Alain.R.Truong

Myers Auction Gallery sale features items from the historic Borghese Palace sale of 1892

Pieter Jacobsz Van Laer (Dutch, 1599-1642) (attributed), Old Master Bambouche Painting. From the Borghese Palace in Rome, Italy. Estimate $2,000 – $4,000. 

Pieter Jacobsz Van Laer (Dutch, 1599-1642) (attributed), Old Master Bambouche Painting. From the Borghese Palace in Rome, Italy. Estimate $2,000 – $4,000. 

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.- Myers Auction Gallery presents European and Asian Antiques and Fine Art auction on Sunday, March 8th. The auction features items from the historic Borghese Palace sale of 1892 onsite at what is now the Villa and Galleria Borghese in Rome, Italy. Prince Paolo Borghese, 9th Prince of Sulmona (1845-1920), was forced to sell the contents of the Borghese Palace apartment and Bibliotheque including the grounds and property to the state due to the financial crash of the Bank of Italy in 1891. The 1892 auction was attended by many gilded age American industrialists including billionaire William Waldorf Astor and the Rockefellers. Also among the attendees was American Bradford deWolfe who purchased several paintings and rare vellum books. These items were later passed down through generations of deWolfe family members and are being offered for sale for the first time since the 1892 auction. 

Italian Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633), was an ambitious patron of the arts who assembled an impressive collection of ancient statuary at his suburban villa (now the Galleria Borghese in Rome). In 1808, Prince Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona (1775-1832) who was married to Pauline Bonaparte in 1803, was forced to sell many of the Roman sculptures and antiquities to Emperor Napoleon. A great majority of the statues from the Borghese collection are now at the Louvre museum. The famous Venus Victrix marble statue of Pauline still remains on view at the Galleria Borghese. It is rare today to find items from the historic Borghese collection outside of museums. Myers Auction Gallery will be offering the aforementioned paintings and rare books acquired directly by Bradford deWolfe some 123 years ago

Mr. deWolfe’s collection was later inherited by Dorothy 'Doda' deWolf of Washington, DC. She was born Princess Dorota Drucka Lubecka, the daughter of Countess Hegwige Opersdorff and Prince Francis Xavier Drucki Lubecki, a member of one of the oldest princely families of Europe. When the family's ancestral estate in Baltow, Poland was occupied by the Nazis at the beginning of World War II and later taken by the Russians, they fled to Paris, and in 1952, emigrated to the United States. Princess Dorota, known simply as 'Doda,' found employment in Wisconsin as an au pair, and later moved to Washington, DC where she worked for Elizabeth Arden. She eventually embarked on a very successful, 30-year real estate career at Begg - now Long & Foster - winning numerous awards in her field, as well as remaining very active in Polish affairs, including spearheading a Polish Cultural Center in Washington. 

n 1960, Doda married Francis Colt deWolf, Jr., known as 'Colt,' and for 34 years, Doda and Colt deWolf were a prominent couple in Washington Society, known for their constant hospitality and infectious vitality. Colt was a direct descendent of Chris Colt, a wealthy textile industrialist whose brother, Sam Colt, invented the Colt 45 revolver. Chris Colt's grandson, Bradford deWolf, was a purchaser at the great sales of the contents of the Borghese Palace, which took place in Italy in the 1890s. The property that Bradford deWolf purchased from the Borghese Palace passed down to his son, Francis Colt deWolf, I, who came to Washington in 1922 to work for the State Department as one of the first heads of the newly created Communications Department. The deWolfs, with their impressive Borghese furniture, moved into the largest private residence in Georgetown, the Bodisco House. Colt and Doda deWolf inherited these historic objects.

A rare pair of slip-decorated white-glazed dishes, Qing dynasty, 18th century

A rare pair of slip-decorated white-glazed dishes, Qing dynasty, 18th century. Estimate 7,000 — 9,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

each with gently rounded sides terminating in everted rims, the interior applied with a delicately incised white slip decoration of a flowering prunus bough extending over the rim to the exterior (2) - Diameter 5 5/8  in., 14.5 cm

Provenance: Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, 1st April 1982.

Notes: The present rare slip-decorated dish is based on a Song dynasty motif of prunus decoration found on Jizhou paper-cut resist bowls and, more closely, on Qingbai wares with incised design. A Qingbai-glazed shallow bowl with carved prunus in the Jiangxi Museum is illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, Jianxi, vol. 14, Beijing, 2008, no. 75. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM

A small guan-type bowl, Ming dynasty

A small guan-type bowl, Ming dynasty. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

of shallow form, standing on a neatly finished foot, the footrim burnt dark brown in the firing, the whole covered with a thick, vitreous greenish-gray glaze suffused with an irregular network of dark crackle - Diameter 4 in., 10.2 cm

Provenance: Collection of Henry Loew (1877-1943) New York and thence by descent.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM

A yellow-glazed bowl, Kangxi mark and period

A yellow-glazed bowl, Kangxi mark and period. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

with deep rounded sides supported on a narrow slightly tapered foot, applied overall with a soft straw-yellow glaze slightly pooling to a deeper tone on one side of the rim and around the foot, the base reserved in white and with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle - Diameter 4 5/8  in., 11.9 cm

Provenance: Bluett & Sons, Ltd., London, 1st April 1982. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM

A small yellow-glazed dish, Jiajing mark and period

A small yellow-glazed dish, Jiajing mark and period. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the shallow rounded sides rising from a low tapered foot to an everted rim, applied overall with a smooth egg-yolk yellow glaze pooling slightly to a darker tone towards the footring, the slightly convex base left white and with a four-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle - Diameter 5 in., 12.8 cm

Provenance: Bluett & Sons, Ltd, London, 13th July 1979.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM

A copper-red-glazed bowl, Yongzheng mark and period

A copper-red-glazed bowl, Yongzheng mark and period. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

delicately potted with rounded sides supported on a straight foot, the exterior covered with a rich red glaze stopping neatly at the foot, the interior and base glazed white, inscribed at the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double-circle - Diameter 4 5/8  in., 11.7 cm

Provenance: Collection of Henry Bar, Shanghai, 1940's. 
Oriental Fine Arts, Inc. New York, 1950s.
Mr. and Mrs. Mario Belloso and thence by descent.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM

A robins-egg-glazed 'Lantern' vase, Daoguang seal mark and period

A robins-egg-glazed 'Lantern' vase, Daoguang seal mark and period. Estimate 12,000 — 15,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

of elongated ovoid form, resting on a slightly splayed foot, molded on the sides with two attenuated beaker-form mock handles, covered overall with a rich, finely speckled turquoise glaze, the base with incised six-character seal mark - Height 9 1/4  in., 23.5 cm

Provenance: Acquired by a New York Collector in the early 20th century and thence by descent. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM

A rare white-glazed 'Anhua' dish, Qing dynasty, 18th century

A rare white-glazed 'Anhua' dish, Qing dynasty, 18th century. Estimate 12,000 — 15,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the shallow rounded sides rising to a gently everted rim, the sides delicately incised with two pairs of dragon and phoenix, covered overall with a luminous and fine white glaze, the base with an apocryphal six-character Chenghua mark in underglaze blue within a double circle - Diameter 7 7/8  in., 20.3 cm

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries Inc., New York, 1980s

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM

A peachbloom-glazed bowl, Kangxi mark and period

A peachbloom-glazed bowl, Kangxi mark and period. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

he steeply rounded sides supported on a slightly tapered foot, the exterior covered with a rich copper-red glaze characteristically mottled and speckled with flecks of dark green, the interior glazed white and the countersunk base bearing a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle - Diameter 7 1/4  in., 18 cm

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc., New York, 1980s. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM

A fine and rare white-glazed anhua-decorated stembowl, Yongzheng mark and period

A fine and rare white-glazed anhua-decorated stembowl, Yongzheng mark and period.  Estimate 30,000 — 0,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the rounded sides flaring towards the rim, delicately incised on the exterior with the bajixiang (Eight Buddhist Emblems), each tied with ribbons and supported on a stylized leafy lotus bloom, a band of ruyi-heads surrounding the base above the splayed foot incised with further lotus and a band of florets encircling the raised ridge around the midsection, covered overall in a lustrous, even white glaze, the interior of the foot with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue in a line - Diameter 7 in., 17.8 cm

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc., New York, 1980s.

Nots: A similarly incised white stem cup is illustrated in Exhibition of Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Hong Kong, 1974, no. 51. A closely related example similarly incised but yellow enameled is illustrated by John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, p. 212, no. 315 (A450). Other bajixiang-incised bowls raised on a splayed stem foot are known, such as the one illustrated in Chinese Porcelain - The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 134 (without the raised ridge on the splayed foot); and another formerly from the Greenwald Collection was sold in our Hong Kong rooms 29th October 2001, lot 622 and again Christie's Hong Kong, 1st December 2010, lot 2821.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 02:00 PM