Jasper52 opens cabinet of curiosities, with a French twist, July 13
When the last dessert course had been served, and the servants finished delivering digestifs and cigars, lucky male guests of centuries past might be invited to view their esteemed host’s cabinet of curiosity.
While it might be a literal single cabinet, the richer and high-ranking the host was, the more likely it was to be a room full of cabinets displaying wondrous objects and oddities from around the world. Marquee items might include religious relics; antiquities; meteorites, shells, tusks, skeletons, semi-precious stones, and other natural history items; automata; tribal artifacts and other ethnographic objects; automata; books; works of art; and taxidermy, some of it clearly dubious. Anything that inspired delight and envy could earn a place in a cabinet of curiosity, but if it was rare, expensive, and advertised the intellect and superiority of its owner, all the better.
On July 13, starting at 7 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will host a French Cabinet de Curiosite sale, featuring 152 lots of things you didn’t know you wanted until they popped up on your screen.
1950 Jean Picart Le Doux silkscreened cotton tapestry, estimated at $1,000-$1,200
View the auction here.
Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.
