In mid-16th century Renaissance Italy, the production of panels and tabletops using inlays of semiprecious stone began, with materials and geometric designs deriving from classical Roman motifs.

The art of crafting decorative objects from hardstones developed in Western Europe in the Renaissance, but in Russia, the lapidary arts did not flourish until the mid-18th century, when St. Petersburg was being built. Peter the Great founded the first imperial Russian lapidary in 1721. By 1800 Russia's rich mineral deposits were vastly exploited and countless varieties of stone were discovered; interest in geologic exploration was so intense it had been called "a common disease" by Empress Catherine the Great. This pair of candlesticks is an example of the early work of the Russian manufactories. A pair of columnar table decorations made at Kolyvan in 1790 for the Stroganoff Palace, now in The Hermitage, are a related example from the late 18th century. Both pairs use red jasper for the top and base, and quartz for the shaft. Count Alexander Stroganoff (1733-1811) was a great patron of the arts, president of the Imperial Academy of Arts and director of the Imperial Lapidary works.

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 'R.S. 1804' (lower right). The featured ship is the Alfred, shown in three positions, thought to be off the Mersey, Liverpool.

Of ebony, silver inlay, mounted with Tulyakov jasper, lapis lazuli, agate, amber, striated green glass and with silver inlay. Each in the form of a tapering obelisk, panelled to the front and inlaid with shaped hardstones, raised on four ball feet above a rectangular plinth panelled to the front and set with shaped stones above a molded edge set on a plain frieze with inlaid stone to the front, above a plain plinth base.

This remarkable depiction of the surface of the full moon in oil is the work of Julius Grimm (1842-1906), scientific photographer and Hofphotograph (court photographer) to the Baden court, and was presented to Grand Duke Friedrich I von Baden in 1888. Grimm knew of the Grand Duke's fascination with astronomy and was granted an audience with Friedrich in November 1887, during which Grimm's photographs of the moon were discussed. Soon, Grimm embarked on an ambitious project to produce an oil painting of the moon, based on his photographs, to be presented to the Grand Duke. Grimm's representation features an arrow to the left of the moon, which indicates the direction of illumination adopted by Grimm. The shadowed surface would have been based on photographs of the different phases of the moon, when shadows do occur, as well the model-making technique that Grimm also adopted.

Of tempera on canvas. Each panel depicting a vignette from the tale of Zemire et Azor showing elegant ladies and gentlemen in period costume variously swooning and indicating horror at the sight of the beastly Azor. All set within a painted faux gilt frame.

The present pair of oval paintings represent the mythological figures of Hercules and Cronos. The composition of the paintings is closely related to the forms of antique sculpture, here given greater animation and a baroque sense of drama. Hercules is shown at the height of his powers with a massive, bulky presence and the closely trimmed beard of a young man. He is often depicted in a similar pose, astride the Nemean lion, whose slaying was the first of his twelve labors. The second painting depicts Cronos or Saturn, the ancient god of agriculture who, in his Greek manifestation, features in the myth of creation and came to be associated with Time. He is always shown as an aged man, with a long beard and without the strident virility of the younger Hercules. As the deity of agriculture and of time, he rests on a scythe with a snake consuming itself, an ancient symbol of eternity, hanging from the withered branch on which he leans.

Oil on canvas. The painting set in a molded frame.

Watercolors on paper depict the following aircraft:

Albatros D III: Height 21.7" (55 cm); Width 26.8" (68 cm). Aereo de Caccia: Height 39.4" (100 cm); Width 29.9" (76 cm). AV Berg D I e Fiat R 2: Height 29.9" (76 cm); Width 39.4" (100 cm). Brandenburg A; Height 35.4" (90 cm); Width 28.3" (72 cm). Gotha G IV: Height 29.1" (74 cm); Width 41.3" (105 cm). Junkers J 7: Height 41.7" (106 cm); Width 29.5" (75 cm). Macchi M 316; Height 25.6" (65 cm); Width 38.6" (98 cm). SIA 7 B 2: Height 21.7" (55 cm); Width 30.7" (78 cm).

Watercolor on paper laid to canvas in original green painted molded frames.

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1662.

Of pencil and watercolor.

The present drawing represents a sophisticated perspectival study of an imaginary classical interior. The architect Gustav Friedrich Hetsch, whose signature is on the reverse of the picture, was for almost fifty years of the nineteenth century an eminent teacher and theorist at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, exercising considerable influence over the cultural life of Denmark. In 1822 Hetsch was appointed Professor of Perspective, becoming Professor of Architecture in 1829, it seems likely that the present picture was an aid for the studies of perspective undertaken at the academy under Hetsch’s tutelage.

Axel Salto (1889-1961) is counted among the masters of Danish design, although his overtly decorative work often went against the functionalist aesthetics of his contemporaries and successors. During his lifetime he was regarded as a pioneer of Danish twentieth century design and his pieces were acquired for the collection at the Copenhagen Industrial Arts Museum. Salto's early work, of which present paintings form part, was inspired by classical languages and Greek mythology as well as by the visual motifs of Art Deco, religious and especially demonic iconography. His ceramic work later turned to the forms of nature, like seedpods, budding flowers or fruit, for their fertile energy and form. Salto's work was unique for its time because of his uninhibited, passionate approach to developing and manipulating new shapes and colors. His awards included a silver medal at the 1925 Paris World Exhibition, the 1937 Paris World Exhibition Grand Prix and the 1951 Milan Triennial Grand Prix.

Oil on canvas.

Of mahogany. The cart section with shaped sides, lined with a detachable copper tray, is fronted by a carved head of a horse. The whole raised on finely turned concentric wheels each pair joined by an axel and held with split steel pins.

Of pine with painted marbleized decoration. The model of a three storey building six bays square, the first two storeys articulated with a giant Doric order of painted marbleized decoration supporting a plain entablature, the upper storey with a Doric order of painted marbleised decoration below a balustrade, the building set to front and reverse with two storey pedimented portico doorway of double bay width with paired columns, the double doors below a fanlight, the arched window openings of each storey with columns, those of the upper two storeys with curved balconies, the sides with two storey doors of double bay width below a fanlight to either end, the building surmounted by a three tier cupola dome terminating in a ball finial, each tier with Doric colonnade, the first two tiers with balustrade.

Of mahogany. The oval wine cooler with upholstered top opening to a divided interior, set to the side with paired faux ring handles, centred to the front with mask of Jupiter, the whole raised on two outswept plinth feet.

The present pair of knife boxes belong to a tradition of decorative cutlery cases made in the late Federal period. Before silver drawers were incorporated into sideboards, knife boxes were meant to sit atop staple dining room furniture singularly or in pairs. These cases were chiefly made of mahogany, which became the favorite primary wood used in furniture after its introduction in the colonies. Although no overtly similar pieces have been located, making comparative interpretation problematic, the overall design, certain decorative elements, and acquisition history in Baltimore (along with a pair of card tables which are most certainly of Baltimore origin), suggest the origin of the knife boxes. Furthermore, the secondary woods of poplar and white pine, although not exclusionary, support the attribution.

This picture made of 108 hand-painted tiles is attributed to Vicente Navarro, who ran the most important tile manufactory in Valencia in the mid-1700s. Valencia was the center of painted tile production in Spain at that time, and the city's workshops received commissions from the Spanish nobility and even royalty. One of the best-preserved examples of Navarro's style of rococo kitchen tile paintings can be found in the Casa del Marqués de Benicarlo, in Benicarlo, Spain. The Benicarlo painting, like the present one, shows a kitchen scene of liveried servants carrying trays of food, while household dogs and cats beg or steal scraps from the table. The servants are life-size and wear fashionable clothes of the time, and there are trompe l'oeil baskets, food, and kitchen utensils shown hanging from the walls, as they actually would in a kitchen. The scenes in the Benicarlo painting are so remarkably similar to the present piece as to allow a confident attribution to the Navarro workshop.