Gazette Drouot - C apencheres

Ivory renaissance
The expressive power of this small ivory statue is inversely
proportional to its size (13 cm) but perfectly corresponds to the
bid of €121,125 obtained on 19 October last at the Aguttes
auction house in Paris. It can be compared to late 15th century
Italian productions, particularly statues representing Alfonso II
of Aragon, King of Naples for a very brief period from 1494 to
1495. This monarch would be represented as one of the figures
in the “Lamentations autour du Christ mort" (Lamentation over
the body of Christ), a large terracotta sculpture by Guido
Mazzoni, housed at the church of St. Anne of the Lombards in
Naples. Alfonso II’s grandfather, Alfonso V of Aragon had
conquered the Kingdom of Naples from René I d’Anjou and was
subsequently under threat by Charles VIII of France. Faced with
the invasion of his kingdom by the French army, Alfonso II
placed his monarchy under the protection of God. This
statuette represents a warlord wearing a classical-style breastplate,
imploring divine protection. S. A
AUCTION RESULTS THE MAGAZINE
Yunnan lacquer
€49,568 went to this 16th century lacquer box from the
Ming dynasty, whose lid features a qilin (a kind of
unicorn) surrounded by four Buddhist lions. The
description "Yunnan lacquer" is linked with a particular
period in the Ming dynasty from around 1436
to 1522, when there was a great deal of political
disturbance, starting with the Mongol raids on
Northern China, marked by the capture of the Yingzong
emperor. This insecurity reduced the production
of lacquer and ceramic objects. Yunnan, lying in
the south-west China, provided a haven of relative peace
where craftsmen produced a type of lacquer consisting of
thick layers of the substance. The deep carving is stylistically
more rigid than the imperial items, but no less virtuosic, as witness
the work in this box, sold in Paris on 9 October (Rossini auction house). S. A
N° 19 I GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
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