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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.

The Dodo bone, image courtesy Christie’s images Ltd., 2013 (Click to enlarge).  UPDATE: IT MADE £8,125.

A Dodo bone crops up at Christie’s Travel, Science and Natural History sale at South Kensington on April 24. The fragment of a femur is believed to be the first dodo bone to come to auction since 1934. First recorded by Dutch sailors in 1598 on Mauritius the dodo was driven to extinction in the late 17th century. This femur bone was almost certainly excavated in 1865 at Mare aux Songes, in the South-East of Mauritius during the famous dig by George Clark (1807-1873), a natural history enthusiast. Comprising over 260 lots, the auction features curiosities of natural history, globes, scientific instruments, rare books and maps, paintings and works of art from the ages of exploration.

Seahorse ‘Registration’ sheet (click on image to enlarge).

Seahorse ‘Registration’ sheet (click to enlarge).

AN extraordinary range of stamps from The British Postal Museum & Archive will come up at Sotheby’s in London on July 11. The auction will comprise material duplicate to the archive collection. Stamps from ‘Registration’ or ‘Imprimatur’ sheets are among the most highly prized items among stamp collectors. Only two of these special sheets were ever produced for each stamp in this sale. The BPMA is to retain the original sheet which, due to its protected status, will never be sold; Sotheby’s will present for sale elements of the duplicate Registration sheets. No other examples of these items will be made available. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for collectors.
In the July sale collectors will have a choice of selected issues from the reigns of King George V (Seahorse issues), King Edward VIII and King George VI (definitive issues). A total of 191 lots is estimated to bring in excess of £5 million. A second sale takes place in February 2014. Proceeds go to the new home of the archive at Calthorpe House at London’s Mount Pleasant due to open in early 2016.
Richard Ashton, Sotheby’s Worldwide Philatelic Consultant, said: “Now in my 50th year as a professional philatelist, I have never seen such an important sale of its type. Many are the only examples of their kind ever to come on to the market. Quite aside from their rarity, these extraordinary stamps are also of great beauty – engraved to the highest standard by leading masters of the day. There are magnificent sheets of the ‘Seahorse’ stamps of King George V, and important blocks with Registration Certificates on the reverse of the reigns of King Edward VIII and King George VI. Collectors will never again have such an opportunity to purchase such rare and beautiful items.”

The rare white porcelain Meissen Monkey. (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £818,500

Another view of the Meissen Monkey. (Click on image to enlarge).

AN exceptionally rare white Meissen monkey modeled around 1732 by Johann Joachim Kändler is a highlight at Sotheby’s in London on May 1. Depicted taking snuff, the monkey was commissioned by Augustus II, the Strong, Prince Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and displayed in his porcelain menagerie at the famous Japanese Palace in Dresden.
Estimated at £200,000-400,000 it is the highlight of the sale of the Meissen Collection of Sir Gawaine and Lady Baillie. Only two other examples are known – one in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the other in the Dresden State Art Collections.

The Meissen Collection of Sir Gawaine and Lady Baillie represents one of the most extensive groups of
18th century Meissen animals and birds ever to appear at auction. Comprising over 140 different
figures, almost all of which were created at Meissen during the 1730s and 1740s by the legendary
Johann Joachim Kändler, the collection was started in the 1930s by the Anglo-American heiress
Olive, Lady Baillie (grand-daughter of William Whitney), who bought many of the pieces for her
home, Leeds Castle in Kent and Lowndes House, London. She passed her love for Meissen on to
her son, Sir Gawaine Baillie, Bt., who with his wife Margot, built it into one of the most extensive
Meissen menageries in private hands.

UPDATE: THE Meissen Monkey sold for £818,500. The Baillie Collection comprising around 140 works, made £4.03  million.

This original Elvis Presley acetate recording made 64,000 at Whyte’s in Dublin.

ELVIS Presley had another hit at Whyte’s sale of pop and rock memorabilia in Dublin on March 24.  An original acetate record of That’s All Right (Mama) – the song that began it all in 1954 – sold for 64,000.  Bidding began at 44,000 and there were bidders in the room and on-line.  The record went to an on-line bidder.  It was the top lot at an auction which included items from The Beatles, Buddy Holly,Marilyn Monroe, Thin Lizzie, Van Morrison, U2 and Rory Gallagher

Antique rings and necklaces with sapphires, rubies and emeralds will feature in the sale at O’Reilly’s of Francis St., Dublin on March 27. The catalogue is on-line. Here is a small selection (you can click on any image to enlarge it).

AN ANTIQUE AMETHYST NECKLACE (1,600-1,800).

AN ANTIQUE DIAMOND AND SAPPHIRE CLUSTER RINg (6,000-8,000).

A RUBY AND DIAMOND CLUSTER RING (2,800-3,400).

N ANTIQUE DIAMOND STAR BROOCH (2,600 – 2,800).