Curiosities, Objects de Vertu and a Selection of African Art. In partnership with Baias Arte.

A Chinese lacquer round box
China, Qing, 18th century
black lacquer round box with gold décor.
D cm 35

Four Chinese coconut bowls
China, Ming, 16th century
Lot consisting of four coconut bowls with metal fitting and entirely decorated with engraved pattern of auspicious motifs.
D cm 13

Travel equipment
Tibetan-Mongolian Region, Late 19th - Early 20th Century
A group of three everyday-use objects: a metal bowl housed in its rigid leather container, and a knife with bone handle accompanied by a pair of chopsticks.
Rare and hard-to-find items, they serve as tangible traces of a largely vanished nomadic world-objects that still evoke a rich imagery of rituals, journeys, and ancestral traditions.
Case length: cm 32

Two silver butter lamps
Tibet, 19th century
an elegant pair of butter lamps made of embossed and chiseled silver.
H cm 14

Two Islamic divination bowls and a tray
Middle-East, 17th -19th century
Lot consisting of a large embossed tray probably Persia 19th century with human figures and grapes of wine, and two ancient engraved copper divination bowls.
Tray: D cm 49

A bronze ewer
India, Deccan, early 18th century
Resting on a hexagonal base, the body is globular and slightly flattened, the handle in the form of a stylised dragon terminating in a hinge that joins it to the domed cover terminating in a bud-shaped grip. The surface is extensively decorated with a fish scale pattern and a net motif of small diamonds on spout and neck. The centre of both sides of the container decorated with a peacock within a drop-shaped reserve.
Ewers of this shape are attributed by Zebrowski (Gold, Silver & Bronze from Mughal India, Alexandria Press, 1997, p. 164 and 166) to Northern India or the Deccan. Our specimen seems to relate more to the second attribution, given its decorative similarities to the coeval Bidri manufacture.
Such items were used by the Muslim community to pour water for ritual ablutions and is therefore a type frequently found in India after the Islamic conquest of some of its territories.
31.5 X H. 29 cm

Two Indian flower-shaped containers
India, 19th century
Two cast bronze boxes with leaf-shaped containers and hinged lids locked in by the peacock in the middle.
This multi-container type of box was especially designed to store colourful powders for ceremonial Hindu beauty care.
H cm 7.5

Engraved wine flask
India, 18th-19th century
A Surahi wine flask made of bronze with octagonal section and engraved walls, most likely from northern India and of Islamic-Mughal origin.
In the context of Indo-Islamic courts, the Surahi was not only a functional container for wine or other ceremonial liquids but also held significant symbolic value. It was an object of prestige, a royal offering, and a representative tool in aristocratic rituals.
H cm 20

Stone oil lamp
Southern India, 18th century
Evocative votive structure carved from grey granite, composed of three stacked elements recalling the archetypal form of a pagoda. Used in religious contexts to symbolically illuminate sacred spaces or domestic altars.
Base diameter: 37 cm
H cm 64

Persian tile with invocation and disc for prostration
Iran, 19th century
The tile, made of glazed ceramic in a rich turquoise blue, features in black calligraphy the invocation 'What God wills' or 'As God has willed'. Accompanying it is a disc made of unglazed clay, engraved and used during the ritual prostration (sajda) as the point of contact between the forehead and the ground, in accordance with tradition. These discs, known as turbah or mohr, are typically made from clay sourced from sacred sites and often bear sacred inscriptions or symbolic motifs.
Disc diameter: 5.5 cm
Tile height: 15 cm

Glazed votive plate
Multan, Pakistan, 19th century
Terracotta plate with two-color glaze depicting a mosque.
D cm 25

Maharaja of Bhavnagar and His Court
(1884, 20th-Century Reprint)
Western India
Sepia-toned photographic print mounted on card.
Commemorative image depicting Maharaja Raol Sir Takhtsinhji Jaswantsinhji (1858-1896) during an audience with members of his court, most likely Maratha aristocrats and dignitaries. Originally taken in 1884, the photograph is presented here as a 20th-century reprint, mounted on stiff cardstock. The image bears the original number '334' and is accompanied by a cursive inscription attesting to the event.
With frame: cm 21.5 x 26.5

Two colonial portraits
India, 20th century
Two replicas of photographic portraits within wooden frames covered in repoussé metal sheets with foliated motifs. An example of local craftsmanship.
Cm 64x52.5
Cm 26x20.5

Three votive lamps in bronze
Kerala, Southern India, Early 20th Century
Three traditional votive lamps from the Malabar region, used for offerings in temples in Kerala. Made of cast and turned bronze, they are characterized by a pointed terminal designed to hold cotton wicks soaked in oil.
The highest: cm 25

Zoomorphic oil lamp
Himalayan region, first half of the 19th century
Votive bronze oil lamp shaped as a sacred rat, symbol of vigilance, cunning, and subterranean power. The oil reservoir is mounted on the animal's back.
H cm 10

Tile with OM Symbol and Small Ritual Mandir
India, mid-20th century
A pair of objects from the Hindu tradition. The glazed ceramic tile features a raised sacred OM (Aum) symbol. The small mandir (ritual temple), made of gilded terracotta, symbolizes protection and sanctity. It was perhaps intended to house ceremonial remnants or used as a votive offering.
Tile: cm 15.5x15.5
Mandir: H cm 6

Bodhisattva head, cast from a Gandharan sculpture
India, 20th century
Plaster cast taken from an original Gandharan sculpture, depicting the face of a Bodhisattva.
H cm 28

Four Argentinean car number plates
Republic of Argentina, Early 20th century
Lot consisting of three metal license plates and an enameled one. Two corrisponding to the Region of Tandil (1921, and 1929), one of Villa Sarmiento and another with no locality.
The biggest one: L cm 34

Arturo Pannunzio - Young Mermaid
Italy, c. 1940
A painted pottery figure with a young mermaid playing with two fishes.
L cm 43

Two walking sticks
Italy, Early 20th century
Wooden sticks with metal handle shaped in form of dogs.
The biggest one: H cm 94.5

Two Sicilian marionettes
Italy, Late 19th century
Extremely large puppets (Pupi) from the Sicilian traditional folk theatre representing characters from the Orlando Furioso by Ariosto.
H cm 120

Folding painter's easel 'Le Franc, Paris'
France, First Half of the 20th Century
An elegant wooden folding and portable painter's easel, featuring hinged panels and a pull-out drawer for colors, brushes, and palette. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, it bears a brass plaque engraved with the name 'Le Franc, Paris,' a historic name in the production of fine arts materials dating back to the 17th century.
Closed: cm 60 x 40 x 19

Two photographic plates of artistic nude, M. Koch & O. Rieth, 'Der Act'
Germany, 19th - early 20th century
Pair of photographic plates from the renowned German series Der Act, created by M. Koch and O. Rieth for the publisher M. Bauer & Co., printed using the direct light printing process (Lichtdruck) by W. Neumann & Co. The images-Plate 12 and Plate 17-depict a female and a male nude in carefully composed, dynamic poses intended for anatomical study and academic art training.
Cm 32x24

Original photographs featuring Pope Pius XI
Italy, 1933
A pair of rare original photographs capturing Pope Pius XI during a solemn ceremony held at the Vatican in 1933.
cm 18 x 24