Christie's

The overall performance of the latest London sales of Old Master pictures and ‘important’ works of art was fairly mixed but the auction houses did at least welcome the return of some big-ticket items.

Two Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) drawings created national news last week as Christie’s posted a record for a sketch by the great master in London while a court in Paris is to determine whether another can be legally exported from France.

The sale of Michel Périnet’s collection of tribal art at Christie’s in Paris on June 23 real ised a remarkable €66m/£57m (including buyer’s premium) and every one of the 61 lots were sold.

This splendid Leeds pearlware horse, c.1810, was one of two offered at Christie’s (25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) on June 8 as part of a sale that combined property from seven titled vendors.

The latest round of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s represented the highest overall total for a ‘London’ auction series since before the coronavirus pandemic.

Old Master paintings come up for sale throughout the year in France but the summer season traditionally mounts a number of dedicated auctions in the field.

Some of the world’s most famous Old Master paintings have been highly regarded for many centuries, carrying a reputation that has led to them being replicated and copied by other artists – sometimes soon after their creation.

Two lots offered as part of a Chinese works of art auction held by Christie’s (25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) brought matching bids of £110,000 – far, far in excess of their estimates.

The collection of about 800 engraved gems formed by the nobleman and politician George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739-1817), was the largest and most important of the age.

More manageable version of monumental Nuremberg Chronicle makes five-times top guide

The Exceptional sale at Christie’s on July 6 includes this outstanding example of Charles I silver: the so-called Seven Liberal Arts inkstand. The estimate is £1m-1.5m.

This Egyptian 25th or 26th Dynasty polychrome limestone relief fragment, the property of a Belgian collector, comes for sale at Christie’s Antiquities auction in London on July 7.

Christie’s New York rooms is holding an online sale titled Treasures of a Storied Manhattan Collection open for bidding from June 15-July 1.

Richly illuminated manuscripts from a ‘truly exceptional collection’ shine in New York

Restituted pictures remain a key area of supply for fresh Old Masters and Christie’s evening sale on July 8 includes two Dutch Golden Age paintings.

Christie’s sale in Paris on June 16 includes this portrait of a young woman writing a letter by the artist known as The Master of the Female Half Lengths.