A MAGNIFICENT DIAMOND NECKLACE
The antique pear-shaped Golconda diamond, weighing 26.17 carats, suspended from a cushion-shaped diamond weighing 1.28 carat, to the briolette diamond chain and diamond-set barrel-shaped clasp, mounted in platinum, 47.0 cm
Accompanied by report no.5101776869 dated 8 June 2010 from the GIA Gemological Institute of America stating that the 26.17 carats diamond is D colour, Internally Flawless clarity, with a letter stating that it is a Type IIa diamond.
Report no. 1005218 dated 31 May 2010 from the Gübelin GemLab stating that the 26.17 carats diamond is D colour, Internally Flawless clarity, with a Note stating it is a Type IIa diamond and an Appendix stating that ‘Diamonds of this type, exhibiting an antique cutting style as well as a superior quality, are very rare and will most certainly evoke references to the historic term of Golconda’
Report no. 1122394117 dated 29 July 2010 from the GIA Gemological Institute of America stating that the 1.28 carat diamond is D colour, VS2 clarity.
-
CHF3,000,000 - CHF5,000,000
- ($3,096,204 - $5,160,341)
(c) Christie’s.
A MAGNIFICENT DIAMOND RING, BY HARRY WINSTON
Set with a pear-shaped diamond, weighing approximately 17.86 carats, flanked on either side by a modified triangular-cut diamond, weighing approximately 1.64 and 1.63 carats, mounted in platinum, in a Harry Winston black suede box
Signed Winston for Harry Winston
With report 1122072789 dated 25 June 2010 from the Gemological Institute of America stating that the pear-shaped diamond is D color, VS1 clarity.
PR: $1,818,500.
(c) Christie’s.
Mario Carre’o (Cuban 1913-1999)
Fuego en el batey, 1943
Price realized: $2,188,100
May 2009, New York.
(c) Christies.com
Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962)
Espagnole
oil on canvas
Price realized: £6,425,250
February 2010, London
World auction record for the artist
World auction record for a painting by a female artist
November 2008, Christie’s Russian Pictures sale provided the top lot of London’s prestigious Russian Week: Natalia Goncharova’s Still life with watermelons which sold for £1,550,000 at King Street.
(c) Christies.com
Modern & Contemporary Indian Art
Christie’s sales of Modern and Contemporary Indian Art concentrate on the geographic regions of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Encompassing art from the last century, the sales focus primarily on works from the second half of the 20th century, which experienced a renaissance after the partition of India in 1947. Works of Indian modernists, including those by the renowned Bombay Progressives Group are typically featured in Christie’s auctions alongside works by a younger increasingly avant garde group of artists from South Asia.
As the leading auction house for Modern and Contemporary Indian art, Christie’s holds sales… Read more
Christie’s sales of Modern and Contemporary Indian Art concentrate on the geographic regions of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Encompassing art from the last century, the sales focus primarily on works from the second half of the 20th century, which experienced a renaissance after the partition of India in 1947. Works of Indian modernists, including those by the renowned Bombay Progressives Group are typically featured in Christie’s auctions alongside works by a younger increasingly avant garde group of artists from South Asia.
As the leading auction house for Modern and Contemporary Indian art, Christie’s holds sales across the globe in New York, Hong Kong, London and recently has welcomed Dubai into its repertoire, launching the sale site with an auction of international contemporary art in 2006.
(c) christies.com
Seems to be a hot Indian artist.
Indian & Southeast Asian Art
Christie’s sales of Indian and Southeast Asian art feature paintings, textiles and sculpture from an expansive geographical range that extends from Afghanistan to Indonesia and from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka. Many of these objects emerge from Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain contexts, as well as traditions and cultures dating from the Indus Valley period (c. 3300 B.C.) to the mid-1900s. Christie’s holds two specialized sales of classical Indian and Southeast Asian Art a year in New York and have offered exceptional single-owner sales on a selective basis, including Gandharan Buddhist Art from the Collection of a Prince (September 2007) and… Read more
Christie’s sales of Indian and Southeast Asian art feature paintings, textiles and sculpture from an expansive geographical range that extends from Afghanistan to Indonesia and from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka. Many of these objects emerge from Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain contexts, as well as traditions and cultures dating from the Indus Valley period (c. 3300 B.C.) to the mid-1900s. Christie’s holds two specialized sales of classical Indian and Southeast Asian Art a year in New York and have offered exceptional single-owner sales on a selective basis, including Gandharan Buddhist Art from the Collection of a Prince (September 2007) and The Scholar’s Vision: The Pal Family Collection (March 2008).
(c) Christies.com
The Future of Auctioning?
Online Bidder Spends $3.3 Million at Christie’s Auction
Would you spend over $3 million in a few clicks? One eager collector did. Christie’s announced that the top lot in Thursday’s sale of The Sze Yuan Tang Archaic Bronzes from the Anthony Hardy Collection went to an online bidder who paid $3,330,500 for a bronze wine vessel and cover, Fangyi late Shang dynasty, Anyang. The winning bidder was an American collector who competed against bidders in the saleroom and on the phone. The object is believed to have been a prized ritual vessel at the time of its creation in 12th-11th century BC and is marked with the names of the clan of the artisans who created it and the ancestors to whom it is dedicated.
The sale set a new house record, blowing away the previous Christie’s online sales record of $1.27 million, set in April 2008 for a Stradavari violin. There have been several lots that have sold for over $1 million throughout the Christie’s LIVE™ application and the number of online bidders has continued to rise.
(c) Deidre Woollard
Public v Private Art: Is there a right v wrong?
A RARE Roman helmet discovered in Eden is set to become the centre of a fierce bidding war to keep it in Cumbria when it goes under the hammer at Christies next month.
The 2,000-year-old bronze helmet which features a full face mask and a never seen before Griffin crest on its peak has been described by experts as an ‘extraordinary, rare and important find’.
Christies expect the mask to fetch between £300,000 and £500,000 when it is auctioned in London on October 7 but staff at Carlisle’s Tullie House museum are desperate for it to stay in the county.
And this week they launched an appeal asking for donations from the public to help them buy it.
Museum archeologist Tim Padley said: “It is an iconic item and we really want to keep it close to where it was found. In 2011 we are opening a new Roman gallery where we’re aiming to show the power and sophistocation of the Roman military, and the helmet perfectly sums up those two things.”
The intricatly worked helmet was found by a metal detectorist from Peterlee on farmland in Crosby Garrett, near Kirkby Stephen, and is only the third of its kind ever found in the UK.
Dr Ralph Jackson, Senior Curator of Romano-British Collections at the British Museum said: “The face mask of the Cumbria helmet is chillingly striking, exceptional and unparalleled. It is a find of the greatest importance.”
Archeologists think the helmet would have been used in cavalry sports events known as ‘hippika gymnasia’ and its face would have had a polished white-metal surface and its hair and hat a golden-bronze colour. Bright coloured streamers may also have been attached to the mask and it could have had a matching shield.
Arrian of Nicomedia, a Roman provincial governor under Hadrian, left the only recording of the games in his diary in AD 136, noting that the helmets were worn by high ranking horsemen ‘to draw the attention of the spectators’.
“The mask would have been very much part of the Romans impressing the natives. Part of trying to demonstrate superiority in a military occupation would be by showing off weapons and armour, and I think the mask would have been an initimidating part of that idea,” said Mr Padley.
The helmet is believed to be an isolated find although there are earthworks dating from an unknown era nearby which may now be investigated.
Although cavalry men were based in Carlisle throughout the Roman occupation, there are no known cavalry game sites in the county.
The only other helmets discovered with face-masks are the Ribchester Helmet, found in 1796 near Preston and now in the British Museum, and the Newstead Helmet, found around 1905 and now at the Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh.
Under British treasure laws objects that are at least ten per cent gold or silver must be presented to a coroner who declares whether they should first be offered for sale to museums.
But because this helmet is made of bronze it can be auctioned directly to the public and the sale proceeds will be split between the finder and landowner.
(c) Kate Proctor.
Ivan Aivazovsky.
Rare paintings found in Surrey attic saved from dustbin
A 75-year-old Surrey woman cleared out her attic and found two paintings that could fetch up to £30,000 at auction.
The woman decided she wanted to throw the oil paintings away, but first went to her neighbour Spencer Wright to ask how to dispose of them.
Mr Wright said he realised they should not be consigned to the bin, and used an iPhone app to contact Christie’s.
He said a specialist immediately knew the value of the paintings, by Australian artist William Blamire Young.
The paintings - Light Horse and Artillery - had been bought by the woman’s father 60 years ago, but were kept in the attic because her mother did not like them.
‘Headed for dump’
Mr Wright said: “I knew they were something special because they were very old, and in old frames.
“They were under glass, but you could tell it was oil on canvas.
“Having the Christie’s app allowed me to go to them directly, and stopped the paintings going to the dump.”
He said he e-mailed photographs to Christie’s, who invited the two neighbours to visit for a valuation.
Mr Wright said: “The nicest thing was taking them to the reception, and the specialist turning up. He automatically knew they weren’t fakes. You could tell by the expression on his face.”
He said his elderly neighbour, who has asked not to be named, told the man at Christie’s that all she wanted was a new TV, and his response was that she would be able to buy a few of them.
He added: “This kind of thing doesn’t happen every day. When you hear what they are worth, your jaw does drop.”
The artworks were painted in 1904 to celebrate the founding of the Australian army by Major General Edward Hutton, who once owned the paintings.
William Blamire Young is known for his watercolours, which is why the oil paintings are considered to be rare.
They are expected to reach between £20,000 and £30,000 on 23 September.
