Dear Friends,
We are pleased to present to you the catalogue of our auction 174. A three session special auction, covering an extended set of art pieces of particular quality, rarity and antiquity, whose cover is illustrated by a luminous round oil on board, "Our Lady with the Child Jesus and St. John the Baptist, Italian school, possibly Florentine, 15th/16th C. (lot 524).
An 16th/17th C. Indo-Portuguese cabinet known as "Chapel" (lot 733) illustrates with perfection the originality, the beauty and the cultural richness of Lusíada Art: art pieces which were commissioned in the time of the Portuguese Discoveries, from Africa to the Far East – a crossover between Portuguese art and culture and the art and culture, beliefs, traditions, styles and craftsmanship of India (Indo-Portuguese Art, lot 687 and 743), Ceylon (Singhalese-Portuguese Art, lot 702), China (Sino-Portuguese Art) or Japan (Namban Art, lot 731 and 732) to name just a few countries with which we closely related to since the 16th C.
As to Portuguese painting, special highlight to a "Resurrection", circa 1530, and to an extensive set of works of author, including Silva Porto, José Malhoa, João Vaz among others.
In the domain of the Old Book among a selected set of exceptional items, the Portuguese original edition of Fernão Mendes Pinto "Peregrinação” (Pilgrimage" (lot 993) is to be mentioned, as well as the prestigious 18th C. Spanish Ibarra edition of "El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha" by Cervantes, and several manuscripts from the 17th to the 19th C.
A particular reference is due to the significant collection of Chinese porcelain, silverware and jewellery, Portuguese and foreign furniture, long case and table clocks of the 18th and 19th C. (lots 858-873) and various other pieces of haute-décoration namely those presenting micro-mosaic.
Finally, a brief reference to new legislation, adopted in last August, which introduced significant changes and new requirements in the areas to which they relate:
The Law Decree 155/2015, of the 10th of August, which approved the Portuguese new legal framework of the auction activity – which now depends on a previous authorization to be granted by the Direcção Geral das Actividades Económicas - DGAE; implying several individual and company requirements; and imposing new rules and procedures, including liability insurances.
We are glad to inform you that our company has already the necessary formal authorization to develop its activity, as we hold already the necessary liability insurance policy; as to our Business Conditions, they already observed, in essence, the new requirements that oversee good practices, such as the impossibility for the auctioneer or his partners and responsible to be an interested party in any business relating to the goods concerned.
As for the new Jewellery and Marks Legal System - an extensive Law Decree which regulates the whole area – it naturally restates the prohibition of trade of unmarked precious metals: in practice, it requires that all modern or ancient either Portuguese or foreigner precious metal articles are properly marked.
As it can be easily verified by simple consultation of our catalogues, Cabral Moncada Auctioneers long observes that legal enforcement, a practice that is to become common in Portuguese auctions from now on.
Hoping to have the pleasure of welcoming you soon, we wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Pedro Maria de Alvim Miguel Cabral de Moncada