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Joseph Randall from Wexford and his Arctic and Crimean medals.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,600 AT HAMMER

For Whyte’s auctioneers the announcement from Canada’s Prime Minister this week that one of two ships from the Franklin expedition which vanished in the Arctic more than 160 years ago has been found proved timely.  Lot 578 in their sale collectibles sale in Dublin on September 20 is the Arctic and Crimean medals awarded to Wexford man Joseph Randall, who sailed on the HMS Herald in 1848  in a search for the lost expedition.  Joseph Randall’s medals are estimated at 1,000-1,500.

Sir John Franklin led the two ships and 129 men in 1845 to chart the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. The expedition’s disappearance shortly after became one of the great mysteries of the age of Victorian exploration.The loss of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, which was built in Topsham, Devon, prompted one of largest searches in history, running from 1848 to 1859. The search resulted in the discovery of the Northwest Passage, which runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic archipelago.

The Canadian government began searching for Franklin’s ships in 2008 as part of a strategy to assert Canada’s sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, which has recently become accessible to shipping because of melting Arctic ice. Expedition sonar images from the waters of Victoria Strait, just off King William Island, clearly show the wreckage of a ship on the ocean floor.

UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,600 AT HAMMER

The unique one third scale model of Bond’s Aston Martin courtesy Christiie’s Images Ltd., 2014

The 50th anniversary of Goldfinger – which had its world premiere on September 17, 1964 – is being marked at Christie’s by an exclusive online charity auction in aid of the NSPCC.  EON Productions has commissioned a one off gold plated third scale replica of James Bon’s iconc Aston Martin DB5.  It is signed by legendary Bond Production Designer Sir Ken Adam, who designed the Q branch modifcations to the car for Sean Connery as agent OO7. Prop-makers Propshop, who manufactured the scale model DB5’s required for special effect scenes in Skyfall using 3D scans of the full size DB5, have created a one-off gold model with 24 carat gold plated detailing, complete with radio controlled machine guns, bullet proof shield and revolving number plate. The unique Goldfinger model is expected to sell for between £40,000-60,000.  Online bidding is underway and it runs to September 17. Another highlight is an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra watch created to mark the anniversary of the film.

The Fonthill Dragon Jar

THE Fonthill Dragon Jar is expected to sell for more than US$10.3 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on October 8. The carved celadon glazed jar has the seal mark and period of Qianlong.  The classic jar form was rendered in a larger format than previously and  the eternal subjects of dragons among waves and clouds are portrayed in exceptional style.

Other highlights include a Xuande fish stem cup from the Chunzaizhai Collection which is estimated at US$5.1-7.7 million.

Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s Asia Deputy Chairman and International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, said: “This season, it is our privilege to present a wonderful selection of some of the world’s most celebrated collections – Hosokawa, Hausmann, Baoyizhai – spanning a diversity of fields such as Imperial porcelain, later bronzes and lacquer.  Besides, we will also offer a number of masterworks of Chinese Imperial porcelain, including the magnificently carved celadon jar decorated with dragons formerly in the Fonthill collection.”

With everything from photographs of Yeti footprints to vintage film posters, an elephant bird egg and a fossilised giant palm frond Christie’s online auction Out of the Ordinary: The Online Edit runs from now until September 10.  The sale offers collectors of all things extraordinary the chance to acquire unusual objects from around the world at any time. A group of photographs showing Yeti footprints in the Memluk Basin (£3,000 – 5,000) were taken by Eric Earle Shipton (1907-1977) during the 1951 Everest expedition. Shipton’s photographs ignited speculation about the existence of a Yeti which had been growing since N.A. Tombazi made the first European sighting during an expedition to the Sikkim Himalaya in 1925. Edmund Hillary  had a strange experience at 19,000 feet in the Himalayas in 1952. In his book High Adventure (1955) he reported:  “We were climbing quite a steep pitch when Pemba stopped and picked something off the rock. Obviously greatly excited he showed it to Angpemba. Feeling somewhat curious I asked them what it was all about. They placed in my hand a tuft of long black hairs – thick and coarse they looked more like bristles than anything else.  “Yeti, Sahib, Yeti”. I couldn’t help being impressed by their conviction and it did seem a strange place to find some hair. We were well over 19,000 feet and the Abominable Snowman was obviously no mean rock climber”.

Eric Earle Shipton (1907-1977), Photographer
Yeti footprints in the Menlung Basin Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE
Reynold Brown (1917-1991) Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014
1958, Paramount, U.S.

Certified coloured stones will be a feature of the auction at O’Reilly’s, Francis St., Dublin on September 3. The catalogue for this auction of over 300 lots is online. Here is a small selection:

A FINE QUALITY DIAMOND AND SAPPHIRE THREE STONE RING, the oval sapphire to two brilliant cut diamonds, mounted in white gold. Together with coloured gemstone report stating the sapphire to be; 3.90 ct, of Burmese origin with no evidence of heat treatment (18,000-22,000)

A FINE QUALITY JADEITE CARVED PENDANT, in the form of an ampoule with foliage, tourmaline detail, on a silver chain. Together with a coloured gemstone report stating the jadiete to be of natural origin with no treatment (5,000-6,000)

A DIAMOND CLUSTER RING, the rectangular brilliant fancy yellow diamond, to a brilliant cut diamond surround. Together with EGL coloured diamond report stating the diamond to be; 2.01 ct, Fancy Vivid yellow, VS2 cl (20,000-22,000)