A few months before last February’s National Arts and Crafts Conference at the historic Grove Park Inn, I asked David Rudd, co-owner with his wife Debbie Goldwein of Dalton’s American Decorative Arts in Syracuse, NY, if he would lead one of our daily Small Group Discussions entitled “What Is it? Your Unmarked Mystery Pieces.”
I promised to start the conversation with a piece of my own: a hanging copper planter with a suspicious Roycroft mark shown below.
The auction contains an astounding number of radios and accessories, all from the collection of one dedicated enthusiast. Along with the Zenith, an Emerson Catalin (est. $600 – $800) is expected to lead the tabletop radio lots.
A large number of accessories and equipment will also be sold, including some from the very early days of radio and telecommunications. Four Atwater Kent breadboards (est. $500 – $1,000 each) in particular are expected to draw heavy interest. A Federal Type 59 receiver (est. $500 – $700) and a Grebe CR8 Synchrophase receiver (est. $500 – $700) each date to the early 1920’s.
A remake of Lancaster, PA network WGAL’s 1923 broadcasting station stands out among the equipment to be offered. Created by Lloyd Jury using period parts, the station is modeled after the original by Jacob Mathiot and includes paperwork as well as related photos and information.
Over 13,000 radio tubes from various manufacturers (many in the original boxes) will be offered, including dozens of rare examples. Of note are four Western Electric 274A full wave rectifiers (est. $600 – $900 each) and 20+ Western Electric globe and dome tubes.
Ephemera and advertising from the halcyon days of radio will be offered, including Radiotron and General Electric advertising dolls, collections of vintage magazine advertisements, Nipper figures, and more.
The auction will be spread across two days. Saturday, the first day of the sale, will consist of over 500 uncataloged lots of radios, parts, accessories, and ephemera, including many large lots and radio groupings.
The world of antique auctions and estate sales is full of people with interesting stories to tell and replete with mysteries. In the era of PBS’s Antiques Roadshow, people en masse are beginning to understand and appreciate the wild collectability of items ranging from antique French sideboards and vintage arcade games to signed modern lithographs and antique porcelain urns. Whenever I meet people for the first time and they find out what my job is, the first question out of their mouth is always “what is the most interesting piece you have sold?”. I’ve compiled here a short treasury of my favorite things sold at Ahlers & Ogletree Auction Gallery in the last 3 years, things that have taught me lessons and things that have blown me away with their beauty.
There are few faces in modern art more recognizable than Andy Warhol’s portrayals of Marilyn Monroe, so when we were consigned a 1967 serigraph of the actress I was excited to gain first-hand experience with the icon. The beauty is presented at bust length in neon green, yellow, and pink and is signed in pencil by the modern master. This particular print came from the Collection of Benno & Babette Rothschild of Columbus, GA whose incredible estate of modern print work we had the pleasure of selling at auction in January 2016. The 11” x 11” print brought nearly $24,000 in our January 2016 auction.
For our October 2015 “Objets d’Art: Period Glass & Decorative Arts” auction, a stunningly beautiful piece of art glass came in from a living estate in Suwanee, Georgia. Identified by one of our specialists, Laura McCracken, the 5” tall 19th century French gilt metal and enamel adorned iron shaped opaline glass box was absolutely exquisite. Without any apparent comparables in recent auction history we assigned a conservative pre-auction estimate that was blown out of the water on auction day when the sad iron sold for $18,800 to an overseas buyer.
Next, for the same sale in October of 2015 we received a very unique mixed metal water pitcher with a heavy layer of tarnish on it. It came from the estate of a lifelong collector from Lawrenceville, GA who focused on American Aesthetic Movement and Victorian era items, and we were informed by her daughters that this pitcher was the first piece she ever purchased at the ripe age of 16. Given my interest in sterling silver, I dove into researching the piece and discovered its importance in the American silver tradition. The pitcher comprised a hand chased solid sterling silver body “wrapped” with palm fronds over a hammered ground and copper dragonflies applied to two front panels. You could intuit when holding the pitcher that it was significant, and the public agreed by more than doubling the pre-auction estimate with a selling price of $27,900.
And finally, the first piece of furniture that I fell in love with at one of our auctions: a stunning example of American Southern states furniture in the form of a Federal Period cherry and yellow pine chest of drawers. It was so striking in its simplicity, and the wood had a beautiful warm honey tone that seemed to ooze Southern charm. On top of its physical beauty, the chest came from the Estate of Sam & Florence Inman – Sam descended from Samuel M. Inman I for whom the Inman Park neighborhood was named and who was one of the founding fathers of Atlanta as we know it now. Ahlers & Ogletree had the honor of selling the Inman’s estate in August of 2015 with this piece being a highlight hammering for over $15,000, nearly six times its low estimate.
I encourage everyone to visit a live auction at some point. Not only can you experience some fascinating works of art and have the opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind treasures, but the people watching is also stellar. Our live auctions are also the perfect platform in which to sell your collection or an estate when the time comes. Ahlers & Ogletree hosts 4-8 live auctions each year, all open to the public with no admission charge. We are conveniently located on Miami Circle and would love to welcome auction first-timers and veterans alike.
HONG KONG, CHINA–(Marketwired – May 30, 2017) – A new collaboration was formed between Luxify, Asia’s premier online marketplace and 99 Limited Editions, a Luxury Fine Art House based in London. Bringing not only museum-level, affordable fine art to the market but also offering art collectors a new way to tackle the issue behind limited editions within the art world.
Hong Kong’s taste in fine art has exploded in recent years, you need not look further than the recent Asia Contemporary Art Show for proof of this, where art collectors from across the world gathered under one show. Florian Matigny, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Luxify said: “Our city is now a major destination for both experienced and budding Art Collectors. Luxify’s goal is to connect Asian art collectors to long established, innovative Art Galleries throughout the world. 99 Limited Editions being the perfect example of luxury fine art we feel is well suited for the Asian Marketplace.”
Apart from handcrafting museum-level fine art, they are also working towards changing the art sector itself. Jessica van Haselen, the Creative Director of 99 Limited Editions, said: “A largely ignored problem in the art world at the moment is the misleading idea of Limited Editions. It isn’t regulated properly in the art world, especially online and we’ve found many customers being misled around the idea that these limited editions were the only way of getting that specific artwork on their walls.”
She added: “The truth is that many online platforms produce limited editions but when a particular artwork by a recognised artist becomes popular, they then rerelease that piece in a different form. Be it through different materials or formats, such as selling its copyright to a poster printing company that then creates several copies of that very same artwork. The average customer is unaware that artwork reproduced in other wall-hanging formats do not count as part of that limited edition. Completely defeating their initial desire to add something visually unique to their space.”
One of the first actions 99 Limited Editions took to combat this has been to design a new, state-of-the-art Certificate of Authenticity to protect their customer’s investment and right to own something unique. Going the extra mile to legally promise their customers that the limited editions available on an artwork’s product page is truly the only art form that that piece will ever be released in.
According to Florian, authentic limited editions embody what luxury is, which is why Luxify has partnered with 99 Limited Editions to continue bringing that luxurious experience to their audience. Jessica added: “We want to be a role model in what limited editions should be. This is more than a concept; it’s our promise.”
About 99 Limited Edition
99 Limited Editions is a London-based Luxury Fine Art House, with its own in-house design team. Their concept is unique to the art world, creating original limited edition artwork at an affordable price. To explore their limited edition photography fine art and to learn more about their concept, visit: www.99limitededitions.com.
About Luxify
Luxify is a start-up that is only three years old yet has already become Asia’s leading online marketplace for luxury. Providing an easy and safe platform that allows you to discover a vast collection of the very finest in luxury goods. For more information on Luxify, visit: luxify.com.
Asian lots took center stage at Ahlers & Ogletree’s March 25-26 Spring Salon Auction, as a monumental classical painting attributed to Ming painter Qiu Ying (Chinese, 1494-1552) soared to $112,500, and a pair of Chinese huanghuali hardwood side tables made in the first half of the 20th century finished at $26,550. Overall, the auction grossed around $900,000.
Bidding was brisk at the two-day weekend sale, with the total of in-house, phone and absentee bidders numbering close to 600 (absentee and phone bids executed fell just shy of 800). But the real action was online, via LiveAuctioneers.com (9,563 registered bidders), Invaluable.com (2,855 registered bidders), Bidsquare (142 registered bidders) and the A&O app (340 bidders).
Headlining the event was the estate of Anne Eng, owner of Trader Eng’s and House of Eng in Atlanta; the private collection of Susan E. Yeomans of Charleston, S.C. (a direct descendant of former South Carolina Governors Ibra C. Blackwood and Carroll Ashmore Campbell, Jr., and former U.S. President Grover Cleveland); and the estate of Liz Howell Bloodworth of Atlanta.
The work attributed to Qiu Ying, depicting a palace courtyard, was a gouache and ink on paper, laid down on three wood panels, signed and sealed. It was truly monumental – 6 feet 7 inches tall by 21 feet 3 inches wide, and depicted a series of palace buildings and courtyards set in a mountain landscape. The painting was one of the choice lots from Anne Eng’s impressive estate.
The pair of hardwood huanghuali side tables were both square in form and boasted an open, pierced gallery apron, with a box stretcher. Both were apparently unmarked and measured just over 19 inches in height. They, too, came out of the Anne Eng estate. The term huanghauli literally means “yellow flowering pear” wood. It’s desired for its translucent shimmering surface.
Remaining in Asia, a famille rose Chinese Export dinner service, 59 pieces, bearing the marks of the Guangxu period (1875-1908), decorated with butterflies centering an iron red dragon chasing the flaming pearl, breezed to $19,880; and a mid-20th century Chinese carved, stained hardwood bench, having a pierced fretwork back centered with a large, inset dreamstone, went for $10,890.
A ladies’ platinum and diamond engagement and wedding ring set, consisting of an engagement ring having a central natural modern round brilliant cut diamond weighing about 2.65 carats, with two tapering baguette cut diamonds and three to the wedding band, realized $12,980. Also, an 18kt yellow gold and diamond ladies’ Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust wristwatch with diamond bezel on a gold bracelet, topped out at $7,865.
A two-tone, dark green to light face jug by the renowned American folk artist Lanier Meaders (Ga., 1917-1998), made circa 1970s with a strap handle, painted white eyes with black pupils, a pointed nose and ears and six painted white teeth, signed, 9 ½ inches tall, garnered $1,240 (15 lots by Meaders brought a total of $9,650). Also, a large rococo style 20th century bronze Italian two-tiered garden fountain with an allover verdigris patina, about 70 inches tall, rose to $4,960.
The fine art category featured an oil on canvas allegorical figure painting by Robert Jessup (Tex., b. 1952), depicting a woman unexpectedly emerging from a puppet stage, startling a boy with a book in hand, signed and dated, measuring 72 ½ inches by 117 inches (framed), went for $5,890; while an oil on canvas figural rendering of the famed White Hall Inn & Tavern in antebellum Atlanta, Georgia, by Wilbur Kurtz (Am., 1882-1967), titled White Hall 1840, brought $4,425.
A semicircular “Omnibus III” sectional sofa attributed to the German-born American designer Vladimir Kagan designed in 1953 and upholstered in gray microfiber, with a loose back and tufted seat cushions, on Lucite supports, fetched $5,900. Also, an exotic Mid-Century Modern rosewood desk by Roger Sprunger for Dunbar, having a rectangular form and marked on the inside drawer for Dunbar, fetched $2,178.
Ahlers & Ogletree has two auctions planned for the spring and early summer: a May 4th Jewelry & Couture Accessories Auction and a June 10-11 Summer Estates Auction. Details will be made public in the coming weeks.
Beverly Hills, California – March 7, 2017 – Carlyle Galleries International, Inc., (www.carlyle-auctions.com) the online fine art dealers and auctioneers, is hosting their next auction: “ART: European – American – Latin – Asian” on Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 10:00AM Pacific Time.
Carlyle’s latest online auction offers a curated selection of nearly 200 lots of fresh-to-the-market paintings, sculpture, and works on paper. Many of the artworks being offered are from local Los Angeles estates and collections of entertainment industry luminaries.
As always, Carlyle’s auction features an eclectic mix of fine art, including: European, American, Russian, Asian, Latin and Middle Eastern, 19th century, modernist, and Old Master paintings and drawings. Estimates range between $100 and $40,000, offering an opportunity for collectors at all price points.
Auction Highlights include:
Macario Vitalis
Macario Vitalis
Up for bidding will be two mid-1950’s masterpieces by Filipino Moderninst painter Macario Cruz Vitalis (1898-1990), regarded as one the most important Filipino artists of the 20th century.
Born in the small town of Lapog, Locos Sur, in the Philippines, Vitalis moved to the United States, arriving in San Francisco in 1917. Vitalis studied at the California School of Fine Arts, and later the Pennsylvania Academy of Art. Macro Vitalis moved to Paris in the mid-1920’s where he met Picasso, and other important modern painters. Vitalis is noted for his post-impressionist and cubist style of painting, shared by his peers Cesar Legaspi, Vicente S Manansala, who sell for as much as $500,000 at auctions.
The two 1950’s paintings, in Vitalis’ signature cubist style, feature rich, bright colors, depicting French landscapes. Artwork by Macro Vitalis rarely comes to the market, and what makes this offering especially compelling is it’s provenance from the collection of Louis & Annette Kaufman.
Louis Kaufman (1905-1994) was a Romanian American Violinist, and possibly the most recorded musical artist of the 20th century. Kaufman, was the most sought-after violinist in Hollywood during 1930’s-50’s, and performed on the soundtrack of as many as 500 movies, including “Casablanca”, “Spartacus”, and other Oscar-winning films.
Kaufman was largely responsible for bringing the once-forgotten music of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) to its current popularity worldwide. In 1947, Kaufman made the first commercial recording of a then little-known collection of violin concertos by Vivaldi called “The Four Seasons.” This recording won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1951 and was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002
Over the course of their life together, the Kaufmans built a major collection of impressionist and modern art, most of which was donated to the National Gallery of Art and Syracuse University. Their vast, eclectic, and well-informed collection of European, American and Latin art is noted for it’s attention to painterly qualities, color, and quality.
They developed many friendships with artists in Europe and the United States. Kaufman was the first person to buy an oil painting from American abstract expressionist Milton Avery, and he urged other collectors to follow suit. During their many stays in Paris during the 1950’s-60’s, the Kaufman’s collected art of the avant garde artists active in that era. The Macro Vitalis paintings, being offered by Carlyle Auctions were purchased in Paris during that time.
Both paintings by Vitalis, are offered with a reasonable $8,000-12,000 auction estimate.
Edgar Kiechle
Edgar Kiechle
Of interest to collectors of Hollywood history is a painting by Edgar Kiechle (1911-1960), titled “Producers are Unfair” depicting the violent set decorators strike at Warner Brothers in 1945. Kiechle was active as an illustrator and background artist for Hollywood studios in the 1930’s and 40’s, and his paintings were exhibited at LACMA and the San Francisco Legion of Honor, and collected by many actors in Hollywood in the 1940’s and 50’s. The painting is fresh to the market from an old Hollywood estate. Bidding for this rare painting starts at just $800.
American Art:
Paintings by Johan Berthelsen, David Burliuk, Charles Robert Knight, and other rare and highly collected painters from the 19th century to the 1950’s are offered. Of special interest is an early painting by Andrew Thomas Schwartz (1867-1942), titled “Election News”. Likely painted in the 1890’s during his studies at Cincinnati art academy, with Franck Duveneck. The painting bears a Berry-Hill Galleries label verso, and is from a Bel Air estate.
Contemporary Art:
Up for bidding are originals, and multiples by Warhol, Murakami, Arman, Larry Rivers and other big names, with starting prices of just $500.
Impressionist Art:
Numerous paintings by French Impressionist artists are up for bidding in the auction, including two paintings by Georges D’Espagnat (1870-1950), including a rare, large painting of a female nude, which is another of the works from the famed Kaufman estate in Carlyle’s March 16 auction.
Georges D’Espagnat
Old Master Paintings:
As always, Carlyle is offering a wide selection of Old Master paintings and drawings including early Renaissance Italian, Flemish, Dutch, Northern European, and British paintings from 1500’s. Most lots in the Old Masters category are in the $3,000-5,000 range, making them highly accessible to collectors of all budgets, and presenting an exceptional value.
The auction is online-only, and The full auction catalog is available at www.carlyle-auctions.com Bidding is available through: LiveAuctioneers.com and BidSquare.com
Carlyle is now accepting consignments for the April 1, 2017 auction.
About 200 of the 1,491 lots were from the estate of the late businesswoman Diane Smith McIver
ATLANTA, Ga. – A GIA-certified 6.77-carat modern Champagne diamond ring slipped onto a new finger for $31,000 and a monumental figural hall bench (or settle), attributed to R. J. Horner (N.Y., 1853-1922), gaveled for $28,320 at Ahlers & Ogletree’s New Year’s Signature Estates Auction, held January 14th-16th in the firm’s gallery at 715 Miami Circle (Suite 210) in Atlanta.
About 200 of the 1,491 lots in the sale were from the estate of Diane Smith McIver, a prominent businesswoman and former president of Corey Airport Services in Atlanta who recently passed away. These included fine purses and bags by high-end designers, high-end estate jewelry and luxurious furs and designer outfits. The diamond ring just mentioned was not from her estate.
The ring, however, was the top lot in an auction that netted about $1.1 million. The fine diamond boasted Y-Z color and VS1 clarity with strong blue fluorescence. It was flanked to each side with six prong-set tapered baguette cut natural diamonds with a total weight of 1.5 carats, all mounted on three bands. The middle band was platinum and the two outer bands were 14kt white gold.
The late 19th century figural hall bench with Horner attribution was a massive, heavily carved and highly detailed piece, 104 ¼ inches tall by 63 ¼ inches wide, with a pierced carved crest centered with cartouche and cabochon. Carvings included winged mermen, flowers and foliage, griffin, cupids, dolphins and more, the whole raised on front scrolled feet centered with a mask.
The in-house crowd totaled 723 bidders, while 12,637 others registered to bid online – 9,327 on LiveAuctioneers.com, 3,078 on Invaluable.com and 232 on Bidsquare.com. In all, just under 1,500 lots came up for bid. Following are additional highlights from the sale. All prices quoted include the buyer’s premium, which differed depending on how the winning bid was placed.
Items from the McIver estate included a ladies’ Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust two-tone watch, having a gold face with white diamond markers, a fluted bezel and sapphire crystal. The watch brought $8,260. From the Asian category, a fine and diminutive (not quite 5 inches tall) Chinese bronze covered tripod censer from the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), unmarked, made $6,200.
A hand-carved wood and polychrome articulating figural masthead (or ship’s figurehead) in the form of a young man or boy of near-human scale holding a white dove bird, possibly a reference to the biblical story of Noah and the ark, when the Old Testament prophet released a dove while safe aboard ship to find land, apparently unmarked and 35 inches in height, commanded $8,850.
A first-edition first-printing copy of the novel Gone With the Wind (Macmillan Company, 1936), signed on the first free endpaper by author Margaret Mitchell (Am., 1900-1949), sold for $7,080; and a Mid-Century Modern sofa made circa the 1970s by Milo Baughman (Am., 1923-2003), for Thayer Coggin (American, founded 1953), with original amethyst velvet upholstery, hit $3,245.
A Fauvist-style oil on canvas painting signed by Jean de Botton (Fr., 1898-1978), titled Fleurs Joyeuse, done circa 1966-1971 and depicting a low porcelain vase and a bright floral bouquet, realized $5,890. Also from France, an early 20th century French carved oak barley twist tray table on stand with a carved and foliated pierced gallery and parquetry inlaid top finished at $2,596.
An International Silver Company (American, founded 1898) silver plated lighthouse form cocktail shaker, made circa 1920s and with the impressed Meriden mark at the base, breezed to $3,630; and a 126-piece set of fine and heavily silverplate flatware set in the Perles pattern, made circa the 1920s by Christolfe (French, founded 1830), with Christolfe chest, gaveled for $9,920.
Ahlers & Ogletree’s Spring Salon Auction is scheduled for March 25th and 26th, also in the firm’s Atlanta gallery. As with all Ahlers & Ogletree auctions, it will feature quality merchandise in a broad range of categories – hand-selected items, pulled from prominent local estates and collections.
Frederic Schiller Cozzens (American, 1846-1928) was a prominent maritime artist known for his illustrations of sailing ships, yachts and marine scenes. In particular his famous American Yachts, Their Clubs and Races. Like nearly every other great marine artist, he was thoroughly acquainted with every aspect of ship construction and the art of sailing. He is best known for his paintings of great American yachts of the latter half of the 19th century, which were commissioned by many of New York’s leading yachtsmen. He was for the most part a self-taught artist, working primarily in watercolor, pen, ink, and gouache, contributing illustrations and yacht portraits for many magazines, most notably Harper’s Weekly.
Cozzens started his career in the 1860’s as a maritime artist always painting in watercolor. In 1880 the New York Yacht Club commissioned a set of six watercolors which still hang in the club today. By 1883, Cozzens was a well established marine illustrator, and decided to turn his watercolors into prints to expand the availability to the public. His training and technique in watercolor lent itself to the medium of lithography. The first publication was American Yachts, Their Clubs and Races, which contained 26 chromolithographs, on wove paper. These views are considered to be Cozzens’ finest work, vividly conveying the atmosphere and thrill of the regattas they depict. Published by New York based Charles Scribner’s & Son, the series of prints was accompanied by a separate text written by Lieutenant James Douglas Jerrold Kelley, which describes in detail each scene represented.
This collection of lithographs includes portraits of more than one-hundred craft, including sloops, steamers, schooners and ice-boats. The scenes depict some of yachting’s most memorable images of regattas.
The Baltimore Oriole is perhaps one of the most historically important images from John James Audubon’s Birds of America. In 1 828, Audubon travelled to Paris in search of subscriptions and was introduced to Louis Philippe, the Duc d’Orleans by the great French flower painter, Pierre Joseph Redouté. The introduction is documented in a letter dated November 2, 1828, from Audubon to his wife Lucy. In his meeting with the Duc, he presented the watercolor of the “Baltimore Oriole” and this left such an impression that the Duc provided Audubon with a letter of recommendation to the Viscount Martignac, Minister of the Interior, in charge of the royal libraries, and lines of introduction to many of Europe’s monarchs. Thus, it was partly upon the basis of this composition that the Birds of America became a success.However, Audubon’s entrepreneurial skill was also apparent at his meeting with the Duc d’Orleans. Louis-Philippe was so enraptured with the watercolor of the Oriole that he asked to be allowed to keep it as part of his subscription. Audubon declined the sale and instead encouraged him to purchase his oil painting of the Black Grouse, thus introducing the future king to yet another project. Audubon was intent on creating a “Natural History Gallery of Paintings” which was intended to be an integral compliment to the Birds of America. This was to be made up of oil paintings of the Birds. While Audubon completed some of the paintings for this, the demands of finding subscribers for the Birds of America encouraged him to find a partner in his new venture. Thus, he employed the Scottish painter, Joseph Bartholomew Kidd to copy his watercolors. The main goal of the collaboration was to create a “gallery” of embellished compositions based upon Audubon’s birds, thereby working both to promote the Birds of America, then in production, and to create a business venture which would hopefully prove quite lucrative in and of itself. By 1833, Kidd had copied and added sophisticated, dramatic landscapes to almost one-hundred of Audubon’s watercolor compositions. Yet some tension was beginning to arise in the arrangement with Kidd, and by 1834 the collaboration was over. In his painting, he captured the elegance and vitality of Audubon’s orioles with great facility. Every detail of the birds is identical to both Audubon’s watercolor study and the aquatint engraving. Yet, while Kidd was completely faithful in his rendering to the ornithologist’s original intent, compositionally and otherwise, he placed them in a setting that adds emphasis and refinement to the image of the small birds. Kidd’s addition of a sky as background to the birds is deceptively simple, but it creates effects that highlight his ability to work with and improve upon Audubon’s compositions. Towards the bottom of the composition, Kidd added dark clouds which, rather than serving to create an ominous ambience, give way to light blue sky which frames and highlights the birds. Clearly, one of Kidd’s greatest talents was his ability to create a breathtaking environment, and use it to emphasize and frame the birds, not to overshadow them. Kidd’s painting appears, in this way, as the logical culmination of Audubon’s efforts. Because the “Natural History Gallery of Paintings” was not brought to completion, the project has basically been lost to the public eye, in contrast with the amazing, enduring financial and artistic success of both the printed series and also Audubon’s watercolor studies. This is greatly unfortunate in many respects: Audubon intended Kidd’s individual paintings to be, in a sense, the most valuable of his birds, and also the most refined images he would present to the public. This striking example demonstrates the ideal outcome of the two artists’ partnership, before the premature end to their cooperative efforts.
Lodovico Ughi’s topographical map of Venice is a landmark in the cartographic history of Venice. It was printed from twenty copper plates on thirteen sheets, and is flanked by sixteen views of Venice. The Ughi map is the first and still largest topographical map produced of Venice based on accurate field surveys rather than on observation and copying of existing maps. Republished twice again during the century, it became the basis of all later topographical representations of the city, down to the fall of the Republic in 1797. Through its copies and subcopies, it dominated the field of Venetian map making well into the nineteenth century.
Over the centuries, Venetian map makers in general copied one another and did not significantly alter the appearance of the city from year to year. Among the exceptions are Jacopo de Barbari’s magnificent bird’s eye view of Venice printed in 1500 and Ughi’s map of 1729. Not only are they the two the largest printed maps of Venice, but they served for centuries as models for all subsequent plans made of the city.
The bird’s eye view depicted a city from a high oblique angle, enabling the cartographer to convey the vertical dimension of the buildings and architectural features of the city, while at the same time retaining a horizontal dimension, which relied on perspective rather than true scale. The intention was to impress the viewer. The advancements in science and technology in the eighteenth century improved the surveying and measuring techniques used by urban cartographers who produced works progressively more accurate and functional. By the 1730’s bird’s eye views no longer matched the standards of accuracy expected of urban surveyors who were now commonly depicting towns by means of a less decorative but more precise ground plan, the topographical map.
At the time of the printing of the Ughi map, Venice had been an independent republic for almost 1000 years during much of which she had been mistress of the Mediterranean, the principal cross roads between East and West, and the richest and most prosperous commercial center in the civilized world. The Ughi map is nothing less than an advertisement for the beauty, military might, and prosperousness of Venice. The title itself announces it: “Iconografica Reppresentazione della Inclita Citta` di Venezia al Reggio Serenissimo Domino Veneto” (Topographical Representation of the Glorious City of Venice Consecrated in the Reign of the Most Serene Veneto Domaine). Flanking the map portion eight on each side, are sixteen beautiful views of the city of Venice. Views of the city were included because the new planographic type of map now lacks the famous landmarks, attractions, and depictions of fortifications of the bird’s eye view maps (beauty, affluence, and military might).
At the bottom left around the shield of the Morosini are seen putti holding, flags, pikes, and staffs – triumphal war articles. Francesco Morosini, the last of the warrior Doges, led the battle against the Turks in the War for Candia or Crete which was lost to the Venetians after 465 years of occupation in 1669. This symbol would not have been lost on Europeans of the time. The siege of Candia lasted for twenty-two years in which the Venetians, though from time to time aided by European allies, stood alone in the defence of the town and the encroachment of the Turks into Western Europe. At top right is the depiction of an allegorical Venice, triumphantly sailing on the sea pulled by dolphins, sea animals, and divinities, with the lion of St. Mark at her feet, symbolizing her marriage to the Queen of the sea and the riches she derives from it. St. Mark is the patron saint of Venice. At the top left of the map, is the Vitruvian windrose, each wind direction personified by the head of a putti, and the eight major points of the compass, important for a city dependent on seafaring trade.
In the cartouche at the bottom right, is a dedication by Lodovico Ughi to Alvise Mocenigo, the Doge in 1729. He expounds on ‘…the glorious city of Venice, blessed by the Virgin, divine, Queen of the Adriatic, always envied, a constant sustainer of the Catholic religion, known throughout the world for her justice, feared by her enemies, defended in all times by her sons who have sacrificed their lives, …, your most humble servant Calviai. Lodovico Ughi.
Because of the large scale of the map, for the first time place names are directly on the map, rather than using reference letters or numbers correlating to a text below. To distinguish urban elements, the streets are depicted with parallel lines, the religious buildings have closer parallel lines and letters, and the rios and canals are shown by wavy lines. The civic buildings are left in white.
The importance of the printed Ughi map in eighteenth century Venetian culture cannot be underestimated. The publishers, engravers, and artists involved in its creation were some of the most talented and prolific of their time. Though not conclusive, stylistic evidence points to the hand of Francesco Zucchi as the engraver of the sixteen views of Venice which flank the Ughi map. Zucchi, a member of Baroni’s guild, was a prolific book illustrator. The prints of the views, more refined, are directly copied from Luca Carlevarij’s, famous Fabriche e Vedute di Venetia, published in 1703. Carlevarij was one of the famed Venetian “vedutisti” or view painters. Recent studies have uncovered a drawing of Venezia Trionfonte by Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734), an acclaimed Venetian painter, that can now be established as the preparatory drawing for the allegorical figures in the upper right of the Ughi map. The drawing is in album #56 from the library collection of Anton Maria Zanetti (Academia Gallery,Venice), a friend and patron of Sebastiano and Marco Ricci.
SIXTEEN VIEWS:
Left Side – Veduta della Chiesa Ducale di S. Marco – Veduta della Piazza di S. Marco versola Chiesa Ducale – Veduta della Piazzetta verso la Lecca – Veduta delle Prigioni architettura Sansovino – Veduta della Piazza di S. Marco dalla parte del mare – Veduta della Piazza di S. Marco verso S. Geminiano – Produrative nove architettura di Vincenzo Scamozzio – Procurative vecchie architettura di Mastro Bono Proto di S. Marco
Right Side – Veduta della Piazza di Rialto – Chiesa di S. Giorgio Maggiore Architet.ra di Andrea Palladio – Chiesa del Redentore Archi.ra di Andrea Palladio – Chiesa di S. Maria della Salute Architet.ra di Baldisera Longhena – La Lecca sopra la Pescaria Architettura Sansovino – Veduta della Dogana da Mare Architettura di Guiseppe Beloni – Veduta esteriore delle Porte dell Arsenale – Veduta del Ponte di Rialto Architet.ra di Antonio dal Ponte.
