UKauctionnews

A F Brock May 2013 Auction Sale Alert Reminder

2013-05-16T18:52:00.000+01:00

21 MAY AUCTION Lots 1 to 249 Sale Starts 12.30pm

Antique, Vintage & Modern Jewellery, Watches, Silverware,
Ceramics, Clocks & Collectables

22 MAY AUCTION Lots 250 to 726 Sale starts 12.30pm

Coins, Tokens, Medallions, Medals & Militaria, Banknotes,
Stamps & Covers, Cigarette Cards, Postcards & Football Programmes

Catalogues, Venue, Viewing, Bid Form, Terms & Conditions on;

www.afbrock.co.uk

Live Internet Bidding & Images; www.the-saleroom.com/afbrock

PDF Catalogues & Images; www.ukauctioneers.com

Viewing on 17, 18 & 20 May at our office from 10.30am to 3.30pm & Sale Days 10am to 12pm
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Absentee Commission Bids Accepted - Telephone Bidding Arrange in Advance
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In-House Shipping Service. Lots posted Worldwide. Insured & Tracked

Office/Viewing: 269 London Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport, SK7 4PL

Tel: 0161 456 5050 Email: info@afbrock.co.uk Website: www.afbrock.co.uk

Asian Decorative Arts On The Auction Block In June At Bonhams

2013-05-16T18:48:00.002+01:00

San Francisco—Following close at the heels of the smash success of the decorative Asian sale held this past March, Bonhams is pleased to announce its Asian Decorative Arts auction in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 25. The auction will take place just a day after the firm’s fine sale of Asian art, and will be sure to attract both Bonhams’ veteran clients and newcomers to the Asian art world alike.

The auction will include more than 700 lots of predominantly Chinese ceramics, decorative arts and paintings - but also artwork from Japan, Korea and other Asian countries and regions, from private collections and estates, institutions and non-profit organizations. The works to be found in this sale encompass a wide range of materials, dating from the Neolithic period (about 4,000 BC) to the 20th century, all set at conservative estimates to encourage participation from worldwide buyers.

Just one of the many highlights from the sale will be a miniature famille-rose enameled porcelain bottle vase from the 20th century. This tiny stickneck vase, from a private Orange County collection, bears the seal of the renowned 20th century potter Liang Duishi (active 1922-1937) and is decorated with a great amount of detail. With its reliable provenance and conservative estimate of $1,000-1,500, it’s sure to attract bidders.

Potted of the same shape, but much larger - at nearly two feet tall, Bonhams is also pleased to offer a blue and white porcelain dragon and phoenix vase, pictured, from the Late Qing/Republic period. Though of a later period than the $5.9 million, blue and white, Yongzheng mark and period Tianqiuping vase that sold at Bonhams last December, this vessel of similar ceramic shape and color will go to a lucky bidder at a much more affordable estimate of $8,000-12,000.

In addition to a variety of jades and hardstone carvings, numerous lots of Chinese paintings and calligraphic works will be on offer, as well as many examples of furniture, textiles and other works of Chinese art.

For lovers of Japanese art, in addition to the traditionally popular categories of netsuke, okimono and sagemono, a group of fine quality decorative bronze works, mostly from the Meiji to the Showa periods, will be available in the Japanese works of art section. Notable is a miniature gold and silver damascened iron cabinet from the Meiji period — a stunning example of the amazing works available to the connoisseur of Japanese art at extremely reasonable prices. This little treasure chest, for example, is estimated at $800-1,200.

In addition, there will be exciting works from Southeast Asia, Korea and the Himalayas ready to be auctioned off.

The sale's illustrated catalog will be available online several weeks in advance of the auction at www.bonhams.com/auctions/20983/.

Auction Preview: June 22-25, San Francisco
Auction: June 25, San Francisco

Sotheby's London Sale Of Fine Chinese Ceramics And Works Of Art Brings £13,237,650 / $20,134,466 -- Total Exceeds Pre-Sale

2013-05-16T18:32:00.000+01:00

LONDON: Sotheby’s biannual sale of Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art today brought a total of £13,237,650 / $20,134,466, in excess of the pre-sale estimate of £7,732,500 - 11,386,500 ($11,761,133 - 17,318,867), and was 83.8% sold by lot and 64% sold by value. Headlining the auction was A Rare Pair of Blue and White ‘Bajixiang’ Moonflasks, Qianlong Seal Marks and Period. These two impressive moon flasks, the cover lot of the sale, sold for £2,378,500 ($3,617,698), eclipsing their pre-sale estimate of £1 – 1.5 million.

Robert Bradlow, Director, Head of Sotheby’s London Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department, said: “We are extremely pleased with the results of today’s auction, which brought a total of £13.2 million. We had carefully curated this sale to offer some of the finest examples of Chinese ceramics and works of art currently available to the market. The collection included marvellous rarities, including a jade sceptre, a ‘Phoenix’ vase and a ‘famille-verte’ bowl, all with outstanding provenances. Bidding in the packed sale room and over the telephones was very competitive, and we witnessed an extraordinary level of interest from our clients worldwide. We saw activity from across Asia, and the results demonstrate the continuing demand for superior quality and attractively estimated pieces.”

Imperial Qing Ceramics and Works of Art from a Far Eastern Collection, comprising 19 lots, was 100% sold and achieved a combined total of £2,449,250 ($3,725,309), almost five times above the pre-sale low estimate (£553,000 - 778,000 / $841,113 - 1,183,338). The top lot in this collection was A Fine and Rare Underglaze-Blue Polychrome Enamel ‘Phoenix’ Vase, Fangu, Qianlong Seal Mark and Period, which sold for £602,500 ($916,402) against a pre-sale estimate of £80,000-120,000.

A White and Russet Jade ‘Longevity’ Ruyi sceptre, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period, offered for sale in the morning session, also saw competitive bidding with the final price of £866,500 ($1,317,946) many times in excess of the pre-sale estimate of £100,000-150,000.

Click here to read the full press release.

Bonhams To Sell Pocket Watch Made For Coco Chanel’S French Lover

2013-05-16T18:19:00.001+01:00

The 18ct gold open face automatic Breguet (estimate £15,000 - £20,000) was sold to the famed illustrator and designer Paul Iribe in 1933, the year he collaborated with Chanel on an extravagant jewellery collection

A pocket watch made for the illustrator and designer Paul Iribe – one-time lover of the legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel – will be among the lots in the Bonhams Fine Watches and Wristwatches Sale in New Bond Street, London, UK, on Tuesday 11^th June.

The fine and rare 18ct gold open face automatic Breguet with power reserve (Lot 160) was sold to the Frenchman in 1933 for 10,800 francs. It is estimated to realise between £15,000 and £20,000 (€17,700 - €23,700) at auction.

Paul Iribe (1883-1935) is acknowledged as having been a leading influence on Art Deco style. First known for his political caricatures in Parisian journals and satirical newspapers, Iribe then spent a number of years in Hollywood working on film sets before returning to Paris in the early 1920s, where he met Coco Chanel (1883-1971), founder of the iconic Chanel brand of clothing, jewellery and fragrance.

Iribe’s affair with Chanel is widely thought to be behind the break-up of the artist’s second marriage, to heiress Maybelle Hogan, in 1928. Many of his subsequent drawings and political publications would feature Chanel’s likeness, re-imagined as Marianne – the symbol of French freedom. Although Chanel was known to have had a number of romances during her early career, her relationship with Iribe was said to have been one of the most significant of her life.

In 1933 – the year Iribe bought this watch – the pair collaborated in the design of an extravagant jewellery collection commissioned by the International Guild of Diamond Merchants. The ‘Bijoux de Diamants’ Collection was executed almost entirely in diamonds and platinum, and inspired by the triple themes of knots, stars and feathers. When exhibited in Chanel’s home in the Rue du Fauborg-Saint-Honoré in Paris, it drew enormous crowds.

Sadly Iribe would pass away just two years later, collapsing while playing tennis at Chanel’s villa on the French Riviera in September 1935.

Pocket watches

Among the 378 lots on offer at the Bonhams 11^th June sale are 130 pocket watches and eight clocks from an impressive single-owner collection spanning almost 350 years of horology. The collection, which was amassed between the 1930s and 1962, spans a period in watch and clock-making from the early 1600s to the mid-19^th century.

Elsewhere in the sale a stainless steel manual wind Rolex chronograph wristwatch together with fitted box and original guarantee booklet is estimated to realise between £50,000 and £70,000 (Lot 378). Other lots of interest include Lot 374, an 18ct gold perpetual calendar Patek Philippe chronograph wristwatch with phases of the moon and certificate of origin (estimate £40,000 - £50,000), and Lot 328, a stainless steel manual wind Rolex ‘Paul Newman’ ‘Daytona’ chronograph bracelet watch offered by its original owner together with original box and guarantee (estimate £35,000 - £45,000).

Another pocket watch on offer is Lot 188, a very rare 14ct gold keyless wind full hunter Waltham gifted to the Captain of the British tug boat Champion in 1919 by Woodrow Wilson, the 28^th President of the United States (estimate £2,000 - £3,000). Henry William Webster was awarded the watch by the President in recognition of his ship’s assistance of the US vessel Piave when it ran aground on Goodwin Sands in the English Channel on 31^st January 1919. The watch is presented in a polished hinged case with United States of America Presidential insignia, and commemorative engraving.

Paul Maudsley, Director of the Bonhams Watch Department, said: “With a line-up of more than 370 lots, including a wonderful one-owner collection of early pocket watches, the Bonhams 11^th June sale will offer something to suit every collector’s taste.

“We are particularly pleased to be offering the collection which, in 14 years at Bonhams, is one of the most delightful I have seen. My particular favourite is Lot 36, a single-hand Nathaniel Chamberlain pocket watch dating from around 1690, with a tortoiseshell case and silver inlay, but this offering really does cover all areas, spanning as it does a period from approximately 1610 to the 1850s.”

For more highlights from this sale visit: http://www.bonhams.com/video/13356/ and http://www.bonhams.com/video/13442/

Items in the auction will be available to view from 11am until 3pm on Sunday 9^th June, from 9am until 4.30pm on Monday 10^th June, and from 9am until 11am on Tuesday 11^th June. The sale will begin at 1pm on Tuesday 11^th June. To register to bid call +44 20 7447 7448 or email bids@bonhams.com.

Jewels of Hollywood Legend Gina Lollobrigida Steal the Show in Geneva

2013-05-16T18:18:00.001+01:00

The Jewels of the International Screen Legend

Double Estimate to sell for CHF 4,741,500 ($4,962,122) and

Set an Auction Record for a Pair of Natural Pearl Ear Pendants

The Auction of Magnificent & Noble Jewels

Exceeds Expectations and

Totals CHF 74,751,375 ($78,229,556)

New Auction Record set for a Fancy Yellow Diamond

Gina Lollobrigida wearing the diamond necklace/bracelet combination, Bulgari, 1954

as a tiara (lot 663) & the record-breaking natural pearl and diamond pendant earrings (lot 663)

Geneva, 14 May 2013 – Tonight in an electric atmosphere at Sotheby’s Geneva, outstanding pieces from the collection of international screen legend Gina Lollobrigida sold for a combined total of CHF 4,741,500 ($4,962,122) (est. CHF 1.8-3.1 million/ $1.9-3.2 million). An exceptional pair of natural pearl and diamond pendant earrings - said to have belonged to the historic collection of the House of Habsburg – which the actress wore on numerous landmark occasions in her career, sold for CHF 2,285,000 ($2,391,321) – an auction record for a pair of natural pearl ear pendants, beating the figure set by Elizabeth Taylor’s pearl earrings in 2011. Buyers from around the world also clamoured for seminal pieces from the 1950s and 1960s by Bulgari. Ms Lollobrigida’s collection was the centrepiece of an epic auction of Magnificent and Noble Jewels which saw nearly 650 lots selling for a combined total of CHF 74,751,375 ($78,229,556) (est. CHF 46,982,000- 69,900,500 / $49,168,072- 73,152,970). Tonight a 74.53 carat cushion shaped fancy yellow diamond formerly in the collection of the Persian Shah, Ahmed Shah Qajar also sold for CHF 2,853,000 ($2,985,750), establishing an auction record for a fancy yellow diamond and a record price per carat for a fancy yellow diamond ($40,061 per carat).

Speaking after the sale, Gina Lollobrigida said: “Jewels are meant to give pleasure and for many years I had enormous pleasure wearing mine. Many people tried to persuade me to sell them, but for a very long time I was unwilling. What changed, was seeing a little girl called Sofia suffering from a disorder, which could only be helped by stem cell treatment – treatment which she is unable to receive in Italy. Selling my jewels to help raise awareness of stem cell therapy, which can cure so many illnesses, seems to me a wonderful use to which to put them. It is my hope that the Italian parliament will approve this ground-breaking treatment, so that children and adults in Italy should have free access to it without having to travel abroad at great expense. It now gives me great pleasure to see that these jewels will create a legacy which will live on after me and continue to do good.”

David Bennett, Chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland and Chairman of the Jewellery Department for Europe and the Middle East commented: “Every so often a very special jewel collection comes along which is so much more than the sum of its parts. Gina Lollobrigida’s magnificent jewels captured the public imagination around the world and the prices achieved this evening reflect not only the importance and rarity of those pieces, but also the aura of fascination which this legendary actress continues to exert. Sotheby’s was honoured to be entrusted with the sale and we are delighted that the results will contribute to the noble cause of stem cell research, reflecting Miss Lollobrigida’s great generosity of spirit and her humanitarian work.”

Click here to read the full press release.

Strong Prices For 70 Years Of Contemporary Art At Sotheby's

2013-05-16T18:09:00.003+01:00

$294 Million Sale Sees Works from the 1940s to Today

Exceed Their High Estimates

Records Set for Barnett Newman, Gerhard Richter, (Also the Record for Any Living Artist), Nate Lowman, Dan Colen, and a Sculpture by Yves Klein

Works Sold to Benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Building Project Bring Nearly $12 Million, Double Their High Estimate and with Further Works to be Offered Tomorrow Afternoon

NEW YORK, 14 May 2013: Tonight at Sotheby’s the Contemporary Art Evening sale totaled $293,587,000, and was 82.8% sold-by-lot. There were exceptional prices for works from every decade from the 1940s through today with records set for Barnett Newman and Gerhard Richter, among others. The price achieved for Richter’s masterwork also established a new benchmark for any living artist at auction. The global nature of today’s art market was yet again underlined with collectors from 35 countries registering to bid in the sale, 20% of whom were new to either Sotheby’s or the category.

Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s, said: “This evening we are very pleased to have achieved three landmark prices for masterpieces by key post-war artists. Barnett Newman’s Onement VI established a world record for the artist at auction and doubled the world record price achieved just one year ago. Gerhard Richter’s Domplatz, Mailand set a record for a living artist at a price which was a triumph for a photo-painting by the artist, and Yves Klein’s exquisite sculpture set a medium record for the artist.”

Alexander Rotter, Head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art department in New York, noted: “Tonight we offered important works spanning 70 years, and witnessed strong demand across that impressive range – from early works by Pollock and Calder from the 1940s to works by Currin and Colen made just last year. We are delighted with the results achieved for the works sold to benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art’s new building project, which nearly doubled the high estimate to realize a total of $11.8 million, with 17 more works to be offered tomorrow.”

The sale was led by Barnett Newman’s Onement VI, which sold for $43,845,000 after competition among five bidders – that price eclipses Newman’s previous auction record by a margin of more than $20 million. The monumental 1953 painting is the most important work by the artist ever to appear at auction and stands as a masterwork not only of Newman’s artistic enterprise, but of the entire Abstract Expressionist movement.

Domplatz, Mailand by Gerhard Richter sold for $37,125,000 - a record both for Richter at auction and for any living artist at auction. The work stands as the epitome of the artist’s celebrated 1960s photo-painting canon and is a masterpiece of 20th century art. The price for the monumental canvas achieved this evening is more than 10 times the then-record price it commanded at Sotheby’s London 15 years ago.

The auction also featured a series of works to benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art’s new building project. All eight works offered this evening sold, bringing a total of $11,806,000, nearly double the high estimate of $6.6 million. The group was led by John Currin’s Lydian, which sold for $2,965,000 ($500/700,000) and Jasper John’s Untitled which sold for $2,853,000 (est. $1.5/2m). Seventeen additional works will be offered in tomorrow’s Day sale.

Other highlights of the sale included The Blue Unconscious by Jackson Pollock, painted in the critical year of 1946, which fetched $20,885,000; the monumental Sculpture éponge bleue sans titre, SE 168 by Yves Klein, which set a new record for a sculpture by the artist when it sold for $22,005,000; Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park No. 46 from 1971, which fetched $11,085,000 (est. $6/8 million); and Cy Twombly’s Untitled (Bolsena) from 1969, which made $15,397,000 – the second highest price for the artist at auction (est. $10/15 million).

Click here to read the full press release.

Fourteen Unseen Salvador Dali Paintings Surface At Bonhams

2013-05-16T17:58:00.001+01:00

Surreal, sinister and erotically charged compositions amongst a hoard of Dali works worth close to £1million

Fourteen original Salvador Dali watercolour fruit studies, unseen until now, will be sold at Bonhams’ Impressionist and Modern Art sale in London on 18th June. Commissioned in 1969, the paintings have been in private hands since their creation. Each painting is valued at £40,000 - £70,000 and the series is expected to make close to £1million.

Dali was surrealism’s most exotic and relentlessly popular figure. His eccentric, attention grabbing behaviour was arguably the product of an abnormal childhood. The artist had an older brother, also named Salvador, who had died almost exactly 9 months before Dali’s birth. Aged five, he was taken to the grave and told that he was a reincarnation. “We resembled each other like two drops of water, but we had different reflections.” Dali said of his deceased brother. “He was probably a first version of myself but conceived too much in the absolute”. In his own eyes, Dali was a distorted version of his elder sibling.

This series of fourteen paintings show Dali’s desire to take the ordinary and subvert it. Dali’s obsession with a warped, sinister version of life is perhaps rooted in his own history. He is quoted, “I myself am surrealism”.

In the ‘FruitDali’ series the artist appropriates very traditional nineteenth century botanical lithographs, designed as scientific illustrations, and paints over them with his characteristically fantastic embellishments.

At first glance, one could mistake the paintings for conventional decorative prints. A closer inspection of the fruit series reveals a Chapman brothers-style perversion of reality that predates the cutting-edge British artists by thirty years. The fruit and flower studies take on an anthropomorphic quality. The figure of Monsieur Hasty Plum sprints across the page on his branch and blossom legs, while Erotic grapefruit sends a leaf figure flailing on its back with a shower of juice.

William O’Reilly, Director of Bonhams Impressionist department said of the works, “These compositions are a fabulous illustration of Dali’s artistic approach. By overlaying such traditional images with his famous artistic vocabulary of dragons, hooded figures, crutches and weeping eyes, he gives us an insight into his own hyper-fertile imagination. But most of all, these beautifully fresh images show Dali enjoying himself, poking fun at the demons and fairies lurking behind the straight-laced images of the 19th century science.”
Dali declared, “I see the human form in trees, animals: the animal and vegetable in the human. My art shows the metamorphosis that takes place.”

Greatest Single Owner Book Collection to be sold at Sotheby's

2013-05-16T17:50:00.001+01:00

Sotheby’s London To Offer The Greatest

Joseph Conrad Collection In Private Hands

The Most Comprehensive Single Author Sale

In Living Memory:

From The Library Of The Late Stanley J. Seeger

Sotheby’s London, 14th May 2013. The late Stanley J. Seeger (1930-2011) was one of the 20^th century’s greatest collectors - a perfectionist, who assembled world class collections of art, books, pottery and manuscripts. He also amassed, with a single-minded passion over the course of 50 years, the greatest private collection of first editions, inscribed works, manuscripts, letters and annotated proofs by the celebrated author Joseph Conrad. Sotheby’s London is honoured to offer these rare and important works from Stanley J. Seeger’s celebrated Library in two sales – the first of which will take place on July 10^th 2013. The centrepiece of the collection is the autograph working manuscript of Typhoon, one of Conrad’s greatest stories of the sea and the most important Conrad manuscript remaining in private hands, which is estimated to realise £300,000-500,000*. Other highlights include the complete 1919 corrected typescript of Falk, one of Conrad’s most powerful short stories (£30,000-50,000); a rare 1902 autograph letter in which he discusses his most famous and resonant work, Heart of Darkness (£25,000-35,000); a presentation copy of The Mirror of the Sea, inscribed to Henry James (£15,000-20,000) and Sylvia Plath’s annotated copy of Lord Jim (£6,000-8,000), which Ted Hughes read aloud to her the year before her death.

Peter Selley, Sotheby’s Senior Director, Senior Specialist, Books & Manuscripts commented: “This is the greatest single author collection pertaining to a modern writer to come to auction within living memory. The collection has been quietly but assiduously assembled with great care and devotion – typical of the late Mr Seeger – over a period of many decades. Conrad has been translated into over 40 languages and it is difficult to overstate his formative influence on Modern Literature and the writers, poets, cinematographers and intellectuals who followed him. His masterly use of narration, for instance, gave F. Scott Fitzgerald the idea of using Nick Carraway as the first person narrator of The Great Gatsy. He is probably England’s greatest political novelist, and the first writer to deal with the problems of terrorism and counter-espionage in a modern novel (The Secret Agent). It is an enormous privilege to offer these rare treasures back to the market”.

Click here to read the full press release.

Results | Christie's Impressionist & Modern Art, New York | May 8-9

2013-05-16T17:43:00.000+01:00

CHRISTIE’S IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART SERIES OF SALES ON MAY 8-9 ACHIEVES $190,282,500 / £123,683,625/ €146,517,525

Strong Sell-Through Rates Across The Auctions

Brooke Lampley, Head of Impressionist & Modern Art stated, "Our two-day auction series of Impressionist and Modern Art achieved strong prices and consistent sell-through rates at every price level, with record prices established for notable rarities by artists as diverse as Chaïm Soutine, Theo van Doesburg, Henri Manguin, Jacques Lipchitz, and Jankel Adler. This discerning appetite is a great indication of the passion and intelligence that characterizes this collecting field. As a fitting finale to a great week of sales, I am pleased to report Derain's spectacular Portrait of Madame Matisse already sold to a private collector after the sale."

Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale

Total: $158,505,000/ £101,443,200 /€120,463,800

Top Lot: Lot 21 | Chaïm Soutine, Le petit pâtissier, 1927 | $18,043,750/ £11,548,000/ €13,713,250

WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST

Please click here for the post sale release.

Please click here for the top ten.

To view complete price list, click here.

Impressionist & Modern Art Works on Paper and Day Sale

Total: $31,777,500/£20,655,375/€24,468,675

Top Lot: lot 274 | Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Femme lisant dans une clairière (Paysage, petite femme en rose au premier plan), 1895 | $1,683,750/ £1,094,438/ €1,296,488

Please click here for the top ten.

To view complete Works on Paper price list, click here.

To view complete Day Sale price list, click here.

Photographs Capture The Imagination At Bonhams New York

2013-05-16T17:05:00.001+01:00

NEW YORK—Bonhams May 7 Photographs auction at the Madison Avenue salesroom realized strong results for inventive compositions from established names, with a number of offerings significantly exceeding their pre-sale estimates. The auction attracted primarily domestic interest, although European participation was significant and bidders from as far as the Middle East were also represented. Bids were nearly evenly split between attendees, the telephones and those participating live online.

Selling for $80,500, a Fiftieth Anniversary Portfolio from Edward Weston was the auction’s top lot. The 12 photographs included were printed by Brett Weston under Edward Weston’s supervision in an edition of 100. Many of Edward Weston’s best-known photographs from the 1930s and 1940s were represented, such as Cabbage Leaf from 1931 and Nude from 1936.

Evocative urban and rural landscapes also performed well. The sale’s cover lot, a memorable image from Gary Winogrand called Park Avenue, sold for $31,250. Shot in 1959, the photo captures a chic New York couple cruising down the famous avenue in a convertible, surrounded by high-rises, while their enraged pet monkey menaces the camera. Ansel Adam’s moody Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico from 1941, depicting a distant collection of dwellings in front of crucifix dotted graveyard, realized $31,500. An unusual collection of late 19th century album prints and panoramas from image of Macau achieved $23,750.

A select group of exceptional nudes brought some of the auction’s most notable results by substantially surpassing their estimates. La Buena Fama, Durmiendo, Manuel Alvarez Bravo’s photo of a young woman sleeping topless outdoors in Mexico, circa 1939, tripled its pre-sale high estimate to sell for $21,750. Horace Bristol’s 1944 Rescue at Rabaul, showing an improbably nude blister gunner, easily surpassed its pre-sale high estimate of $10,000 to achieve $17,500. Joel Peter Witkin’s arresting nude Portrait of Nan, New Mexico realized more than double its pre-sale low estimate, bringing $14,375.

Other striking images that realized excellent results included Sebastiao Salgado’s Man Lying in Oil, Kuwait, which tripled its pre-sale high estimate to achieve $15,000, and Robert ParkeHarrison’s 2000 Tree Stories which sold for $31,250, more than double its pre-sale low estimate.

“The sale was a strong indicator that the market is robust and buyers are eager to acquire photographs,” said Judith Eurich, Bonhams Director of Prints & Photographs.

The next Photography auction at Bonhams in New York will take place in October.

The Animal Kingdom Shines In Christie’s Important Silver Sale In New York

2013-05-16T17:03:00.001+01:00

Detail: An Important Louis XV Silver-Gilt Écuelle, Paris, 1752, The Bowl With Mark Of Louis Vigne. Estimate: $70,000-100,000

New York – On May 21, Christie’s Important Silver sale will present 186 remarkable examples by Paul Storr, Tiffany & Co., Buccellati, Georg Jensen, Gottfried Bartermann, Asprey & Co. and Cartier. The sale will present a stunning group of wildlife inspired pieces, led by an Important Louis XV Silver-Gilt Écuelle (estimate: $70,000-100,000) – details pictured above, and includes a Pair Of Large Silver-Gilt And Gem-Set Lions Retailed By Asprey & Co., 20th Century (estimate: $30,000-50,000), and three 20^th century Italian Silver Models Of A Lobster, the first by Buccellati (estimate: $20,000-30,000) – pictured below center, the second signed Gianmaria Buccellati (estimate: $20,000-30,000) – pictured below left, and the third with the mark of Lisi, Florence (estimate: $20,000-30,000) – pictured below, right. This selection also includes a Silver Ice Bowl And Ice Spoon, by Gorham Mfg Co., Providence, 1870 (estimate: $15,000 – $25,000), which, with its icicle and polar bear iconography, relates to the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.

Please click here to view the full release.

Chagall Tops Bonhams Impressionist And Modern Art Auction In New York

2013-05-16T16:58:00.000+01:00

NEW YORK—Marc Chagall’s Les Amoureux aux Fruits ou Deux Tetes was the top lot in Bonhams May 7 Impressionist & Modern Art auction, achieving $362,500. Coming from a Southern California Estate, the ardent and uplifting 1950 composition depicts the artist and his first wife, Bella Rosenfeld, surrounded by spring blooms and sumptuous fruit.

Telephone bidding was extremely popular with both domestic and international clients, bringing bids from the US, Continental Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Asia and the Middle East.

Noteworthy results were seen for many of the lots on offer, particularly mid-to-late 20th century works with prominent provenance. Emil Nolde’s Bauernrosen und Rudbeckien, an impassioned watercolor from the Collection of Hanna and Alfred Fromm, realized $170,500. Executed in 1950, the stunning floral work was also the sale’s cover lot.

Offerings from the Collection of Sir Anthony Quinn were also well received. Massimo Campigli’s 1956 Signora, acquired by the late actor during his most formative period as a collector, achieved $56,250. Also from the Quinn Collection, Linear Oriental, an anthropomorphic 1961 bronze by Alexander Archipenko, realized $56,250.

Works by French artists also saw excellent results. Blanche Hoschede-Monet’s Nympheas, an iconically Impressionist work, heavily influenced by her step-father and father-in-law Claude Monet, more than tripled its pre-sale low estimate to realize $92,500. Marie Laurencin’s mysterious and romantic Femme au Chapeau, from a Private Texas Collection, doubled its pre-sale estimate to sell for $68,500.

Gustav Klimt’s studies for the skeleton in his destroyed masterpiece Medizin, completed circa 1900, also significantly surpassed its estimate, selling for $45,000. Another work on paper to achieve exceptional results was Max Ernst’s 1944 untitled figurative piece, which sold for $24,375.

“We’re pleased with the results today, which underscore the importance of provenance in the marketplace,” said Tanya Wells, Head of Sales, Impressionist & Modern Art Specialist, Bonhams. “Bidders were clearly drawn to exceptional lots on offer.”

Bonhams next auction of Impressionist & Modern Art will take place June 18 in London.

Gift Commissioned For The Sister Of Marie Antoinette And Her Husband Being Auctioned At Bonhams

2013-05-16T16:53:00.001+01:00

IMPERIAL SILVER SERVICE REDISCOVERED AFTER ESCAPING RAVAGES OF NAPOLEONIC WARS

Bonhams is to sell a rare Imperial soup tureen created by the most important artisan of silver objects of Viennese Neoclassicism during the Enlightenment (c.1650 to 1800). The tureen is being offered at as part of the Fine Silver and Gold Box Sale on June 19^that its New Bond Street saleroom. It is estimated at £150,000 to £200,000. Michael Moorcroft, Director of Bonhams Silver Department, comments: “The Sachsen-Teschen service has emerged from the shadows of the past to a glittering future”.

The soup tureen was a wedding gift from Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the mother of Maria Christina and Marie Antoinette, to Archduchess Maria Christina and her husband, Prince Albert Casimir. “Mimi” (as Maria Christina was affectionately called by her mother) fell in love with her second cousin, Prince Albert, and was especially taken by his “interest in everything beautiful, in the fine arts, and in his idealistic dreams to do good”. In spite of his prestigious title, the Prince’s family had become impoverished in the Seven Years’ War and so Maria Christina’s marriage to the Prince would not be profitable.

Besotted with Albert, “Mimi” manipulated her mother into allowing the marriage to go ahead. Not only did the couple get permission to marry, they also received a large dowry comprised of some of the most important gold and precious objects created during the Enlightenment. Large parts of the ensemble were made by Franz Caspar Wurth, including the First Sachsen-Teschen Service ever produced. This service was later to be melted to be replaced by an even more spectacular service by Caspar Wurth’s son, Ignatz, part of which is the present soup tureen being auctioned at Bonhams. Marie Antoinette was given a very similar service as a dowry made by Ignatz Wurth.

While it is Marie Antoinette who has been immortalised by history, Maria Christina was Maria Theresa’s favourite child and for this she was excluded by the rest of the family, including sister Marie Antoinette. “Mimi” was given the cold-shoulder as she was the only daughter who was allowed to choose her own husband and marry Prince Albert for love. Indeed, the sisters never reconciled and it is believed that on the beheading of Marie Antoinette, Maria Christina remained cool and remarked that her sister should never have married. The soup tureen marks this special relationship between the mother and the daughter, but is also a symbol of the romantic love between Maria Christina and her husband.

It was fashionable among the royal households of Europe to hold large Imperial banquets more as displays of wealth than dining. For such occasions, monarchs commissioned Imperial goldsmiths (such as the Wurth dynasty) to create silverware. In a number of paintings of such banquets from the period, monarchs are depicted eating “in state;” consuming their meals at long tables from the elaborate silverware while their guests stand around observing the display. The size and design of such silverware therefore reflects the prestige and wealth of the banqueting monarch. The soup tureen was used as symbol of this, demonstrated through its large size, weighing at 27 pounds and elaborate design of crabs and various shell fish on a bed of sea weed. This patterning tells us that the vase would have been used for the serving of bouillabase and such fish stews.

The innovative French Baroque design and quality of the tureen reflects the deep love Prince Albert and Maria Christina shared for craftsmanship and the arts. Indeed, Prince Albert was described as having inherited his ancestor’s passion for collecting, thought to possess ‘’the Wettin’s Collector’s Bug”. His fortunate marriage to Maria Christina gave him the opportunity to realise this zeal for the arts, as they couple spent their lives collecting and promoting Austria’s most important artists and goldsmiths. Their collection went onto to form the large part of the Albertina Museum (named after Prince Albert), which holds one of the largest collections of artworks in the world.

Unlike many of his royal counterparts, Prince Albert was a careful spender. Many monarchs during this period were forced to melt down their silver and gold objects to fund their indulgent habits and salvage their courts from financial turmoil. Prince Albert and Maria Christina were famously cautious with their expenditure and this is why such a large part of their collection has remained preserved. It is therefore highly unusual to acquire silver from this period as so much of it was destroyed for politically financial reasons.

It was only in 1947 that the family, directly descending from Prince Albert and Marina Christina, finally ran into financial problems and were forced to sell items from their collection.

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2013-05-16T16:51:00.002+01:00

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Two-Day Fine Art & Antique Auction at Clars Auction Gallery

2013-05-15T18:10:00.000+01:00

Coins & Medals, Silver & Bronze On UKaucftioneers.com

2013-05-15T18:09:00.001+01:00

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After some recent gorgeous sunny weather, we are today hearing reports that there has been snow in some parts of the UK!

While it's impossible to predict the weather, at least the steady stream of quality antiques and collectables on the site is consistent. Today's update includes some great examples of coins and medals, toys, silver and bronze. My favourite star lot however is the Martin Brothers twin headed Peruvian style vase up for grabs at East Bristol Auctions.

L.S. Smellie

Lanarkshire

UKauctionnews

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Gift Commissioned For The Sister Of Marie Antoinette And Her Husband Being Auctioned At Bonhams

IMPERIAL SILVER SERVICE REDISCOVERED AFTER ESCAPING RAVAGES OF NAPOLEONIC WARS

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