Diamond Set Platinum Cluster Ring UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,400
This diamond cluster ring mounted on a 14 carat yellow gold band comes up as lot 134 at Matthews annual two day holiday auction online on December 30 and January 1. With an estimate of €3,500-5,500 it is among the most expensively estimated items in this auction totalling 1615 lots. The catalogue is online. The sale on December 30 is of lots 1-757 and comprises jewellery, gold, silver and collectibles. The sale on January 1 covers antique, modern and designer furniture, part house clearances and collectibles. The sale is on view in Kells from noon to 5 pm on December 28 and 29 and from 11 am to 2 pm on December 30.
This vintage French tapestry measuring 40 inches across by 22 inches high comes up at Hegarty’s timed online auction of antiques and interiors which runs until January 5. The estimate for this outdoor Rococo scene is €80-€120. The auction offers more than 200 lots of furniture, art, silver, jewellery and collectibles.
UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £163,800 AND WENT TO KIM KARDASHIAN
The Attallah Cross, a unique 1920s pendant by Garrard worn on several occasions by Princess Diana comes up at Sotheby’s Royal and Noble sale in January with an estimate of £80,000-£120,000. “Jewellery owned or worn by the late Princess Diana very rarely comes on to the market, especially a piece such as the Attallah cross, which is so colourful, bold and distinctive” according to Kristian Spofforth, Head of Jewellery, Sotheby’s London. “To some extent, this unusual pendant is symbolic of the Princess’s growing self-assurance in her sartorial and jewellery choices, at that particular moment in her life. We are confident that this unique 1920s piece of jewellery by Garrard, with such an exceptional provenance and only ever worn by the Princess herself, will attract the attention of a wide variety of bidders, including royal and noble jewellery collectors, as well as fans of the Princess keen to share part of her history.” The Royal and Noble sale runs from January 6-18.
The Attallah cross was owned by the former group chief executive of Asprey & Garrard, the late Naim Attallah CBE. “Princess Diana and my father were friends and I remember that she often came to see him at the historic Garrard store on Regent Street, where his office was, and she would ask to borrow the pendant on several occasions – she really loved the piece” said Ramsay Attallah, current owner of the cross.
The Princess most famously wore it in October 1987, paired with a Catherine Walker dress, to a charity gala in support of Birthright, a charity working towards the protection of human rights during pregnancy and childbirth.
Diana, Princess Of Wales, Arriving At A Charity Gala Evening On Behalf Of Birthright At Garrard. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
An association copy, number 41 of only 100 numbered copies signed by Joyce
An association copy of Ulysses, the most important and influential novel of the twentieth century, sold for $189,000 at Sotheby’s sale of Fine Books and Manuscripts in New York. It was number 41 of only 100 numbered copies signed by Joyce and printed on Dutch handmade paper. The estimate was $150,000-250,000.
The total first edition of Ulysses was limited to 1,000 copies. Following the signed and numbered copies on Dutch handmade paper was an issue of 150 copies on vergé d’Arches paper, and an issue of 750 copies on handmade paper. The official date of publication was Joyce’s birthday, February 2, 1922, but difficulties with the cover meant that in fact only two copies, both from the 1/750 issue, were actually ready that day. No further copies of any issue of Ulysses appeared from the printer until February 9 (when a further batch of the 1/750 arrived), followed by the first of the 1/100 on February 13, and the 1/150 series on March 4. It is now thought that this reflects the order in which Ulysses was actually printed.
A VELVET DRESS ENTIRELY EMBROIDERED BY LESAGE WITH “TUDOR” PATTERNS AND REMOVABLE COLLAR WITH A BROWN SATIN UNDERSKIRT €4,000-6,000 | US$4,300-6,300 | £3,500-5,200 CHANEL BY KARL LAGERFELD HAUTE COUTURE AUTUMN-WINTER 1988-89. UPDATE: THIS MADE €56,700
The exceptional know-how, creativity and glory of Haute Couture will feature at an online sale by Christie’s Paris from January 11-25. The sale during Paris Fashion Week will highlight designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Jean-Louis Scherrer, Valentino and others. There are 115 haute couture pieces including cocktail dresses, day dresses, evening outfits, embroidered garments, skirt and trouser suits dating mainly to the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Estimates range from €400 to €4,000-€6,000.
UPDATE: THE SALE BROUGHT IN €694,890 OVER A PRE SALE ESTIMATE OF €101,100
Christie’s Adrien Meyer, Co-Chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art, selling GEORGES SEURAT’s (1859-1891) – Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version) for $149,240,000
Global sales at Christie’s reached $8.4 billion in 2022, the highest annual sales total in art market history. In November Paul G Allen’s landmark sales maDe $1.62 billion to become the most valuable collection sale of all time. Five works sold above $100 million and there was four million online viewers. in 2022 the auction house sold Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn for $195 million, the second highest price ever achieved for an artwork at auction. They sold the top three collections of the year, Allen, Ammann ($359.2 million) and Bass ($363.1 million) as well as the top collection outside the US this year, Hubert de Givenchy (€118 million) in Paris.
In 2022 35% of all buyers in 2022 were new to Christie’s, and 34% of these new buyers were millennials (up from 31% in 2021). A total of 46,322 lots were sold at auction. Altogether the Americas accounted for 40% of buyers, Europe, the Middle East and Africa for 34% and Asia-Pacific for 26%.
This rare George I walnut combination desk made a hammer price of €13,000 at the James Adam At Home sale today. It had been estimated at €1,000-€2,000. It is formed with a kneehole desk on one side and a chest of drawers on the other. No less than seven bidders chased this unusual antique piece. A George IV pitch pine circular breakfast table with an estimate of €400-600 made €1,600 at hammer. A Pasha razor and barber brush by Cartier made €1,400, a gold charm bracelet made €3,200, an 1885 full sovereign gold coin in a pendant made €1,800, a pair of Victorian gilt and gesso torchere stands made €2,000, a Victorian giltwood rectangular mirror made €2,400 and a pair of continental porcelain figurines made €2,400 over a top estimate of €400.
Two Female Nudes, a 1979 watercolour, ink and pencil drawing by John Behan
This watercolour, ink and pencil drawing of Two Female Nudes by the Irish sculptor John Behan sold for £828.75 at Bonhams in London. From the collection of the late design guru Sir Terence Conran the work came up at the sale of the contents of Barton Court, his country house in Berkshire. Conran died in 2020.
Self-portrait with Julie Manet, Berthe Morisot, 1888 – ca. 1930. Gift of the heirs of Henny, Amsterdam
Women on Paper is the title of an exhibition which has just opened at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Work by a selection of women artists across four centuries including drawings, prints and photographs by Gesina ter Borch, Berthe Morisot, Kathe Kollwitz and Julia Margaret Cameron, has been assembled. The show, displayed across five rooms in different parts of the museum, results from a long term stock taking study of work by women in the collection and aims to create a more balanced representation. It runs until June 5, 2023.
