Napoleon’s ring to a young love
A ring given by the young Napoleon Bonaparte to an early love, Caroline du Colombier, carries an estimate of €10,000- 15,000 at Osenat’s auction in Fontainebleau on March 26. The young lieutenant Bonaparte met Caroline’s family when he was stationed in Valence and visited their country estate at Basseaux.
On one occasion he went out early on a summer morning with Caroline to pick cherries – an excursion that later prompted the presentation of the gold ring with its minutely detailed ivory scene of a cherry harvest.
The ring has remained in the family passing down through the descendants of Caroline, Who became Madame de Bressieux on her marriage.
Dalmeny becomes UK chairman
HARRY Dalmeny, who has been with Sotheby’s for over 25 years, has been appointed the company’s UK chairman.
Sotheby’s said he will lead its development of key relationships with clients in the UK and will focus on the growth of its significant house and singleowner sales.
Lord Dalmeny officially started at Sotheby’s as a graduate trainee in 1990.
However, the firm said his “journey with the auction house really began in 1977, when a nine-year old Harry watched his family possessions at Mentmore Towers being sold by Sotheby’s, following his grandfather’s passing”. See Then & Now.
Tad Smith, president and chief executive of Sotheby’s, said: “Harry is one of those remarkable forces of nature that attracts everyone to him. He is a master on the rostrum and that passion and charisma carry through everything he does.”
No more prison for Knoedler consigner
A JUDGE has ruled that the dealer involved in the $80m forgery scandal that brought down the Knoedler gallery will not serve further prison time.
Glafira Rosales, 60, was arrested in 2013 and has served three months in prison after she pleaded guilty to the consignment of 40 fakes to top New York galleries.
The judge in the US federal court case sentenced her to three years of supervised release including nine months of house arrest. She will also have to pay an as yet undecided amount for a “restitution” payment.
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Here are the most clicked-on stories for week Jan 27-Feb 1 on antiquestradegazette.com
1 ATG announces the death, aged 71, of colleague David Moss
2 Petworth antiques dealer’s appeal over theft
3 Swan song for Scottish Borders auction firm
4 Lord Harlech to sell family collection at Bonhams
5 Plymouth collector swoops on Picasso owl
Gheeraerts found in Harlech estate
AMONG the lots being sold from Glyn Cywarch, the estate of Lord Harlech, at Bonhams on March 29 is a previously unrecorded painting by Queen Elizabeth I’s portraitist, Marcus Gheeraerts.
The 1597 portrait of Ellin Maurice (1578-1626), an heiress and ancestor of Ormsby Gore, is one of 35 Old Master paintings in the 400-lot sale.
It carries an estimate of £60,000-80,000.
In Numbers
8
The number of recovery cases resolved by the Art Loss Register in January, including three cases relating to Second World War looted art.
