The object of the day: Carved Fragment (1550 to 1580 Flemish)

Dimensions
190.00cm wide 36.00cm high (74.80 inches wide 14.17 inches high)
 
Description / Expertise Central section of a large Flemish Oak top frieze from either a cupboard or a screen. It is Flemish Oak, circa 1550 - 1580. The central panel is applied and has immense energy in its depiction of Cupid with his quiver of arrows and a downward flaming torch held towards a brazier. He is flanked by a cloven hooved Satyr on his left and a large and menacing bearded man, possibly Mars, to his right. It is probable from this Classical array that it is a scene representing the punishment of Cupid for the mischeif that his arrows have caused.

The outer sections both have wonderfully carved Renaissance representations, with Mythical Beasts and a fantastical head embedded within foliate motifs together with Classical figures either side of them set within oval framing.
Price gbp 3750.00 (Pound Sterling)

19th century Western African figure

Figure of Chibinda Ilunga, Angola, Chokwe, 19th Century; 

Ethnologisches Museum, SMB. Photo: Claudia Obrocki

The Chowke today live in north-western Angola and in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo.The end of the slave trade in the first half of the 19th century, which had connected Africa, Europe, and America in a tight net of trade for several centuries, entailed a deep economic cut for the peoples living on the shores of Western Africa. Many communities of huntersand of refugees from the slave hunts came to wealth and political power through trade with products like Ivory and bees wax. Only in this process their identity as Chokwe emerged. Their political and economic expansion soon threatened long-established political organisations like the neighbouring kingdom of the Lunda. The numerous competing and trading leaders also bolstered their claim to power by promoting artistic expression. Chokwe artists integrated stylistic elements of the neighbouring African peoples and the Europeans into their own art and thus developed one of the most impressive styles of art of the African continent.

The object of the day: The Dutch wood sculpture

Jan III van Doorne, Heilige Familie (Holy Family), c. 1650, boxwood, h. 16.3cm.
The masterfully carved, small sculpture Heilige Familie has a playful character. The glass inlaid eyes of the three figures are truly exceptional. Given its intimate, informal character, the sculpture strikes a balance between its roles as a pure work of religious art for personal Catholic devotion and as an example of a genre of informal sculpture. The sculpture is signed ‘IVD’ by the sculptor-carver Jan van Doorne of Mechelen. Few other works by Van Doorne are known.