Cabinet de curiosités

Spellbound: Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft OXFORD.- The Ashmolean’s autumn exhibition explores the history of a fascinating cultural phenomenon – magic. SPELLBOUND displays 180 objects from 12th-century Europe to newly commissioned contemporary artworks. They range from the beautiful and mysterious (crystal balls, books of spells), the bizarre and macabre (a unicorn’s horn, a human heart encased in lead), to the profoundly touching (the testimony of women accused of witchcraft, the lovers’ padlocks cut from Leeds Centenary... [Lire la suite]

“The Cabinets of Curiosities. From the Natural Sciences to the Art of Nature. Collections from France and Hong Kong” exhibition from 25 May to 19 August. Installation view.  HONG KONG.- City University of Hong Kong invites visitors on a journey through time and space into the world of mysterious discoveries that reveal European collectors’ fascination with exotic animals, plants, minerals and art objects unknown in the West until a few hundred years ago. “The Cabinets of Curiosities. From the Natural... [Lire la suite]

Gogotte, Fontainebleau, France, height: 68.0cm, width: 83.0cm, depth 23.5cm. © Eskenazi  LONDON.- Eskenazi is presenting Gogottes: a Rift in Time from 10 May to 1 June 2018 in London. Reflecting the long-held Chinese affinity between art and nature and the tradition for collecting natural fragments - including scholars’ rocks and roots - this is the first exhibition dedicated to gogottes, a rare and mysterious natural phenomenon which has fascinated collectors and artists for centuries, from Louis XIV of... [Lire la suite]

From a Private European Collection. A set of turned and carved ivory, ebony and lignum vitae objects. Courtesy Sotheby's 2018. urope's interest for curiosities and its inventive spirit during the late Renaissance motivated certain countries to make ivory artefacts using a lathe. The first 'Kunstdrechsler', turnery artisans, had access to the the book, De Divina Proportione, by the monk Luca Paccioli published in 1509 and also had knowledge of complex drawings developed by Leonardo da Vinci. Southern Germany, notably the... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3038. A fine and rare elephant bird egg, 17th century or earlier; 30.5 cm, 12 in. Estimate 350,000 — 550,000 HKD. Lot sold 350,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2018 of large hollow form and filled with sand, the exterior of the pitted surface of an attractive creamy-eggshell colour. Provenance: Collection of Lord McAlpine Baron of West Green (1942-2014), friend and advisor to Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher. Lord McAlpine was the Treasurer of the Conservative Party and a great... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3072. A fossil Gigantopecten Restitutensis group, the Lady of Compostelle, Miocene (17 million years old), Lacoste Quarry, Vaucluse, France; 140 by 49.8 by 40 cm, 55 1/8  by 19 5/8  by 15 3/4  in., overall h. 200.5 cm, 78 7/8  in. Estimate 120,000 — 150,000 HKD. Lot sold 437,500 HKD. © Sotheby's 2018 the vertically orientated sculpture formed from a mass accumulation of scalloped pectens of attractive calcified white tone, all raised on a... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3006. A gogotte, Oligocene (30 million years old), Fontainebleau, France; w. 115.5 cm, 45 1/2  in. Estimate 180,000 — 220,000 HKD. Lot sold 225,000 HKD.  © Sotheby's 2018. powerfully carved in the form of a human skull consisting of the cranium and upper jaws, the cadaverous face rendered being stripped of its remaining flesh with several teeth missing, covered with a monochromatic layer of brown paint. Note: A gogotte is a millions-of-years old naturally shaped... [Lire la suite]

A large limestone panel, South Arabia, 3rd-2nd century BC, 45cm x 74cm. © Oliver Hoare Ltd LONDON.- Oliver Hoare presents Every Object Tells a Story, a public exhibition on view from 4 May to 5 July 2017 at 5 Cromwell Place, London. The exhibition is dedicated to approximately 400 rare and fascinating objects spanning five millennia and representing countless civilisations, each selected on the basis of their backstory and historical interest. Leading highlights and curiosities of the exhibition include a... [Lire la suite]

DALLAS, TX.- Samples of rare Petrified Wood will be among the most coveted lots at Heritage Auctions' Nature & Science Auction April 29-30 in Dallas.  The Petrified Wood comes from the collection of Lewis Goodman, a successful financier who turned a 1980s visit to a Colorado gift shop into a lifetime spent collecting petrified wood and agates. "The Lewis Goodman collection features some exceptional samples of Petrified Wood, some of the finest we have ever seen," Heritage Auctions Nature & Science Director... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3057. A Small Gogotte, Oligocene (30 Million Years Old). Fontainebleau, France. Estimate: HKD 3,000 — 5,000 (365 - 608 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's oriented with a tapered and curved outline with swelling layers cascading onto the the globulous lower body, stand - 14 by 13 cm, 5 1/2  by 5 1/8  in. Provenance: A French private collection. Note: A gogotte is a millions-of-years old naturally shaped mineral rarity consisting of tiny quartz fragments held... [Lire la suite]