Ancient Secrétaire Charles X Second Quarter XIX Century Mahogany Oak - France Second Quarter 19th Century

The Nine Muses

Tapestry. The word Euterp appears at the bottom right. The enormous grass juice depicts the nine Muses, female Greek divinities, all sisters, as daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and having the god Apollo as their guide. They represented the supreme ideal of Art, understood as the truth of the "Everything" or the "eternal magnificence of the divine". Initially considered in a generic way as divinities of song and joyous dances, responsible for putting into music and verse stories such as the origin of the world, the birth of gods and men, the exploits of Zeus, and often depicted accompanied by various musical instruments, starting from the Hellenistic era, all singing and musical expressions were associated with them, including sad and funeral ones, and other arts such as theatre, and each of them was associated with a specific genre of art, so that they could be invoked individually to exercise their inspiration and protection. The word "Euterp"refers to the name of one of them, Euterpe, muse of lyric poetry and music, traditionally depicted with a flute; but the name Euterpe etymologically means "She who cheers" who brings joy, and one can therefore think that the choice of this name to title the tapestry refers to the most ancient function of the Muses, those of bringers of joy through art. In this presentation, the muses appear dancing, dressed in veils and flowering branches; in their hands or placed next to them, instruments or other objects symbolizing the art that they inspire appear (both tragic and comic theatrical masks, the pictorial palette, various musical instruments...). The large painting has signs of wear and humidity stains.

19th Century / 1801 - 1900

Group of six ceramic plates. Stylized blue decorations below deck on the edges and ideograms on the bottom of each.

19th Century / 1801 - 1900

Neo Renaissance revival silver fir and pastille box.

France Second half of the 19th century

Triptych clock in gilded bronze and marble. The marble temple clock has gilt bronze decorations with cornucopias, laurel wreaths and panoply at the top. Enamelled metal display with hours in Arabic numerals enclosed in a gilt bronze wreath and protected by a lid with curved glass. Mechanism marked Japy Freres & C.ie Medaille d'Honneur. Cup-shaped candelabra in marble and bronze with animal beak handles.

France, Mid XIX Century

Lobed edge majolica plate with polychrome cornucopia decoration, insects, butterflies and birds.

19th Century / 1801 - 1900

Bronze dish finely engraved and gilded in relief with plant and animal motifs. The dish is held by a gilt bronze riser, pierced and chased. The four feet are in the shape of a ferine with leaf volutes and the two handles are in the shape of winged dragons.

Oil painting on canvas. This is a small copy of Titian's work of the same name, created around 1532 and today preserved in the Louvre Museum. Originally it was thought that the work portrayed Alfonso d'Avalos, marquis of Vasto, bidding farewell to his wife before going to fight the Turks. Instead, it is more likely a prototype of a matrimonial allegory that enjoyed widespread success in Venice. The spouses are represented in the guise of Mars (in armour) and Venus, and are accompanied by Cupid, protector deity of love, who holds a bundle of arrows, by Vesta, goddess of the domestic hearth, crowned with myrtle, symbol of marital fidelity , and by Hymenaeus, divinity of weddings who offers a basket of fruit and flowers. The woman holds a crystal ball, as if she wanted to peer into the future. The melancholic expressions of the protagonists have been read as a reference to the possible death or departure of one of the two spouses. The painting is presented in a contemporary frame.

Oil painting on canvas. The painting portrays the face of an elderly saint, holding a lily in his hand, a symbol of purity, while reading a large book, presumably a sacred text. It is presumably a representation of Saint Joseph: if tradition usually has him represented with Baby Jesus in his arms, starting from the Renaissance Joseph began to also be depicted absorbed in reading a book, in the guise of a "philosopher", or a man who drew the wisdom of knowing how to make right and wise choices from reading sacred texts. The work is presented in a contemporary frame.

France, Mid XIX Century

Plate with lobed edge with polychrome decoration with vegetal motifs, cornucopia and torch on a pale blue background.

Oil on wooden board. The small glimpse represents a wooded glimpse, leafy and shaded, in which various figurines stroll and enjoy themselves. The signature AJ Garnier appears at the bottom center, which refers to the French artist Alfred Jean Garnier (1848 -1908), enameller, painter and engraver. The painting is presented in a period frame.

Northern Italy, Late XIX Century

Group of six polychrome majolica plates with decorations of vegetal, animal and writing motifs.

Oil on canvas. Portrait of a middle-aged woman, dressed entirely in black, perhaps for mourning. Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a contemporary gilded frame.