$2,500
18th/Early 19th Century. The top inset with an ivory miniature, signed Sicardi, of lovers frolicking in a pastoral landscape, the body exquisitely carved with a band of flowering vines, with a center reserve carved with lovers in a pastoral landscape, incised BARNI. A, on scrolled feet. Height 3”. Width 6’ ¾”. Depth 5 ¾”. (Cond: good, well painted and carved, possible new hinge, some discoloring throughout) (4000/6000) Note: Cf. Sicardi, possibly the portrait miniaturist Louis Marie Sicard, (1743-1825) or his son Jean-Pierre Antoine Sicardi, as a first name seems to have never appeared before the signature Sicard, Sicardi, and Sicardy. Louis Marie was the portrait miniaturist to the French Court and specifically to King Louis XVI. The family lived and worked in Paris, Bordeaux and Avignon, as Avignon was then an enclave belonging to the pope, it is believed the family of painters had their origins in Italy. Interestingly, the center scene is incised BARNI.A, possibly the artisan responsible for the ivory carvings, note Barni is also an Italian town in Lombardy, near Lake Cuomo.
Auctioneer:
Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches
Date:
2017-01-16
