Live Auction 29281TDCR-492 With 202 lot
Christie’s roundel
Lot 265 PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR

Flemish (?) School, early 17th Century

Neptune riding a dolphin and holding the coat of arms

Closed31 August 2025

Estimate

GBP 700–1,000

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Flemish (?) School, early 17th Century
Neptune riding a dolphin and holding the coat of arms
inscribed '’t moork [...] blijft [?]/ [...]/ beneden [...]/ het schild is/ [...] blyven' (recto) and with inscription and number 'Paul v Viane f/ L.L' and with number 'n. 26' over 'n. 18' (?) (verso)
pen and brown ink, brown wash, fragmentary black chalk framing lines on prepared paper, incised for transfer
3¼ x 5 in. (8.3 x 12.7 cm.)

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 25 January 2002, lot 29 (as Dutch School).

Specialist note

Seated on the back of a dolphin, Neptune is shown here while holding a coat of arms, perhaps that of Corsica. The fact that the head of the moor is facing right suggests that the drawing was intended to be engraved, as in heraldry the head of a moor in profile is shown facing left. Furthermore, the drawing has been indented for transfer, another indicator that is was intended as a design for a print. The sheet might have served as a design for a vignette in a map of Corsica, but no such related map appears to be known.