Mappin & Webb Trade Catalogue -

1931 - Mappin &, London - First Edition
A fine copy of this magnificent, opulent Mappin & Web catalogue, together with the original loose catalogues for Mappin & Webb’s Exclusive Designs in Inexpensive Jewellery and Garrard English Clocks.

A fabulous treasure trove of art-deco design and 1930’s luxury, with 200 illustrated pages, several full colour plates, from cocktail shakers and cigar cutters to art-deco clocks, and jewellery.

Mappin & Webb, whose first London showroom opened in 1849, had by the 1900’s grown into a worldwide group selling simple but elegant jewellery, classic table silverware and high end watch brands. Their relationship with the monarchy began in the late 19th Century and was formalised when HM Queen Victoria granted a royal warrant to Mappin & Webb their first as silversmiths, in 1897, the year of The Queen’s diamond jubilee. Mappin & Webb has held a royal warrant as silversmiths to each of the five subsequent sovereigns and today holds a Royal Warrant as Silversmiths to HM The Queen and to HRH The Prince of Wales. In 2012, a craftsman at Mappin & Webb, Martin Swift was also appointed The Crown Jeweller [from
The History of Mappin & Webb] 
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Price HK$ 4,000



Art and Art-Industry in Siam. Lacquer-Works in Black and Gold - Charles Doehring (D

Circa 1915 - Asia Publishing House, Bangkok - First Edition
Two massive elephant folio’s of Döhring’s most impressive work, first edition, ‘printed by letterpress, with unique handcrafted metal plates showing a scene from the Ramayana on both front covers. It contains high quality images and descriptions of Thai lacquer designs in black and gold, and was, at the time, the leading work on Thai lacquer art’ [British Library].

One text-volume with 62 illustrations in the text and one plate-volume with 50 plates, in the publisher’s original cloth. Scarce and handsomely presented.

The German architect Karl (Doehring) Döhring (1879-1941) first came to Thailand as an architect of railway station buildings and was later appointed as King Chulalongkorn’s first architect due to his outstanding expertise, designing various buildings in and around Bangkok including including four royal palaces. Döhring then developed a keen interest in the fields of Buddhist architecture, Thai art and cultural history, and also worked as an archaeologist, novelist and translator, becoming one of the most profound foreign researchers on Thailand of his time.
 
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Price HK$ 22,000



1858 - Dick &, New York - First Edition
‘If Lola Montez’s life was a film script it would be rejected for being too far fetched. With Franz Liszt, Alexandre Dumas and King Ludwig of Bavaria among her many lovers, and shootings, drownings, bigamy and adultery, you just couldn’t make it up.’ - The Irish Times.

The beautiful and fiery Montez had fictional affairs with Harry Flashman,and is reputed to be the inspiration for Irene Adler, in Conan Doyle’s ‘
A Scandal In Bohemia’, her infamous ‘Spider Dance’ involved the discovery and removal of numerous spiders amongst her petticoats whilst whirling around in the style of a Spanish gypsy, and the various fatal endings of many lovers was just as spider like.

In this rare little tome she reveals all the secrets required to be, well, Lola Montez. The last fabulous chapter specifically for Gentlemen provides ‘
Fifty Rules in the Art of Fascinating’. A superb example, without the use of powders, paints, pomades, embellishment, beautification, or sophistication.

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl... or more appropriately, Like the spider to a fly...

She is fatal to any man who dares to love her.’ - Alexandre Dumas. 
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Price HK$ 10,000



The Kingdom of the Pearl - L Rosenthal, Edmund Dulac (illustrator)

1920 - Nisbet &, London - Limited Edition copy 12 of 100, signed by Dulac
A superb large quarto limited and signed edition of Dulac's illustrated book masterpiece. One of 100 copies, commissioned by famed Parisian jeweller, Léonard Rosenthal.

‘Each one of these plates is a work of art, and the matter of the book itself is an engrossing history of pearls, their culture, their treatment, their myths and legends, and the narratives of famous stones. The book combines romance and instruction.’ -
The New York Times (4 December, 1921)

Dulac uses techniques borrowed from Persian manuscripts, such as overwashing the watercolours with silver and gold. Those approaches produced stunning results, contributing to the gem-like quality of the ten exquisite tipped-in plates with captioned tissue guards.
 
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Price HK$ 14,000



Gazette Du Bon Ton, Arts, Modes & Frivolit - Lucien Vogel (directeur)

1920 - Aus É, Paris - First Editions
Two finely bound volumes presenting Art-Deco Parisian fashion at its finest, comprising the entire run of Gazzette Du Bon Ton for 1920. Stunningly illustrated with 79 pochoir plates (many folding), 48 fashion sketches and hundreds of colour vignettes, and sketches throughout also coloured in pochoir. A luxurious collection of fashion articles, stunning art-deco pochoir plates, and sketches featuring the work of the best designers and artists of the day, including George Lepape, Pierre Brissaud, Charles Martin, André Marty, Raoul Dufy, Eduardo Bénito and many others.

Gazette du Bon Ton was the Parisian fashion magazine, active from 1912-1925 it fostered an elite aesthetic by signing exclusivity contracts with Paris' top couture houses and featuring gorgeous pochoir reproductions of the latest designs. The stated aim of the magazine was to push back on the hegemonic idea that women's fashion was inferior as an art form. Many of the artists chose to illustrate their women and designs in various narrative settings and situations rather than in blank spaces. 
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Price HK$ 45,000



Gazette du Bon Ton. Arts Modes & Frivolites. 1912-1913 Tome I and II; 1914 - Tome I - Lucien Vogel (directeur)

1912-13 - Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, Paris - First Editions
A beautiful and rare set of the first 18 legendary illustrated luxury fashion magazines to be issued by ‘Gazette du Bon Ton’. Finely bound in contemporary vellum. Text in French.

Art Nouveau at its finest, featuring the best designers and artists of the day. Stunningly illustrated with 181 pochoir plates (14 of which are double page), 33 additional full page colour plates, and hundreds of colour vignettes, and sketches throughout.

Belts, Shawls, Hats, Swimming Costumes, Theatre, Shoes, Handbags, Travel Bags and Trunks, Bouquets, Motoring, Sport, Hunting, Gloves, Jewellery, Riding, Make-up, Riviera, Hairstyle, Nightgowns, Capes, Umbrellas... to name but a few of the essential topics challenging the lifestyles of the fashion elite.
 
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Price HK$ 140,000