The following Greek embroideries and Ottoman objects (lots 184-191) come to us from the renowned collection of Hélène Stathatos. Born in Alexandria in 1887, Hélène Stathatos lived in Athens for most of her life. There, she amassed an exceptional collection of Greek art, dating from the Bronze Age to the nineteenth century. She collected broadly and imaginatively, acquiring important Hellenistic gold jewellery, post-Byzantine icons, and fine examples of later Greek art, including embroideries, textiles and woodwork. In defiance of the illegality of many archaeological excavations at the time, she determinedly collected pieces from the same sites with the intention of reuniting scattered groups. On one occasion, learning that a church in the town of Arta, famed for its carved woodwork, was to be demolished, she swiftly rescued the panels and installed them in her drawing room in Athens. From the 1920s onwards she filled the rooms of her neoclassical mansion, now the Museum of Cycladic Art, with finely-carved chairs from Crete and chests from the Mani, embroideries, metalwork and icons. She lived with the art she collected, decorating her home and on occasion wearing the jewellery for which her collection is perhaps most famous. From the 1950s, she donated generously to three Athenian institutions; the Gennadeion Library, the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, and the National Archaeological Museum. All three have a room bearing her name. The collection of Hélène Stathatos was a collection in the truest sense; her acquisitions were driven by a love of Greece and its art, a sensitive and knowledgeable eye, and a compassionate need to save and preserve what is beautiful, important and rare. Amongst the many examples of Greek artistic achievement represented in the Stathatos collection, the embroidered textiles of Epirus and the Islands figure large. Their motifs and imagery reflect the rich confluence of Ottoman and Italian patronage in eighteenth century Greece, married with the charm, originality and deftness of traditions local to each island and region. The embroidered panels and pillow covers we offer in the present sale constitute five distinct examples of this important art. It is an art rooted in everyday Greek life but intended for ceremony, both precious and personal, an idea which runs through the collection of Hélène Stathatos.

AN EMBROIDERED PANEL

SKYROS, SPORADES ISLANDS, OTTOMAN GREECE, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Details

AN EMBROIDERED PANEL
SKYROS, SPORADES ISLANDS, OTTOMAN GREECE, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
On cream linen ground, with two large polychrome roosters and floral motifs, the borders with later added bibyla lace, mounted, framed and glazed
19 ½ x 36 ¼in. (49.5 x 92cm.)

Provenance

Hélène Stathatos (1887-1992), Athens, thence by descent to the present owner.

Brought to you by

Behnaz Atighi Moghaddam

BAtighiMoghaddam@christies.com 44 20 7389 2509

Lot Essay

Probably from the hem of a bridal sheet, this embroidered panel shows two large roosters with elaborate, curling tail feathers and stylised flowers springing from their claws. A symbol of both bravery and fertility, the rooster is a typical subject of Skyros embroideries. The Benaki Museum in Athens holds in its collection a closely comparable piece showing two large, centrally-positioned roosters with fanned tails and polychrome bodies (Inv. 6381). For two similar ‘rooster panels’ attributed to 18th century Skyros see Krody, 2006, cat.4.2, 4.3, pp.85-6.

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