Cabinet de curiosités

Courtesy Hindman. CHICAGO, IL.- Step into a cabinet of curiosities this November 10th with Hindman’s Ancient Art & Natural History: A Cabinet of Curiosities auction. Highlighting the auction is a rare and completely preserved iridescent ammonite fossil from 75 million years ago. Fast forwarding in history to another monumental moment, the auction concludes with the manual used by NASA to put a man on the moon in 1966. Presented alongside these items are works from ancient civilizations that reveal a better... [Lire la suite]

Lot 206. A North European ormolu-mounted nautilus-shell cup, first half 19th century; 7 1⁄4 in. (19.5 cm.) high; 5 1⁄2 in. (14 cm.) wide. Price Realised GBP 6,930 (Estimate GBP 2,500 - GBP 4,000). © Christie's 2022 With a winged mask and dragons and supported by a snail on oval black slate base, with circular 'Anthony & Marietta Coleridge Collection' label, inscribed 'WA/40A'. The Anthony and Marietta Coleridge Collection. Provenance: Anonymous sale; Christie's,... [Lire la suite]

Lot 202. Two English gold-mounted shell boxes; the turritella box, London, circa 1765; the cancellaria shell with mark of David Arthur Thomas, London, 1966. The turritella: 4 in. (10 cm.) long; the cancellaria: 31⁄2 in. (9 cm.). Price Realised GBP 3,276 (Estimate GBP 2,000 - GBP 3,000). © Christie's 2022 The turritella shell applied at the hinged cover with rococo border of scrolls and flowers, the cover rim with white enamelled band reading 'NUL PLAISIR SANS VOUS VOIR', the cover lined inside with... [Lire la suite]

Lot 2015. A Sulawesi Macaque, and Owl in Dome; Sulawesi Macaque: h. 48 cm, Owl in Dome: h. 40 cm. Estimate: 50,000 - 80,000 HKD. Lot sold: 27,720 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's. Provenance: Get Stuffed, London, 2012. Sotheby's. Eclectic, Hong Kong, 14 July 2021

Lot 2002. A phallic gogotte, Fontainebleau, France, Oligocene (30 million years old), and a coco de mer, Seychelles; gogotte h. 28 cm, overall h. 36.2 cm; coco de mer h. 29 cm, overall h. 33 cm. Estimate: 12,000 - 18,000 HKD. Lot sold: 17,640 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's. The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., P121b1 Provenance: gogotte: Acquired in Hong Kong. coco der mer: Paleomoove Laboratory, Marseille, 2015. ... [Lire la suite]

Lot 1. A pair of fossilised 'Irish elk' antlers, Prehistoric; 295cm. wide; 9ft. 8in. Estimate: 25,000 - 40,000 GBP. Lot sold: 44,100 GBP. Photo Sotheby's. with twenty-one points, restorations. Property of a Gentleman. Note: 'Irish Elk' or Giant Deer (Megaloceras Giganteus) originated during the Pleistocene Period of the Great Ice Age and is thought to have initially colonised Siberia before migrating towards the west in response to the deteriorating climate, becoming extinct approximately... [Lire la suite]

© Christie's Images Ltd 2020 LONDON.- Christie’s London announced the sale of Finch & Co’s Cabinet of Curiosities. This eclectic collection sale spans thousands of years of history, comprising Antiquities, European Sculpture and Objects, alongside Tribal and Ethnographic Art, Natural History and Topographical pictures. In 96 lots, the sale unites historically and geographically important objects and curiosities from around the globe, including a Chinese scholar’s wrist rest, a Spanish Colonial (South American)... [Lire la suite]

Lot 5109. A Gogotte, Oligocene (30 Million Years Old), Fontainebleau, France; with stand 38 cm, 14 7/8  in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 HKD. Sold for 25,000 HKD (2,958 EUR). Courtesy Sotheby's. Note: A gogotte is a millions-of-years old naturally shaped mineral rarity consisting of tiny quartz fragments held together by calcium carbonate and the present gogotte is a beautiful concretion made of sandstone with a sublime grain. These bizarre sandstone formations from... [Lire la suite]

Stele of Ramses II, Egypt, New Kingdom, Ramesside period, XIX Dynasty, 1279-1213 BC. Bas-relief in calcareous stone with the engraved name of the Pharaoh Ramses II, 74 x 36 x 5 cm. © Theatrum Mundi. Provenance: private collection, United Kingdom, acquired at Pars Antique, London, 1970. James Gawley know as Jimmy Claws (USA, 1960s), Wolverine's original claws, 2006. Worn by Hugh Jackman in his role as Wolverine in X-Men: The Last Stand directed by Brett Ratner, 25.5 x 20 x 45 cm. © Theatrum Mundi. Provenance: private collection,... [Lire la suite]

The Kunstkammer as a work of art. © Porfirius Kunstkammer The four domains of the Renaissance Kunstkammer-Preciosia, Naturalia, Scientifica and Exotica-merge in this eclectic artwork to create an image of the known world. The focus is on rare and surprising objects that each tells us a story. Attributed to the Schloss Rosenborg Court Turner, Turned beaker with hundred beakers inside, Copenhagen, prior to 1673. Limewood. H 29 cm. © Porfirius Kunstkammer. Baroque rose engine-turned box, Germany, late 17th century. Ivory, Ø 10... [Lire la suite]