LONDON.- Christie’s will hold the auction of Peter Petrou Tales of the Unexpected in London on 30 January 2019. This eclectic sale epitomises the addictive and contagious passion for collecting which underpins the most intriguing collections, invariably sparked by insatiable curiosity and a sense of joy. Presenting an opportunity to travel around the world in 150 lots, spanning 3,000 years of history from 1000 BC to the 21st Century, the sale comprises early sculpture, decorative arts, science and natural history, Japanese, Chinese and Indian works of art, alongside the ethnographical and the plain unusual. With estimates starting from £300 to £100,000, the collection is expected to realise in the region of £1 million. The 10-day pre-sale public exhibition will open on 14 January, providing a veritable feast for the eyes and the imagination.
Benedict Winter, Head of Sale: “Christie’s is thrilled to offer the collection of Peter Petrou, whose infectious taste has delighted clients for over forty years with his diverse, and at times eccentric, take on human history. With so many categories of artistic creation represented, Tales of the Unexpected represents an exciting and intriguing journey through the world and will captivate collectors, seasoned and new.”
Peter and Leonora Petrou commented: “We have enjoyed curating exhibitions at fairs in New York and London including the Winter Show on Park Avenue, Grosvenor House, Masterpiece and PAD, where we have been able to express our wide-ranging interests and incorporate unexpected and diverse art objects from around the world and from many periods in history. This eclectic combination has led to meeting an equally exciting range of people who have become clients and friends and it is these people whose tastes we wish to continue to nurture. This is why we have decided after over forty years of exhibiting to accept Christie’s extremely kind offer to host a ‘Peter Petrou sale’ and concentrate our energies on the smaller number of collectors with whom we have built close relationships. We hope people will enjoy our stories through ages and cultures and take away with you an unexpected piece of history.”
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
Post War and Contemporary Art Lot 10 Vik Muniz (Brazilian, B. 1961) Anatomy, after Francesco Bertinatti (Pictures of Junk) digital chromogenic print 89 x 71 in. (226.1 x 180.3 cm.) Estimate: £10,000–15,000 Muniz incorporates the use of objects such as diamonds, sugar, thread, chocolate syrup and in the present lot's case 'waste' in his practice to create bold, ironic and often deceiving imagery, challenging pre-conceptions of pop culture and art history. in Turin from 1837-39.
Design Lot 101 Studio Job (Founded 2000) Table, from the 'Perished Collection', 2006 produced by Studio Job, the Netherlands, from the edition of 6, one leg inlaid with Job Macassar ebony with laser-cut bird's eye maple marquetry 30 in. (76 cm.) high; 88Ω in. (225 cm.) wide; 35Ω in. (90 cm.) deep Estimate: £30,000–50,000 Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel founded Studio Job in 2000 with a shared vision: a studio with a Renaissance spirit, where traditional and modern techniques are blended to produce superbly crafted and strictly limited editions.
Japanese Lot 41 A Japanese Gilt and Polychrome-Decorated SixFold Screen Meiji Period (Late 19th-early 20th century) Estimate: £6,000–10,000 The sun is particularly symbolic in Japanese tradition and the sun is central to the official flag of Japan, this interesting screen therefore celebrates not only Japanese culture but also the traditional earlier art form of ariso byōbu (rough sea screens) which were popular in Japan from the sixteenth century, works which influenced the famous work The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Hokusai.
Chinese Lot 86 Two Imperial Chinese dated Suzhou 'Golden Bricks', Qing dynasty, Qianlong Period, dated 1749 and 1784 Estimate: £15,000–25,000 Bricks of this superior quality made for the Imperial Palaces became known as Golden Bricks, possibly because of the metallic sound they made when tapped or more likely due to their high value. Although bricks and tiles had been made in China since 1000 B.C., the craft of making these extremely large, hard wearing, dark and lustrous floor tiles for the royal palaces was a particularly long and complicated process requiring a specific very fine clay from Suzhou.
Science and Natural History Lot 46 A glass model of a Portuguese Man O' War Leopold Blaschka, circa 1877 Estimate: £15,000–25,000 Leopold Blaschka was a Czech jeweller working in Dresden who turned his attention to his passion: natural history. Originally in the collection of The Science Museum, London, having been acquired in 1877, it was deaccessioned in 1925-27.
Antiquities Lot 5 A pair of Egyptian bronze eyes and brows, Third Intermediate Period - Late Period, 21st-30th Dynasty, circa 1070-332 B.C. Estimate: £5,000–8,000
Arms and Armour Lot 50 A decorative trophy from the Coldstream Guards Officers’ Mess, from the Battle of Waterloo, circa 1815 Estimate: £30,000–50,000 This victory palm leaf displays arms taken from the field of Waterloo. It consists of seventy-six British 1796 patterned light cavalry sabre blades forming a palm frond, while the top is formed from four Infantry Officer’s sword tips and a French spontoon blade.
Ethnographical Lot 1 A pair of Inupiaq Spruce Snow Goggles Alaska, 19th century Estimate: £3,000–5,000
Silver Lot 21 A Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) Silver ingot from The Rooswijk Cargo, stamped with the mark of the Amsterdam chamber of the VOC, with assay masters mark of a rampant goat, circa 1739 Estimate: £3,000–5,000
Sculpture Lot 105 An Italian polychrome-painted wood sculpture of Saint Sebastian early 16th century, Emilia or Le Marche Estimate: £8,000–12,000
Drawings and Watercolours Lot 94 Marian Ellis Rowan (1848-1922) A pair of studies of butterflies Estimate: £6,000–10,000
South East Asian Lot 36 An Indian bronze figure of the Goddess Parvati Estimate: £6,000–10,000
STORIES THROUGH AGES AND CULTURES – insights shared by Leonora Petrou:
“May I have a look around?” said the five-year-old Peter, imitating his father as they entered the local antique shop. The only objects at the little boy’s eye level were books, and the kindly elderly gentleman (to whom he would later be apprenticed) was delighted to sell the dusty, gold edged, leather bound tomes to the enthusiastic collector for pocket money - refusing any payment at all if it should be a Bible!
The little girl stared across the lake at the reflected concrete curves and glass façade of the Presidential palace of Brasilia. Having arrived from the cobbled streets and overwhelmingly ornate, gilded baroque churches of the old capital, Bahia, the Modernist city perched high in the mountains appeared incomprehensible, but completely wonderful, to the eight-year-old Leonora.
These were seminal moments, each sparking a life-long search to understand beauty in all its forms. Later, in each other’s company, our particular interests merged and developed and our collections found their narrative in the sense of history expressed by each object. No artwork is merely decoration: each expresses the culture of the people by whom it was made.
