Lot 0007
Russian Ormolu and Malachite Neo-Russian Pen Holder
Estimate: 2500-3000€
Russian Ormolu and Malachite Pen Holder
. Russia, late 19th century.
Gilt bronze, malachite; cast, chased, engraved, polished. Dimensions: 20 x 16.
A striking desk pen holder conceived in the Neo-Russian taste, combining the warm lustre of gilt bronze with the richly banded surface of malachite. The upper holder is formed as a flaring conical vessel with a finely striated surface, raised on a truncated malachite pedestal mounted within bronze rims. Its architectonic silhouette is enlivened by applied mounts and zoomorphic finials, which lend the object a distinctly archaizing and ornamental character.
The design draws upon motifs associated with traditional Russian wooden architecture, particularly the carved decoration of window surrounds and nalichniki. The scrolling side ornaments and stylized animal-head mounts translate the vocabulary of vernacular woodcarving into metalwork, creating an effect at once monumental and decorative.
Starting price: 2000€
Estimate: 2500-3000€
Hammer Price: €
Related Lots
-
Lot 0005
Bronze Sculpture “The Gunsmith” by Adrien Gaudez (1845–1902)
Estimate: 3000-3500€
Lot 0005
Bronze Sculpture “The Gunsmith” by Adrien Gaudez (1845–1902)
Estimate: 3000-3500€Adrien Gaudez (1845–1902)
L’Armurier (The Gunsmith)
France, late 19th – early 20th century
Bronze
Height: 65 cmThis striking bronze sculpture, L’Armurier (“The Gunsmith”), is a masterful example of Adrien Gaudez’s ability to infuse technical realism with expressive vitality. The figure of a craftsman at work embodies both physical strength and concentration, capturing the dignity of manual labor and the artistry of creation.
A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Gaudez debuted at the Paris Salon in 1864 and continued to exhibit there throughout his career. Initially influenced by classical traditions, he later incorporated the fluid lines and naturalistic movement characteristic of late 19th-century French sculpture.
Following his imprisonment during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Gaudez produced several commemorative works, including a monument to fallen French soldiers (1892). His oeuvre encompasses portraits, allegorical figures, and monuments distinguished by meticulous modeling and emotional depth.
L’Armurier reflects Gaudez’s fascination with the nobility of craftsmanship — a recurring theme in his work — and stands as a testament to the transition from academic classicism to the more dynamic and expressive forms of the Belle Époque.
Starting price: 2500€
Estimate: 3000-3500€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0008
Russian Gilt Bronze Troika on Malachite Base, after Grachev
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Lot 0008
Russian Gilt Bronze Troika on Malachite Base, after Grachev
Estimate: 6000-8000€After Vasily Yakovlevich Grachev (1831-1905) Troika on a Malachite Base. St Petersburg, second half of the 19th century. Gilt bronze, malachite; casting, chasing, gilding, mounted on a polished malachite plinth. Dimensions: 24 x 8 cm.
A dynamic cabinet sculpture representing a Russian troika in full motion, with two drivers seated in a sleigh drawn by a team of three horses. The composition is conceived with pronounced forward thrust: the horses are shown at different angles and in varied strides, while the taut reins and diagonally arranged harnesses heighten the sense of speed and tension.
The model relates to the work of Vasily Yakovlevich Grachev, one of the notable sculptors of realist orientation active in the field of Russian cabinet bronze. Largely self-taught, Grachev became famous for his small-scale sculptural models in the Russian manner, especially scenes drawn from national life. Complex multi-figure groups of this kind were beyond the technical scope of his own workshop after its establishment in 1885 and are therefore closely associated with casts produced at the St Petersburg foundry of Carl Woerfell, where a number of Grachev’s models were cast.Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0006
Marcel Début. Bronze Sculpture “Robinson with Dog”
Estimate: 4000-5000€
Lot 0006
Marcel Début. Bronze Sculpture “Robinson with Dog”
Estimate: 4000-5000€Standing Robinson with Dog, France, circa 1900, Marcel Début (French, born 1865)
Burnished bronze
Signed MARCEL DEBUT
Height: 80 cmA finely modeled bronze sculpture depicting a standing figure of Robinson, dressed in a short fur garment and holding a staff and axe, accompanied by a large dog beside him. The composition rests upon a naturalistic, rock-like base, showcasing Début’s remarkable skill in anatomical detail and texture. This work reflects the artist’s academic training and the late 19th-century French fascination with adventure and heroism.
Starting price: 3500€
Estimate: 4000-5000€
Hammer Price: € -
Lot 0009
Rare Russian Bronze and Malachite Tea-Drinking Inkstand
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Lot 0009
Rare Russian Bronze and Malachite Tea-Drinking Inkstand
Estimate: 6000-8000€A Rare Russian Inkstand with Tea-Drinking Scene Moscow (?), 1850s. Bronze, malachite, glass; casting, gilding, malachite mosaic. Dimensions: 19 x 16 cm.
This rare inkstand is conceived as a compact genre scene centered on the ritual of Russian tea-drinking. A bearded seated figure, shown in quiet concentration with a teacup in hand, is placed beside a table covered with a cloth and set with a samovar, cup with saucer, and small vessels. The writing implements are ingeniously absorbed into the composition, so that the object unites narrative detail with practical function in the manner characteristic of mid-19th-century Russian cabinet bronzes.
Such objects belong to the important development of Russian genre bronze in the pre-Reform decade, when the amusing peasant types of earlier decades gradually gave way to more varied and observant scenes drawn from everyday national life. In works of this kind, functional desk accessories were transformed into miniature sculptural tableaux, combining ornamental purpose with storytelling.
Comparable item in Russian State Historical museum: https://catalog.shm.ru/entity/OBJECT/2870625?query=чаепитие&index=42Starting price: 5000€
Estimate: 6000-8000€
Hammer Price: €