African Art & Wonders: A Collection of Cultural Treasures. In partnership with BAIAS Arte.

A walnut Italian bedside table
Italy, Early 19th century
Walnut wood column cabinet equipped with door and drawer.
H cm 88.5
D cm 40

A fine English Cabinet Médailler
England, Early 19th century
A small mahogany cabinet with ten drawers protected by two doors.
H cm 70
L cm 55
P cm 55

Rumbling tigers, wooden carving
c. 1920
Carved from a single block of wood, the scene depicts the fierce battle between two large felines rendered with extreme realism and dynamism, the eyes and jaws of the two animals are highlighted with traces of pigment.
L cm 40
H cm 20

The Tree of Life, African wood carving
Democratic Republic of Congo, 20th century
Carved hard wood depicting human figures.
H cm 19

Two fighting cocks
Italy ?, 20th century
Cast brass sculptures depicting two fighting cocks in challenging attitude.
H cm 26
L cm 26

An impressive Tibetan phurba handle
Tibet, 19th century
A large cast bronze handle of a ritual knife phurba. Probably made for templar use.
H cm 55 (without base)
H cm 76 (with base)

A Chinese sancai camel
China, Tang (?)
an impressive pottery Bactrian caparisoned camel in the typical Tang three colors palette.
H cm 67

Fish-shaped cutlery container
Thailand? Early 20th century
Table accessory in wood and brass in shape of a herring.
L cm 43.5

A bronze Islamic bowl
Probably Syria, 19th century
A cast bronze parcel-gilt brown patina bowl entirely chiseled with calligraphic inscriptions and geometric cartouches.
D cm 11
H cm 4.5

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

A fine ring with rotating double-cut seal
18th century
An aristocratic men's rotating ring with a 22 ct gold setting and a chalcedony stone masterfully engraved on both sides. Characterized by great naturalism and skillful engraving, the faces depicted are inspired by iconographies from the classical world.
D stone cm 2

A fine Italian wooden box
Italy, 18th century
Precious hard wood, bronze and tempera on paper.
Elegant and extremely fine quadrangular wooden box. Interesting example of skillful cabinet making. The hinged lid, was thought with the elegantly inlaid panel with the noble coat of arms. Removed in later period and replaced with a small tempera painting with flowers, the panel is preserved inside making it possible to restored it.
L cm 33.5
P cm 25.5
H cm 6

A large Indian Nandi bull head
Colonial India, 19th century
A captivating and evocative representation of the sacred bull Nandi, hand-carved from a single block of rosewood, with applied ears and authentic keratin horns. In Indian tradition, Nandi is the mythical mount of Shiva, with its legs symbolizing Truth, Righteousness, Peace, and Love.
L cm 65

Another large Indian bull head, representing Nandi
Colonial India, 19th century
This large wooden carvings similar to the previous lot represents the sacred bull, Nandi. Also, this head realized in heavy rosewood presents an applied ears and authentic bull horns.
In Indian tradition, Nandi is the mythical mount of Shiva, with its legs symbolizing Truth, Righteousness, Peace, and Love.
L cm 65

Portrait of Indian chief
USA? 19th century
Carved and painted wood.
The carved wooden tondo depicts a frontal portrait of the famous Apaches chief Geronimo.
Geronimo, whose real name was Goyaale (1829-1909), was one of the most famous apaches chiefs and warriors and for more than 25 years he fought against Mexico and USA until his surrender in 1886.
D cm 49

An old Chinese wooden head
China, 19th century
Carved and painted wood.
Smiling head of a boy with elaborate hairstyle complete with an inner mechanism thought to move the tongue.
H cm 21

An American clothes display mannequin
USA ? c. 1940
Female bust in papier-mâché covered in plaster.
The facial feature inspired by the movie stars of the Hollywood production of those years.
H cm 64

A large French papier maché carnival mask
France? Late 19th century
Smiling sun-shaped helmet mask painted in vivid colours.
H cm 47

An English mounted ostrich egg
England, 19th century
The egg is the symbol of the cosmogonic myth of the creation of the Universe and its symbolism has ancient roots. For some civilizations, it represents the union between earth and sky, while for Egyptian philosophers, it is the focus of the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. The ostrich egg, the largest egg in the world, is mounted on a carved wooden stand and alludes to the rebirth of the deceased soul into an afterlife.
H cm 36 (base included)

A five-horned rhinoceros beetle with a clock
Eclectic combination of 'naturalia and artificialia'. A real specimen of a giant five-horned rhinoceros beetle has been manually modified by inserting gears and clock parts into its abdomen to make it appear as a mechanical and futuristic insect.
Unknown artist.
L cm 14

A model of human skull
Europe, 19th century?
Wood? On brass base inside sealed glass bell. Extremely realistic but small-sized model of a human skull inside a glass bell. The sealed case does not allow to identify the material, perhaps wood or patinated plaster.
H cm 19

A large taxidermied pike trophy
c. 1950
A beautiful example of a taxidermied pike with a spatula-shaped snout; its wide mouth features sharp, small teeth interspersed with a few much stronger ones.
H cm 20.5

A large mould of a Narwhal Tooth
England, c. 1950
A highly realistic and faithful representation of a narwhal's tusk. The long and distinctive tooth of the cetacean is reproduced in elforyn, a resinous material regarded as a premium substitute for ivory. Elforyn not only offers excellent technical and mechanical properties but also aims to closely mimic the extraordinary resemblance of cetacean and terrestrial mammal teeth. The narwhal tooth, with its characteristic spiral twist and smooth ivory-colored surface, is meticulously crafted down to the finest details, making it extremely faithful to the original.
H cm 208

A beautiful and large Indian stone Svayambhu
This large lingam also known as Svayambhu represents the 'Primordial Cosmic Egg'.
Mystical tradition holds that this specific stone originated spontaneously and naturally over the centuries, making it known as the 'cosmic egg.' The term given to these sacred objects, means 'born of itself.' Its smooth, regular shape is also associated with the phallus, representing the primordial masculine energy of Shiva; the natural pattern on the stone is identified as feminine energy. The union of these two polarities allows for the dissolution of duality.
H cm 22