International

Christie’s sale of an ancient marble idol has created an art world battleground between Turkey and the saleroom, testing ownership laws...

The personal seals used by the Qianlong Emperor, a known connoisseur and patron of the arts, are among the most highly prized Chinese artefacts in today’s market.

White-walled shop fronts, spindly trees and anonymous figures populate city scenes that Maurice Utrillo (1883-1955) painted in the early 20th century.

Two rare early pieces of furniture by the famous architect and designer Finn Juhl are among the highlights in Bruun Rasmussen’s Design sale to be held in Copenhagen on September 27-28.

Christie’s seven sales dominated the New York Asian art series. With a couple of sales still to go across the weekend, the firm’s running total was close to $35m, more than twice the aggregate of its competitors.

Two new international auction partnerships have formed in the coin market, both involving London firms.

Eureka Stockade has been dubbed as the only ‘battle’ to have taken place in Australia but was in reality little more than a skirmish in global terms. However, the 1854 uprising that cost nearly 30 lives is now recognised as a seminal political event in colonial history and one that marked the birth of democracy in Australia.

Among the London art dealers who are off to Florence for the 30th edition of the city’s Biennale this month is Colnaghi. ATG canvassed the opinion of the firm’s CEO, Jorge Coll.

Jewels by Buccellati, all from European aristocratic collections, feature in the jewellery auction at Dorotheum in Vienna on October 19.

Jacob ben Asher’s Arba’ah Turim (The Four Orders of the Jewish Code of Law) was compiled in the early 14th century and its dissemination throughout the Diaspora led quickly to its recognition and acceptance by Jewish scholars as an authoritative, convenient and concise approach to Jewish law.

Among the highlights of the sale at Doyle New York on October 18 are two emerald and diamond brooches set with stones that display the prized deep green colour concentration of Colombian emeralds.

A small white zip-up bag used by Neil Armstrong to bring samples of lunar material back to earth following the historic Apollo 11 moon landing of 1969 was the star lot in a Space Exploration sale held by Sotheby’s New York (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) on July 20.

The coloured stones market remains strong, so Skinner can expect strong international competition for an antique sapphire pendant brooch (below) in Boston on September 19.

Stephen Camburn’s gallery is set in France’s Loire Valley. Camburn Fine Art France specialises in contemporary art and the paintings of Alan Halliday.

A set of four Victorian kangaroos salts made by silversmiths Hunt & Roskell sold for Aus$70,000 (£42,000) as part of the Fairfax collection at Leonard Joel in Sydney on August 31-September 2.

If you want to see some impressive room sets, then the biannual Foire de Chatou, 15km from Paris and held on the banks of the River Seine, is the place.

While Paris has changed its 'Biennale' to run every year, the equally venerable Florence 'Biennale', (the 'Biennale Internationale dell Antiquariato di Firenze – BIAF') retains a traditional format running in alternate years.