have for the last 8 months. Commenced Squimshoning, the first I have done for the last 6 months.

In addition to the problems of boredom and despair that were the result of a three or four year voyage, there was the antagonism and anger that arose among men who were thrown together under such difficult circumstances for long periods of time. Ships logs and journals are filled with comments such as : After quarrelling a half hour we commenced mending the sail.... Thus ends another long disagreeable day.

[76] Papua New Guinea Lower Sepik Region Keram River Kambot Peoples Men’s Ceremonial House Post carved in the round with two Ancestor Spirits with protruding tongues and six stylised crocodiles Traces of decoration in red ochre and white clay Old collection number : 253 Circa 1900–1910

s i z e : 86 cm high – 34 ins high p rov e na nc e : Collected in P.N.G. by Steijler Missionaries S.V.D. exchanged with Father Höltker a former Missionary in P.N.G. between 1935–38 at Sankt Augustin Missionary, Germany Ex German Museum (Inv No. 253) Ex European Private collection Although in the Middle and Lower Sepik regions women are valued and esteemed, and hold a great influence over daily life, they are almost never involved in a ceremonial context. The large square in the centre of each village is a major symbolic axis where one to three ceremonial houses stand which are entirely reserved for initiated men.

These men’s houses are where the ancestors live in a time and world of their own, and represent the centre of all ritual and political power. It is where all adult males interact, and are organised into groups according to age and initiation.

It was only in 1886 that the first Europeans travelled up the Sepik river and Papua New Guinea became known as Kaiser Wilhelmsland.

[77] A Bering Sea Punuk Eskimo Walrus Ivory Bowman’s Wrist Guard 500–1200 ad

s i z e : 8.5 cm x 4.2 cm, 2 cm deep – 3¼ ins x 1½ ins, ¾ ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Private American collection Wrist guards were developed during the Punuk period as a protection against the slap of the bowstring on the inside of the left wrist after the arrow had been released. The old Bering Sea hunters decorated objects with incised designs and spirit images in the belief that their beauty, which honoured the animal spirits, drew game to the hunter and strengthened the power of the weapon being used.

The absence of identical designs on Punuk Eskimo art suggests that it was produced by individual hunters rather than by designated craft specialists.

[78] Rare Ancient Phoenician Alabaster Bust of a Deity with Long Hair and Beard His Ears Pierced Wearing Jewelled Necklaces Circa 1500 – 1000 bc

s i z e : 12 cm high, 9.5 cm wide, 4 cm deep – 4¾ ins high, 3¾ ins wide, 1¼ ins deep 19 cm high – 7½ ins high (with base) p rov e na nc e : Ex Sussex UK Private collection Acquired early 20th Century The Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic people of unknown origin, but culturally descended from the Canaanites of the 2nd Millennium bc who occupied the coastal plain of modern Lebanon and Syria in the 1st Millennium bc, and derived their prosperity from trade and manufacturing industries in textiles, glass, metal-ware, carved ivory, wood and jewellery. The Phoenicians were very adept in the art of colonisation as they deposited settlers wherever they travelled. Their trading contacts extended throughout Asia and reached westwards as far as Africa, where they founded Carthage, Spain where they founded Cadiz, and possibly Britain.

They searched each land for precious metals and materials, and much was extracted from a number of colonies. The Phoenician colony of Cadiz exploited Spanish silver mines to such an extent that it left 20 million tons of silver slag on the landscape along the Rio Tinto. Alphabetic writing probably also accompanied the Phoenician traders and colonisers.

They continued to thrive under Assyrian and then Persian rule until 322 bc when the capital, Tyre, was sacked and the country incorporated into the Greek world by Alexander the Great.

[79] A Rare Native American Eastern Woodlands Iroquois Seneca False Face Dance Mask Traces of original red polychrome Old worn smooth used patina Mid 19th Century

s i z e : 23.5 cm high, 13.5 cm wide – 9¼ ins high, 5¼ ins wide p rov e na nc e : Ex American New York collection c f : Peabody Museum, Salem No. E27945 for a similar example Wood masks such as this were used by members of the Hadigonsa Shano, a group of ceremonial masked dancers charged with curing sickness. False face masks were carved from living trees. The craftsman would burn tobacco at the base, offer prayers and carve the face into the standing trunk. Only when the mask was near completion would he cleave away the sculpture to hollow it out and paint its features. Traditionally red painted masks were carved from the tree in the morning and black ones in the afternoon.

Believed by the Iroquois to possess animal spirits, the masks were fed regularly and then carefully wrapped and placed face down when stored.

Amongst the five Hodenosaunee nations, or Iroquois, consisting of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Senecas, Cayugas and Onondagas, spiritual life was strong, pervasive and highly organised throughout their society. It included a priesthood of men and women, keepers of the Faith, who supervised religious rites and various secret organisations that performed the curing and other ceremonies. Like many native Americans, the Iroquois believed that the spirits of all humans were joined to those of the objects and forces of nature. In addition that a human’s own inner spiritual power, called Orenda combated the powers of evil that could harm the individual as well as the rest of the people.

[80] Rare Yupik Bering Sea Eskimo Child’s Ice Skate Carved of Walrus Ivory in the Form of a Polar Bear with Socketed Iron Blade Early 19th Century

s i z e : 6.5 cm high, 13 cm deep – 2½ high, 5 ins deep c f : Berlin Ethnographical Museum has an example in the shape of a Puffin No : IVA5389 These were used by boys to have fun on newly formed ice. Tied with sinew to the sole of a boot they gave the skater speed, and sometimes as young men they would go on to use them for hunting. Eskimo children have a great deal of fun whilst acquiring the skills and knowledge they will use in their adult lives. Boys stalk birds with miniature bows and arrows, set traps for mice and manoeuvre miniature sleds and kayaks.

The figure of the polar bear on this skate is amuletic, having a clairvoyant power which is silently communicated to the wearer, giving him the courage, speed and power of the animal.

[81] A Finely Carved Ivory Oval Portrait Medallion of the Young Queen Victoria (Reigned 1837–1901) Signed N Schrödl.f A Label to the Reverse Inscribed in Ink Reading : Victoria de Kent. Reine D’Angleterre 1819–1901 Couronneé en 1837 à Westminster Impératrice des Indes en 1876 Portrait à 25 ans par Norbert-Michaël Schrödl né en 1816 et Mort en 1890 à Dresde The ivory plaque bound in a brass frame Circa 1841

s i z e : 14.5 cm high, 10 cm wide, 2.5 cm deep – 5¾ ins high, 4 ins wide, 1 ins deep p rov e na nc e : Ex Belgian Private collection s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 16, item no. 40 for a pair of large ivory portrait medallions of the 11th Duke of Hamilton and his wife, Marie Amelie Elizabeth Caroline of Baden, attributed to Norbert Schrödl c f : An ivory portrait medallion of a Lady signed by Norbert Schrödl in the New York Metropolitan Museum Acc.No.1976.422.6 The Austrian ivory carver and sculptor Norbert-Michael Schrödl was born at Schwechat near Vienna in April 1816 and died in Dresden on 1st December 1890. His two sons, Norbert and Leopold, were also artists and the family travelled through Europe from court to court to gain commissions. The ivories turned and carved in Austria and Germany from the 16th to the 18th centuries are amongst the finest ever made and it is from this tradition that Norbert Schrödl came. His work naturally follows on from the portrait medallions of the 18th century created by Carl August Lücke the Elder, and his son or nephew, the Younger.

On February 10th 1840 Queen Victoria married her first cousin Prince Albert of SaxeCoburg and Gotha. She had first met him in May 1836 when her mother, The Duchess of Kent, together with her brother King Leopold of Belgium arranged a meeting.

William IV strongly disapproved of any match with the Saxe-Coburgs, favouring instead the suit of Prince Alexander, the second son of the Prince of Orange. However, Victoria was keenly aware of all these matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. She disliked Alexander, describing him as very plain, but of Albert she wrote extremely handsome... he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful.

[82] Fine and Unusual Italian Ivory Paternoster Rosary Bead Carved on Three Sides with the Head of Christ, the Virgin Mary and a Skull Memento Mori Old smooth creamy patina Mid 17th Century

s i z e : 3.5 cm high, 3.5 cm dia. (max) – 1½ ins high, 1½ ins dia. (max) p rov e na nc e : Ex Cotswolds Private collection s e e : Finch & Co catalogue no. 25, item no. 20, for a double sided south German rosary bead This fine carving was made to act as a terminal bead to a one decade paternoster and may have been worn on a processional rosary by a bishop or cardinal. There are different theories about the origin of the Christian rosary. In 7th century graves strings of beads have been discovered twisted around the hands of the deceased, a custom which is still followed in parts of Italy and Japan. Saint Rosalia (742–814 ad) a relative of the Emperor Charlemagne was reported to have been found buried with a string of little beads that ended in a cross. However, these beads were probably talismanic rather than for counting a given set of prayers.

The use of beads as an aid to devotion began in the medieval monasteries around 1000 ad. Apart from the learned monks, priests and abbots, the laity were illiterate and unable to understand latin and so could not sing or recite the psalms. When given a set of 150 prayers to recite, they would use rosary beads to count them. The 150 beads were known as Ave beads, a decade of aves counted on the small beads is followed by a paternoster, the Lords prayer, for which a larger bead is used.

The number three is also important and is a basic component of the rosary’s iconography. It has a complex history dating back to early Christian Ireland and is said to be related to the national symbol of Ireland, the trefoil of the shamrock.

[83] A Curious South German Bavarian Alpine Shepherd’s Talismanic Rosary Strung with Carved Wooden and Iron Amulets and Votive Arma Christi a Bone Memento Mori Skull Sheep and Deer’s Teeth and a Cross Made of Two Deer Fibula Late 18th – Early 19th Century

s i z e : 74 cm long – 29 ins long p rov e na nc e : Ex Austrian collection A ritual object carried to aid protection, this rosary was believed to have amuletic and curative properties. The bones and teeth were regarded as the repository of beneficial powers and thus a defence against the influence of evil forces. Worn suspended from a girdle or as part of a domestic shrine, the rosary was a talisman as well as an indicator of faith since the hope of salvation in the next world ran in parallel with anxiety about the present. A belief in magic blended with religious faith played an important role in an age with few protections against illness, injury or natural disaster.

[84] A Rare South American Amazonian Jivaro Shuar Peoples Authentic Ceremonial Tsantsas or Shrunken Head with long dark hair red and yellow Toucan feather ear pendants eyes sewn shut lips bound with a long kapok fibre pendant the head suspended on a braided cord Old original polished skin surface facial hair singed off Late 19th Century

s i z e : approx : 10 cm high – 4 ins high (head) / approx : 50 cm long – 3¼ ins long (overall length) p rov e na nc e : Acquired Christies London April 27, 1976 Lot 118 by F. Estler on behalf of Mrs F. Faulkner A letter requesting its purchase reads : Dear Francis, Thank you so much for agreeing to bid for Sooty. I enclose catalogue and Christies bidding form from which you will see that I am prepared to go to £750 for either shrunken head, catalogue no’s 118 and 119. I think 118 is probably a better buy and likely to fetch more than I can afford, but 119 is more endearing (if you can put it that way).

As I can’t be with you, please will you be so kind as to have an oyster and a Guinness on me to put you in the correct mood, before the sale starts, (vide the attached).

I fear that this may be a wasted journey for you, as Christies seem to think that they may get £1000 for each head, but if you DO get one I’m sure you will throw up, and Jackie will pass out, unless, as you say, he eats it first without realising.

All love, and a million thanks my duck Flit Thence by Descent c f : Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford have Tsantsas in its Treatment of Dead Enemies case Shrunken heads are objects charged with supernatural power made by the Jivaro Shuar people of Ecuador and Peru in the Upper Amazon. They live in densely forested jungle.

The women grow manioc, maize, beans, squash and tobacco and the men hunt and fish.

Traditionally the men were encouraged to take enemy heads to prove their courage and manhood or to avenge the death of a relative. However, although feuding might occur between villages, when raids took place on closely related groups the heads of sloths or monkeys would be substituted for human ones.

Tsantsas were made by removing the skin and discarding the skull and brain. The skin was heated for up to two hours and then dried with hot pebbles and sand which helped preserve the facial features and shape the skin as it dried. The eyes and mouth were closed and the face blackened with charcoal and vegetable dye. The head was then strung on a cord and worn by the man who had taken it at a ritual feast. During the ritual the victim’s spirit, one of three souls which is believed to reside in the human head, is pacified and becomes part of his killer’s group. The head is addressed by kinship terms and instructed about the groups way of life and territory. During the final ritual it is treated as if it were a child being born into the group and so belonging to them.

The Shuar peoples believe that human bodies exist in limited numbers and therefore must be reused by future generations. Capturing an enemy’s head and adopting their spirit provided an extra symbolic body for descendants to inhabit. After the ritual the tsantsas had little value. They were sometimes kept and some men were buried with the shrunken heads they had taken. However, the making of the head and the rituals held for them were more important and powerful than the keeping of it, and so at the end of the ritual process they were often traded or sold.

[85] An Oil on Canvas of Thomas Marriott Magistrate at Burdwan showing him in an Indian landscape out Hunting holding a Shotgun followed by his Man Servant carrying a game bird Attributed to Thomas Hickey (1741–1824) In original gilt frame A detailed inscription in ink to the reverse : ‘Thomas Marriott Magistrate at Burdwan died 1827 Grandfather to Charlotte Denman given to me by my uncle Chas. Marriott on my arrival in England with my four sons, William, John, Charles and Robert. April 1861. C.M Denman Done by Chinnery’ Late 18th Century

s i z e : 91.5 cm high, 72 cm wide – 36 ins high, 28¼ ins wide c a n va s : 75 cm high, 55 cm wide – 29½ ins high, 21½ ins wide p rov e na nc e : As per inscription then passed to Dr Robert Denman, Director of Medicine in Mauritius then to his son Jack Denman a tea planter in Sri Lanka who was Godfather to M.D Renwick who inherited the painting By descent to S. Renwick Ex Private London collection of a Titled Lady In the late heyday of the East India Company a number of artists with close Irish connections, notably George Chinnery and Thomas Hickey travelled to India to seek their fortune. They sought patronage as much from Mughul and Hindu families as from European settlers and thus forged a fusion between the cultures of the East and West.

A relative of William Hickey, Thomas Hickey was born in Dublin the son of a confectioner from Capel Street. He was trained in the Dublin Society’s Drawing Schools and in 1780 received permission from the East India Company to go to India.

After some extraordinary adventures, bearing letters of introduction from Sir Joshua Reynolds to Warren Hastings, he finally arrived in Calcutta in 1784. He was reputed to be the most sparkling conversationalist and is said to have rarely failed to charm his sitters. His career flourished and one of his finest portraits, in the National Gallery of Ireland, is his 1787 portrayal of a young Bengali muslim woman ‘Bibi Jemdanee’, the common-law wife of his relative William Hickey. A Lawyer in Calcutta William Hickey said of Jemdanee : she lived with me, respected and admired by all my friends for her extraordinary sprightliness and good humour … (Memoirs of William Hickey, Alfred Spencer Vol. IV pg. 385).

Thomas Hickey’s career began to decline when Zoffany returned to Calcutta in 1786, so he embarked on further adventures accompanying Lord George Macartney to China on a diplomatic mission and became the expedition’s official portrait painter.

He returned to Ireland after the death of his brother, John, in January 1796, but by 1797 he had returned to India in time for the start of the Fourth Mysore War. He was immediately commissioned to make a number of sketches of the family members of Mysore’s ruler, Tipu Sultan. These portrait sketches were drawn between 1799–1801 in Sirrangapatua and Vellove. Hickey never left India again, living in Madras, he died in 1824.

Bibliography 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 Baddeley, Jon; Nautical Antiques & Collectables, Sotheby’s Publications, 1993 Barrow, T; The Decorative Arts of the New Zealand Maori, A.H & A.W. Reed, Wellington, Auckland, 1964 Barry, Jeanne; Inua, Smithsonian Ins., 1982 Bassani, Ezio; African Art and Artefacts in European Collections 1400 – 1800, British Museum Press, 2000 Blüchel, K.G; Game and Hunting, Tandem Verlag, 2004 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 Buck, Sir Peter; The Coming of the Maori, Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd., 1949 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 Clarke, Christa; Central African Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, 2001 Cranstone, B.A.L; Melanesia A Short Ethnography, BMP, 1961 Coe, Ralph T; The Responsive Eye, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2003 Coe, Ralph T; Sacred Circles, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1976 Cole, H.M and Aniakor, C.C; Igbo Arts Community and Cosmos, University of California, Los Angeles, 1984 Cranstone, B.A.L; Melanesia A Short Ethnography, BMP, 1961 Cunliffe, Barry; The Pre History of Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994 Dodd, Edward; Polynesian Art, Robert Hale and Company, London, 1967 Dubin, Lois Sher; The History of Beads, H.Abrams, 1987 Edge-Partington; Ethnographical Album of the Pacific Islands, SDI Publications, 1996 Fagg, William; Collecting African Art, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1979 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 Fitzhugh, William and Kaplan, Susan A; Inua Spirit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982 Flayderman, E. Norman; Scrimshaw and Scrimshanders, N. Flayderman & Co., Inc., New Milford, 1972 Ford, Trevor D; Derbyshire Blue John, Ashbourne Editions, 2000 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 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 Goodison, Nicholas; Mathew Boulton : Ormolu, Phaidon Press Ltd. & Christies Books Ltd., London, 2002 Gribbon, Deborah; Meisterwerke im J. Paul Getty Museum, Thames and Hudson, 1998 Grieco and Gambino; Roman Mosaic, Arte and Cultura, 2001 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 Hamilton, A; Maori Art, Harmer Johnson Inc. New York, 1977 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, B; and Krüger,G; James Cook, Prestel, Munich, 1998 Heermann, I; Schmuck Der Südsee, Prestel, 1990 Heritage, Andrew; Concise Atlas of the World, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2003 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 Howarth, Crispin; Varilaku Art for the Solomon Islands, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2011 James Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific, Thames and Hudson, London, 2009 Jenkins, Ian & Sloan, Kim; Vases and Volcanoes, British Musuem Press, 1996 Kaeppler, Adrienne, L; Artificial Curiosities, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 1978 Kaeppler, Adrienne, L; James Cook and the Exploration of the Pacific, Thames and Hudson, London, 2009 Kaeppler, Adrienne, L; Kaufmann,C, & Newton,D; Oceanic Art, Harry N Abrams, Inc., New York, 1997 Kecskési von, Maria; Kunst Aus Afrika, Prestel, 1999 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, Ethnological Museum, Berlin, Prestel, 2006 Koudounaris, Paul; The Empire of Death, Thames and Hudson, London, 2011 Koloss, Hans-Joachim; Africa Art and Culture, Prestel, Munich, Germany Laue, Georg; Memento Mori, Munich 2002 Laue, Georg; Exotica, Munich, 2012 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 MacGregor, Arthur; Sir Hans Sloane, British Museum Press in association with Alistair McAlpine, London, 1994 Mack, J; The Art of Small Things, British Museum Press, 2007 Mack, John; Ethnic Jewellery, The British Museum Press, 1988 Mack, John; Emil Torday and the Art of the Congo 1900– 1909, British Museum Publications Mauries, Patrick; Cabinets of Curiosities; Thames and Hudson, 2002 McEwan, Colin, Barreto, Cristiana & Neves, Eduardo; Unknown Amazon, The British Museum Press, 2001 Miles, Charles; Indian & Eskimo Artifacts, Bonazo Books, NY Morris, P.A; The History of Taxidermy, 2010 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; The Oldman Collection of Maori Artefacts, The Polynesian Society, Auckland, 2004 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, Tom; Africa, The Art of a Continent, Passavia Druckerie, Passau, Germany, 1995 Pick, Nancy; The Rarest of the Rare, HarperResource, New York, 2004 Pinto, Edward H; Treen and Other Wooden Bygones, Bell and Hyman, 1979 Pownall, Glen; Primitive Art of the New Zealand Maori, Seven Sea Publishing Pty, Ltd., Wellington, 1972

Price, Monica. T; Decorative Stone, Thames and Hudson, 2007 Pritchard, C.H, Peter. Dr.; Encyclopedia of Turtles, TFH Publications, 1979 Randall, Richard. H; The Golden Age of Ivory, Hudson and Hills, 1993 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 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 Pleasures of Antiquity, Yale, 2003 Seipel, Wilfred; Exotica, Skira, Vienna, 2000 Selman; 18th Century Ethnographic Collections in the Hancock Museum, Newcastle, 2003 Simmons, D.R; Ta Moko The Art of Maori Tattoo, Reed Methuen Publishers, Auckland, 1986 Sloane, Kim; Enlightenment, Discovering the World in the 18th Century, British Museum Press, 2003 Stanley, Tim, Palace & Mosque, V&A Publications, 2004 Starzecka, Dorota C, Neich, Roger & Pendergrast, Mick; The Maori Collections of the British Museum, British Musuem Press, 2010 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 Taylor, Colin, F.; The Plains Indian, Salamander Books, 1994 Taylor, Colin, F.; The Native Americans, Tiger Books International, London, 1995 Torrence, Gaylord; The Plains Indians Artists of Earth and Sky, Skira Rizzoli, Paris, 2014 Trnek, H and Vassallo e Silva, N; Exotica, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisboa, 2001 Trusted, Marjorie; Baroque and Later Ivories, V&A Publishing, 2013 Varjola, Pirjo; The Etholén Collection, Vammalan Kirjapaino Oy, Finland, 1990 Vincent, G.T, Brydon, S, Coe, Ralph T; Art of the North American Indians, The Thaw Collection, University of Washington, 2000 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, R.A; The National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, 1999 Walters, Anna Lee; The Spirit of Native America, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1989 Wardwell, Allen; Island Ancestors, Univ. of Washington Press, 1994 Warner, J.A; The Life and Art of the North American Indian, Hamlyn, 1997 Whitfield, P. Dr.; The Marshal Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Animals, Marshal Publishing, London, 1998 Wenley, Robert; French Bronzes in the Wallace Collection, The Wallace Collection, 2002 Wild, Anthony; The East India Company, Harper Collins, 1999 Williamson, Paul; Medieval Ivory Carvings, V&A Publications, 2010 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 Design by Prof. Phil Cleaver & Aidan Jones et al design, 020 7490 3976 Photography by Phil Connor, 07831 151549 Printed and bounded in Great Britain by Pureprint

© 2016 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.