Tuesday, January 17, 2012
We recently acquired a magnificent and unusual object — an 18th century sleigh carved in the form of a dragon!
Carlton Hobbs LLC
In 17th and 18th century Europe, these fabulous vehicles were used in parades and races. They were a great source of fun at the French court—Marie Antoinette commissioned several for her sleighing parties— and were driven on the grounds, and even the frozen Grand Canal, of Versailles. A number of these are now preserved in the Musee des Carrosses (Coach Museum) of Versailles and the Musée National de la Voiture et du Tourisme (Museum of Car and Tourism) in Compiègne. Read more... (244 words, 4 images, estimated 59 secs reading time)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
This exceptionally fine and monumental glass vase was created by W. Hoffmann of Prague and exhibited at the 1862 Paris International Exhibition. It is a 19th-century variation on the “Alhambra Vases” of the 14th and 15th centuries. These Hispano-Moreque wares derived from ancient amphoras and were made, for purely decorative purposes, to stand in niches probably at the Alhambra in Grenada, to which they owe their name. The original vases, only eight of which survive intact, are impressive by decoration and size (the largest being over 5 feet in height) with a swelling body and large, flat wing-like handles. Read more... (124 words, 2 images, estimated 30 secs reading time)
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
- Carlton Hobbs LLC.
This set of four side chairs is an example of the typically “modern” inventive Viennese design of the early 19th century. They are characteristic for the simplistic lines, minimalist design, and light-colored woods, which originated as an antidote to the pompous and ornate designs of the Empire style in France. However, they are differentiated from the Biedermeier movement by being of particularly experimental and forward-looking design and construction, with their fully circular backs and seats, stylized klismos legs,and the use of lamination in the backrests.
Figure 1: Viennese Biedermeier side chair with related splayed legs and circular seat.
Read more... (316 words, 3 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
Carlton Hobbs LLC
This painting, by the French artist Adolphe Demange, depicts the Duchess d’Uzès working on a monumental sculpture of Joan of Arc in the workshop of her mentor, the painter and sculptor Jean-Alexandre-Josef Falguière. Demange (1857- after 1927) was a portraitist who was inducted into the Society of French Artists after 1901, and appeared in the Society’s expositions between 1896 and 1926. He signed the painting at the upper right: “To the valiant artist-sculptor Mme La Duchesse d’Uzès, tribute of the painter A.D. Demange.”
Detail of signature
Read more... (675 words, 4 images, estimated 2:42 mins reading time)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
A few weeks ago we posted about an interesting painting whose mystery was slowly being uncovered. We now have another exciting piece of information to share about the family depicted.
We now know that the group within a neoclassical interior almost certainly depicts the apothecary Konrad Göschl and his wife Franziska, possibly with their children. It was painted by the artist Clemens Johann Evangelist della Croce (1782-1824), active in Burghausen, Bavaria in the 19th century. Read more... (272 words, 2 images, estimated 1:05 mins reading time)
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
This sculpture depicts Le Triomphe de Silene, or “The Tripumph of Silenus,” by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887). Silenus was the companion and tutor of the wine god Dionysus, who had the gift of prophecy. He is depicted as an old man “lolling drunkenly” on an donkey, leading the triumphal procession of Dionysos. Silenus is sometimes flanked by an entourage of satyrs. However, in the case of the present sculpture his retinue is comprised of nymphs and drunken putti.
Read more... (376 words, 3 images, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)
This painting of a group within a neoclassical interior has been in Carlton Hobbs’ personal collection for nearly 26 years and has remained a mystery. Until now…
The group may be a family, though that is not certain. The young girl on the left was clearly not painted at the same time as the other figures, based on her unusual pallor and the fact that her dress covers an original signature on the lower left of the canvas. Read more... (364 words, 3 images, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)
Figure 1: Combat d'un ours contre des chiens. Embroidery, private collection.
Animal fights for sport have an ugly history that extends back to antiquity. The pastime reached its peak in the 16th century and is documented in numerous artworks such as a 16th century embroidery panel of a bear fighting dogs at the court of Henry II of France (in a private collection) (figure 1), and a pietre dure tabletop depicting fight between exotic and domestic animals circa 1720, in the Carlton Hobbs collection (figure 2).
Carlton Hobbs LLC.
Read more... (318 words, 2 images, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
The present chandelier is executed in the distinctive style of Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841), perhaps the greatest German architect and designer of the nineteenth century and the leading arbiter of national aesthetic taste in his lifetime.
Carlton Hobbs LLC
Schinkel studied architecture with the brilliant Friedrich Gilly (1798-1800) and at Berlin’s Academy of Architecture (1800-02), although much of his early career was occupied in gaining a reputation as a painter. After a number of years in Italy and some time in France, he returned to Berlin in 1805 where he turned more seriously to architecture. By 1815 he had risen to become Chief Architect of the Prussian Department of Works, executing many commissions for Frederick William III and other members of the royal family. Read more... (454 words, 7 images, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)
