29 décembre 2017

Lot 17. Property from an Important Berlin Collection. Twenty-four Berlin (K.P.M.) porcelain plates painted with scenes from Goethe's Faust, circa 1821. Estimate £60,000–100,000. © Sotheby's within tooled gilded borders, and individual gilded borders at the rims, the first in the series, No. I, signed and dated 'Roentgen. f. 1821.', sceptre marks in underglaze-blue, painter's marks, all except one with a Roman numeral in black enamel and lines of verse to the... [Lire la suite]

Lot 12. Property of a Dutch Baronial Family. A Chinese export armorial famille-rose tea set with the coat-of-arms of the House of Orange, Qing dynasty, circa 1747. Estimate £15,000–25,000. © Sotheby's comprising: a tea pot and cover; covered sugar bowl; covered cream jug; waste bowl; a smaller bowl; twelve cups and nine saucers; a small dish; two shell-shaped dishes; each decorated with the arms of Prince William IV Karel Hendrick Friso of Orange (1711-1751) within an elaborate border of floral garlands,... [Lire la suite]

Rose water basin, Gujarat (India), the mounts: Nuremberg or Antwerp, around 1540. Silver, driven, cast, chased, hallmarked, gilded, wood, painted green on a cream background (basin), copper (pot), mother-of-pearl, cut. Diameter: 56 cm, H 8,6 cm; Weight: 4911 g. Green Vault, IV 181. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The pompous basin covered with mother-of-pearl tiles and the corresponding pot of the same material (IV 256) were imported to southern Germany via Portuguese traders from Gujarat in north-western India. In... [Lire la suite]

Mother-of-pearl jug, Gujarat (India), the mounts: Nuremberg or Antwerp, around 1540. Silver, driven, cast, chased, hallmarked, gilded, copper (pot), mother-of-pearl, cut. H 29.0 cm, W 23.3 cm, dia foot 15.9 cm; Weight: 1392 g. Green Vault, IV 256. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The jug, densely covered with mother-of-pearl tiles, and the pomp of the same material (IV 181) were imported to southern Germany via Portuguese traders from Gujarat in north-western India. In Nuremberg or Antwerp, around 1540, the two... [Lire la suite]

Wine jug, Germany, around 1550. Gold, enamel, 7 diamonds, 14 rubies. Height 16.9 cm, width 8.5 cm, weight 301 g. Green Vault, 41. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The small communion pot is made of pure gold and carries on the foot, "belly" and lid colored enamelled ornament, which is set with diamonds and rubies in high box settings. The smooth Kopus stands out brilliantly from the colored relief. The shape of the decor dates back to the middle of the 16th century. A black enamelled V (Vinum) on the front... [Lire la suite]

Coconut Cup with scenes from the story of the prodigal son, probably Nuremberg, mid-16th century. Coconut, carved, silver, gilded. H 28.0 cm, dia cup 13.2 cm, dm foot 11.0 cm; Weight: 693 g. Green Vault, IV 330. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The "Native American" nuts imported from Central and South America have been processed by Western European goldsmiths into precious and imaginative drinking vessels since the second half of the 16th century, three examples of which are gathered here. The serving as Kuppa... [Lire la suite]

Lid cup from Martin Luther's estate, Southern Germany, around 1540. Silver, gilded. H 14.3 cm, diam cover 9.7 cm, diam foot 8.4 cm. Green Vault, IV 313. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden In addition to the Luther cup in the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum in Leipzig, the low lid cup of the Grünes Gewölbe belongs to the scientifically secured silver objects owned by the Reformer. Around 1540 he was given this by his friend and fellow combatant, the Wittenberg theologian and Probst Justus Jonas. Its coat of arms is... [Lire la suite]

Owl as a drinking vessel, Southern Germany, around 1540. Silver, gilded, reverse glass painting, enamel. H 45.0 cm. Green Vault, IV 302. © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden  Although the owl is rendered in a very stylized way, the extremely fine chiselling of the plumage and the effective alternation between gilded and non-gilded parts are impressive. The cover figure in the shape of an ancient warrior presents a shield with the Saxon-Saxon alliance coat of arms in reverse glass painting, which... [Lire la suite]

2017 was another impressive year for Old Masters at Sotheby's, with saleroom successes on both sides of the Atlantic including a record-breaking result for Joseph Wright of Derby's arresting An Academy by Lamplight which sold for £7.3 million, more than double its estimate. J.M.W. Turner's Ehrenbreitstein, one of only six works by the artist still in private hands, sold for £18.5 million in London in July. Click through to see the top results from across sales in New York and London. Joseph Mallord William... [Lire la suite]

  From masterpieces of fine art, to magnificent jewellery and fine Chinese ceramics, Sotheby's 2017 auctions achieved exceptional results. In New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled, the most significant work by the artist to ever appear at auction, sold for $110.5 million. A new record for any diamond or jewel was set in Hong Kong when the 'CTF Pink Star' sold for HK$553 million. Gustav Klimt's magnificent 1907 work Bauerngarten (Blumengarten) led London's Impressionist and Modern Art auction, selling for £48 million in... [Lire la suite]