France

The latest family generation to run Galerie Steinitz talks to ATG about the business and a landmark auction

This impressive array of costume jewellery sold in Paris showcased the work of half a century and seven creative directors of the Dior brand.

A rare preparatory study by Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec (1864-1901) for one of his famous lithographic posters proved to be the highlight of the 20/21 Century Art evening sale at Christie’s (26/21/15% buyer’s premium) in Paris.

A finely crafted Louis XIV period mirror frame attributed to the skilled royal cabinetmaker Jean Armand was one of the star performers in the Classics sale held in Paris by Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr (28/27/21/14.5% buyer’s premium).

French firm holds auctions relating to earlier monarchy and Napoleon

International museum and institutional interest is always a feature of the Salon du Dessin but this year it was even more marked with nearly 500 curators attending.

Sheet of various figures and body parts in red and white chalk set an auction record for Primaticcio

Silverware with connections to key figures from the famous French firm of Puiforcat proved to be a major component in a sale of items from a Parisian family collection held by Beaussant Lefèvre (28% buyer’s premium).

A traditional ensemble of art and antiques that had come from a property in the department of Ille et Vilaine attracted no shortage of attention when it went under the hammer at Ivoire Nantes (24% buyer’s premium) earlier this year.

Collection included timepieces presented to intrepid French pilots

Jean Dunand was an Art Deco period craftsman known above all for his skill in the technique of lacquer and a good example of his craftsmanship was the star turn in a sale of decorative arts held by Tajan (26/21/14% buyer’s premium).

Among the more extraordinary forms of French furniture is the ‘machine pneumatique’ – a device used in the Age of Enlightenment to demonstrate the mysterious properties of the vacuum or ‘the energy of the nothingness’.

Before his death on St Helena, Napoleon Bonaparte said: “What nothing will erase, what will live forever, is my Civil Code.”