More and more impressive is the forecast for the auction of Antique Furnishings and Old Master Paintings
72% of lots sold and 157% increase by value. Indeed, the first auction session saw a turnover of almost 1 million Euros, thanks to a consolidated international participation in all three days of the auction, the 19, 20 and 21 of October 2021. After the significant performances of the first semester, the Old Master Paintings' section has again animated the online and telephone competition thanks to the broad proposal of genres and periods. Particularly sought-after were the "Caravaggesque" paintings, as shown by the top lot Portrait of a man in a feathered cap and composition of fruit and vegetables sold for € 100,000 (lot 126) and the primitive masters, among which the tempera and gold on panel by Niccolò Di Tommaso sold for € 56,250 (lot 137). The Flemish sphere also played a significant role with the Portrait of Archduchess Catherine Renata of Austria painted at the end of the XVI century (lot 20, sold for € 47,500) and Cornelis De Wael with one of the Seven Works of Mercy (lot 131, sold for € 37,500).
Caravaggesque master,17th century
Portrait of a man in a feathered cap and composition of fruit and vegetables
Oil on canvas, 75.5x62.5 cm
Sold: € 100,000
Niccolò di Tommaso (active since 1346 circa to 1375)
Crucifixion with Saint Francis
Tempera and gold on panel, 32.4x15 cm
Sold: € 56,250
Cornelis De Wael (Anversa 1592 - Rome 1667)
Sheltering pilgrims (one of the Seven Acts of Mercy) 1640's
Oil on canvas, 99.5x152 cm
Sold: € 37,500
The collecting of votive paintings between the 16th and the 17th century was confirmed by the painting Madonna with the sleeping Child and the infant Saint John attributed to "Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio" (lot 139, sold € 35,000), and the Holy Family by the Maestro dei Dodici Apostoli (lot 132, sold € 27,500), while increasingly fascinating and appreciated were the Venetian views of the 18th century, including a group of small works signed Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (lot 107, sold € 23,750).
Moving on to the furnishings scope, the auction showed how the antique furniture's market is mainly interested in precious and excellent objects, such as the sublime examples of goldsmith's art, like the oval box with agate lid and coral sculptured handles (lot 102, sold € 17,500), the precious productions signed by Alfredo Ravasco (lot 103, sold at € 9,375), Michael Mann (lot 96, sold at € 7,500), and also the enchanting miniatures like the Portrait of a lady of the XVIII century (lot 760, sold at € 12,500). Among the precious materials, we can also find the silverware, whose adjudications, on refined and signed pieces, are a certainty.
Michele Tosini, known as "Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio" (attr.) (Florence 1503 - 1577)
Madonna with the sleeping Child and the infant Saint John
Oil on panel, 88x66 cm
Sold: € 35,000
An agate box with coral handles.
Gilt silver and metal mounts. 1940 ca. (cm 13x4x8)
Sold: € 17,500
Alfredo Ravasco (Genoa 1873 - Ghiffa 1958)
A lapis lazuli and sapphires bowl.
Signed on the edge (d. cm 8,5; h. cm 5)
Sold: € 9,375
Encouraging and positive was the renewed interest in furniture, among which particularly remarkable was a fine French writing desk dated 18th century (lot 395, sold € 13,750), an 18th century Lombard burr walnut veneered (lot 42, sold € 13,750), and a pair of Piedmontese commodes decorated with floral motifs (lot 63, sold € 11,875). Great curiosity aroused the eclectic collection of more than 180 "animated" walking sticks, which were almost all sold with a tremendous increase by value. Turning to the niches of collecting, we point out, for the section of musical instruments, the elegant violin by the famous violin maker Piero Parravicini (lot 351, sold € 12,500), for pendulum clocks, the industrial clock model "the Bollard" with maritime elements (lot 87, sold € 8,125) and for carpets, the sophisticated Persian Keshan of the Mohtashem school, with a garden decoration in which stand out four couples of peacocks depicted one opposite to the other (lot 76, sold € 12,500).
A 18th-century Lombard burr walnut
veneered and ebonized wooden fall-front bureau (cm 156x119x58)
Sold: € 13,750
COVER IMAGE:
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (Palmanova 1762 - Milan 1844)
Venice, view of the Canal Grande from Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi
Gouache on cardboard, 14x19 cm
Sold: € 23,750