Tray Frame - Golden mirror

Oil on canvas. Northern European School, mid-19th century. In a verdant countryside landscape, near the well with its watering trough, several farmers and wayfarers are stopping with their carts, resting, getting water, and washing clothes. Previously restored and relined in antique style, the painting currently shows damage and slight paint loss. It is presented in a beautiful late-19th-century gilded frame.

Oil on canvas. French school, second half of the 19th century. A sealing wax stamp on the back reads 2Atelier Gustave Courbet". The renowned artist (1819-1877) repeatedly depicted woodland scenes with deer and fawns, but the painting presented here cannot be attributed to him. The intensely realistic work depicts a doe and her calf within a clump of trees in the woods, with light filtering through the branches to create luminous effects. The painting is presented in a beautiful 18th-century frame, lacquered and restored.

Crayons on paper mounted on canvas. Portrait in walking dress, with her cloak draped over her shoulders, of Queen Marie Antoinette of Habsburg-Lorraine (1755-1793), the last queen of France before the French Revolution, known for her lavish lifestyle and tragic fate. The work is presented in an early 20th-century gilded frame, which shows several signs of damage and missing stucco (very brittle).

The Shepherdess

Oil on canvas. A beautiful figure of a young girl in traditional pastoral costume, elegant in her gold-fringed vest, her hat with a peacock feather, her earrings, her water bottle on her belt, and her hooked staff held firmly in her hands: it seems more like a portrait in folk costume than a real figure of the people. Pesenti became famous for his views of interiors, often of churches, but also for genre scenes with popular figures. The painting has been restored in the past. It is presented in a period frame.

Stable interior

Oil painting on canvas. Signed lower left. The work was previously acquired at the Sotheby's auction in Milan on 10/12/2007. It was exhibited in 1991 in the exhibition "Giovanni Sottocornola. Images from a collection" held in Milan at the Silbernagl Gallery. After an initial pictorial phase dedicated to portraits and still lifes, in the 1880s Giovanni Sottocornola approached social themes, which were becoming the favorite subjects of young Lombard painters attentive to the poorest aspects of society, linked to the adoption of original artistic techniques. Sottocornola embraced the practice of pointillist painting, of which he wrote in 1895 "For now it is certain, I am convinced that there is no other painting more capable of conveying certain sensations than this one". However, this type of painting remained entirely focused on light, on its uncertain tonal vibrations, as happens in the Interior of a stable, created towards the end of the 1980s, where the plays of light and shadow play and create the effects visual in the brushstrokes of color played on a few chromatic ranges, those of browns, expressed in a wide variety of shades. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. Unidentified signature lower right. Framed by the vaulted entrance to a chapel, a corner of the nave is depicted, with portions of frescoes visible and the passage to another arm of the structure. The atmosphere of contemplation and silence is conveyed by the uniform hues in the brown palette. The work is presented in a period frame.

Oil on canvas. English school, second half of the 19th century. Serene landscape framing a mill overlooking a flowing stream, set in lush countryside surrounding the farmhouse. Pencil traces with the artist's name (undeciphered) appear on the back of the canvas. The painting is presented in a period gilded frame.

Building with Turkeys 1858

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. English painter Burt made a name for himself with landscapes and views, often populated by figures, of his lands and other regions of the United Kingdom. Here, in the middle of the countryside, a rural building, likely a barn or stable, is depicted, with a few turkeys scratching around in front. The painting has been relined in the past. It is presented in a damaged 19th-century frame.

Limoges Enamels on Copper

Limoges enamels on a copper plate. The enamels highlight the elegant female figure, possibly Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (1755-1793), of whom there are numerous portraits. This small portrait shows her in informal, non-ceremonial attire, yet elegant and refined. Minor damage and paint loss. The painting is presented in a late 19th-century black frame.

Limoges enamels on a copper plate. The enamels highlight the female figure in an elegant gold dress with a fur collar secured by a rose, and the typical hairstyle of late 18th-century ladies. Minor paint loss. The painting is presented in a late 19th-century black frame.

The Announcement of Defeat at Waterloo

Oil painting on canvas. French school of the 19th century. The scene, set in the poor bedroom of an elderly war veteran, who is crying in his bed, sees his family telling him the sad news of the defeat at Waterloo, as can be deduced from the sheet of newspaper in the woman's hands, on which the name of the historic location where Napoleon Bonaparte was definitively defeated. The canvas shows signs of previous restorations, in particular the patch corresponding to the female figure is clearly visible. It is presented in an early 20th century setting.

Oil on canvas. 19th-century Northern European School. The painting is a reproduction of a 1662 work by Jan Siberechts (1627–1703), currently housed in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels. The Flemish painter made a name for himself with his scenes of country and rural life, enlivened by peasant figures going about their daily activities, particularly robust female figures dressed in bright colors. These characteristics are also evident in this reproduction, where, in the farmyard of a farmhouse in the middle of the countryside, the entire family is busy with various activities: on the left, the man unloads bundles of wood from the cart, which a woman is carrying toward the house; on the right, the boy opens the stable to lead the flock of goats and sheep to pasture; in the center are three robust female figures, namely two women observing the third, who is busy... delousing a little girl! The colors of the figures' clothes stand out vividly and brightly against the brown and dark colors of the background elements (the house and the countryside), which are dominated by a sky that is also dark and thick with gray clouds. The painting is presented in a period gold frame.