Vecchio Sultano by Salvador Dalí, £34,000 at Cheffins.
Dalí discovery now sells in Cambridge
An original work by Salvador Dalí discovered in a Cambridge house clearance made a major return for the vendor at Cheffins on October 23.
Vecchio Sultano, measuring 15 x 11.5in (38 x 29cm), a signed mixed-media piece made with watercolour and felt tip, is an illustration of a scene from The Arabian Nights. Dalí intended to create a series of 500 works of Middle Eastern folktales, which was commissioned by a wealthy Italian couple, Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto.
The picture had been offered for sale at Sotheby’s in the 1990s as a fully attributed Dalí. However, its importance seemed to have become lost as it was subsequently sold at the house clearance sale in 2023 for just £150.
The buyer back then was a Cambridge-based antiques and art dealer who had spotted it as something potentially valuable and subsequently consigned it to Cheffins, also in Cambridge.
Director at Cheffins Brett Tryner said: “The seller was told the painting had been stored in a garage in London before appearing at the house clearance in central Cambridge. Thanks to his extensive knowledge and sharp eye for authenticity, this important piece has been reintroduced to the art market.
“Following research by the seller and our team, the work was examined by leading Dalí expert Nicolas Descharnes, who confirmed its authenticity and consistency with other known examples in both style and paper quality.”
Estimated at £20,000-30,000, on the day it was knocked down at £34,000 to an overseas buyer (plus 25% buyer’s premium).
The vendor, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I am over the moon with this result… It was genuinely very exciting
to see it go under the hammer, and I am glad that it has reached the recognition which it deserves.
“The final price is around what we expected, and I was glad to see it sell after all the hard work and research which went into it.”
Arrests made after Louvre jewels theft
Seven arrests had been made in the investigation into the Louvre jewellery heist as ATG went to press.
According to reports a French prosecutor said two suspects had “partially” confessed to their involvement in the robbery. Then a further five suspects were arrested on October 30.
French radio station RTL reported the second batch of arrests following an interview with French magistrate Laure Beccuau.
Four thieves stole the jewellery from the Louvre on October 19.
Artworks seized in forged art alert
Bavarian police have seized millions of euros worth of forged art claiming to show works by Picasso, Rembrandt and Kahlo in an operation spanning Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Authorities in Bavaria said the main suspect is a 77-year-old German man who, along with 10 alleged accomplices, is facing charges of conspiracy and fraud.
It is reported that suspicions were raised when the man tried to sell two supposedly original paintings by Picasso on the art market. He then wanted to sell De Staalmeesters, a famous oil painting by Dutch old master Rembrandt, for SwFr120m (£113m) – despite the original hanging in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Medicine society books up for sale
Chief among the highlights of Christie’s sale with a guide of £800,000-£1.2m is a 1628 printing of William Harvey’s Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus, the groundbreaking first description of blood circulation.
Christie’s is to sell a selection of 100 books from the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) library as part of its Classic Week.
Half of the December 10 sale of Valuable Books, Manuscripts and Photographs, is devoted to works from the RSM that have an aggregate estimate of £2.2m-3.2m.
The society says the proceeds will be directly invested into “strengthening the RSM’s offer, delivering clear benefits for their members: modernised spaces, enhanced digital platforms, and expanded learning opportunities”.
More items from its library not yet available online will be professionally digitised.
Notable lots include James Parkinson’s 1817 An Essay on the Shaking Palsy (estimate £50,000-70,000), the first edition of a foundational work of the neurological disease that would later bear his name, as well as a group of 18 autograph letters by the ‘father of immunology’, Edward Jenner (estimate £50,000-70,000).
Most read
The most clicked-on stories for week October 24-30 on antiquestradegazette.com
1 Antiques dealer Drew Pritchard plans new Cotswold showroom
2 Christie’s posts higher Modern British total with new buyer’s premium now in force
3 Hanson recruits whole Norfolk auction team
4 Second auction slice of Michael Baggott silver brings white-glove result
5 Rediscovered Cardinal Wolsey coat of arms on display in London ahead of sale
In Numbers
3
The number of days it took Devon auction house Chilcotts to clear the collection of clocks, barometers, parts, equipment and tools from the house of one Mr Gosling, described as an “at-home horologist”.
Chilcotts' auctioneer Barnaby Willis with some of the 60 lots from the collection of clocks, barometers, parts, equipment and tools from the house of one Mr Gosling.
More than 60 lots are being offered for sale in Honiton on November 15. Auctioneer Barnaby Willis is pictured here with some of the items.
