Paris – Two important books Nuevo descubrimiento del gran rio de las Amazonas by Christóbal de Acuña (estimate: €80,000 - 120,000) and Hypnerotomachia poliphili by Francesco Colonna (estimate: €30,000 - 50,000) lead The Classics sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris on Tuesday 8 April 2025. In a 157-lot auction, more than three centuries of masters at work are revealed through a selection of exceptional pieces.

Nette Megens, Group Head of Classics and Director of Decorative Arts in the UK and Europe, commented: "Spanning more than three centuries, The Classics auctions in Paris bring together a diverse array of works, celebrating the rich history of collecting. Featuring a selection of rare and exceptional pieces in our Paris auction room, we're sure there is something to entice a variety of collectors."

Nuevo descubrimiento del gran rio de las Amazonas by Christóbal de Acuña is the first published description of the region and its people: no copies have been traced at auction or in catalogues for a century, since the 1920's.

There are still some copies in important libraries, but the last example to come onto the market was in a 1914 catalogue. No collector is likely to have such a rare example.

Cristóbal Diatristán de Acuña (1597–c.1676) was born in Burgos and admitted a Jesuit at the age of 15. In the 1620s he was sent on mission work to Peru and Chile, and became rector of the college of Cuenca, situated in modern day Ecuador. During that period Spain was becoming increasingly fearful that Portugal would seek to take control of the important Viceroyalty of Peru, despite the 1494 treaty which divided the continent between the two powers, and encouraged by the explorations of Pedro de Teixeira, who had sailed up the Amazon in 1638. So, the following year Acuña was appointed to accompany Teixeira in the latter's second exploration of the Amazon, both to make geographical, ethnographical and scientific observations on behalf of the Spanish authorities, and to keep a close watch on Teixeira's movements.

During the ten-month journey, Acuña documented the customs, languages, trading practices and conflicts of more than 150 indigenous peoples, and managed to persuade Teixeira to stop the Portuguese from taking Indians as slaves. His many scientific reports included the first recorded description of the electric eel, referring to the Amazon itself as "the largest and most celebrated river in the world. The river is full of fish, the forests with game, the air with birds, the trees are covered with fruit..."

Arriving back at Belém and having written to the King to urge him to take control of the region and stop the Indian wars, Acuña set about writing up his observations whilst waiting for a passage back to Spain. By the time of his return in 1640, Portugal had just begun the revolt against Spain, and Phillip IV is thought to have tried to suppress Acuña's account in case it revealed key information to the Portuguese. Nonetheless the book was published in 1641, although not translated until 1682 (into French, and from that into English in 1698).

Hypnerotomachia poliphili by Francesco Colonna (estimate: €30,000 - 50,000) is a significant document of the Renaissance rediscovery of classical antiquity, produced by the important Venetian publisher Aldus Manutius (ca. 1450–1515). A specialist in the publication of Greek texts, Aldus was also famous for developing new formats, such as the small, handheld book, and new typefaces, such as the italic, the descendants of which are still in use today. The typeface used in Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, based on ancient Roman inscriptions, was created by Aldus' type designer Francesco Griffo of Bologna especially for this book, which has long been admired for its harmonious marriage of text and image. Its elegant illustrations reveal a careful study of ancient art as well as an interest in the new science of one-point linear perspective. The beauty of these anonymous woodcuts has led scholars, through the years, to associate their design with such famous artists as Andrea Mantegna, Gentile Bellini, or the young Raphael.

Highlights of the sale include:

• The Collection of Carlo Colli Part I of Doccia (Italian) porcelain. This collection, which began in the 1960s with Carlo Colli's father, was showcased at Bonhams in celebration of Carlo Colli's book launch for his catalogue written by Alessandro Biancalana and Dr Andreina d'Agliano. Pieces have been on loan to the Poldi Pezzoldi Museum in Milan (amongst others). Highlights include a very rare and early teapot with lizard handle decorated by Giuseppe Romei (€50,000-70,000), a very early pair of tea canisters (€8,000-12,000), and a rosewater dropper, made for the Turkish market, one of the very few objects made for the Grand Visier and sent to Constantinople in an attempt to set up a direct trade-route between Florence and Constantinople (€15,000-20,000).

• A Meissen two-handled oval dish from the Swan service, circa 1740 modelled by J.F. Eberlein (estimate: €40,000 - 60,000)

• A pair of Louis-Philippe ormolu twelve-light sphinx candelabra, circa 1830, in the manner of Thomire & Cie. (estimate: €20,000 - 25,000)

• A Meissen circular stand finely painted with three large and three small chinoiserie scenes around the rim (estimate: €20,000 - 30,000)

• The Virgin and Child, France, circa 1380-1400 (estimate: €15,000 - 20,000)

9 April | Old Master Paintings | Live sale

An important painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger leads The Old Master Paintings sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris on Wednesday 9 April 2025. The Wedding Dance remains one of his most celebrated works, embodying both the enduring appeal of Flemish village festivities and the artist's remarkable ability to blend narrative richness with pictorial brilliance (estimate: €300,000-500,000). The 52-lot auction will offer European paintings including Flemish and Italian masters.

The eldest son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Pieter Brueghel the Younger was only five years old when his father died in 1569. Unable to receive direct artistic instruction from him, he was most likely first trained by his mother, the daughter of the painter Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1505-1550). He later entered the studio of the landscape artist Gillis van Coninxloo (1544-1607) in Antwerp, where he honed his skills before becoming a master of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1585. Over his nearly half-century-long career, he achieved great success, with his workshop producing numerous paintings to feed the demand for Brueghel's work across Europe.

Brueghel's career evolved in two phases. Initially, he meticulously reproduced and adapted his father's compositions, introducing his own artistic vision through small variations in the landscape elements and the use of a more vivid palette. Around 1615–1620, he began to develop original compositions that enjoyed immediate success and inspired multiple replicas. His influence extended to the next generation of Flemish artists, including his son, Pieter Brueghel III.

Most probably based on an untraced drawing or painting originally devised by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the 1560s, the Wedding Dance captures the joyful celebration of a peasant wedding, a theme that resonated deeply in Flemish art and culture.

Stefania Lumetta, Bonhams Specialist of Old Masters Paintings and 19th Century Art and Head of sale, said: "This year's Spring Classics sales present an exciting selection of exceptionally rare works, from a masterpiece by Pieter Bruegel the Younger, to a selection of three Italian paintings by Francesco Zuccarelli and a selection of Italian and French old master drawings."

The present pair of paintings, from a distinguished noble private Collection, represents a significant addition to the oeuvre of Francesco Zuccarelli (Pitigliano, 1702-1788 Florence). Whilst these works exhibit the delicate brushwork for which Zuccarelli was well known, they also represent a new venture for the artist. Tuscan at birth but adopted by La Serenissima, Zuccarelli depicts his typical rural idyll in silvery soft pastel tones, introducing two classical colonnades which guide the eye to two classical temples in the background.

Highlights of the sale include:

• Francesco Zuccarelli (Pitigliano, 1702-1788 Florence), Caprice animé de figures habillés à l'orientale (estimate : €25,000 - 35,000)

• Jacob Ochtervelt (Rotterdam 1634-1682 Amsterdam), Granida and DaifiloOil on canvas (estimate: €10,000-15,000)

(Press Release)