Auctions

South Cerney sale of nearly 900 lots mirrors the huge offerings held in Germany

It was a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art sometime in the 1880s that inspired Louis Comfort Tiffany to produce his so-called Cypriote range of art glass.

Not only does this Dutch 18ct gold and white carnelian demi-parure c.1820 include a period case but the original handwritten invoice from 1824 survives.

The hunger among buyers to acquire good quality jewellery stayed strong during lockdown, writes John Benjamin.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period June 18-24, 2020. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

The sky was (almost) the limit at the recent sale at Bassenge (28% buyer’s premium) in Berlin when an Islamic celestial globe came up for sale.

Among the many successful online-only jewellery auctions that took place during the lockdown was that held by Bromley-based saleroom Catherine Southon (18% buyer’s premium), writes John Benjamin.

Archaeological discoveries were a continuous source of inspiration for jewellery in the 19th century. Ancient goldsmithing techniques were studied and relearned. Jewels found during excavations of Roman, Egyptian, Hellenistic and particularly Etruscan sites were copied or reinterpreted.

Two very different Japanese works on paper performed with equal gusto at Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) recent Asian art sale, both making 10-times-estimate sums for a vendor from Hertfordshire.

The Paris auction centre Drouot opened its doors again last month in France following the lockdown.

Edvard Munch returned to the subject 'Woman in Moonlight – The Voice' on several occasions.

A memento of the last great age of transatlantic ocean travel can be found at the sale of Peter Karbstein in Düsseldorf on July 11.

It is thought that the German artist Adelheid Dietrich (1827-91), renowned for her incredibly detailed still-lifes of fruit and flowers, completed only 50 paintings during her career.

Georges Lenfant is one of the many unsung titans of the jewellery trade – a Paris workshop pioneering jewellery craftsmanship in the 20th century that produced jewels for the big brand names of the Place Vendôme, including Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Mellerio dits Meller.

A Qing dynasty (1644-1911) embroidered silk hanging scroll topped Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) Asian art sale on May 28, selling online for £21,000.

Vienna saleroom Dorotheum (28/25/22/18% buyer’s premium) was hoping to send a positive signal for the art market from its latest Old Master sale.

A recent sale at Dorotheum (28/25/22% buyer’s premium) in Vienna was topped by this spectacular diamond and aquamarine tiara-necklace by Cartier London.

For 300 years, from the 1520s to the 1820s, the great Gothic cathedral in Cologne remained unfinished – the building overshadowed by a large crane, which for centuries dominated the panorama on the banks of the Rhine.

In April this year, the founder of the auction house Nusser in Munich, Ursula Nusser, died aged just 66.

The Etruscan revival, that followed in the wake of the discovery of ancient gold jewellery in the 1830s, was the first and most popular of all the historical styles embraced by jewellers of the Victorian period.