Antiquities

- A Museum-Grade Artifact -

Depicting Central Events of Christianity with both Eastern and Western influences

25-1. Three-Panel Icon Painted on Gold Foil.

Late 17th century Greek triptych, “Second Coming of  Christ,” painted colors over gold foil on wood,  comprising carved and gilded central frame, with  similarly decorated flat wood side shutters. Post-  Byzantine; Venetian-held territory, most likely Corfu in  the Ionian Islands. Central panel 4½ wide x 5-5/8 high,  opening to 8¾ wide. Colors include red, darkest blue,  and umber. Central composition: Last Judgment, or the  Second Coming of Christ. Depicting Christ enthroned,  sitting beneath an archway, within wreath inscribed in  red letters, with feet on globe of the world. Standing  beneath, ten apostles and bishops framing Saints  Constantine and Helen. Painted in red, green, and black  on a sheet of gold, within wooden arch supported by  columns, these also gilded. Viewer’s left panel:  Adoration of the Magi. “The Nativity of Christ” inscribed in Greek majuscule. Mary seated,  holding the Christ Child, with Joseph standing behind her. One of the Magi kneels before her  presenting a gift, while the other two look on. A star shines from above, with a group of angels  in red looking upon the scene. Viewer’s right panel: Crucifixion. Christ hanging on the cross,  between a red sun and dark moon. Mary, Joseph/John the Baptist(?) and others kneel with  their backs to the cross. As in the other sections, red-winged angels look down from above.  With copy of letter from scholar Dr. Maria Vassilaki, University of Crete-Rethymnon, 1998,  discussing this item: “...The piece was never cleaned...I do agree with you that it dates post  1650 a.d. A late-seventeenth-(century) date looks the most appropriate...Both the Adoration of  the Magi and the Crucifixion have adopted Italian iconographic features which make it clear  that the painter of the triptych was following a tradition which had been formulated in a  Venetian-held territory of Greece, such as Crete or the Ionian Islands (Corfu, Zante, etc.). I  think the second possibility is stronger considering the late-seventeenth-(century) date of the  triptych. Crete was under a Turkish occupation since 1669....” Gold expertly conserved, but  item not cleaned, the darkened color pigments and wood’s beaded detail especially showing  centuries of exposure to oil lamps, a patina which cannot be replicated. Under an ordinary  table lamp or flashlight, the principal colors emerge; the red especially shows as the reddest of  reds, with a pure hue rarely seen even in mediæval manuscripts. Side panels held with crude  link hinges, all very old, at least one and possibly all original. Some modest chipping at lower  edges of side panels, left door somewhat warped with grain, probably from being open for  hundreds of years, else in all, very good. An engaging and seminal example of iconic art, here  depicting three of the most central events in Christianity, as seen through Western-influenced  eyes for use in the Orthodox world. Many icons are far more specific, their saints sometimes  even obscure. Ex-collection of the Roebling family, two of whose members designed and built  the Brooklyn Bridge. $2700-3900

25-2. Biblical Wall Art.

Trio of handsomely framed Dutch copperplate engravings of Old Testament scenes, ready to  decorate your home or office wall, in matching modern high-quality custom frames, darkest brown-black, period-style ornamentation,  all under TruGuard UV-blocking conservation glass. Comprising: A composite of four scenes in one engraving, (1729), “Inside the  Temple with the altar and the copper columns / Consecration of Solomon’s Temple / The Art of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies /  The Great Sea of the copper Wash Basin” (translated from Dutch). By Mennonite mystic, poet, and engraver Jan Luyken, one of the  three premier Dutch book illustrators of the era. Famous for his studies of craftsmen at work and for superlative detail, Luyken’s plates  were handed down to produce this noted printing by J(ohannes) Cóvens and C(ornelius) Mortier. 13¼ x 16½, beveled double acid-free  light tan mats, overall 25¼ x 28¼. Print fine, frame excellent. Poortsman II:131 ff. • Two scenes from Genesis, captions in Hebrew,  Latin, English, French, German, and Dutch. Printed in Amsterdam, probably c. 1720. Genesis XVII:23: “Abrahamus capit Ismaelem &  omnes vernas suos eósque circumcidit,” engraved by G. Vander Gouwen. Print 9 x 14¼, frame 16½ x 22. • Scene from Genesis XXII:  11-12, six-language caption, “Abraham, lay not thine hand on the Child.” By J. Mulder. Nearly matching preceding in size. Both from  Discours Historiques, critiques, theologiques, et moraux..., by noted pastor Jacques Saurin of London, Geneva, and The Hague. Latter  two frames with some rub marks in 3” band of left vertical, easily retouched with black, else prints, glass, and frames excellent. The cost  of this quality framing easily equals the value of the prints within! Underpriced at, $140-190 (3 pcs.) 

25-3. Broadside on the End of the French & Indian War – with Stirring Manuscript Verse.

Intriguing item: End-of-French & Indian War Royal  broadside, “By the King [George III], A Proclamation For a  Publick Thanksgiving” – with lengthy manuscript poem, “A  Vision,” filling entirety of verso. Mar. 30, 1763, 12¼ x 15,  “Printed by Mark Baskett, Printer to the King’s most  Excellent Majesty...,” London. Oversize woodcut of Royal  arms across top; smaller, intricate Baroque block concealing  lions amid cornucopium. “Whereas it hath pleased Almighty  God...to put an End to the late bloody and expensive War, in  which We were engaged against His Most Christian Majesty  the French King, and His Catholick Majesty the King of  Spain, by the Conclusion of a Just and Honourable  Peace...That a General Thanksgiving...be observed  throughout England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon  Tweed...upon Pain of suffering such Punishment as We can  justly inflict upon all such who shall condemn or neglect the  same....” On verso, in unidentified but neat, dark period  hand, some 78 lines of rhyming verse, an uncanny Georgian  dreamlike journey of allegory, unmistakably evoking a meeting of Robert Frost and Alice in Wonderful in an adeptly composed  morality tale: “One Night as through the Woods I rov’d alone, And heard the Nightingale indulge her moan, Surpriz’d by Sleep, all  hush’d within my Breast, Beneath a Tree I laid me down to rest. When lo! a thousand Images appear’d, Methought the noise of Voices  too, I heard, And in a silent Dream, to me was shown What to the World before, was never known. A Mountain high I spied; with russet  Moss The top was Cover’d; difficult to cross; Two Roads on either side of it appear’d, To scale the One, (being rugged,) all Men fear’d.  The other Smooth, and soft; I then beheld Multitudes rising from the Neighbouring field. But at the mount arriv’d, all chose to go Along  the easy Way -- ‘the Road of Woe’ They call’d the other, though it was not so....” The scene unfolds to reveal a palace with its laughing  Queen, “her smiles were full of sly deceit”; before long, “destruction overwhelms all...Now think ye Mortals! that are led away / By  Pleasure, and to Vertue homage pay....” Evidently unpublished; several corrections in the writer’s hand. Lacking fragment at one  corner, repair on printed side with narrow piece of modern masking tape, uniform light soiling, weak but intact at center fold, else very  satisfactory. A fateful year in America, 1763 saw the beginning of Mason and Dixon’s survey, the Feb. 10th Treaty of Paris, ending the  French & Indian War, with France ceding Canada and most of her territory east of the Mississippi to Britain, and Spain relinquishing  Florida – and Patrick Henry’s challenge to the King. An appealing item inviting further study. WorldCat locates only one example, with  variant text, in British Library. No examples found at TheEuropeanLibrary.org. From the collection of an inveterate antiquarian and  scholar. The broadside excessively rare; unique with verse. $900-1200

25-4. An Antebellum Child’s Toy Sword.

Hand-carved wooden toy sword made for a child, with provenance from an antebellum home in the Old South  with a dark past. 31” long, 2¾” at handle, tapering to ¾”. Possibly crafted by a slave. Provenance: Purchased  in late 20th century by consignor, a noted Southern historian, from Natchez antique dealer Dempse P.  McMullen, in turn acquired from the old Cason house in Woodville, Miss., where his friend Holmes Sturgeon  had grown up. Research uncovered a violent murder committed by a runaway slave upon a woman visiting  Woodville in 1823, in which proprietor Cason was killed as well; newspaper articles detailed the gruesome  crime. The perpetrator was captured and killed. The Cason house, from which this toy sword comes, still  stands today. Old glue repair where cracked but evidently not separated, about 12” from tip; tip thinned from  use; long, fairly fine grain crack, from age, not abuse, extending 19” on one side, 7” on other, else warm  mottled pecan tone, and very satisfactory. Superb display and conversation piece. $200-275 

25-5. Southern Sugar Cane Knife.

Hand-forged knife with original handle, used to harvest sugar cane in southern Louisiana and Florida. Mid-  19th century. Round handle 6”. Blade 1-3/8 max. width. Length 15½”. Metal showing considerable use, nearly  uniform milk chocolate surface stippling; handle with loss of broad splinter, abrasion around ¼ of  circumference of knob, else satisfactory and complete. Much character and patina for display. Provenance:  Acquired from American Southeast by noted Southern historian. $110-150 

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