Property of
ARTHUR GILBERT
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
The collections of gold boxes, English and European silver, and micro-mosaics formed by Arthur Gilbert and his late wife Rosalinde are, within their fields, the finest formed in recent years. Put together by the Gilberts within twenty-five years, the collection rivals many of the most significant Old World collections formed over the centuries. Indeed, in the recent exhibition, "Princely Taste: Treasures from Great Private Collections," held at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, masterpieces from the Gilbert collection were displayed alongside those from the family collections formed by the Liechtensteins, the Rothschilds, the Czartoryskis and the Thyssen-Bornemiszas.
Over the years, the Gilberts have generously donated and loaned parts of their collection to Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Other museums both in the United States and abroad have also been beneficiaries of their generosity. In addition, scholarship in the fields of silver and gold boxes has been immeasurably enhanced with the publication of two major catalogues on this collection.* A third catalogue on the mosaics and micro-mosaics is currently in preparation.
The sale of the American silver has been decided on in order to refine the Gilbert collection and to keep it focused on its great strength-- English and European silver of the finest quality from the Renaissance to the first half of the Nineteenth Century.
*Timothy B. Schroder, The Gilbert Collection of Gold and Silver, Los Angeles, 1988; and Charles Truman, The Gilbert Collection of Gold Boxes, Los Angeles, 1991
IMPORTANT SILVER AND GLASS PRESENTATION VITRINE ENCLOSING THE PEN USED IN THE SIGNING OF THE LOUISIANA ORDINANCE OF EMANCIPATION ON MAY 11, 1864
Details
IMPORTANT SILVER AND GLASS PRESENTATION VITRINE ENCLOSING THE PEN USED IN THE SIGNING OF THE LOUISIANA ORDINANCE OF EMANCIPATION ON MAY 11, 1864
CIRCA 1864, PROBABLY NEW ORLEANS
The cylindrical glass vitrine containing a quill pen attached by a ribbon to a vellum label inscribed "Liberty Hall" New Orleans, July 7th, 1864 The pen used in signing the Ordinance of Emancipation passed by the Louisiana Free State Constitutional Convention on the 11th day of May 1864. E.H. Durell President of the Convention.; the circular silver base repousse and chased with an oak and laurel wreath enclosing an engraved inscription From the CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA to Major General N.P. BANKS BY RESOLUTION MAY 27TH 1864, surrounded by chased foliage, vintage, and rocaille; the silver top similarly chased and surmounted by a globe engraved HOMO SUM HUMANI NIHIL A ME ALIENUM PLUTO supporting a fully modelled figure of an eagle with wings outstretched, apparently unmarked
19½in. high (2)
CIRCA 1864, PROBABLY NEW ORLEANS
The cylindrical glass vitrine containing a quill pen attached by a ribbon to a vellum label inscribed "Liberty Hall" New Orleans, July 7th, 1864 The pen used in signing the Ordinance of Emancipation passed by the Louisiana Free State Constitutional Convention on the 11th day of May 1864. E.H. Durell President of the Convention.; the circular silver base repousse and chased with an oak and laurel wreath enclosing an engraved inscription From the CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA to Major General N.P. BANKS BY RESOLUTION MAY 27TH 1864, surrounded by chased foliage, vintage, and rocaille; the silver top similarly chased and surmounted by a globe engraved HOMO SUM HUMANI NIHIL A ME ALIENUM PLUTO supporting a fully modelled figure of an eagle with wings outstretched, apparently unmarked
19½in. high (2)
Provenance
Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Prentiss Banks (1816-1894)
Nancy Page, great-grandaughter of the above
Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert Collection
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks was a statesman from Massachusetts, first elected to Congress in 1853, and governor of Massachusetts from 1857 to 1859. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Banks left his position as President of the Illinois Central Railroad, and was commissioned Major-General of volunteers in May 1861. After campaigns in Maryland and Virginia, Banks led the expedition to New Orleans and became chief of the Department of the Gulf in 1862. Banks was in charge of holding New Orleans for the Union and opening access to the Mississippi. For his efforts in the latter, Congress bestowed official thanks "for the skill, courage, and endurance which compelled the surrender of Port Hudson, and thus removed the last obstruction to the free navigation of the Mississippi River" (January 28, 1864). While in Louisiana he initiated civil reforms, including support of the Ordinance of Emancipation in 1864.
Nancy Page, great-grandaughter of the above
Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert Collection
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks was a statesman from Massachusetts, first elected to Congress in 1853, and governor of Massachusetts from 1857 to 1859. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Banks left his position as President of the Illinois Central Railroad, and was commissioned Major-General of volunteers in May 1861. After campaigns in Maryland and Virginia, Banks led the expedition to New Orleans and became chief of the Department of the Gulf in 1862. Banks was in charge of holding New Orleans for the Union and opening access to the Mississippi. For his efforts in the latter, Congress bestowed official thanks "for the skill, courage, and endurance which compelled the surrender of Port Hudson, and thus removed the last obstruction to the free navigation of the Mississippi River" (January 28, 1864). While in Louisiana he initiated civil reforms, including support of the Ordinance of Emancipation in 1864.
Literature
Timothy B. Schroder, The Gilbert Collection of Gold and Silver, 1988, fig. 173, pp. 640-642.
Exhibited
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984-1995