Silver

Over nine hundred lots to constitute an unprecedented panorama of four centuries of refined Italian taste are distributed over the four-day sales of Furniture and Old Master Paintings organized by Il Ponte Casa d'Aste on the 11, 12, 13, and 14 October 2022 at Palazzo Crivelli.

It is the prestigious Modenese collection (dedicated press release) that acts like an "entrè" to an intense week of banishment. A set that represents just a part of a catalogue structured around a thicky proposal of furniture, art objects, and furnishings  from other important private collections: a secrétaire by Giuseppe Maggiolini, richly inlaid in walnut and fir (lot 423, estimate € 52,000 - 54,000), an ancient wooden coin cabinet with tortoiseshell profiles and painted glass inserts (lot 398, estimate € 4,200 - 4,400), a carved high-relief by a Spanish sculptor from the circle of Juan Martínez Montañés representing Saint John the Baptist in prison visited by two disciples (lot 418, estimate € 22,000 - 25,000).

Still in the sculpture's context stand out a marble replica of the Roman "Fontana della Navicella", executed in the manner of Andrea Sansovino (lot 404, estimate € 3,500 - 4,000), together with a couple of philosophers in terracotta by an Emilian artist from the circle of Giuseppe Maria Mazza (lot 382, estimate € 1,000 - 1,200).

In the porcelain and ceramic section are notable various apothecary albarelli, bowls, and bottles produced in Venice in the famous sixteenth-century furnace of Mastro Domenico (lot 349, estimate € 2,000 - 2,200) and an eighteenth-century Ginori coffee maker with architectural whims (lot 346, estimate € 800 - 900).

In the silver section there is no lack of sumptuous tableware and exceptional pieces such as the double-handled tureen with London hallmarks by the silversmith Benjamin Smith II (lot 371, € 4,500 - 5,000), a peculiar Japonisme style's silver centerpiece of the Milanese silversmith Ilario Pradella (lot 351, estimate € 1,200 - 1,400) and a conspicuous presence of Russian icons from the nineteenth century, among which the table with silver Riza and enamels dedicated to the blessing Saint Nicholas attributed to Pavel Ovchinnikov (lot 410, estimate € 6,000 - 7,000). 

The nucleus based on table clocks presents a range of sophisticated specimens, including a rare 17th-century automaton by the famous Augusta builder Johann Ott Halleicher inspired by the winged Lion of St. Mark (lot 420, estimate € 6,000 - 7,000). 

Curiosity and peculiarities are the main features of the Islamic art offered in historica: a Yatagan ceremonial dagger (lot 563, estimate € 900 - 1,000) and a warrior belt (lot 547, estimate € 1,000 - 1,200) stand out, both from the Ottoman period.

In the catalog is a must-see repertoire of stringed instruments and keyboards with a table fortepiano by Johann Fritz from the second decade of the 19th century (lot 772, estimate € 4,000 - 5,000), a guitar by Vicenza Giacinto Santagiuliana from 1837 (lot 774, estimate € 1,700 - 2,000) and a viola by Gabriele Natali from 1987 (lot 776, estimate € 4,500 - 5,500).

Turning to ancient paintings we find the names of artists who enjoy the appreciation of collectors from all over the world. Genoese works of the seventeenth century - an area in which the department has particularly distinguished itself at the national level, always offering high pictorial quality and multiple publications - such as that of Bartolomeo Guidobono Sacra Famiglia and San Giovannino (lot 425, estimate € 16,000 - 17,000), Vincent Malò Stoning of Santo Stefano (lot 417, estimate € 12,000 - 15,000) and Simone Barabino Martirio di San Lorenzo (lot 419, estimate € 8,500 - 9,000). 

From the Lombard seventeenth century is the magnificent canvas depicting Christ and the adulteress by Giuseppe Nuvolone (lot 413, estimate € 15,000 - 18,000), while for the landscape two certain masterpieces by Domenico Pecchio (lot 403, estimate € 7,000 - 8,000).

Emblematic of typically international portraiture are both a Virile portrait by a prodigious 16th-century Northern European Master (lot 424, estimate € 18,000 - 20,000) and the Portrait of Giuseppe Cristiano Gabaleone, Count of Salmour, signed and dated 1791 by Jacques Sablet (lot 426, estimate € 10,000 - 12,000).

To end this vast tribute to ancient arts a session entirely it's a collection of over 150 lots dedicated to the animal and naturalistic world, which includes books, paintings, sculptures, table sets, and various objects (from lot 778 to 933).