Guilio Cesare Ferrari, born Bologna, Italy, 1813 or 18, died 1899, was a professor of classical arts and painter of Romantic Classical scenes and portraits. Examples of his work can be found in the Bologna Museum, etc. This little work portrays a wrecked sail-craft in the craggy harbor of a sea-tossed island -- Ulysses at the Isle of Circe? It is quite magical... Approximately four inches by eight inches, heavy impasto oil painting on board.

"Early spring, The bird and the butterfly Visit the peony. Too early: no flower..." With its finely sculpted scene in high relief, this excellent snuff bottle is in very fine condition and boasts an Imperial green jadeite stopper-spoon. Approximately three inches tall overall by 1-7/8 inches wide. China, late Eighteenth Century to early Nineteenth Century.

Number 9 of a very limited edition of 30, this masterly etching was produced in 1972 by the renowned Romanian artist Sigismond Kolos-Vary, who received French citizenship in 1955. Featured in two Paris museums and in museums and important collections throughout the world, the work of this important is even more in demand since his death in 1983. The paper is approximately 13 inches by 10 inches while the image is about 10-1/2 inches by eight. Signed and dated in pencil lower right-hand side...

Fashioned from old select sections of luxurious and now extinct huanghuali (silver rosewood), this small table/stool is graceful and sturdily made. It is approximate 13 inches by 13-1/4 inches by 20-1/4 tall.

Well-known for his etchings, William Lewis Clarke was represented in the 1935 opening exhibition of the San Francisco Museum of Art, as well as the city's Golden Gate International Exhibit of Art, 1939-40, on Treasure Island. Image approximately 10-1/4 inches by six inches. Inscribed lower right-hand corner: To Gene William Clarke Original frame.

This early tea bowl (chawan) or noodle cup (soba choko) is decorated in classic style with a single chevron on two sides and stripes and indented spaces on the others. There are gold lacquer repairs to five rim chips and a single crack. Approximately 3-5/8 inches high by 3-1/2 inches wide and deep. Japan, circa 1600.

Fashioned of heavy-duty bronze, this superb ceiling rosette for suspending a chandelier is finished in finest fire-gilding with burnished highlights. The design of radiating acanthus leaves is both subtle and elegant. Probably French or German, it is about seven inches in diameter and is in excellent condition, ready for a fine lighting fixture.

Elegantly graceful and in beautiful condition, this rare pair of classical sterling silver cups bear hallmarks that indicate that they were created by a Lisbon silversmith at the end of the Eighteenth Century. In crisp condition, the bright-cut engravings depict floral festoons encircling a frontal oval blank (never engraved!) topped by a basket of flowers. Approximately 3-1/4 inches at the widest point and 2-5/8 inches high, they weigh a bit over six ounces Troy.

Approximately seven inches by three inches, this handsome repousse and finely cast silver reliquary consists of a hinged frame attached to a rococo handle. The hinged front opens to contain a relic or painting (there is now a mirror.) The tourgha mark of quality is about nine o'clock on the back of the main body, although it is hard to find in the elaborate working of the rococo work.

A golden phoenix has flown into a flowering tree and looks into a garden below where a chrysanthemum bush blossoms forth from a mystical rock. The poetry of this scene discloses a hidden reference to the ancient imperial lineage: the fortuitous phoenix, prime creature of the air hovers protectively over the sixteen-petaled chrysanthemum, the kiku, symbol of the Imperial house...

This exquisite pair of Ching Dynasty tall tables or stands is finely constructed of elegant East Indian rosewood (huali, Dalbergia latifolia,) the tops inset with richly figured black-and-white marble. Each 38-1/4 inches high and 11-inch square. Circa 1780-1820.

Very practical and elegant in its simplicity, this sensitively turned candle-stand is designed to keep a candlestick lifted above eye level where its light can shine down to best effect, yet be nearby. Of straight-grain mahogany, with a handsome disk of figured wood inset in the top to mask the end of the central shaft, it is probably British and dates from the latter Eighteenth Century...