Richard Redding Antiques Ltd has produced ten limited edition books, each containing full colour illustrations and expert catalogue descriptions of the many fine works that have passed through our gallery. 1992 saw our first publication, which was followed every two or so years by similar examples; however since 2007 we have produced a new book every year to coincide with our annual appearance at The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), the world’s premier art and antiques exhibition at Maastricht.

Over the years the format and style of our books has changed - as too has our stock, but two factors have remained constant, namely quality and authenticity for we believe that these two criteria are of paramount importance when making any acquisition. The contents of each book include a broad range of art works from clocks, bronzes, furniture, silver and porcelains to paintings, sculptures, garden furniture, glass and other luxury objets d’art. Most of our antiques and paintings date from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries though this time frame is not exclusive nor is their country of origin. However the majority were made in Europe, Russia or the Far East and to a lesser extent America.

The gallery takes great pride in presenting copies of our books to collectors who share our passion for truly great works of art. The response to them has been overwhelming. Most agree that these are more than simple gallery catalogues but should be regarded as serious art historical references as evidenced by the fact that at TEFAF 2006 one of our limited editions was short listed for the prize of the best researched book. As you turn over the pages of these books you will see that each work of art is illustrated and is accompanied by full cataloguing details including information on its maker, its style, bibliographic references and where known its provenance and exhibition history. While the gallery prides itself on the quality of its books, we believe that there is no better way to appreciate a piece than to see and handle it in person. We therefore offer a warm welcome to all visitors to our gallery in the heart of old Zurich or to our annual stand at Maastricht.
 

Richard Redding Masterpieces of the Past.

Containing 159 pages of full colour illustrations and catalogue descriptions.

The majority of the items in our latest limited edition date from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries and in the main were made in Europe, the Far East or Russia. Whether made of mahogany, porcelain or glass, most of these luxury objects were decorated with gilt bronze mounts – the material associated with works made for royalty, Emperors or aristocrats. Featured on the front cover is an important elephant clock made in London during the late eighteenth century by Hubert Martinet. We were honoured that the elephant, whose eyes, ears, trunk and tail all move in a naturalistic fashion, was chosen to advertise the antique section of this year’s official TEFAF catalogue. Other highlights illustrated and described in this book include an important regulator by Louis-Constantin Detouche and Jacques-François Houdin, which was shown at the Great Exhibition of London 1851. In addition we are proud to include a Louis XVI regulator by Robert Robin, a Meissen vase most probably given by August III to the Dauphin and Dauphine of France and a pair of gilt bronze and malachite tazze by Pierre-Philippe Thomire. Other highlights include rare furniture such as a gilt bronze mounted jardinière attributed to Jacob-Desmalter et Cie with mounts attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, a Fabergé cutlery canteen as well as a selection of chandeliers, candelabra, vases, in addition to a beautiful life size marble of The Greek Slave by Scipione Tadolini.
 

Richard Redding Masterpieces of the Past.

Containing 147 pages of full colour illustrations and catalogue descriptions.

The figure of Fame or Renommée was used on the cover of our eighth publication. Made from gilt and patinated wood in imitation of bronze, Fame was carved after a design by Pierre-Louis-Arnulphe Duguers de Montrosier of circa 1805 and was among a number of fine works that we acquired from the collection of the connoisseur Professor Guy Ledoux-Lebard. Among other works from his esteemed collection featured in this publication was a magnificent Directoire console attributed to Martin Eloi Lignereux, Adam Weisweiler and Pierre-Philippe Thomire.

Other masterpieces included a Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain elephant clock, an Empire gilt bronze mounted mahogany bed attributed to Jacob-Desmalter and Pierre-Philippe Thomire, which was made for the duchesse de Bassano, a prominent figure within Napoleon’s Court. Other works worthy of special mention included an important and rare vase by the Royal Berlin Porcelain Manufactory (K.P.M.) made to special order by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV which admirably complemented another rare K.P.M. vase painted with a panoramic view of Potsdam. Although this book was filled with a diverse range of antiques, this year we decided to focus on a limited number of the most important examples, keeping the text to about half a page to make way for additional detailed illustrations. However, as always, full cataloguing details and descriptions are available on request or can be viewed on our website. We also decided to produce this limited edition in both hard and soft back versions; interestingly our clients preferred the latter and thus for this reason we decided to produce the next volumes with soft back covers.