Decorative Art

Not, perhaps, the face modern eyes would immediately think of captivating an emperor, but this porcelain plaque portrait of Napoleon’s first wife, Josephine, was one of a number of major attractions at Canterbury Auction Galleries’ (24% buyer’s premium) Spring Sale.

Around 50 lots of French porcelain from the collection formed by Nadia Ortiz Patino of the famous collecting family are to be offered in a June 6 sale at Drouot, to be held by Thierry de Maigret under the expertise of Hervé de la Verrie.

The epic white-glove sale of the David and Peggy Rockefeller collection at Christie’s New York has established a new high for a single-owner auction.

Another spring sale, another impressive total. But perhaps what distinguished the silver sale held at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) was that the £750,000 total was mainly built up by affordable collectors’ items.

This pair of ormolu candlesticks by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) will feature in the May 24 auction at Duran Subastas in Madrid.

An essential of genteel Georgian life, silver apple corers with their simple elegance were once much prized by collectors. However, a collection of nine early 19th century examples offered at Woolley & Wallis on April 24-25 met a mixed reception, with only five getting away.

A speciality for collectors of silver wine labels are the enamelled examples produced in Battersea in the 18th century.

Two fine Dutch pieces quadrupled estimates at Woolley & Wallis on April 24-25: a c.1637 wine cup by an unidentified Middelburg smith and a table bell.

Australian enthusiasts did much to buoy up the Royal Doulton market in its 1990s pomp. And one such fan certainly did his bit to bring some life to what can now be a weak market by consigning a choice collection of Lambeth, flambé, Burslem and prototype wares to Kingham & Orme (20% buyer’s premium).

The British Hallmarking Council (BHC) has decided that hallmarks struck offshore by UK assay offices should be different to those applied in the UK.

Marcus Budgen is to head the Spink medals department after the departure of David Erskine-Hill.

The increasing market interest in modern designer silver was well catered for among the contents of North Mymms Park offered at Sworders.

A late 19th century Art Nouveau centrepiece is one of the highlights at Quittenbaum’s Munich sale on May 15.

Among the silver from North Mymms Park lots offered at Sworders, a couple of 18th century classics, a c.1735 Scottish bullet teapot and a pair of John Cafe London 1775 table candlesticks, were eclipsed by the surprise success of a scantily catalogued Oriental teapot.

Weschlers’ mixed-owner Capital Collections sale in Rockville, Maryland, on May 11 will offer a very wide range of fine and decorative arts.

Estimated at £10,000-15,000, a pair of James II silver candlesticks sold at £62,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at the Woolley & Wallis silver sale in Salisbury.