FINE JEWELLERY

30th April 2020

CHARLOTTE GLYDE FGA +44 (0) 1722 424586 cg@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Now accepting consignments for the 16th July Jewellery sale. Closing date for entries 15th May.

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1. A Neoclassical sardonyx intaglio depicting the family of Aeneas quitting Troy, formerly in the collection of Prince Stanislas Poniatowski. Estimate: £3,000 – 5,000

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3. A Victorian garnet and diamond-set gold snake necklace. Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000

4. A sapphire and diamond-set gold brooch by Kutchinsky. Estimate: £1,000 – 1,500

5. An Art Deco opal and diamond ring. Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000

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8. An early 20th century aquamarine and pink topaz pendant. Estimate: £3,000 – 4,000

9. A Belle Époque emerald and diamond bow brooch. Estimate: £3,000 – 4,000

10. An Art Deco emerald and diamond ring. Estimate: £1,500 – 2,000

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13. A Belle Époque emerald and diamond brooch pendant. Estimate: £4,000 – 6,000

14. A gem-set gold wristwatch by Franck Muller. Estimate: £1,000 – 2,000

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2. A mid 19th century carnelian intaglio-mounted early 20th century gold Neoclassical pendant by Andre Bucher.

The unsigned intaglio probably by Luigi Pichler (1773-1854), c1805, depicting a standing and youthful Cupid [Eros], with a quiver of arrows by his feet, drinking wine from a drinking bowl held by a reclining Bacchus [Dionysus] who lies on an animal skin-draped couch, holding an amphora and thyrsus, 3.5cm wide.

The gold pendant with oval laurel frame, supported by two stylised ancient Babylonian griffins, their outstretched wings joined, with pierced foliate lower section over a rectangular laurel chased base, laurel swags hanging from three grotesque masks with three citrine pendants, signed with maker’s lozenge to reverse, a fleur-de-lys between initials AB, 7.4cm wide, later fitted case. The subject of the intaglio is an allegory of the effect of wine on love. It is a faithful copy of one of four marble reliefs, with subjects taken from Greek mythology, by the celebrated Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770 - 1844).

Luigi Pichler (1773-1854), was a descendant of the celebrated family of German-Italian gem engravers and studied under his elder half brother, the esteemed Giovanni Pichler. In the latter part of the 18th century he travelled to Austria where he attracted wide foreign patronage and was presented to Emperor Francis I in Vienna in 1808. In 1818 he was appointed Professor of Gem Engraving at Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna, a post he held until 1850 before retiring to Rome. Luigi Pichler also copied various other subjects from the work of Bertel Thorvaldsen, of which plaster casts can be seen in the Harvard Art Museum collection. See object numbers 1910.12.1.27, 1910.12.1.71 and 1910.12.1.100.

A plaster cast of a similar gem was taken by the Italian painter and engraver Pietro Paoletti. See ‘Catalogo di num. 120 Impronte instucco... etc’, ref no. 117 ‘amore disetato da Bacco’ (Love quenched by Bacchus). Relevant information and images are available in The Beazley Archive database, The Ashmolean, Oxford. Estimate: £12,000 – 15,000

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3. A 19th century bracelet mounted with nine oval hardstone intaglios in gold rub-over mounts and gold links.

The intaglios, from left to right:

1) A 19th century carved sardonyx intaglio in the 1st century BC style, depicting a standing man before a tree and holding a wreath, engraved dot border.

2) A 19th century carved sardonyx intaglio in the 1st century BC style, depicting a philosopher seated on a slat-backed chair, leaning forward and intently reading.

3) A 19th century finely carved carnelian intaglio, in the 1st century AD style, depicting Athena Lemnia.

4) A 19th century finely carved light and dark sardonyx intaglio in the Hellenistic style, depicting Herakles Farnese, traditionally carved and leaning on his club draped with the Nemean Lion, engraved to the left with the pseudo-signature ‘AYLOY’ in Greek letters for the 1st century BC engraver Aulos. 5) An 18th century very finely carved sardonyx intaglio by Carlo Costanzi, depicting a portrait bust of a young man with tied flowing curly hair, signed to the left ‘Cavalier Carlo Costanzi’ and the initials F R to the base, possibly those of the sitter. Carlo Costanzi (1705-1781) was a gem engraver working out of Naples and later Rome.

6) A late 18th or early 19th century finely caved sardonyx intaglio by Giovanni or Luigi Pichler, depicting the bust of a youthful man, his flowing curling hair tied with a fillet, signed lower left in Greek ‘Pichler’

Giovanni Pichler (1734-1791) moved to Rome from Naples and received notable commissions from an early age and his engraved gems were often mistaken as from Classical antiquity.

12 | WOOLLEY & WALLIS Luigi Pichler (1773-1854) received his apprenticeship and education from his relation Giovanni as Luigi’s own father died when he was young. They both, in addition to other members of their family, signed their works in various Greek and Roman ways.

7) A late 18th or early 19th century, finely carved sardonyx intaglio by Pichler, (probably Luigi), depicting a maenad walking to the right, wearing flowing and transparent robes, and holding a thyrsus in her left hand and a cup in the other which has a butterfly drinking from it and representing Psyche as the soul, signed lower right in Greek ‘PIX’ 8) A 19th century carved cornelian intaglio depicting a traditional Dionysiac procession, after the so-called ‘Seal of Michelangelo’, the original of which was thought to have been carved by Pier Maria da Pescia after Michelangelo.

9) A 19th century dark sardonyx intaglio in the 1st century BC style, depicting a bearded man kneeling before a Krater.

EARLY RINGS Gem-set finger rings first appeared in Mesopotamia and Egypt around 2500 BC. Examples set with lapis lazuli and carnelian were discovered by Sir Leonard Woolley (1880-1960) on a site in what is present day Iraq. These were sophisticated forms of jewellery compared to the Egyptian examples of 500 years previous when scarabs, the most popular amulet, were tied to a finger by a thread. The threads were replaced with wire which were later flattened and developed into a recognisable ring.

Although these early examples lacked finesse, they influenced jewellery throughout history. The Egyptian snake rings, for instance, regularly inspired designs of most periods and particularly the 19th century.

Rings were never more popular than in Classical Antiquity when they became vehicles for carved hardstone intaglios and cameos. No self-respecting ancient Greek or Roman gentleman would be seen without a glyptic ring of some form or another.

Techniques for stone cutting and jewellery manufacture developed with the passing centuries but the Middle Ages saw an extraordinary re-birth of all art forms in Europe in the 14th century with the arrival of the Renaissance. Jewellery was an important part of the transition and revival; goldsmiths started to produce rings in the form of miniature sculptures and bold scrolls were often emphasized by champlevé enamels. From the mid15th to the mid-16th century, stones were usually set in quatrefoil bezels, a development of the cusped mount of the Middle Ages, as with the wedding or betrothal ring to be sold on April 30th (see item 1 on page 12).

More elaborate versions were produced, based on similar high quatrefoil bezels and traditionally set with a ruby or diamond. Gimmel rings, formed of two or three hoops, were worn separately before marriage and then linked together as a wedding ring.

It is rare for Renaissance jewels to find their way on to the open market due to their scarcity, with the majority of examples being in institutions. 1

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