Latest News Articles by Anne Crane
Actress Sarah Bernhardt in the frame at Tajan
15 June 2020This 1890s Japoniste-style photograph frame in brown patinated bronze applied with gilt branches of stylised myosotis is by the Paris firm of Maison Millet.
Gold bracelets go from mucky moat to Monaco auction
15 June 2020Around 20 years ago the owner of a mediaeval manor house in northern Europe made an exciting discovery when clearing out the moats of the fortified house.
France: Punchy results as sales return
15 June 2020Auction rooms in France are gradually opening up again, albeit within the limitations of the new health and safety regulations set as a result of the coronavirus and aided by the extra input from absentee bidding on phones and online.
Punchinello comeback and pastels debut help to boost Paris drawings auction
15 June 2020Christie’s (25/20/13.5% buyer’s premium) has held its first live sales in Paris since lockdown.
Louvre secures Renaissance bronze by French sculptor
15 June 2020A newly discovered bronze by a French Renaissance sculptor was acquired by the Louvre museum for €1.15m (£1.05m) at an auction in Paris on June 9.
Auction action outside Paris with Old Masters and tribal art bringing demand
15 June 2020Outside Paris auctions have also started up as lockdown eases.
Musik plays part as one of three €100,000 top-sellers
15 June 2020Sotheby’s Paris (25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) reported a cumulative total of €5.4m for the five online sales it held over two weeks in mid May through to early June. The initiative attracted new buyers, said the auction house, with 35% in the jewellery sale and 27% in the Contemporary art auction.
Orientalist sculpture for sale in Nantes
15 June 2020Friedrich Goldscheider (1845-97) is famous for founding the Goldscheider ceramics factory which was set up in Vienna in 1885.
Five Vuillard works on offer at Artcurial
15 June 2020This painting of Madame de Saint-Maurice is one of five works by Edouard Vuillard spanning the years 1900-18 from the Georges and Jacqueline Herbin collection on offer at Artcurial in Paris.
Pick of the week: The bones of a fine Old Master drawing
08 June 2020A black chalk drawing of a skeleton drew an extraordinary competition at a German auction house Lempertz at the end of last month. Estimated at €3000-3500, it attracted at least 15 bidders and was eventually knocked down at €420,000 (£381,820) to a French dealer.
Phone bidders battle for white jade pendant plaques in Sydney
01 June 2020The first sale held by Bonhams Australia (22% buyer’s premium) behind closed doors in Sydney was devoted to Asian art,
Personal items that belonged to Marie-Antoinette lead auction at Versailles
01 June 2020Personal items that belonged to Marie-Antoinette were the highlights of Osenat’s (20.83/18% buyer’s premium) themed sale titled Royalty at Versailles.
Contrasting examples of the Viennese style in Dallas sale
01 June 2020An elaborate late-19th century engraved rock crystal, parcel-gilt, gemset and enamelled silver figural centrepiece made c.1880 by the Viennese firm of Hermann Ratzersdorfer was the catalogue cover lot of the Heritage (25 /20/12.5% buyer’s premium) silver and vertu auction in Dallas.
One hundred vintage sewing machines offered at Canadian auction
01 June 2020One of the key features of an online only sale held by Miller & Miller Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) in New Hamburg, Ontario, was a collection of around 100 vintage sewing machines assembled by Karl Koenig.
Louis Wain’s Cubist cats bring strong overseas interest at New Zealand auction
01 June 2020Louis Wain (1860-1939) is famed as an artist for his humorous anthropomorphic paintings of cats – typically producing several hundred drawings a year. However, perhaps his most progressive work was the series of ceramic designs in which the cats were rendered in distinctive Cubist form.
Furniture, silver and ceramics headline ‘The Collector’ sale at Christie’s
28 May 2020Christie’s series of sales titled ‘The Collector’, which take place in Paris, London and New York, are events which focus on traditional fields such as furniture, silver and ceramics. The latest London sale in this category is currently taking place as an online event running until June 1.
Novelty items shine at Sotheby’s prohibition-themed sale
26 May 2020An American silver-plated cocktail shaker fashioned as a lighthouse from c.1927-29 was among the lots commanding interest at Sotheby’s sale of prohibition-era items.
International Auction Previews of Books, Maps and Works on Paper – including a group of Franz Kafka documents
26 May 2020A selection of upcoming lots of books, maps and prints from auctions taking place around the world.
Sotheby’s sale of prohibition era items opens online
18 May 2020An online sale devoted to vintage bar ware and drinking accessories inspired by the Prohibition era is currently being staged by Sotheby’s New York.
English Arts & Crafts enamel plaques come to the fore in Cincinnati
18 May 2020Treadway’s (25/20/15% buyer’s premium) Spring sale in Cincinnati was led by examples of Tiffany glassware and a Gallé ceramic.