Decade 1810-1819
See also : George I to III Turner Revolution and Empire Louis XVIII to 2nd Empire Ancient French painting Music in old painting Italian sculpture Persia Mechanical craft ca 1800 Watches II French time pieces Tribal Oceania
1812 Boulevard du Crime
2010 SOLD 4.56 M$ including premium
In those happy days when there was no television and no Internet, the entertainment was lived in the streets. Under the Empire, Paris recently awakened to the idea of freedom is a major place for social occupations, nice and varied, of which the painter Boilly is a passionate illustrator.
While the Palais-Royal is the place to go to fashion, Boulevard du Crime becomes the active center of entertainment and amusements. Its real name was Boulevard du Temple, but the Parisians had given it that nickname as a fun for the horrors that the theaters offered to good people.
At Christie's on January 27 in New York, Boilly observes a large crowd engaged in various activities in front of the entry of Café Turc, boulevard du Temple, in 1812. The costumes can not mistake on the time. This slice of Parisian life is an oil on canvas, 73 x 91 cm, estimated $ 3 million.
Typical of its time, the Café Turc was both a place of tasting ice creams and exotic drinks, and a garden. Paris enjoyed during the next decades an intense development of dancing gardens, cafés concerts, theme parks and restaurants.
POST SALE COMMENT
This lively Parisian scene has been regarded by purchasers as one of the masterpieces of Boilly. It was sold 4.56 million $ including premium.
Here the image of the star lot of this evening, shared a few days before the sale by Art Market Monitor.
While the Palais-Royal is the place to go to fashion, Boulevard du Crime becomes the active center of entertainment and amusements. Its real name was Boulevard du Temple, but the Parisians had given it that nickname as a fun for the horrors that the theaters offered to good people.
At Christie's on January 27 in New York, Boilly observes a large crowd engaged in various activities in front of the entry of Café Turc, boulevard du Temple, in 1812. The costumes can not mistake on the time. This slice of Parisian life is an oil on canvas, 73 x 91 cm, estimated $ 3 million.
Typical of its time, the Café Turc was both a place of tasting ice creams and exotic drinks, and a garden. Paris enjoyed during the next decades an intense development of dancing gardens, cafés concerts, theme parks and restaurants.
POST SALE COMMENT
This lively Parisian scene has been regarded by purchasers as one of the masterpieces of Boilly. It was sold 4.56 million $ including premium.
Here the image of the star lot of this evening, shared a few days before the sale by Art Market Monitor.
1812 The Family of the King of Kings
2021 SOLD for £ 2.3M including premium
The Qajar dynasty established a rigorous court protocol. The second Shah of the dynasty, Fath Ali, had one hundred wives and two hundred children who formed his close court. He resided in Tehran and built some palaces. His portraits were used as diplomatic gifts.
A wall of one of the palaces was decorated around 1812 CE with a monumental frieze featuring the Shah on his throne, surrounded by a multitude of his descendants. Copies were made for other palaces, but almost everything has disappeared in the turpitudes of Persian history.
The artist and collector Frederic Clay Bartlett acquired in 1921 a fragment 256 x 442 cm featuring 24 princes assembled by age in three slightly overlapping registers. Each one is identified by an inscription which makes it possible to establish his kinship with Fath Ali.
They wear a crown or a turban according to their rank. The brocade coat and the shawl relate to the Norouz ceremony, the New Year of the Persian calendar. It is assumed that the original group gathered more than one hundred princes in a single attitude, standing with crossed arms.
Bartlett died in 1953. His Qajar fragment has been preserved at Bonnet House, his residence in Fort Lauderdale turned into a museum by his widow. Its importance has just been re-established.
This painting on canvas in oil heightened with gold is estimated £ 1M for sale by Christie's in London on April 1, lot 30. Nothing similar had been auctioned since 1975. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
A wall of one of the palaces was decorated around 1812 CE with a monumental frieze featuring the Shah on his throne, surrounded by a multitude of his descendants. Copies were made for other palaces, but almost everything has disappeared in the turpitudes of Persian history.
The artist and collector Frederic Clay Bartlett acquired in 1921 a fragment 256 x 442 cm featuring 24 princes assembled by age in three slightly overlapping registers. Each one is identified by an inscription which makes it possible to establish his kinship with Fath Ali.
They wear a crown or a turban according to their rank. The brocade coat and the shawl relate to the Norouz ceremony, the New Year of the Persian calendar. It is assumed that the original group gathered more than one hundred princes in a single attitude, standing with crossed arms.
Bartlett died in 1953. His Qajar fragment has been preserved at Bonnet House, his residence in Fort Lauderdale turned into a museum by his widow. Its importance has just been re-established.
This painting on canvas in oil heightened with gold is estimated £ 1M for sale by Christie's in London on April 1, lot 30. Nothing similar had been auctioned since 1975. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
A magnificent Qajar group portrait, attributable To 'Abdallah Khan Naqqashbashi (active 1800-1850) debuts at auction on 1 April. Specialists Sara Plumbly and Behnaz Atighi Moghaddam discuss the opulent era from which it emerged:https://t.co/gGqDtrxf47 pic.twitter.com/Lei9xio7QT
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 25, 2021
1813 Portrait of Murat by Canova
2017 SOLD for € 4.3M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
During the Italian campaign, Joachim Murat was aide-de-camp to General Bonaparte. In 1797 he visited Antonio Canova in his studio in Rome. The young officer was dazzled by the work of the sculptor in the taste of antiquity. In 1801 he bought him two marble groups on the theme of Cupid and Psyche.
Joachim is a dandy who imagines himself perfectly matching the role of Cupid. In 1797 he seduced Napoléon's youngest sister, Caroline, who was only fifteen years old. His military feats are useful for Napoléon, and he can finally marry Caroline in 1800. Canova becomes the portrait sculptor of the Bonaparte family. The statue of Pauline Borghese, another sister of Napoléon, as a half naked Venus Victrix, finished in 1808, is famous.
At the height of his art, Canova begins his series of Ideal Heads in 1811. Murat becomes king of Naples in 1808. In 1813 he calls Canova to Naples to make his portrait and that of Caroline. The two plasters are kept in the museum of Possagno, the hometown of Canova. The artist returns to Rome to carve the marbles.
Neither of the two marbles had been seen. The portrait of King Joachim had been preserved by the Murat family. This 50 cm high bust in Carrara marble, fully conforming to the plaster, is mounted on a 16 cm high marble pedestal. It was sold for € 4.3M including premium by Christie's on November 28, 2017, lot 714. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This portrait is convincingly realistic. The face is proud, almost vain. The curls of hair are luxuriantly rendered. Canova used his secret polishing formula to give the skin a supple texture.
The marble portrait of Queen Caroline has not resurfaced.
Joachim is a dandy who imagines himself perfectly matching the role of Cupid. In 1797 he seduced Napoléon's youngest sister, Caroline, who was only fifteen years old. His military feats are useful for Napoléon, and he can finally marry Caroline in 1800. Canova becomes the portrait sculptor of the Bonaparte family. The statue of Pauline Borghese, another sister of Napoléon, as a half naked Venus Victrix, finished in 1808, is famous.
At the height of his art, Canova begins his series of Ideal Heads in 1811. Murat becomes king of Naples in 1808. In 1813 he calls Canova to Naples to make his portrait and that of Caroline. The two plasters are kept in the museum of Possagno, the hometown of Canova. The artist returns to Rome to carve the marbles.
Neither of the two marbles had been seen. The portrait of King Joachim had been preserved by the Murat family. This 50 cm high bust in Carrara marble, fully conforming to the plaster, is mounted on a 16 cm high marble pedestal. It was sold for € 4.3M including premium by Christie's on November 28, 2017, lot 714. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This portrait is convincingly realistic. The face is proud, almost vain. The curls of hair are luxuriantly rendered. Canova used his secret polishing formula to give the skin a supple texture.
The marble portrait of Queen Caroline has not resurfaced.
Antonio Canova’s sculpture of Joachim Murat sets a new #worldauctionrecord, selling for €4,320,000, quadrupling its pre-sale estimate @christiesparis. Learn more about the rediscovery here: https://t.co/deJWauBOVG pic.twitter.com/f2guocSu3d
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) November 30, 2017
1814 Ideal Heads by Canova
2018 SOLD for £ 5.3M including premium
Specialist in marble, Antonio Canova sculpts figures and monuments of extreme quality. His final art is preceded by models in clay and plaster.
Through a process developed by the artist, the finish is beautiful and brilliant, reaching the delicacy of a real skin. Canova explained his method of passing a brush dipped in sanded water on the surface and then cleaning with a sponge. The marble remains natural without adding pigments.
The busts of young women suit very well the perfection reached by Canova. From 1811 he proposes to his clients his Ideal Heads (Teste Ideali) to which he usually attributes mythological, historical, literary or allegorical denominations. Some of them are presented to patrons whom he wishes to honor.
In March 2012 a marble head is auctioned in London without identification of author, title and provenance. The buyer inspects it after the sale and identifies it as the Bust of Peace carved by Canova in 1814 while he was working on a full length statue on that theme for a Russian minister.
At this time the whole Europe is eager to end the Napoleonic wars. The Pope asks for help from Canova for the repatriation of looted art. The Bust of Peace is promised and then delivered by the artist to a British Lord involved in this project. The identification of the piece was lost by the descendants.
This bust 53 cm high including its white marble socle will be sold as lot 25 by Sotheby's in London on July 4. The video below shows that its quality is real. It is surprising that no attribution was attempted in 2012.
Through a process developed by the artist, the finish is beautiful and brilliant, reaching the delicacy of a real skin. Canova explained his method of passing a brush dipped in sanded water on the surface and then cleaning with a sponge. The marble remains natural without adding pigments.
The busts of young women suit very well the perfection reached by Canova. From 1811 he proposes to his clients his Ideal Heads (Teste Ideali) to which he usually attributes mythological, historical, literary or allegorical denominations. Some of them are presented to patrons whom he wishes to honor.
In March 2012 a marble head is auctioned in London without identification of author, title and provenance. The buyer inspects it after the sale and identifies it as the Bust of Peace carved by Canova in 1814 while he was working on a full length statue on that theme for a Russian minister.
At this time the whole Europe is eager to end the Napoleonic wars. The Pope asks for help from Canova for the repatriation of looted art. The Bust of Peace is promised and then delivered by the artist to a British Lord involved in this project. The identification of the piece was lost by the descendants.
This bust 53 cm high including its white marble socle will be sold as lot 25 by Sotheby's in London on July 4. The video below shows that its quality is real. It is surprising that no attribution was attempted in 2012.
Lost masterpiece by Antonio Canova appears at auction https://t.co/X719YtNAgs pic.twitter.com/qnGsGCaFoM
— ArtDaily (@artdaily) May 29, 2018
1814 Breguet, the Physicist of Time
2012 SOLD 4.3 MCHF including premium
A watchmaker is primarily a physicist. Nothing is simple for reaching the extreme precision required for time measuring scientific instruments. They have to deal with gravity, thermal expansion, and also the irregularities of the sun's apparent motion.
The eighteenth century had highly important mechanics. Abraham-Louis Breguet, micro-mechanical genius, settled into pocket watches the most extraordinary complications of the clocks, and was the inventor of basic concepts such as the tourbillon and the wristwatch.
On May 14 in Geneva, Christie's sells two Breguet watches, each estimated CHF 800K. Both have two main dials, but for quite different reasons.
The earliest, sold in 1814, has two similar and symmetrical complete mechanisms. The idea of the inventor was to compensate the mechanical resonance, a source of error that was a challenge for the watchmakers. This is the first of three watches made by Breguet on this principle. The other two will be provided to the kings of England and France. Here is the link to the catalog.
The complication of the other is even more spectacular. One mechanism provides the official time calculated according to a regular day of 24 hours, and the other mechanism provides real solar time as it was read from sundials at the ground. The motion drift of earth and sun can reach a quarter of an hour, almost repetitively from year to year.
This specimen with the equation of time, sold in 1827, is posthumous. Antoine-Louis Breguet had succeeded his father. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Forget the estimates. The press release was convincing, and the two Breguet watches are masterpieces from one of the most brilliant periods of watchmaking.
Technically very bold, the watch with two movements from 1814 was sold CHF 4.3 million including premium.
The watch with the equation of time was sold CHF 2.55 million including premium.
The eighteenth century had highly important mechanics. Abraham-Louis Breguet, micro-mechanical genius, settled into pocket watches the most extraordinary complications of the clocks, and was the inventor of basic concepts such as the tourbillon and the wristwatch.
On May 14 in Geneva, Christie's sells two Breguet watches, each estimated CHF 800K. Both have two main dials, but for quite different reasons.
The earliest, sold in 1814, has two similar and symmetrical complete mechanisms. The idea of the inventor was to compensate the mechanical resonance, a source of error that was a challenge for the watchmakers. This is the first of three watches made by Breguet on this principle. The other two will be provided to the kings of England and France. Here is the link to the catalog.
The complication of the other is even more spectacular. One mechanism provides the official time calculated according to a regular day of 24 hours, and the other mechanism provides real solar time as it was read from sundials at the ground. The motion drift of earth and sun can reach a quarter of an hour, almost repetitively from year to year.
This specimen with the equation of time, sold in 1827, is posthumous. Antoine-Louis Breguet had succeeded his father. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Forget the estimates. The press release was convincing, and the two Breguet watches are masterpieces from one of the most brilliant periods of watchmaking.
Technically very bold, the watch with two movements from 1814 was sold CHF 4.3 million including premium.
The watch with the equation of time was sold CHF 2.55 million including premium.
>1814 Made by Goya for the Pleasure of Art
2011 SOLD 2.3 M£ including premium
For thirty years, beginning in 1796, Goya made drawings for his personal use. These 550 works were first grouped in sets of subjects, then in eight albums that were numbered A to H with no chronological order. These drawings are not dated.
This is possibly a unique case of a top artist who built a singular and intimate vision of humanity apart from his official work. The accuracy of the line is worthy of the best works of the master, but none of these drawings can be considered as the outline of a painting.
After consulting the databases, I discovered an amazing fact in my own archives. The five drawings in three sales that I have discussed in this group are the only ones that have been auctioned since I started my work in 2008. I cannot hide it: I like the drawings of Goya.
On July 5 in London, Christie's sells one of the largest, 26 x 19 cm. The paper mark makes it dated after 1814. It is estimated £ 2M, and shared by Christie's Audio.
Numbered 37, it was entitled "Hutiles Trabajos" by Goya himself. The scene is lovely. Two squatting women wash clothes while another one hangs the laundry to a branch. Engaged in this essential work, they talk nicely. According to the press release, we must compare the drawing to its counterpart, Number 36, where women are fighting.
The rather static theme is animated by the wind in the skirts and laundry, and by the remarkable diagonal of the hanging clothes.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good result, £ 2.3 million including premium, for this beautiful drawing that Christie's had failed to sell in Paris in March 2007.
This is possibly a unique case of a top artist who built a singular and intimate vision of humanity apart from his official work. The accuracy of the line is worthy of the best works of the master, but none of these drawings can be considered as the outline of a painting.
After consulting the databases, I discovered an amazing fact in my own archives. The five drawings in three sales that I have discussed in this group are the only ones that have been auctioned since I started my work in 2008. I cannot hide it: I like the drawings of Goya.
On July 5 in London, Christie's sells one of the largest, 26 x 19 cm. The paper mark makes it dated after 1814. It is estimated £ 2M, and shared by Christie's Audio.
Numbered 37, it was entitled "Hutiles Trabajos" by Goya himself. The scene is lovely. Two squatting women wash clothes while another one hangs the laundry to a branch. Engaged in this essential work, they talk nicely. According to the press release, we must compare the drawing to its counterpart, Number 36, where women are fighting.
The rather static theme is animated by the wind in the skirts and laundry, and by the remarkable diagonal of the hanging clothes.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good result, £ 2.3 million including premium, for this beautiful drawing that Christie's had failed to sell in Paris in March 2007.
One... Two... Three Goyas
2008 SOLD 2.3 M£ including premium
They had disappeared since their last time at auction in Paris in 1877, and Christie's sold them now in London on July 8. They are three drawings by Goya, well advertised in newspapers when the press release was issued at the end of last month.
One wonders what the buyer of 1877 wanted to do, because they were found still protected by the mounting used for nailing on the walls of the Hotel Drouot. The advantage for buyers today is that these drawings which spent two-thirds of their time in the dark are in a condition described by Christie's as exceptional.
A scene showing four witches in flight is estimated £ 800 K.
The second drawing is political. An enemy of the people is tied behind a dead horse and observed by a gang of dogs in the arena of Saragossa (600 K £).
Repentance, the third of these drawings, shows the anguish of a character in prayer, and is particularly notable for the quality of its execution, characterized by the accuracy of the brush strokes (700 K £).
A drawing is more fragile than a painting. His condition is very important to consider the price. I therefore want to believe what Christie's said, that this group of drawings by Goya is the most important to come at auction for 30 years.
POST SALE COMMENT
The success was assured in advance for such a package, but it is nice to see that one of the three drawings made a remarkable price:
The group of witches has sold £ 2.3 million fees included. Alone, this drawing almost got the price that was expected for the three.
Repentance and the scene of Saragossa have both slightly exceeded their low estimates, respectively at 960 and 770 K £ costs included.
One wonders what the buyer of 1877 wanted to do, because they were found still protected by the mounting used for nailing on the walls of the Hotel Drouot. The advantage for buyers today is that these drawings which spent two-thirds of their time in the dark are in a condition described by Christie's as exceptional.
A scene showing four witches in flight is estimated £ 800 K.
The second drawing is political. An enemy of the people is tied behind a dead horse and observed by a gang of dogs in the arena of Saragossa (600 K £).
Repentance, the third of these drawings, shows the anguish of a character in prayer, and is particularly notable for the quality of its execution, characterized by the accuracy of the brush strokes (700 K £).
A drawing is more fragile than a painting. His condition is very important to consider the price. I therefore want to believe what Christie's said, that this group of drawings by Goya is the most important to come at auction for 30 years.
POST SALE COMMENT
The success was assured in advance for such a package, but it is nice to see that one of the three drawings made a remarkable price:
The group of witches has sold £ 2.3 million fees included. Alone, this drawing almost got the price that was expected for the three.
Repentance and the scene of Saragossa have both slightly exceeded their low estimates, respectively at 960 and 770 K £ costs included.
1816 Turner inspired by the Greeks
2009 SOLD 13 M$ including premium
An oil on canvas by Turner, 117 x 178 cm, was sold for $ 13M by Sotheby's on January 29, 2009, lot 92.
It is a temple of Jupiter Panellenius (ie friend of the Greeks). This painting is later (1816), but the composition is similar to that of 1808: an animated green leads to a remote monument, flooded with sunlight, which is the strong point of the image. The characters of the English villa were walkers. Those of the temple, dressed according to antique fashion, play a round dance.
Turner made only three paintings inspired by Greece. We must see the influence of the romantic come back to the antique (that at that time influenced also the cloth fashion) and not a political mood, as the movements that would lead to the independence of Greece were just beginning in 1816.
Considering its great size, this Turner painting is probably one of the most important to be still in private hands. It expects $ 12 million.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
It is a temple of Jupiter Panellenius (ie friend of the Greeks). This painting is later (1816), but the composition is similar to that of 1808: an animated green leads to a remote monument, flooded with sunlight, which is the strong point of the image. The characters of the English villa were walkers. Those of the temple, dressed according to antique fashion, play a round dance.
Turner made only three paintings inspired by Greece. We must see the influence of the romantic come back to the antique (that at that time influenced also the cloth fashion) and not a political mood, as the movements that would lead to the independence of Greece were just beginning in 1816.
Considering its great size, this Turner painting is probably one of the most important to be still in private hands. It expects $ 12 million.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1818 Portrait of the Dedreux Children by Géricault
2009 SOLD 9 M€ including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
A pupil of Carle Vernet and Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, Théodore Géricault wanted to express excessive emotions. He chose as themes the officers on horseback of the Napoleonic Wars and the muscular male nudes in the style of Michelangelo.
The fall of the Empire opens a new phase, which culminates in 1819 with The Raft of the Medusa, a monumental work without mercy which symbolizes the true destiny of men, in a heroism devoid of meaning and hope.
In his workshop of the rue des Martyrs, Géricault regularly meets other artists including Carle and Horace Vernet, Delacroix and Dedreux-Dorcy. He makes a few portraits of the two children of Dedreux-Dorcy's brother.
In 1818 Géricault is forced against his will to take an interest in children. He could not recognize the birth of his son Georges-Hippolyte, the result of his incest with the wife of his uncle and declared as the son of the housemaid born from an unknown father.
The portrait of Alfred and Elise Dedreux is an oil on canvas 99 x 79 cm painted in 1818. The boy is 8 years old and the girl two years younger. They resemble each other and are similarly hairstyled and dressed. The girl is standing, dominating this scene.
At that time Géricault sought to convert into a neo-classical style. The double portrait is chilling. The gazes of the children are uncompromising for this world of adults in which they do not enter. The landscape behind them is arbitrary and unidentifiable. Two small flowers fall from the hand of the girl who pays no attention to them. This picture is a double tronie, anticipating by its psychological stiffness the studies of mental patients of the later period of the artist.
The young Alfred was passionate about the images of horses painted by Géricault. He will specialize in this theme under the name of Alfred de Dreux, thus usurping a noble particle.
The portrait of the Dedreux children remained in Elise's family until 1925. From the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection, it was sold for € 9M including premium by Christie's on February 23, 2009 over a lower estimate of € 4M, lot 83. It was bought in that sale by Liliane Bettencourt. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The fall of the Empire opens a new phase, which culminates in 1819 with The Raft of the Medusa, a monumental work without mercy which symbolizes the true destiny of men, in a heroism devoid of meaning and hope.
In his workshop of the rue des Martyrs, Géricault regularly meets other artists including Carle and Horace Vernet, Delacroix and Dedreux-Dorcy. He makes a few portraits of the two children of Dedreux-Dorcy's brother.
In 1818 Géricault is forced against his will to take an interest in children. He could not recognize the birth of his son Georges-Hippolyte, the result of his incest with the wife of his uncle and declared as the son of the housemaid born from an unknown father.
The portrait of Alfred and Elise Dedreux is an oil on canvas 99 x 79 cm painted in 1818. The boy is 8 years old and the girl two years younger. They resemble each other and are similarly hairstyled and dressed. The girl is standing, dominating this scene.
At that time Géricault sought to convert into a neo-classical style. The double portrait is chilling. The gazes of the children are uncompromising for this world of adults in which they do not enter. The landscape behind them is arbitrary and unidentifiable. Two small flowers fall from the hand of the girl who pays no attention to them. This picture is a double tronie, anticipating by its psychological stiffness the studies of mental patients of the later period of the artist.
The young Alfred was passionate about the images of horses painted by Géricault. He will specialize in this theme under the name of Alfred de Dreux, thus usurping a noble particle.
The portrait of the Dedreux children remained in Elise's family until 1925. From the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection, it was sold for € 9M including premium by Christie's on February 23, 2009 over a lower estimate of € 4M, lot 83. It was bought in that sale by Liliane Bettencourt. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
< 1819 The Guardian of the Taboos
2017 SOLD for € 6.3M including premium
The destruction of Hawaii's idols resulted from struggles for tribal power without the intervention of the European travelers.
When James Cook visits Hawaii in 1778, the territory is divided. He meets Kalani'opu'u, the king of Kona district. In the following year a violent quarrel with that king results in the murder of the captain. Kalani'opu'u died in 1782, leaving the political power to a son and the religious power to his nephew Kamehameha who thus became the high priest of the god of war Ku also known as Ku Ka'ili Moku.
With this terrifying support Kamehameha manages to conquer the entire territory of Hawaii and starts a dynasty that will last until 1872. He builds for Ku large temples populated by statues with various ritual roles.
A complex social system named Kapu based on taboos protected the elites against middlemen and slaves. When Kamehameha dies an octogenarian in 1819 his favorite wife becomes queen and regent. Women had in the Kapu a subsidiary role that did not please the new regent. She forces the young Kamehameha II to abolish Kapu and to destroy temples and idols. English travelers will manage in the 1820s to collect a few pieces that escaped the iconoclasts, so being the ultimate symbols of a frightening pagan mythology.
On November 21 in Paris, Christie's sells as lot 153 a 53 cm high statuette of Ku made during the reign of Kamehameha I. It had been detached from a column on which it had served as a guardian in a temple or a necropolis.
The head is oversized above the muscular body whose attitude is powerful. The broad mouth shaped as a horizontal eight is fitted with teeth throughout its perimeter in an expression of total ferocity that suited Kamehameha I's ambitions.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
When James Cook visits Hawaii in 1778, the territory is divided. He meets Kalani'opu'u, the king of Kona district. In the following year a violent quarrel with that king results in the murder of the captain. Kalani'opu'u died in 1782, leaving the political power to a son and the religious power to his nephew Kamehameha who thus became the high priest of the god of war Ku also known as Ku Ka'ili Moku.
With this terrifying support Kamehameha manages to conquer the entire territory of Hawaii and starts a dynasty that will last until 1872. He builds for Ku large temples populated by statues with various ritual roles.
A complex social system named Kapu based on taboos protected the elites against middlemen and slaves. When Kamehameha dies an octogenarian in 1819 his favorite wife becomes queen and regent. Women had in the Kapu a subsidiary role that did not please the new regent. She forces the young Kamehameha II to abolish Kapu and to destroy temples and idols. English travelers will manage in the 1820s to collect a few pieces that escaped the iconoclasts, so being the ultimate symbols of a frightening pagan mythology.
On November 21 in Paris, Christie's sells as lot 153 a 53 cm high statuette of Ku made during the reign of Kamehameha I. It had been detached from a column on which it had served as a guardian in a temple or a necropolis.
The head is oversized above the muscular body whose attitude is powerful. The broad mouth shaped as a horizontal eight is fitted with teeth throughout its perimeter in an expression of total ferocity that suited Kamehameha I's ambitions.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
La vente de la collection d'art tribal de Pierre Vérité a rencontré un grand succès hier soir, avec l'adjudication d'une statuette de divinité hawaïenne pour 6 345 000 euros #ArtTribal #CollectionVerite #ChristiesParis #AuctionResult pic.twitter.com/eCLJpiQgx4
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) November 22, 2017
