Maastricht Magic

The 27th edition of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) opened its doors to invited guests last Thursday.  Once again, the usually sleepy town of Maastricht became the center of the art and antique world and thousands queued up to see what treasures the 274 exhibiting dealers had brought to tempt collectors and feed the soul of those of us who just groove on being there.  It was, as usual, spectacular.  Here are a few of my favorites.

As we are in The Netherlands, let's start with something local.  On the stand of the venerable porcelain purveyor Aronson Antiquairs, was this impressive seven piece flower vase in a pyramid shape created by Delft circa 1690.  It stood nearly a meter high and held over two dozen blooms.  Not surprisingly, it was already reserved for a museum...

In a totally different field, but by another Dutch icon, was this recently re-discovered oil painting of the windmills of La Galette by Vincent Van Gogh.  Painted during the period when he was shifting his subject matter from sombre peasant scenes to more colorful Post-Impressionist landscapes, this wonderful work was last seen in public in 1965.  The smallish canvas is titled "Moulin de la Galette" and signed "Vincent 1887" and it was a real show stopper...

Also on the stand of Dickenson, London, was a pair of carved wooden sabot shoes that were carved and actually worn by Paul Gaugin just before he left on his first trip to Tahiti...

Another highlight of European art was this bustling interior scene titled "The Peasant Lawyer" by Peter Breughel the Younger done in 1615...

Fabulous objects were to be found in many forms throughout the fair.  Like this marvelous ostrich-shaped water ewer with a basin, both crafted of sterling silver...

Or this tiny Egyptian wooded sarcophagus with falcon head decorations executed in polychrome between 1st Century B.C. and 1st Century A.D...

This is one of a set of four Japanese birdcage vases from the possessions of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.  Made of hard paste porcelain with decorations in enamel, gold, metal, paper maché and lacquer, these vases were as prized when they were created circa 1700 as they are today...

I couldn't resist including these rather bizarre examples of Chinese export porcelain!  The tray features a painted boar's head with an unidentified Spanish coat-of-arms and its accompanying tureen and cover are actually in the shape of a boar's head complete with teeth and tongue!  This set is of the Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (c. 1760-80) when animal head ceramics were very popular in wealthy European households...

My last animal-themed selection was also one of my favorite stands for overall décor.  Pelham Galleries, London and Paris, created a set worthy of the stage with a pond and four swans a'swimming, except the pond was mirror and the regal swans were actually alabaster!  The statuary is attributed to Nicholas Stow and were probably part of a grotto created for the Fourth Earl of Pembroke at Wilton in the 1630s.  The Wilton garden is considered the most important late Renaissance garden in England and these remaining swans are just magnificent...

I could go on and on.  I loved the Italian ivory models of summer vegetables and the ladies pocket watches covered in seed pearl decorations.  A Sicilian Baroque coral and enamel eight-sided devotional plaque was exceptional in its craftsmanship and delicacy.  A group of 41 pieces of Venetian filigree glass bowls, plates, goblets and other vessels was remarkable in the diversity of white pattern and design.  A black and white chalk drawing of the surface of the moon executed in 1850 was a remarkable glimpse of the future.  And the group of three Imperial Fabergé enamel presentation boxes were rare and splendid examples of Russian luxe.

There has been a lot of talk in the past few years about the dearth of rare and precious material on the art and antiques market, but it didn't seem to be the case at all as TEFAF opened with a bang and as splendid an event as one could hope for.  I can hardly wait for the magic to begin next year!