Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Flemish Old Master generates great excitement in Frankfurt
30 June 2025The demand for a well-documented genre painting by the 17th century Flemish artist Jan Steen surprised the auctioneers at Döbritz (26% buyer’s premium) in Frankfurt.
Stereo viewer dances up to five figures
30 June 2025An unusual, possibly unique stereo viewer from the last decade of the 19th century attracted numerous bids at Auction Team Breker (21.8% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.
Glowing example of Gallé vase at German auction
30 June 2025Numerous bidders at a recent Mehlis (24% buyer’s premium) auction in Plauen were not prepared to let a late 19th century vase by Emile Gallé get away for the estimated €350.
Swiss collection includes a Cranach the Elder success
30 June 2025A spring sale at Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer (25% buyer’s premium) in Basel was devoted to works of art from an impressive, wide-ranging Swiss collection.
Painting by follower of Hieronymus Bosch takes six-figure sum at auction
30 June 2025A recently discovered floral still-life by Jan Davidsz de Heem sold for €2.8m.
Touch of French animalier magic at German auction
30 June 2025Roger Godchaux is regarded as one of the most accomplished French animalier sculptors of the first half of the 20th century.
Rather startled Batman from Japan appears in German auction
30 June 2025Since his inception in 1939, Batman, the Caped Crusader, has never really been out of fashion.
Hidden chest discovered during demolition of a medieval house revealed silver treasures
30 June 2025The workers who were given the task in 1869 of demolishing a medieval patrician house in the Bavarian city of Regensburg found much more than they had expected.
Mask symbolises promise of protection to young boy
30 June 2025One of the star lots at an auction of African and Oceanic works of art held by Zemanek-Münster (25% buyer’s premium) in Würzburg was a dance mask of the Telei people in the Buin district of Bougainville, one of the Solomon Islands.
Enticing estimate for gold watch brings rapid exchange of bids
30 June 2025An unusual 19th century gold watch by the Swiss maker Sylvain Mairet caught the eye of numerous bidders at a recent sale at Dr Crott (25% buyer’s premium) in Mannheim.
Carriage clock reaches astronomical height
30 June 2025A complicated astronomical carriage clock by Breguet & Fils, first sold in January 1826, went dramatically over the odds at Antiquorum (25% buyer’s premium) in Geneva.
Blaschkas recreated marine life as intricate glass models
23 June 2025The Bohemian glassmaker Leopold Blaschka’s fascination with marine life began in 1853, when the ship in which he was travelling to the US became becalmed off the Azores.
Porcelain producer Nast was regarded as rival to Sèvres
23 June 2025In its day, the Parisian porcelain manufacture founded by the Austrian born Jean Népomucène Hermann Nast in 1783 was regarded as a worthy competitor to Sèvres.
Bidders vie in Vienna for rediscovered work by visionary landscape painter De Bles
23 June 2025The Salvator Mundi drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop which sold for €500,000 (ATG No 2692) was not the only sought-after work at Dorotheum’s (28/25/22% buyer’s premium) spring Old Master sale.
Rare work by short-lived artist Horny comes to the saleroom
23 June 2025Works by the tragically short-lived German artist Franz Horny are by necessity relatively rare.
Buyer takes the underground route to Meissen
23 June 2025Meissen decoration linked to mining is not a rare sight but a cachepot with cavern scene is sought after
Märklin model of doomed airship Hindenburg surpasses estimate
19 May 2025The toy manufacturer Märklin did not just produce models for private use.
Trompe l’oeil painting reveals hint of a Medici connection
05 May 2025Painting of a cabinet includes letter fixed to the door with possible mention of Grand Duke Cosimo III
Vases demonstrate changing styles of Berlin porcelain
05 May 2025The evolution of Berlin porcelain – produced by Royal Porcelain Factory founded in 1763 by King Frederick II of Prussia – was well illustrated by two vases which both went way over the estimates in recent sales.
Bosschaert rediscovery blooms in the saleroom
05 May 2025A floral still-life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, discovered only recently in a European private collection, was one of the stars at a recent sale at Koller (25/22% buyer’s premium) in Zurich.