Paris auction house Giquello will present the fourth edition of its Tentation°4 sale at Drouot on June 11, bringing together a carefully selected group of works spanning more than five centuries.
Leading the sale is Paul Cézanne's Young Peasant Woman (circa 1877), a rare portrait from one of the most decisive periods of the artist's career. The painting once belonged to Camille Pissarro, whose friendship and mentorship profoundly shaped Cézanne's development, before passing through the celebrated collections of Auguste Pellerin, Octave Mirbeau and the American collector John Quinn. Exhibited in the landmark 1907 Cézanne retrospective at the Salon d'Automne and included in John Rewald's catalogue raisonné, the work captures the artist at the moment he was transforming Impressionist observation into the structural language that would redefine modern painting.
Another standout is a striking stone figure of Chalchiuhtlicue, the Aztec goddess of rivers, lakes and flowing water. Carved in grey andesite during the Postclassic period (1400–1521), the sculpture retains traces of pigment and embodies the refined naturalism of late Aztec art. Formerly in the collection of Jean Aurance, it has been exhibited at both Geneva's Musée Rath and the Musée-Galerie de la Seita in Paris, giving the work a museum-level pedigree rarely encountered on the market.
The sale also features an exceptionally rare Ottoman tolga helmet dating from the late 16th or early 17th century. Executed in mercury-gilded copper, or tombak, rather than the steel more commonly used for military armor, the helmet was likely intended for a high-ranking figure at the Ottoman court. Comparable examples are held in major institutions including Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Among the European works is an enigmatic trompe-l'œil by Jean-Étienne Liotard depicting a portrait of Empress Maria Theresa partially concealed behind a sliding panel. Only three such trompe-l'œil compositions by the Swiss master are known today, making the recently rediscovered work one of the rarest categories within his oeuvre. It has been exhibited both at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and at the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris.
Luxury craftsmanship is represented by a magnificent pair of flintlock pistols by Prévoteau Jeune, one of Napoleonic France's leading gunsmiths. Preserved in their original fitted case and richly decorated with gold damascening, silver mounts and classical motifs, the pistols demonstrate how weapons of the First Empire functioned as symbols of status and prestige as much as instruments of war.
Completing the selection is a rare rosewood desk by Marcel Coard, the visionary French decorator whose highly individual creations remain among the most sought-after works of the Art Deco era. Created around 1927, the desk combines python skin, chrome-plated metal and mother-of-pearl in a characteristically daring interplay of materials. Documented in the definitive monograph on the designer and exhibited in Paris in 2012, it exemplifies the experimental spirit that has made Coard a cult figure among collectors of 20th-century design.
The Tentation°4 sale will take place on Thursday June 11, at 18:00 (CEST) at Salle 9 - Hôtel Drouot, 9, rue Drouot 75009 Paris.
