Carved with a scene depicting, on the left, an elaborately turbanned figure and, at right, a physician who holds aloft a flask, the wooden object seen above is, to put it quite bluntly, a 'piss-pot' lid or cover.
It was part of a sale held by Bonhams in London on September 18–one of their regular Oak Interior sales in which furniture or furnishings of all shapes and sizes are the core offering, but where candlesticks, pots, plates and all sorts of other household items are to be found.
Art News
Phillips’ recent two-day 20th Century & Contemporary Art and Design Auction event in Hong Kong, with an Evening Sale November 25th, and an inaugural Day Sale the 26th, reached combined sales of $19.7 million. The Evening Sale realized $13,130,939 and the Day Sale realized $6,570,358. Both auctions offered stellar examples of both Western and Asian art.
Born into considerable wealth in Milwaukee, but resident in England for the last three decades of his life, Stanley J. Seeger (1930-2011) was a quite remarkable collector, who, together with his partner of 32 years, Christopher Cone, filled homes in England and around the world with extraordinarily varied collections of art, antiques and the arcane.
This week in Geneva, Sotheby’s auction of the Bourbon Parma family collection of royal jewels made auction history. Containing one hundred pieces, the auction realized $53.1 million, over seven times the pre-sale high estimate of $7 million. Among the collection were pieces that belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette. This auction of historic jewels broke the $50.3 million record established by the 1987 sale of jewels of the Duchess of Windsor.
Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Sale made over $5 million yesterday, part of their Asian Week Sales in London. The top sale was lot 153, a very rare, large Imperial underglaze blue and iron-red enamel ‘Nine Dragon’ Dish, of the Qianlong period (1736-1795). Estimated at $524,000-786,000, the Nine Dragon Dish sold for $703,490.
Christie’s online auction of The Collection of Melva Bucksbaum: Post-War and Contemporary Art, Photographs and Prints offered highlights from the visionary art parton's eclectic collection, ranging from established artists like Man Ray, Cindy Sherman and Agnes Martin, to young emerging artists.
At Sotheby’s Collection of David Teiger auction in London on Friday, artist Jenny Saville set a new record for the most ever paid at auction for the work of a living female artist. Her 1992 self-portrait Propped sold for $12.4 million, far exceeding the pre-sale estimate of $3.9-5.2 million.
This week Sotheby's auctioned off the collection of Marsha Garces Williams and Robin Williams, achieving $6.1 million. Amassed over more than two decades, the collection is an impressive, eclectic mix of contemporary and outsider artwork, including movie memorabilia, antiques, fine watches, paintings, prints and sculptures.
Christie’s is marking Frieze Week in London with a series of auctions showcasing 20th- and 21st- century works. The first of these, Un/Breakable, which took place on Tuesday, is a new curated auction that traces 140 years of ceramic art.
Phillips New Now auction proved itself to be a staple of the auction calendar this week, mixing work by emerging and established artists in a successful sale. With over 250 lots offered, the auction expected to realize over $5 million, and made $6.4 million.
