Christie’s: London, 27 November 2012
AUCTION: Fine Books and Manuscripts, Tuesday 27 November 2012, Christie’s, London, 85 Old Bromptom Road.
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Entries Tagged as 'christies’'
Christie’s: London, 21 November 2012
AUCTION: Valuable Manuscripts and Printed Books, Christie’s (8 King Street, St Jame’s, London), Wednesday, 21 November 2012. Viewing: 17-20 November.
The following entries are of particular interest:
LOT 1
GRATIAN (d. by c.1160), Decretum, in Latin, SIX FRAMED MINIATURES CUT FROM AN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Bologna, 1280s-90s]
The miniatures depict: 1) an ailing bishop suffering from a long illness being replaced by a younger man (Causa VII), the verso text from Causa VI, Quaestio IV, C.III-IV; 2) a bishop accused by a girl of fornication before a throng of clergy (Causa II), the verso text from Quaestio I, C.VII; 3) Causa XXVII opens ten cases concerning sex and marriage, on the left a man vowed to chastity pleads with the judge, on the right, his wife having rejected him marries someone else, the verso text from Quaestio I, C.VIII; 4) a dispute over the tithes of parishioners fleeing their baptismal church in times of war, three soldiers in the background while a group of men and women lay offerings at an altar attended by a priest (Causa XIII), the verso text from Quaestio I, C.I; 5) a bishop who has committed perjury and has compelled his clergy to an oath of obedience (Causa XXII), the verso text from Quaestio I, C.II; 6) a man, who lost and then regained his virility, appeals to the judge as his wife embraces another man on the right [Causa XXXIII], the verso text from Quaestio II, C.IV.
LOT 2
GRATIAN (d. by c.1160), Decretum, in Latin, SIX FRAMED MINIATURES CUT FROM AN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Bologna, 1280s-90s]
The miniatures depict: 1) an ailing priest lying in a bed surrounded by a crowd, the verso text from Causa XI, Quaestio III, C. CVIII; 2) an excommunicated man and a fourteen-year-old boy accuse a bishop who refuses to respond to charges brought improperly (Causa IV), the verso text from Quaestio II-III, C.III; 3) on the left, a bishop and clergy, on the right a king facing his court, the verso text from Distinctio III, C.III-IV; 4) the scene depicts Causa XVI, concerning the conflict between an abbot’s church to which he has appointed a monk as parish priest and the local baptismal church subject to the bishop: a kneeling priest celebrates Mass at an altar, the verso text from Quaestio I, C.III; 5) a group of clerics likely illustrating Causa XIV, which deals with the involvement of canons in commerce and lawsuits to recover debts, the verso text from Causa XIII, Quaestio II, C.XXVIII-XXIX; 6) a bishop conferring with a cleric and laymen appealing to a judge, likely illustrating Causa VI, the verso text from Quaestio I, C.IV-V. (Some fading to text on verso).
LOT 4
CHORISTERS SINGING, historiated initial ‘C’ cut from an ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT CHOIRBOOK ON VELLUM [Ferrara, c.1470]
124 x 115mm. The verso with 6 lines from the hymn ‘Summae Parens clementiae’ in a round gothic bookhand in black ink (slight smudging of the background, lectern and book). Provenance: stamp GW on verso and a note on the mount ‘Ex Coll. de Burlet’, presumably refering to the Berlin and Basel dealer and collector of paintings and drawings Charles Albert de Burlet (1882-1956).
No doubt illustrating the opening of Psalm 97, ‘Cantate domino’ in a Psalter/Hymnal, this initial is the work of the great Ferrarese illuminator Guglielmo Giraldi (fl. 1450-1490). His work for Lionello (1441-1450), Borso (1450-1471) and Ercole d’Este (1471-1505), along with his commissions for the Cathedral and for the Charterhouse of San Cristoforo brought him great renown. The decorative vocabulary and structure of the initial corresponds precisely to his work in the early 1470s before he left Ferrara for Mantua and the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro.
Sotheby’s: London, 10 July 2012
AUCTION: Western Manuscripts and Miniatures, Sotheby’s (34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA UK), Tuesday, 10 July 2012.
The following entries are of particular interest:
LOT 3
ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, IN A LARGE HISTORIATED INITIAL ON A LEAF FROM AN ILLUMINATED ANTIPHONER, ON VELLUM [BOLOGNA, C.1310]
A large leaf, 600mm. by 415mm., with a large initial ‘I’ (opening “In venit se augustinus longe …”, the first response of the first nocturn of Matins for the feast of St. Augustine of Hippo, 28 August), 190mm. by 75mm., the saint with a brightly burnished halo, holding a book and a staff within a soft brown portico with a blue interior heightened with curling white penwork, within thick gold frame, coloured acanthus-leaf foliage extending on three sides of borders, enclosing two roundels (with a pope seated writing and St. Augustine before a Dominican friar preaching to a crowd) joined by a geometric design in the bas-de-page, 5 lines of text in brown ink in a late gothic hand with music on a 4-line red stave, the same and a red initial on verso, 4 lines of tiny instructions to illuminator in brown ink on head of recto, nineteenth-century folio number “82″ and pencil “No.18″ on recto, nineteenth-century Italian and French export stamps on verso, some slight cockling, crease to base (with minor crackling to roundels) slight flaking from legs of the saint and slight smudge to face, scuffing to gold, else good condition. Estimate: 4,000-6,000 GBP
LOT 4
THE NATIVITY OF THE VIRGIN, IN A LARGE HISTORIATED INITIAL ON A LEAF FROM AN ILLUMINATED ANTIPHONER, ON VELLUM [BOLOGNA, C.1310]
A large leaf, 600mm. by 400mm., with a large initial ‘h’ (opening “Hodie nat[us est ...]“, the responsory for the feast of her birth, 8 September), 200mm. by 125mm., with St. Anne watching the baby Virgin in her crib, attended by the midwives, on a blue background with curling white penwork, the initial formed of fleshy and coloured acanthus-leaf foliage on thick burnished gold grounds, a profusion of similar acanthus leaves forming a decorated border on three sides, enclosing a single roundel with the St. Anne and the Virgin with an attendant in the bas-de-page, 5 lines of text in brown ink in a fine late gothic hand with music on a 4-line red stave, tiny instructions to illuminator in brown ink in margin (“nativitas sce mariae”), nineteenth-century pencil “19″ on recto, some slight creasing to base (with minor crackling to edge of border), smudges to several faces in main initial, roughly cut from volume with damage to a bezant at top of leaf, else good condition. Estimate: 3,000-5,000 GBP
Christie’s: London, 13 June 2012
AUCTION: Valuable Printed Books and Manuscripts, Christie’s (8 King Street, St Jame’s, London), Wednesday, 13 June 2012. Viewing: 8-12 June.
This sale offers enormous choice from a fourth-century manuscript fragment of the Iliad to Charles Dickens’s own inscribed copy of David Copperfield. Besides illuminations of breath-taking beauty in the antiphonal of Elizabeth von Gemmingen, there is an original manuscript score in the hand of J.S. Bach. Among early printed books, Copernicus, Machiavelli and Vesalius are just a few of the many Renaissance authors represented. An impressive selection of atlases and plate books, important works by Charles Darwin and Carl Marx, novels ranging from John Cleland’s Fanny Hill to Agatha Christie’s Appointment with Death, and even a selection of children’s books stunningly bound in multi-coloured morocco, all feature in over 200 lots.
The following entries are of particular interest:
LOT 3
NATIVITY, in a letter H cut from an Antiphonal, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[?Tuscany, c.1460], 222 x 251mm visible in frame. The initial for the antiphon for vespers on Christmas Day Hodie Christus natus est, on a ground of burnished gold (small smudge in sky, a few small losses from gold ground, trimmed into framing of gold at left edge, other edges under frame). Framed and glazed. Estimate: £ 12,000 – £15,000 ($18,456 – $23,070).
It must have been an enormous and splendid choirbook to contain initials as large and as extensively gilt as this. Several features suggest a Tuscan origin. The Nativity group shows the influence of Florentine models originated by Filippo Lippi but a Florentine painter is unlikely to have so flouted perspective in the enchanting and incident-filled landscape. The ruling seems to have encouraged the illuminator to divide the field horizontally: both front and side of the stable roof are on one horizontal and the gable, on a parallel, is reinforced by bristling trees, which continue the line to the left edge. The greater finesse of the foreground figures is matched by the elaborate patterning of the letter staves. The inclusion on the left of a grotesque head might indicate a Sienese connection — especially common in the initial staves of Pellegrino da Mariano — although Sienese illuminators favoured a strong yellow for the inner framing that is characteristic of Tuscan initials. The light tonalities and decorative forms show some connection with Choirbooks made for the convent of San Francesco in Lucca (Lucca, Bibl. stat. Mss 2673 and 2676, see M. Paoli, I corali della Biblioteca statale di Lucca, 1957).
Christie’s: London, 23 November 2011
AUCTION: Valuable Printed Books and Manuscripts. Christie’s (8 King Street, St Jame’s, London), 23 November 2011.
The following entries are of particular interest:
Lot 2
ASCENSION OF CHRIST, historiated initial P on a leaf from an Antiphonal, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
Estimate £7,000 – £10,000 ($10,962 – $15,660)
[Arezzo, c.1280-1300]
505 x 325mm. The initial containing the half-length figure of Christ clad in rich robes of blue and green, his right hand raised in blessing, framed by a mandorla and borne by two angels, below him five apostles, their heads and left hands raised to the skies in adoration; eight lines written in black ink in a gothic bookhand below eight lines of music of square notation on a four-line stave of red, rubrics in red, a single one-line flourished initial on the recto and three on the verso (some marginal browning and staining, ink on recto slightly faded).
This leaf came from the Temporal section of an Antiphonal where the initial opened the Responsory ‘Post passionem suam per dies quadraginta’ from matins for the feast of the Ascension. The rich, colourful palette and the style of composition, with the foliage extensions and the delicate, mournful expressions of the figures, are characteristic of contemporary central Italian manuscript illumination. It can be associated with four other leaves, identical in style, decoration and measurement, which Carl Nordenfalk and subsequently Roberta Passalacqua ascribed to central Italy, possibly Arezzo, during the late thirteenth century. It is likely that all of these were taken from the same Antiphonal or series of Antiphonals: an initial V with the Assumption previously in the Lehman collection (Pia Palladino, Treasures of a Lost Art, 2003, no 1); an initial A with the Three Marys at the Tomb in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (B-18, 760); an initial H with the Nativity in the Cini Collection, Venice (Coll. Hoepli min.x, Cod A, Antiphonarium); and an initial I with a monk holding an aspergillum in the Free Library, Philadelphia (Lewis EM 68:1).
Christie’s: London, 6 July 2011
AUCTION – The Arcana Collection: Exceptional Illuminated Manuscripts, Part III, Christie’s (8 King Street, St Jame’s, London) Wednesday, 6 July 2011.
Scintillating, colourful, richly embellished illuminated manuscripts are meticulously crafted works of art treasured by bibliophiles, connoisseurs of Old Master drawings, prints and jewelry alike. The 6 July sale allows collectors of books, manuscripts and other forms of art to discover the universal appeal of these lovely creations, and admire every line and detail – from the luminous colours to the exquisite modelling, the distinguished provenance of each piece, and ultimately, the inherent beauty in these wonderful pieces of art.
The following entries are of particular interest:
Lot 2
ST BARBARA, miniature by the MASTER OF MONZA, on a cutting from a Lives of the Saints, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Lombardy, c.1280-85] 79 x 60mm. The saint shown holding a palm of martyrdom standing beside a tower, with an accompanying initial ‘B’, fragment of text and rubric above. Remnants of seven lines of fragmentary text in a gothic bookhand on verso (slight fading of pigment to top of tower). Card mount.
Lot 3
BISHOP SAINT, probably ST BONIFACE, miniature by the MASTER OF MONZA on a cutting from a Lives of the Saints, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Lombardy, c.1280-85] 72 x 62mm. The saint holding a crozier and standing before a tower, with an accompanying initial ‘B’. Remnants of seven lines of fragmentary text in a gothic hand on verso (slight losses of pigment to green garment and white crozier). Card mount. The text on the reverse comes from a passage early on in the life of St Erasmus (‘Post hac iubente [angelo ad civ]itatem suam rediit’, CLXXXVIII, 5) in Bartholomew of Trent’s Liber epilogorum; this miniature, bearing the initial ‘B’, must therefore have been intended to illustrate the following life, that of St Boniface.