Jewellery

Works of art by architect-designer William Burges (1827-1881) are extremely rare – but serendipity has seen half a dozen pieces emerge recently in the regions.

A collection of 27 intaglios from the collection of Prince Stanislas Poniatowski (1754-1833), nephew of the last King of Poland, came to auction in London last month with a intriguing back-story.

Among the submissions considered for the Radio 4’s popular series ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’ were two modest pieces of silver and enamel Art Nouveau-style jewellery by Charles Horner (1837-96) of Halifax – the local jeweller turned international manufacturer who through mass-production methods, innovative designs and marketing genius took high fashion to the masses.

In what has been described as “the largest single transaction to ever occur in the field of decorative arts”, California Bay Area auctioneers Michaan’s have purchased, for sale, an unparalleled collection of Tiffany and other Art Nouveau works of art.

“My dear Caroline, The enclosed Ring once belonged to your Aunt Jane. It was given to me by your Aunt Cassandra as soon as she knew that I was engaged to your Uncle. I bequeath it to you. God bless you.”

A selection of natural pearl jewellery will be included in Woolley and Wallis’ designated sale on July 19 in Salisbury.

A large sale of jewellery and watches from Suttons & Robertsons, London’s oldest pawnbrokers, is to be offered at Fellows of Birmingham on July 16.

The fine pictures, silver and jewellery auction at Halls of Shrewsbury on June 27 will offer for sale the coronets and accompanying robes bought in the second quarter of the 19th century from Garrard & Co Ltd and worn by the Earl and Countess of Cavan.

Antiques Roadshow and Midlands auction house Gildings have conspired again to find a second William Burges brooch.

Ramraiders have stolen more than 50 silver and jewellery items worth up to £20,000 from an auction house in Worcestershire.

IF pearls reached the peak of their popularity in antiquity, when the Roman general Vitellius is said to have financed an entire military campaign by selling just one of his mother’s pearl earrings, then the market in 2012 does not rest too far behind.

THE High Court has ruled that Sotheby’s were not negligent in cataloguing and valuing a judge’s gold chain of office as late 17th century rather than a spectacularly rare survivor from Tudor times.

ANTIQUE and secondhand jewellery valued at £430,000 has been stolen during a break-in at an auction house in south Glasgow following what appears to have been a carefully planned and meticulously timed raid.

AS sales go, it is hard to imagine one that could have been more of an auctioneer’s dream than the collection of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewellery and personal possessions.

THIS locket, believed to contain the hair of Admiral Lord Nelson to one side and Lady Emma Hamilton to the reverse, was previously unknown to Nelson experts but it turned up at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury after being consigned by a vendor in Australia who has family connections to Portsmouth.

THE U.S. Supreme Court in Washington has delivered a significant blow to Tiffany & Co’s bid to stop the sale of counterfeit jewellery on eBay.

SOTHEBY’S set a new auction record for a jewel in Geneva when a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond sold to London jeweller Laurence Graff at SFr40.5m (£25.6m) plus premium.

TIFFANY have lost on most counts in their appeal against a ruling in a US federal district court backing eBay over the sale of the firm’s jewellery.

THE appeal of Paris as an auction centre for jewellery received a boost at the start of the year, when France slashed import VAT on “rare” or “high value” jewellery from 19.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent.

The 17th century Wittelsbach diamond was bought for £14.6m (plus premium) by dealer Laurence Graff at Christie’s on December 10, beating the previous auction record – the $16.5m paid for a 100 carat rock at Sotheby’s Geneva in 1995.