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A CELTIC SOLID GOLD BRACELET IRON AGE, CIRCA 1000 B.C. courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT MADE £517,875.

This exquisite solid gold Celtic bracelet originally discovered in Portugal comes up at Christie’s sale of antiquities in South Kensington on May 2.  Measuring three and a quarter inches in diameter the heavy gold bracelet made about 3,000 years ago is believed to be on the only one of its type still in private hands. It weighs 599.5 grams and is on the market for the first time.  The estimate is £40,000-60,000.

The intricate geometic pattern demonstrates the technological advances of the Iron Age.  The new use of iron around 1,000 B.C. brought two huge benefits to goldsmiths, furnaces capable of melting large masses of gold and tools made from iron that allowed more ambitious and bold designs.  A number of museum quality pieces of Celtic craft were discovered in Portugal during the mid 20th century.

Laetitia Delaloye of  Christie’s said; “The gold bracelet from the Iron Age is a special piece and it is extremely rare for us to see such a detailed example of early Iron Age craftsmanship on the market.” The auction features work that embrace the cultures of Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Near East.

UPDATE: IT made £517,875 in an auction which brought in £4,241,775 and was sold 94% by value and 88% by lot.

There will be a wide variety of jewellery on offer at the next auction at O’Reilly’s, Francis St., Dublin on April 24. The catalogue is on-line. Here is a small selection.

An 18ct gold bracelet, signed Greene (1,200 – 1,600)

A lady’s 18ct white gold, diamond-set watch by Patek Phillipe – it comes from the estate of Costelloe Lodge in Connemara – and is brand new, complete with tags, sleeve and boxes, (3,000 – 5,000).

An antique diamond and emerald cluster ring mounted in platinum (1,000-1,400).

A pair of natural pearl and diamond pendants. ($600,000-1,000,000).

Screen legend Gina Lollobrigida’s jewels will be sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva on May 14.  The auction will feature important Bulgari jewels from the 1950s and 1960s, worn by Miss Lollobrigida at landmark moments in her career and which were highlights of the international touring exhibition, Bulgari – 125 Years of Italian Magnificence in 2009-2012. Part of the proceeds from the sale of 22 Bulgari Masterpieces will benefit stem cell research.  Highlights include a pair of natural pearl and diamond pendant earrings made in 1964 ($600,000-1 million) and a 1954 dimaond necklace/bracelet combination ($300,000-500,000).

Commenting on the sale, Gina Lollobrigida said: “I have been lucky enough to be given many roles in life – as an actor, a mother, a photojournalist, an Ambassador for FAO, and as an artist. I began collecting jewels from Bulgari in the 1950s and 1960s, drawn by the wonderful craftsmanship and distinctive style of these pieces. They accompanied me on many journeys – both professional and personal – and are redolent of those times and the extraordinary people I met along the way. These days I am focussing my time on my career as a sculptor. After more than 65 years I have come full circle, returning to the skills I first learned at the Fine Arts Academy in Rome. A sculptor has little need for jewels, and so, I have decided the time is right to share them with other collectors. In so doing, I can also help a cause very close to my heart, that of stem cell research – treatment, which I believe should be freely available to every child. It is my wish that part of the proceeds from the sale will contribute to help fund an international hospital for stem cell research.”

Born in 1927 in Subiaco, Italy she became one of the best-known and most popular screen stars in the world, with a film career spanning Italy and France and Hollywood in the 1950’s and ’60’s. In 1953 she made her first American film – Beat the Devil, directed by John Huston and starring opposite Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones. Many other leading roles followed, in movies including Trapeze, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Solomon and Sheba and Never so Few. Lollobrigida played opposite major stars of the day including Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Antony Quinn, Yul Brynner and Frank Sinatra. In 1961 she was awarded a Golden Globe (as World Film Favourite – Female) for her role in the romantic comedy Come September with Rock Hudson.

A diamond necklace/bracelet combination, Bulgari, 1954 ($300,000-500,000.)

A pair of emerald and diamond earclips, Bulgari, 1964. Each earclip suspends a detachable pendant set to the centre with a pear-shaped emerald ($150,000-250,000).

An emerald and diamond ring, weighing 16.62 carats, estimated at $120,000-180,000, as worn by Miss Lollobrigida on a daily basis.

THE auction of the Benson Collection of Early Spoons at Christie’s in London on June 4 offers collectors a chance to acquire rare historical spoons with an impeccable pedigree.  Previously exhibited at a stand alone display at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford this is the greatest array of early spoons to be offered at auction for many decades.

Leading the sale is the Benson Wodewose spoon – one of only four Henry VI spoons known to survive with a wodewose, or wild man, depicted on the finial.  The wodewose was a wild, satyr like mythical figure that appeared from the 12th cnetury in artwork and literature.  The spoon is estimated at £40,000-60,000.  The spoons were collected over many years by dealer and advisor Mrs. G.E.P. How (née Benson) and estimates range from £700 to £250,000.  The sale is expected to bring in more than £500,000. (Click on any image to enlarge it).

Benson Wodewose spoon Henry VI. One of only four known to survive (£40,000- £60,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Wodewose spoon, detail. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Diamond-Point spoon. Edward III, circa 1350. Struck with one of the earliest known representations of the leopard’s head, the first English hallmark. (£30,000-50,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Acorn-Knop spoon circa 12th/13th century. Believed to be the only spoon of this type (£8,000 – £12,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Irene (on left) and Cynthia Curzon wearing jewels to be sold at Bonhams. (Click on image to enlarge).

The photographs of Cynthia and Irene Curzon, elder daughters of Indian Viceroy and later British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon (1859-1925), show them wearing pearls, rubies and diamonds to be sold at Bonhams in London on April 24.

Their wealth and social position put them at the centre of the British political scene.  Guests at the 1920 wedding of Cynthia (1896-1933) to Oswald Mosley included King George V and Queen Mary, Leopold III and the King and Queen of the Belgians. In 1924 the Mosleys joined the Labour Party and she campaigned with her husband (Mosley had earlier fallen out with the Conservative Party over their use of the Black and Tans in Ireland).  Her costly dress was often remarked upon during these political campaigns and their lavish lifestyle often attracted negative comment.  After their third child was born in 1932 Cynthia was shattered to discover her husbands affair with Diana Guinness, one of the Mitford sisters.  She died in 1933 of peritonitis after undergoing appendix surgery.  Mosley later married Diana Mitford. Irene Curzon became surrogate mother to the children and when Mosley (now leader of the British Union of  Fascists) was interned along with Diana in 1940 she became their official guardian.