Print Edition

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including a record for a copy of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.

Last week’s gala party for Asian Art in London, held at Bonhams on November 5, was also the occasion to announce the winners of the event’s two art awards.

A Cecil Beaton sketch of Christian Dior working in his studio in Paris sold for £5200 (estimate £500-700) as part of the estate of society dress designer Ian Thomas (1929-93).

The whistle that blew after just a minute of play to signal the first penalty kick ever awarded in a World Cup Final has sold for £4200 at a London auction.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period October 30-November 6, 2019. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

It was not catalogued as such, but this silver ring modelled as a standing lion with a gold-coloured mane is designed by Moshe Oved (1885-1958), the owner of celebrated Bloomsbury antique shop Cameo Corner where jewellery expert John Benjamin first learnt his trade.

This early medieval gold ring dates to the time of the Crusades – its decoration of a five-fold ‘Jerusalem’ cross suggesting a link with the Knights Templar.

Array of styles from traditional and electrical to atmospheric attracts Continental interest,

A flurry of bids emerged for this late-17th century canine study at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood of Exeter (23% buyer’s premium).

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a Graham Sutherland watercolour.

The Watch Sale at Fellows in Birmingham on November 26 includes this Ref 105.002-62 Omega Speedmaster chronograph.

The growing demand in recent years to own pictures by women artists has brought this long-overlooked area of the art market to the fore. In an auction at Cirencester auction house Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) two works by women painters stood out.

Our weekly selection from salerooms.

The décollage technique practised by German artist Reinhold Koehler (1919-70) involved the use of paper, sand, glue, glass and ceramics, and a series of the resulting compositions is currently available at London’s Whitford Fine Art.

The 1961 International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery, organised jointly by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and the Victoria and Albert Museum, was the world’s first international display of contemporary jewellery.

Among the top-priced clocks sold in October was a rare late-17th/early-18th century musical bracket clock by Francis Robinson of London.

Out of favour for a generation, grand tour and ancient intaglios and cameos are enjoying a return to form.

Of the more than 200 jewellery lots for sale at Dawson’s (23% buyer’s premium) in Maidenhead on October 26, a 15ct gold double bracelet (below) displaying Victorian engineering ingenuity was among the most contested.

Valerie Arieta Decorative Arts stages a Christmas show at its Westbourne Grove pop-up shop this year, offering Mezcala stone figures from Mexico among other art and antiques.

Visitors to Art and Antiques for Everyone at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham from November 28-December 1 have the extra benefits of browsing the many antique centres in the vicinity.