Jan Lievens (1607-1674)

Jan Lievens Jacques Gaultier, lutenist Etching Paper 265 x 220 mm; mount 557 x 405 mm Jacques Gaultier (about 1600-1652) was a successful lute-player and composer at the court of Charles I of England (reigned 1625-49). Gaultier’s lute has a split peg-box to accommodate additional strings, increasing the range of the instrument. The lute was … Read more

Daniel Smith and Robert Sharp (active partnership 1763-1788)

Daniel Smith and Robert Sharp Teapot and stand London, 1785 Gold with wooden handle and bone knob 12.6 x 24.5 cm The teapot is engraved with the arms of William Beckford (1760-1844), the Gothic novelist, and those of his wife, Lady Margaret Gordon (1762-1786). His inheritance, at the age of nine from his father, Alderman … Read more

Unrecorded Edo Artist from the Royal Artisan Guilds of Benin (late 18th/early 19th century)

Unrecorded Edo Artist from the Royal Artisan Guilds of Benin Ikegobo to the Iyoba (Hand Altar to the Queen Mother) The Kingdom of Benin, Edo state, (modern day) southern Nigeria, about late 18th/early 19th century Brass 21.3 x 26.7 cm diameter at base This Ikegobo (altarpiece) comes from the Kingdom of Benin, now southern Nigeria, … Read more

Andrea Riccio (1470-1532)

Andrea Riccio African Boy Riding upon a Billy-Goat Padua, Model and Cast: early 1500s Bronze, marble and gilt bronze 21.7 x 22.1 cm excluding base The boy holds a shell, cast from an actual specimen of a common Mediterranean mollusc, and probably intended to hold ink. Therefore, this is ostensibly a functional object, likely for … Read more

Jan van de Velde (c.1593-1641)

Jan van de Velde The Seasons: Spring Enkhuizen, 1617 Etching Paper 265 x 350 mm; mount 405 x 557 mm This etching of a landscape during springtime in Holland is part of a series of the seasons made by Jan van de Velde in 1617. Jan van de Velde derived from a family of painters, engravers, etchers, and printmakers … Read more

Jacques Callot (1592-1635)

Jacques Callot The Battle of Avigliano Paris, about 1630 Engraving Plate 356 x 534 mm; mount 522 x 635 mm Callot produced numerous topographical prints and scenes of warfare during the 1630s. This etching shows the battle between the French and Austrian armies outside Avigliano, a small town in Southern Italy. One of Callot’s characteristic … Read more

Abel Stimmer (1542-after 1606)

Abel Stimmer Design for a Glass Painting Switzerland, late 16th century Pen and grey wash heightened with white on greenish prepared paper 334 x 220 mm Presumably husband and wife, these figures hold objects that suggest their marital roles, the woman holding a cup traditionally associated with fertility. Beside her is an image of an … Read more

Stefano della Bella (1610-1664)

Stefano della Bella Procession of the Feast of Corpus Christi outside the Palais Royal, Paris, 12 June 1648 Île-de-France, Paris, 1648 336 x 478 mm Crowds descend upon the Palais Royal for the Feast of Corpus Christi. The elaborately decorated pavilion and altar are flanked by huge tapestries of the apostles. The dowager Queen Anne … Read more