France

December is traditionally a month when Paris focuses attention on sales of Asian art, with auctions in the rooms across the city and at the Drouot centre.

A mammoth skeleton, carved zitan brushpot and gold watch made in London are among the varied lots on offer in upcoming French sales.

Described as the ‘Proustian Holy Grail’ by Sotheby’s Paris (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium), one of just five special copies printed on Japanese paper of Marcel Proust’s Du côté de chez Swann sold for a premium-inclusive €535,000 (£471,780) in a sale of October 30.

Plaudits were deserved in Paris on November 27 for Camille Claudel (1864-1943) when Artcurial’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) dedicated sale of 20 of the sculptor’s works were offered direct from her family.

A red and black chalk portrait of a Renaissance French prince soared to a multi-estimate price of €810,000 (£736,365) when it went under the hammer in Monaco last month.

After a two-year wait, lots from the defunct manuscript investment scheme Aristophil will be resold at the Drouot in Paris next month.

A sale devoted to pieces by French designers and held in the French capital proved to be a winning formula for Sotheby’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) latest auction in this category on October 31.

A newly discovered, hitherto unpublished painting by the French master Sebastien Bourdon is coming up for auction in Marseille at Maison R&C on November 16.

Artcurial’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) auction focus on Charlotte Perriand, the celebrated 20th century French designer and a current hot ticket in the design market, took the form of a select sale of just 20 lots chosen to showcase her strengths and versatility.

Masters of Design are very much in the spotlight in Paris at the moment. A week after Artcurial’s Charlotte Perriand sortie on October 31, Sotheby’s Paris (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) was mounting its traditional autumn sale devoted to major works from the Art Nouveau, Art Deco, post-war and modern design periods.

Among recent highlights at the Drouot in Paris, Beaussant- Lefèvre’s (21.53% buyer’s premium inc VAT) classic sale of Old Masters, furniture and works of art on October 18 produced a substantial €265,000 (£240,910) for a modestly estimated bronze of the goddess Diana.

The Louvre museum in Paris is hoping to raise more than £8m to buy a jewel-encrusted Book of Hours.