Furniture, Sculptures and Works of Art

A department that has always been the flagship of the auction house.

This department which has always been the figurehead of our auction house has, in the past few years, doubled...becoming Via Pontaccio and Via Pitteri in order to meet the varied demands of our ever growing clientele.

Furnishings are divided between the two branches in order to reflect the main characteristic of our auctions: all furnishings can be sold! Not only important objects but everything that is normally contained in a house, in a villa, in a palace or an apartment. The exceptional alongside the daily and the antique alongside the old.

To win the leadership of the ranking's sales of the last Furniture and Old Master Paintings auction are Giuseppe Maggiolini with the richly inlaid walnut and fir secretaire (lot 423, sold € 68,750), equally with the Russian icon attributed to the silversmith Pavel Ovchinnikov (lot 410, sold € 68,750).

Always among the best sales, there are the rare automaton by Johann Ott Halleicher (lot 420, sold € 15,000), and the high Venetian relief made between the 16th-17th century (lot 374, sold € 11,875).

The significant result achieved by furniture seems to regain share and prices on the market. A lively competition has also demonstrated the renewed interest of the national and international public. To stand out are the slab and threaded flap in various woods from the 18th century (lot 276, sold € 37,500), the pair of cabinets veneered in walnut and various kinds of wood (lot 259, sold € 12,500), and the large circular table from the 16th century (lot 221, sold € 12,500).

The appointment at via Pontaccio 12 with the Antique auction is on 28, 29 and 30 March.

Unpublished works and elegant collections will welcome the public of enthusiasts on a journey through more than five centuries of art history.

The first stop of this composite selection of over six hundred lots is in the garden of Palazzo Crivelli, which, amidst hints of spring, offers a natural stage of rare beauty to present an evocative array of ancient statuary. Standing out among century-old trees and March blooms are the 17th-century “Rape of Proserpine” by sculptor Giovanni Battista Buzzi known as the Viggiù (lot 154, € 25,000 - 30,000), the 18th-century “Minerva” sculpted by Tommaso Bonazza (lot 120, € 6,500 - 7,000) and the contemporary pair of large Medici-style vases (lot 67, € 18,000 - 20,000).

From this open-air room, moving on to the building’s elegant interiors, classical iconography returns in the numerous references to neoclassical taste that can be seen in the pieces made between the 18th and 19th centuries. From the scagliola chessboard with Greek fretwork border and reserves decorated with Pompeian scenes by a skilled Roman scagliolista with table by Antonio Mascarone (lot 132, € 12,000 - 14,000), to the precious pair of consoles with top in brocatelle from Siena and marble mirrors (lot 143, € 25,000 - 30,000), the pendulum clock model “Les Maréchaux” by Julien Beliard (lot 105, € 12.000 - 14.000) or the fireplace by the Bolognese architect and sculptor Pelagio Palagi (lot 118, € 10.000 - 12.000).

Haute cabinet making reaches peaks of excellence in other 18th century furniture such as the Piedmontese trumeau with interior chinoiserie decoration (lot 134, € 22,000 - 24,000) and the elegant chest of drawers from the Marche region with a shaped breccia top (lot 144, € 22,000 - 24,000). From the same period are the pair of large Venetian torch-bearers (lot 78, € 6,500 - 7,000), the Aubusson tapestry in “Verdure” with fairy-tale landscape (lot 65, € 5,000 - € 6,000), the gilded bronze candelabra with porcelain jays from the Meissen manufacture (lot 142, € 10,000 - 12.000) and the porcelain group “Puttini con capra” by Giuseppe Gricci (lot 123, € 13,000 - 14,000), evidence of one of the first works of the master ceramist at the Real Fabbrica di Capodimonte.

Particularly interesting is the section dedicated to silverware and objets d'art, where an exquisite silver photo frame by Julius Rappoport for Fabergé (lot 44, € 5,000 - 6,000), an elegant pair of candelabra by Luigi Avolio (lot 24, € 4,500 - 5,000) and a sculpture depicting the “Triumph of Triton” by Eugenio Avolio (lot 21, € 2,400 - 2,600). To these are added a daring “Don Quixote on Rocinante's Horse” signed Buccellati (lot 29, € 2,200 - 2,400) and a selection of goldsmith’s art signed by Alfredo Ravasco, including an agate bowl decorated with sapphires, resting on a lapis lazuli-paved top (lot 138, € 20,000 - 22,000).

Next auctions

Auction: 28, 29, 30 March 2023

Viewing: 24, 25, 26 March 2023

Browse sale

ll Ponte, which in the week of 11-14 October hesitated the Furniture and Old Master Paintings auction. The sales podium was conquered by the sensational price achieved by Jacques Sablet with the Portrait of Giuseppe Cristiano, Count of Salmour (237,500 thousand euros). Following is a secretaire richly inlaid in walnut and fir by Giuseppe Maggiolini (68.8 thousand) and the Russian icon attributed to the silversmith Pavel Ovchinnikov (68,800 thousand). An excellent auction whose turnover came close to 2 million euros in this round.

L’Economia (Corriere della Sera) | 24 October 2022

It is a prestigious Modena collection that opens the next auction of Furniture and Old Master Paintings organized by Il Ponte in Milan: a marathon of over nine hundred lots divided into four days (from 11 to 14 October) and six auction sessions. [...] These are interesting assessments that demonstrate how the current moment is very favorable to the lover and connoisseur of the antique due to the presence of numerous properties slowly formed over the past decades which are now being put on the market in full, thanks to the turnover between generations, creating purchasing opportunities that are difficult to repeat in the future.

Il Giornale dell’Arte | 10 October 2022

As concerns antiques, the three-day session at Il Ponte (12, 13, 14 April) certified the excellent work of the Via Pontaccio premises. Sales amounting to 1.3 million euros, many sought after lots. Such as the Portrait of a Young Man by Fra Galgario (81,000), the Sienese Sano di Pietro with Madonna and Child (68,000), the Saint John the Baptist by the Leonardesque Master (62,000) and the Woodland Landscape by Marten Rijckaert (50,000). In the furniture section the Italian furniture of the eighteenth century was very persuasive as shown by the Genoese "diplomatic" desk (25.000) and a pair of commodes from Southern Italy (16.000).

L'Economia (Corriere della Sera) | 25 April 2022

The auctions of the month at Palazzo Crivelli closed with a flourish. [...] the sale dedicated to Old Master Paintings and Antique Furnishings almost reached 1 million, with 72% of lots sold and prices above minimum estimates. [...] a sought-after portrait in the Caravaggio style - reached alone € 100,000.

Exibart | 29 October 2021

Il Ponte of Milan also celebrates the return of ancient paintings and antiques after the four days of auctions on April 20-23, during which 1,305 lots were sold for a total result of over 3.5 million euros, a record of the department and a revaluation of the base prices of more than 220%. The auction house managed to sell 80% of the lots on average, with peaks of over 93% in the third and fifth rounds. (...)

Il Sole 24 Ore | 1 May 2021

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Records and results

Chest of drawers

with flap in walnut and burr walnut.
Lombardy, first half of the 18th century

Estimate € 45.000 - 50.000

Sold € 180.000

Wilhelm Hopfgarten and Benjamin Ludwig Jollage

"The Lateran obelisk" and "The Flaminian obelisk" chiseled and gilded bronze, bases in Aswan granite.
Rome, first half of the 19th century

Estimate € 5.000 - 6.000

Sold € 87.500

Tuscan master of the mid-14th century

Allegory of Fortitude, sculpture in white marble

Estimate € 80.000 - 85.000

Sold € 87.500

Gaspare Bassani

Pair of commodes.
Lombardy, last quarter of the eighteenth century

Estimate € 70.000 - 75.000

Sold € 75.000

Giuseppe Maggiolini

Secretaire in walnut and veneered fir, threaded in various essences

Estimate € 52.000 - 54.000

Sold € 68.750

Pair of game tables

in solid walnut, walnut veneer with maple and cherry purfling.
Modena, 18th century

Estimate € 55.000 - 60.000

Sold € 62.500

Otto Glenz (attr.)

Aquamanile with bronze plate veneered in carved ivory

Estimate € 12.000 - 14.000

Sold € 60.000

Trapani manufacture

late 17th century early 18th century.
Octagonal plate in gilded bronze, decorated with enamels and red coral

Estimate € 7.000 - 8.000

Sold € 58.750

Bacco and Arianna

A terracotta sculpture on wooden stand.
Early 19th century (h. cm 41)

Estimate € 1.200 - 1.300

Sold € 57.500

Lombard art

of the end of the 14th century.
'Headless figure' in Carrara marble

Estimate € 3.200 - 3.400

Sold € 52.500

Two sculptures

in Vicenza stone depicting Greek divinities.
Veneto, 18th century

Estimate € 7.000 - 8.000

Sold € 50.000

Trumeau

of architectural form veneered, threaded and inlaid with folders in walnut, walnut briar and various woods.
Marche, third quarter of the eighteenth century

Estimate € 35.000 - 40.000

Sold € 50.000

Pair of corner pieces

in solid walnut.
Lombardy, mid-eighteenth century

Estimate € 45.000 - 50.000

Sold € 50.000

17th-century Venetian Sculptor

"Male figure wearing a mantle"
Bronze sculpture on marble base

Estimate € 2.000 - 2.200

Sold € 45.000

16th-century Venetian manufacture

Two enamelled copper finials

Estimate € 2.000 - 2.500

Sold € 42.500

Penna Agostino

Bust of Pope Pius VI Braschi, marble sculpture

Estimate € 30.000 - 32.000

Sold € 43.750

Pair of gaming tables

Modena, 18th century

Estimate € 14.000 - 16.000

Sold € 40.000

Mirror

in carved and gilded wood.
Emilia, late seventeenth century

Estimate € 12.000 - 15.000

Sold € 41.250

Giovanni Marchiori

"Female head" terracotta half bust on its original carved wooden base

Estimate € 16.000 - 18.000

Sold € 35.000

First half 19th-century master

"Antinoo", a Carrara white marble half bust

Estimate € 2.000 - 2.600

Sold € 32.500

Giovanni Battista Della Porta

"Madonna with Blessing Child" 1570/80 ca.
Marble statue

Estimate € 12.000 - 14.000

Sold € 32.500

Appliques

A pair of five-light gilt bronze appliques.
Signed Henry Dasson and dated 1887

Estimate € 5.000 - 6.000

Sold € 31.250

Early 17th century artist by Giambologna

"Fowler" bronze sculpture with black patina on an original pillar-shaped base decorated in relief with fowl

Estimate € 12.000 - 15.000

Sold € 27.500

ALFREDO RAVASCO

Lapis lazuli veneered box with lid surmounted by enamelled fish, various gems, pearls, corals and shells

Estimate € 16.000 - 20.000

Sold € 27.500

Ritt Augustin Christian

"Noblewoman and nobleman" two oval silhouettes on ivory signed at the bottom in beautiful frames with mother-of-pearl tesserae engraved with floral motifs linked by a light engraved silver frame, back plates in tortoiseshell

Estimate € 1.800 - 2.000

Sold € 26.250

ALFREDO RAVASCO

Malachite cup on ebonized wood base with chiselled and enamelled silver peacock with micro-pearls on the crest, a slightly irregular pearl to finish

Estimate € 7.000 - 12.000

Sold € 25.000

Louis XV veneered central desk

Genoa, 1750-60 circa

Estimate € 12.000 - 14.000

Sold € 25.000

Early 19th century art

"Profile of Athena" micromosaic on copper casing.
In bronze easel frame

Estimate € 250 - 300

Sold € 22.500

ALFREDO RAVASCO

Silver reliquary with arched cymatium interspersed with palmette applications surmounted by malachite cabochon.
Containing copies of paintings from antiquity depicting the Crucifixion and Deposition

Estimate € 8.500 - 9.000

Sold € 21.250