Lord Chesterfield’s Panelling Highlighted At The Bowes Museum

COUNTY DURHAM.- One of the treasures of The Bowes Museum’s sequence of period room panelling will be highlighted as the Object of the Month for August. Every Thursday at 2.30 curator Howard Coutts will reveal the story behind a segment of panelling from a London townhouse built for Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield. Chesterfield, best known for his letters to his [illegitimate] son, giving advice on how to behave and get on in society, was also an international [...]

17th Century Automata Lion Clock Roars in £117,600 at Bonhams

LONDON.- An early 17th century gilt brass automata lion clock, which moves its eyes in time with the seconds and roars a chime every hour, sold for £117,600 at Bonhams, New Bond Street as part of its Fine Clocks and Barometers sale on Wednesday 14 July. The sale made an impressive £716,000 in total with a 74% sale rate by value. Made in France, the clock which had been estimated to sell for £70,000 to £100,000, is unique in that [...]

The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles at Sotheby’s New York

LONDON.- One of the highlights of Sotheby’s fall 2010 Asia Week sales in New York will be a single owner offering of the Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles on 14 September 2010. The bottles date from as early as the beginning of the 18th century and reflect a broad variety of Chinese decorative arts from glass and porcelain to jade. Mr. Grimberg bought only from respected dealers and auction houses, meaning that many of the bottles have extensive [...]

16th Century Table, Sold in 1989 for 6,000 Pounds, Estimated Now to Sell for 1 Million

LONDON.- On Tuesday 6th July 2010, Sotheby’s London will offer for sale a remarkable example of 16th-century craftsmanship – an Italian rosewood table, inlaid with ivory and finely engraved. In 1989 this same piece sold at auction for £6,000. More recent research by Sotheby’s specialists has revealed that in fact the table has a history and provenance befitting of its quality: newly-discovered documents reveal that this remarkable piece was once part of the legendary Medici family collection. The table will [...]

French Ceramics from the Boone Collection Go to the Huntington and LACMA

SAN MARINO, CA.- Art patron and collector MaryLou Boone has given The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art each a group of important French ceramics from her collection. The works of faïence and soft-paste porcelain represent all of the major centers of production in France from roughly 1600 to 1900. The Huntington received 27 objects and LACMA received 26 that were selected to complement the existing holdings of each institution. They [...]

Single-Owner Ceramic Collection from the Factory of Marie Antoinette’s Sister to Make 500,000 Pounds at Bonhams

LONDON.- The fantastic Procida Mirabelli di Lauro collection of Italian porcelain is to be auctioned at Bonhams, New Bond Street on Tuesday 6th July. This Italian single-owner collection, the most comprehensive of its type to ever come on to the market, is expected to fetch £300,000-500,000. Among the highlights of the sale are four plates from the Servizio del’Oca made for King Ferdinand IV’s private use, estimated to sell for £5,000 – £8,000, a rare Doccia perfume bottle, circa 1745-50, [...]

Joan of Arc Commemorative Alms Dish Dated 1429 to Sell at Bonhams

LONDON.- A brass alms dish decorated with the arms of the French national heroine and Catholic saint, Joan of Arc (1412-1431), is to be sold at Bonhams at its monthly Period Design sale on 6 July 2010. Believed to date from the early 15th century and inscribed 1429, the dish has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £3,000 – 5,000. The dish commemorates Joan of Arc’s victory at Orleans in the Hundred Years’ War in 1429, which resulted in the coronation [...]

Everson Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Renowned Ceramic Masterpiece

SYRACUSE, NY.- The Everson Museum of Art celebrates the 100th Anniversary of Adelaide Alsop Robineau’s Scarab Vase. A special exhibition in honor of the anniversary will be on view at the museum, located at 401 Harrison St., Syracuse, NY from June 12 – August 29, 2010. The Scarab Vase – Celebrating 100 Years is organized by the Everson Museum of Art, the Syracuse Ceramic Guild, the Strathmore Neighborhood Association and Clayscapes. The celebratory exhibition at the Everson coincides with the [...]

Bonhams & Butterfields to Hold One of the Most Unique Fine Furniture Auctions Ever

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- An extensive offering of European & American decorative arts includes property from noted estates and collectors Fine arts auctioneers Bonhams & Butterfields will host the firm’s largest and most extensive auction of Fine European and American Furniture and Decorative Arts on Monday, June 14, 2010 in San Francisco. The late spring sale features American, English, French, Italian and Continental decorative arts, with an evening session devoted to furniture and decorations from the Ed Hardy San Francisco Collection. [...]

Tiffany’s Dazzling Designs at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

RICHMOND, VA.- The most important exhibition in decades devoted to Louis Comfort Tiffany’s opulent creations in glass will open on May 29 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond is the only U.S. stop for “Tiffany: Color and Light,” which will continue until August 15. The exhibition includes more than 170 works by Louis Comfort Tiffany – the master of American glass – and his studio. Handblown glass objects, leaded-glass windows, lamps, and other decorative items from Tiffany’s studios [...]

Christie’s to Offer Syd Levethan: The Longridge Collection in London

LONDON.- Christie’s announced that they will offer Syd Levethan – The Longridge Collection in London on 10 and 11 June 2010. One of the most prominent and distinguished collectors of British and Northern European decorative arts, the late Syd Levethan assembled the Longridge Collection over a period of 30 years and was dedicated to acquiring only the best works of art available to him. He created one of the most comprehensive collections of English delftware, slipware, textiles, medieval bronzes, metalwork, [...]

Getty Museum Debuts Cutting-Edge Technology to Showcase Cabinet

LOS ANGELES, CA.- To showcase one of the most complex objects in its collection, the J. Paul Getty Museum will debut cutting-edge technology to explore a 17th-century display cabinet from Augsburg, Germany. Using Augmented Reality (AR), visitors to the Getty’s website will be able to achieve unprecedented access to this fascinating object. The Augsburg Display Cabinet (around 1630), or Kabinettschrank, is the centerpiece of one of four newly reinstalled galleries in the Museum’s North Pavilion. A piece of furniture, it [...]

Bonhams to Sell Silver Spice-Box Given to Daughter of Chester’s Mayor by Duke of Monmouth, Illegitimate Son of Charles I

LONDON.- A charming silver spice-box in the shape of a scallop shell used on the tables of aristocrats almost 400 years ago has surfaced at Bonhams in London. It is believed that the spice-box was a gift that James, Duke of Monmouth (1649-1685), the illegitimate son of Charles II, presented to Henrietta Mainwaring, the youngest daughter of George Mainwaring, Mayor of Chester and MP for Chester in 1689. It then passed by descent through the Mainwaring family. The spice-box, possibly [...]

20th Century Giants of Modern Taste at Bonhams Wiener Werkstatte Collection for Sale

LONDON.- Bonhams is to sell an important collection of Weiner Werkstätte (Vienna Workshops) artefacts at its ‘Design Since 1860’ sale on 16 June. The collection was accumulated by a collector and dealer in the Decorative Arts from various sources throughout Britain and Europe over the last thirty years. It demonstrates the depth and breadth of the movement and the enormous influence it has wielded from its beginnings in 1903 to the present day. The collection was shown in its entirety [...]

Provocative Elton John Art Deco Piece for Sale at Bonhams

LONDON.- A stunning and provocative Art Deco statuette, ‘The Cigarette Girl, (£20,000 – 30,000) once owned by Elton John is coming up for auction at Bonhams ‘Design from 1860’ sale on Wednesday 16 June. During the 1970s, the singer amassed a high quality art deco collection, sparking a fashion among the rich and famous for work of this period – Barbra Streisand was another deco fan. Much of John’s art deco collection was dispersed at auction in 1988. The bronze [...]