International

Single buyer secures two key works by one of the main sculptors of the Enlightenment.

In ATG No 2385 we ran a story on Rebecca Lloyd Marlow’s 12,000-strong collection of 18th to 20th century buttons which she had sourced over the past 20 years at fairs and brocantes across France. Here is a focus on two such events, one in the north and one in the south of the country where not only buttons but plenty of textiles, French furniture, ceramics and all sorts of desirables in between tempt hundreds of buyers.

France’s annual Journées Marteau event, organised by the French auctioneers’ association SYMEV (Syndicat National des Maisons de Ventes Volontaires), takes place this weekend, April 5-7.

Head and shoulders above anything else in Millon’s (25% buyer’s premium) animalier bronze sale, Bestiare, held on March 8 at Drouot in Paris, was a dramatic study of a lion eating by one of the most sought-after names in the genre and the star of the so-called Antwerp school of sculpture.

It was a white-glove result for the 49-lot auction of the collection of Jeff Hunter offered by Freeman’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Philadelphia on March 13.

Medical and scientific library includes landmark Vesalius study on human anatomy.

A 9th century gilt bronze figure bought at a Missouri garage sale and later appraised on PBS’ Antiques Roadshow was the toast of the New York Asia Week auctions.

A pair of early George III carved walnut Gainsborough chairs, c.1765, were among the early highlight sales at BADA 2019. Offered from the stand of Richard Courtney in excellent original condition, they sold for a price in the region of £70,000.

A very rare gold coin took top honours at the auction held by Künker (23% buyer’s premium) in Berlin on January 31.

Almost 140 carpets and weaves which illustrate the differing designs of the individual tribes that make up the people of Turkmenistan are to be offered by Dorotheum in Vienna on April 9.

Two iron padlocks caught the eye of numerous bidders at the February 28 sale at Wendl (18% buyer’s premium) in Rudolstadt.

Through his numerous inventions, the Parisian craftsman Julien Leroy (1686-1759) is credited with revitalising the art of clock and watch making in the French capital and throughout the country.

Contrary to popular opinion, the name of the Rock-Ola company of Chicago, which became famous for the production of distinctive jukeboxes, has no connection to rock ’n’ roll. It is in fact a fortuitous coincidence that the firm’s founder was actually called David Cullen Rockola.