antique silver

Massive Wine Cooler Sets Silver Record

Filed under: Auctions

A massive silver wine cooler fetched a high price at a recent Sotheby's London auction. The cooler was considered to be the most important piece of English silver to come to the market in 50 years and weighs in at a hefty 168 pounds. The piece which measures more than a meter across was sold to a private Asian buyer during Sotheby's sale of "Treasures," a carefully curated 21-lot sale brought in £13,951,250 / $21,177,998 (skimming over the high end of the pre-sale estimate of £8,790,000 - £13,430,000). The Great Silver Wine Cistern made for Thomas Wentworth sold for £2,505,250 beating the pre-sale estimate of £1.5-2.5 million and setting a new record price for English Silver at auction.

An Italian ivory inlaid rosewood table made for the Duke of Urbino Francesco Maria II Della Rovere circa 1596-7, and subsequently part of the collection of the Medici family, sold for £937,250. An amber box bearing the arms of Prince William IV of Orange and Anne, Princess Royal of Great Britain, North German, circa 1734, realized £657,250 over double the high estimate if £300,000. Even more impressive, a set of three ivory painted and parcel-gilt Royal Pliants by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Séné (1748-1803) made for Queen Marie Antoinette's Salon des Jeux at the Châteaux of Compiègne and Fontainebleau, Louis XVI, circa 1786-87, took in £541,250 against an estimate of £150,000-250,000.

Mario Tavella, Sotheby's Deputy Chairman Europe and the specialist in charge of the sale said: "Today's very successful results represent a fantastic achievement in the field of decorative arts. These extraordinarily rare Treasures with highly desirable aristocratic provenance sparked competition from private collectors and institutional buyers alike as well as the trade and there was bidding and buying from Europe, the United States, Russia, Asia and the Middle East."

Tags: antique silver, silver, sothebys, vintage silver

The Silver Fund Celebrates 15 Years With New Showcase Catalogs

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

The Silver Fund, the leading source for the finest estate Georg Jensen (1866-1935) and other signature 20th- century silver masterworks, is publishing a series of "Showcase" catalogues featuring newly acquired "signature" designs selected because of their special rarity and appeal.

The hard bound catalogs will include works by Georg Jensen as well as other designers associated with his studio including Johan Rohde, Harold Neilsen and Henning Koppel. The catalogs will also feature examples of exemplary 20th-century design by Jean E. Puiforcat, William Spratling, Allan Adler and Antonio Pineda and works from celebrated makers like Tiffany, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Gorham, Murano, Christofle, and Dunhill. The Silver Fund has been based in London for 15 years and exhibits at antique fairs in New York, Palm Beach, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.

Trained as a sculptor at the Royal Academy of Art, Georg Arthur Jensen apprenticed as a ceramist and goldsmith before opening his first silver shop in Copenhagen in 1904. His work quickly garnered worldwide attention and a slew of celebrated clients such as Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn. Jensen's work and other minimalist silver pieces coming out of Denmark revolutionized modern silver design in the early 1900s. You can see some of the Silver Fund's offerings on their website and at upcoming art shows like the Miami international Art Fair and the Miami Beach Antique Show in January.
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Tags: antique silver, AntiqueSilver, collecting silver, CollectingSilver, silver

The Fitzgibbon Marine Centerpiece

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

The front of the catalog of the auction of silver and Russian works of art from the estate of Charles and Yvette Bluhdorn at Sotheby's New York on October 13th shows just the tip of the amazing piece of silver seen here. This one piece, the Fitzgibbon Marine centerpiece is a George III silver centerpiece created by James Young, London, 1786. The piece sits on shell feet with four scaly dolphins entwined with scroll supports supporting an oval tureen centered on each side by a mask linked by swags of shells and pearls to two triton handles and topped with a reclining figure of Neptune with trident. Charles Bluhdorn was a noted industrialist, the chairman of Gulf and Western, which had holdings in Paramount Pictures, Madison Square Garden, and Simon & Schuster. He died in 1983 but was survived by his wife Yvette who died earlier this year. The silver centerpiece is estimated to sell for $800,000 to $1.2 million.

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Tags: antique silver, charles bluhdorn, CharlesBluhdorn, fitzgibbon, sotheby's