For my Secret Santa, here’s an idea: Ivory Miniature Bureau Cabinet from Vizagapatam, c. 1800
Eat your heart out, Weather Channel: Howell, James & Co. Victorian Brass & Agate “Ship’s Wheel” Barometer - 1stdibs
Gorgeous-ness: Glen Dooley Antiques - A Pair of Meissen Rococo Parcel Gilt Polychrome Candlesticks - 1stdibs
Gorgeous (and surprisingly modern) form: Lauren Stanley - Rare Gorham Aesthetic Inkwell in Sterling Silver, 1873
Now that’s some good provenance: “An extraordinary pair of 19th c. giltwood klismos armchairs with ebonized owl-form arm supports. Most probably supplied to Adrian Hope, son of Thomas Hope, by Alexander Roos for the Carlton Gardens residence.” Kentshire Galleries Ltd. - Pair of Giltwood Armchairs
“Eastern Massachusetts, probably Boston, possibly Thomas Seymour (1771–1848), Boston” - Hirschl & Adler - Galleries
“Formerly the Astor Family dining table….” Very fine expanding “Jupe” table by Johnstone, Jeanes & Co. at the always-incredible Carlton Hobbs gallery in NYC.
Under $1 million? Attributed to my namesake? Bargain.
It Almost sounds as if the catalogue-writer is calling Mr. Chippendale unoriginal: “Its eclectic Franco-Italian ornament applied to an essentially Palladian structure is represented in a pattern for a ‘Desk & Bookcase’ in his first edition of the Director in 1754 (pl. LXXVIII; and pl. CVIII in the 1762 edition). The serpentine voluted pediment framing a bust-plinth is in the revived antique manner of the celebrated architect Inigo Jones (d. 1650), while the inlaid drawer panels derive from a Louis XIV commode in the antique style designed and engraved by the ornamentalist Jean Berain (d. 1711) (L’Oeuvre Complet de Jean Berain, n.d., pl. 88; reproduced in Messer sale, lot 130). The fretted ‘triumphal arch’ and tablet-form glazing bars and inlaid medallions correspond to the neoclassical style introduced by the architect and designer Robert Adam (d. 1792).” (Jean Berain?! Puh-leeze… Where are the naked dancers named after him?)
A Pair of George II Mahogany Armchairs, circa 1760
Sneaky, sneaky cabinetmaker: “Though the maker has yet to be identified, one of the most unique features of this model is that other almost identical versions, some slightly modified to contain the coats-of-arms of their patrons, are known. The high quality of the timber and the carving indicate the work of a prominent London cabinet-maker who cleverly adapted a single design to suit the demands of his aristocratic patrons.”
Ruins (even imaginary ones) make for the most fantastic paintings: A Pair of Landscapes with Figures & Ruins by Giovanni Ghisolfi
