Antique Wall Lamps Neo-Renaissance Style Wrought Iron '800 - Italy, Late XIX Century

Figures in the Garden, ca. 1860/1870

Oil on canvas. Signed lower center. Eleuterio Pagliano was an engraver and painter of the Romantic period. He is also remembered as a hero of the Milanese Risorgimento, and was thus nicknamed the "painter-soldier". Initially, he focused on historical subjects with a patriotic flavor, but later his work shifted to Romantic subjects, genre scenes of bourgeois daily life, filled with graceful figures engaged in recreational activities. In this work, Pagliano presents a relaxing countryside scene, with gentlemen and ladies relaxing by playing cards or reading, while children play at climbing trees. The soft luminosity, the harmonious colors of the figures, which harmonize with the greenery of the countryside, and the sense of relaxation of the figures stand out, creating an overall scene of serenity and tranquility. The work is presented in a contemporary frame.

Female Portrait

Oil on cardboard. Signed lower left. Noè Bordignon, an artist from the province of Treviso, devoted himself both to easel painting, creating scenes of rural life and portraits of popular figures, with great psychological renderings of some of the period's most significant figures, particularly children, adolescents, and mothers, and to frescoing sacred subjects for the churches of his area. In this work, Bordignon portrays a young commoner, creating a portrait of strong expressive intensity, despite the highly naturalistic rendering of the figure. Framed.

Oil on canvas. A pleasant view of the small village of Omegna, in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, located at the northern end of Lake Orta; the Alpine peaks rise behind it. Village life is a hive of activity, with numerous figures both on land and afloat in small boats. The painting shows signs of restoration on the back.

Oil on canvas. Trace of signature at the bottom. In a romantic vein, the painting depicts a small girl tenderly leaning on her large dog, with whom she exchanges a tender glance. The background is a garden, with a sky fading into the light of the distant sunset. The painting shows signs of previous restoration and relining. It is presented in an early 20th-century gilded frame.

Color lithographs. Painter and illustrator Marcus C. Stone made a name for himself with his soulful portraits and literary scenes. These two lithographs depict scenes set in the gardens of elegant villas, one depicting two couples engaged in romantic conversation, the other enjoying a tea ceremony. The two prints are presented in elegant contemporary gilded wood and fabric frames.

Tempera on pith paper. Chinese, Canton, Qing dynasty, ca. 1860. A collection of twenty-eight paintings depicting Chinese courtiers, scholars, and merchants. Originally kept in an album, they are presented here in a beautiful frame decorated with embroidered floral fabrics. Pith paper is a thin, translucent material derived from the pith of the Tetrapanax papyrifer tree, or "pith plant," native to China and Taiwan. Pith paper entered painting to meet the growing demand for small, inexpensive, and easily transportable souvenirs following the massive growth of trade with China in the first quarter of the 19th century. Because many were sold in albums and thus protected from light, they retain their vibrant colors even today.

Landscape with Flock and Shepherds

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. This is likely Achille Dovera's largest work, presumably intended for an important patron. A small preparatory sketch on wood depicting the same scene has been sold on the market. In the center of the foreground, the work features a large flock of sheep walking along a path, accompanied by several shepherds. The animals emerge, enveloped in a great cloud of dust, from a passage through lush vegetation, in a flat countryside against the backdrop of mountain peaks. The Milanese painter Achille Dovera is considered a leading exponent of 19th-century naturalist and genre painting. A landscape painter, Dovera formally maintains a connection with phenomenal reality, which he reproduces with precision, even though color and light play a fundamental role; his rapid, moving brushstrokes lend freshness and immediacy to the scene without disrupting the forms. This large painting is presented in a beautiful, contemporary gilded wooden frame.

Oil on canvas. Lacroix's signature is at the bottom left. On the beach, the fisherman, having pulled his boat ashore and rolled up the sails, which his companion carries on her shoulders, is offering his fresh catch to a woman equipped with a unique water transport and accompanied by a child. The work is naturalistic and realistic, offering a glimpse of rural life rich in detail and particulars, both in the figures and in the landscape and surrounding elements on the beach. It is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. 19th-century Northern European school. In the scene, set on a barren, snow-covered plain with a frozen river flowing through it, a large horse-drawn sleigh is parked on the bank, carrying several people: a woman with a child in her arms is preparing to climb aboard, watched by the driver, while another female figure, holding her child by the hand, walks away across the ice. It looks like a Nordic public transport stop! The work is presented in a late-19th-century frame, which has several missing or damaged parts.

Oil on metal plaque. Delicate portrait of a child, presented in a contemporary embossed and gilded metal frame.

Porch with Figures

Oil on cardboard. Signed upper right. Gregorio Mariani is best known for his engravings of Roman antiquities, but he also established himself as a painter of genre scenes, often depicting period figures, and as a portraitist. In this work, which displays an impressionist influence in its nuanced color and interplay of light, he depicts a scene of 18th-century city life: numerous figures, whose flowing women's dresses are visible, wander beneath a high portico, between whose arches opens a glimpse of the sea, crisscrossed by ships. The work is presented in a contemporary wooden frame.

Country Scene with Figures

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. The scene depicts a group of peasants, both men and women, gathering baskets of flowers, making music and dancing to the sound of bagpipes and tambourines, with some taking the opportunity to flirt. It is therefore a popular country festival, a favorite subject of Barucci, a Roman painter who primarily depicted daily life in the countryside. His almost all-encompassing love for nature—the most authentic, barren, and realistic aspects of the Roman countryside and suburbs—led him to become one of the leading exponents of the rustic style. The brightness and vividness of the colors enhance the festive feel of the scene, underscoring the carefree, serene atmosphere of this moment of folk life. The work is presented in a period frame.