Etruscan, Early 5th century B.C.
Running, wearing a short chiton, leaning forward, his right arm outstretched, the left hand covering his eyes.
Height: 8 cm.
The identity of this figure, probably the finial from a candelabrum, is unclear. ln Eduard Gerhard’s 1851 catalogue of the Hertz collection he suggests it is child playing a game of blind-man’s buff. ln the Forman auction catalogue for which the bronzes were described by Sir Cecil Harcourt Smith, the assistant Keeper at the British Museum, it is desribed as ?llioneus wounded. Reinach in
1920 lists it as a wounded warrior and finally in the Northwick Park auction in 1965 it is described as a child. However it is interpreted it is nevertheless a charming figure and well-documented for over a hundred and fifty years.
Provenance:
Bram Hertz (1794-1865): Sotheby’s, London, 29-31 May 1854, lot 403
Joseph Mayer (1803-1886) Liverpool: Sotheby’s, London, 7-22
February 1859, lot 586
W. H. Forman (1794-1869) Pippbrook House, Surrey
by descent to Major A.H. Browne (1845-1898), Callaly Castle,
Northumberland: Sotheby’s, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, 19 June
1899, lot 65
J. H. Ward
Alfred Spero, Duke Street, London, October 1915
Captain E.G. Spencer-Churchill, M.C. (1876-1964), 1915-65:
Christie’s, London, Northwick Park Collection, 21 June 1965, lot 481
Private collection, London, 1965-2024
Published:
E. Gerhard, Catalogue of the collection of Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Indian, Peruvian and Mexican Antiquities formed by B. Hertz, 1851, no. 132
W. Chatters, Catalogue of the works of antiquity and art collected by the late William Henry Forman, Esq. of Pippbrook House, Dorking, Surrey, and removed in 1890 to Callaly Castle, Northumberland by Major A H Browne, 1892, no. 2165
S. Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire Grecque et Romaine, 1920, vol. 3, p. 61.2
Egyptian, 26th-30th Dynasty, c. 664–332 B.C.
Of slender tapering form, with ribbed capital surmounted by four crossbars with a rectangular back pillar.
Height: 12.2 cm.
The djed-pillar is the hieroglyph for stability. It may have originally represented a tree with its branches cut off or a pole around which grain was tied but it came to be looked upon as a representation of the backbone of the god Osiris as made clear in the Book of the Dead. Chapter 155 refers to the placing of this amulet at the throat of the deceased to ensure stability and endurance.
For a similar example, see S. D’Auria, P. Lacovara & C. Roehrig, Mummies and Magic, Boston, 1988, p. 181.
Provenance:
Henry Salt (1780-1827): Sotheby’s, London, Catalogue of the Highly Interesting and Magnificent Collection of Egyptian Antiquities. The Property of the Late Henry Salt, Esq., His Britannic Majesty’s Late
Consul General in Egypt, June 29th-July 8th 1835, lot ?889
K. John Hewett (1919-94), Kent
Private collection, London, circa 1980-2024
Mewar, circa 1725-30
Opaque pigments with gold on paper, black rules and plain border
15 1/ 2 x 12 1⁄2 in. (39.3 x 31.8 cm) painting
17 3⁄4 x 15 in. (45 x 38 cm) folio
Maharana Jagat Singh II and Thakur Sirdar Singh stalking deer
Mewar, India, dated V.S. 1800 / 1743 A.D.
Opaque colours with gold on paper, black rules and an attached red border, inscribed on the upper border in devanagari and on the reverse in ink and pencil, with inventory number and paper label numbered 239
9 1/2 x 16 5/8 in. (24 x 42.3 cm) painting
11 3/8 x 18 1/2 in. (28.8 x 47 cm) folio
Lucknow, circa 1780
Opaque pigments with gold on paper, a panel of nasta’liq calligraphy on the reverse
8 7/8 x 12 3/8 in. (22.5 x 31.5 cm) painting
18 1/2 x 22 1/4 in. (47 x 56 cm) folio
6 3/4 x 10 5/8 in. (17 x 27 cm) calligraphy
Krishna dancing on the naga Kalaya flanked by his pleading wives
Probably Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
South India, late eighteenth century
Gouache heightened with gold on paper, red pointed arched border with blue banding and black and white rules, a line of devanagari on recto and verso
10 1/4 x 6 7⁄8 in. (26.1 x 17.5 cm) painting
10 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. (27.4 x 19 cm) folio
Northern India
First half of the 18th century
Height: 19 cm
Of spherical form with a short, ridged flaring neck, gold-painted in reserve with twelve vertical leaves around the body, each filled with a painted floral garland, the shoulder painted with a scallop-edged twelve-petal lotus encircling the neck, the latter with twelve vertical leaf motifs.
Five closely related green glass huqqa bottles are known, four in museum collections: British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Musee Guimet, Paris and the Al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait.
Folio from an Unidentified Akbar Period Manuscript
Iskandar building a wall against the people of Gog and Magog
Attributable to Hiranand
Verso: Folio probably from the Diwan of Anwari, circa 1620
Mughal India, circa 1595-1605
Nim qalam drawing, ink, gold and opaque pigments on paper; the verso with a folio of double-column nasta’liq; both sides with matching black, green and gold rules
11 ¼ x 6 in. (28.5 x 15.3 cm) painting
13 1/8 x 7 ½ in. (33.3 x 28.8 cm) folio
A nightingale in a rosebush and an owl high in a rocky eyrie
Persia, first half of the nineteenth century
Opaque pigments on paper, later gilt ascription and date to Muhammad Zaman in nasta’liq at l.r., watermarked […]&M
7 1/8 x 4 3/8 in. (18.3 x 10.6 cm)
Calcutta
c. 1820
Opaque watercolour on paper, with pencil, pen and grey ink
Watermarked J WHATMAN
Inscribed in Persian with the name of the bird, anjan
50.5 x 68 cm.
A large and finely painted image that in many ways epitomises the triumph of Company School painting. When Lady Impey’s ornithological albums, commissioned by her in Calcutta in the 1770s, were seen by the scientific community in England following her return around 1808, they caused a sensation. Never before had such realistic images been seen and their reception was rightly lauded. Here, perhaps forty years later, the tradition has been perfected by artists responding to decades of British patronage. However, the political and economic scene was about to change and within ten years the genre had declined and would soon vanish.
Enduring Legacy: Ancient Art from the Egyptians to the Romans, 3000 B.C. to 600 A.D.
July 1 – 5, 2024
We are excited to open an exhibition of ancient art, including a range of antiquities including Egyptian sculpture and works of art and a group of antiquities formerly in the collections of Captain E.G Spencer Churchill, Peter Blomberg and the late Michael Barrington, at our gallery in Pall Mall this summer.
We warmly invite you to visit us in London to view these extraordinary treasures!
RECENTLY CLOSED EXHIBITION: ASIA WEEK NEW YORK 2024
Gods, Gardens and Princes: Indian Works on Paper
March 14 – 22, 2024
Asia Week Hours: Mar 14-15 & 18-22, 10am-6pm; Mar 16-17, 10am-5pm (otherwise by appointment) Opening Reception: Thursday, March 14, 5-8pm
For this 15th season of Asia Week New York, we are pleased to be present an exhibition comprising of court paintings from India and Persia from the 17th to 19th centuries. A highlight of the show is the striking painting, Krishna dancing on Kaliya flanked by twonagini. This, along with many other works on paper, will be displayed at our Upper East Side location.
We are a London and New York based firm of independent art dealers, founded in 1998.
The principals are Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch, former directors of the Antiquities and Islamic and Indian Art departments at Sotheby’s, London. Our professional expertise encompasses Near Eastern, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Islamic art. We also specialize in the art of the Indian subcontinent, the Himalayas and South-East Asia, covering works from the Buddhist and Hindu dynasties to the Mughals, with a special emphasis on Indian and Islamic miniature painting and manuscripts.
Working with collectors, museums and galleries around the world, we act as agents for both vendors and purchasers, and advise on the best method of selling works of art, whether by private sale or at auction. Our many years’ experience of the acquisition process, and longstanding relationships with curators and collectors, helps us to ensure every transaction runs efficiently.
