More goodies from Christie’s, just in case you have a few bucks laying around. Seven engraved gems start at Lot46 https://www.christies.com/en/auction/auction-29150?COSID=42635736&bid=282698948&cid=DM464239&filters=&page=5&searchphrase=&sortby=lotnumber&themes=
12 October 10:00 AM EDT | Live auction 19992
New York
I recently vacationed at the City of York, which is located about 200 miles north of London in the UK. While there I visited the Yorkshire Museum and found an exhibit of some intaglios with an interesting history – they were found in a sewer! The exhibit includes 7 intaglios.
READ MORE ABOUT THESE INTAGLIOS AND SEE SOME OF THEM
I first came across the image of a woman seated in front of a pedestal with a small figure on it when I acquired several Wedgwood black basalt intaglios. As usual, I began to look into the history of the piece. My first finding was reported in the “Intaglio Search – Another one” blog entry. Since then, I have discovered more.
Briefly, without the details of how I “stumbled” upon some of the information, this is what I found:
In his “TRAITÉ DES PIERRES GRAVÉES TOME SECOND” (“Treatise on Engraved Stones”, Volume II – Of the Royal Cabinet) [MyI: Louis XV was king at the time] published in 1750, Mariette addresses Plate No. 104, in part, as follows: “This Antique, one of the most important in the King’s Cabinet, having only given rise to conjectures until now, I can, with less temerity, propose my own. … This engraved stone [MyI: an amethyst] can therefore represent Calpurnie, when Caesar went to the Senate, consulting his Genie on the anxieties and the presentiments which agitated him.”
The above entry about the intaglio intimates that there had been no accepted identification of the subject at the time of the writing (1750), however, Mariette, “…with less temerity…” puts forth his opinion that it is Calpurnie (Calphurnia), the wife of Ceasar.
In the Wedgwood & Bentley Catalogue of 1774 it is noted that Intaglio No. 178 of the subject image is entitled “Matrone Romaine” (“Roman Matron”). There is no reference to Calphurnia. [MyI: This is the intaglio of the seated woman which was the first one added to our collection and shown as the first image above.]
In Raspe’s “DESCRIPIVE CATALOGUE…OF CASTS…BY JAMES TASSIE“, vol I, published in 1791, page 625, he opines, “Said to be Calphurnia, the wife of Caesar, consulting the Penates on the fate of Caesar, who contrary to her advice and prepossessions went to the Senate the day he was assassinated. Or rather a very fine woman in a veil sitting and meditating before a cippus with attention…” There are six items with this subject (Nos. 11016 – 11021), the first, No. 11016, the amethyst referred to by Mariette as being in the collection of the King of France; the next being a cornelian; with the last two being sulfurs in the Stosch collection. Clearly, the original amethyst had been copied. (The images at right are from the Beazley Archives.)
The last reference to this gem was found in “GEMS PRINCIPALLY FROM THE ANTIQUE” by Dagley in 1822. Dagley entitles the piece, “A WOMAN CONTEMPLATING A HOUSEHOLD GOD.” His opinion of the subject of the amethyst intaglio is, “THIS is among the most beautiful of the antique draped figures. The execution of the gem is remarkably fine. It has been called ‘Calphurnia consulting the Penates on the fate of Csesar.’ It is more probably a symbol of that ‘Domestic Affection,’ which the ancients exalted, almost blamelessly, into an object of divine homage. –“
Just recently, Michelle Robson at Intagliosuk proffered the opinion that the subject was Juno with Mars as a baby. — See her comment below; she should know!
The popularity of this intaglio of a seated woman is not only attested to by the six entries in Raspe’s Tassie Catalogue, but also, recently, I found a couple of impressions for sale; a plaster cast attributed to Paoletti (on Etsy from Intagliosuk, which has been sold and taken off the website) and a wax seal from a Georgian era collection, on EBay also from Intagliosuk.
Based on all of the above, I’d say the identity of the seated woman will remain a matter for discussion for the foreseeable future, perhaps forever.
What do you think?
Two notable pieces from the sale which realized the highest prices were:
LOT 32
A Roman Amethyst Ringstone with a portrait of DEMOSTHENES
Signed by Dioskourides, CIRCA Late 1st Century B.C.
Price Realized: USD 1,575,000
LOT 37
A Roman Black Chalcedony Intaglio Portrait of Antinous
CIRCA 130 – 138 A.D.
Price realized: USD 2,115,000
These two pieces and fifteen more were acquired by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. For information on the Getty purchase, including a complete listing, CLICK HERE.
A blog entry was posted after the sale at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/55165 which in a short article addresses carved gems through the ages and some of the pieces acquired by the Getty.
The sale created a lot of interest. Another article appeared at https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/print-edition/2019/may/2392/feature/antiquities-single-owner-collection-of-cameos-and-intaglios-in-new-york-proved-the-highlight-of-classic-week/
Click Here to view the entire auction information, catalog, and results. There are also a couple of links to articles on gem engraving.
From the catalog: “The forty superb engraved gems and cameos presented here represent a small portion of a much larger collection originally assembled by Giorgio Sangiorgi (1886-1965). Much of the collection, but not all, was recently published by Sir John Boardman and Claudia Wagner, Masterpieces in Miniature: Engraved Gems from Prehistory to the Present in 2018. Not a small number of them come from famous older collections, some with provenance back to the Renaissance. Many are without question true masterpieces of the gem engraver’s art, some world-renowned, rivaling the best works of the major arts of every other medium.”
Most pieces were originally estimated to be in the $30,000 – $50,000 range with several in the $100,000’s and one at $300,000 – $500,000. The final average price, including buyers premium, was about $250,000!!!!
Christie’s London had a sale in 2017 of other pieces from the Sangiorgi Collection. See the post below or Click Here.
I came across this set of Paoletti “Books” for sale from the establishment of “Robert Schreuder Antiquair” in Amsterdam. I have no prior knowledge of Mr. Schreuder or his shop, however, upon my request, he was kind enough to forward a complete set of images of all of the plasters and the catalog lists. The books and the plasters appear, based on the images, to be in quite good condition.
The following is the description from the webpage and it’s link:
Click here for the Link to the Webpage for the Sale
“Pietro Paoletti: a set of six books with over 200 intaglios. The books are made of wood and cardboard covered with paper and have a leather back mentioning ‘Paoletti Impronte’ and the name of the enclosed collection. Each book is filled on two sides with plaster casts of gems; the insides of the covers contain a catalogue of all works of art displayed on the intaglios as well as the mention of the maker with his address on the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. Paoletti was one of the most renowned manufacturers of collections of plaster intaglio casts (daktyliotheque) in 19th century Rome. With ex-libris Alexander Rowand.”
As with most of the Paoletti “Books” the individual plasters are made from contemporary engravings of the art masterpieces which one might encounter on the “Grand Tour” of Europe during the 18th and 19th Centuries; they are not plaster castings made from intaglio gemstones of antiquity.
The site also has a Set of Grand Tour plaster intaglio casts mounted in nine trays for sale at € 7800 . Click here for the link to that page.
