International
About 80% of the global art market by value takes place outside the UK. The largest art market in the world is the US with China in third place (after the UK) followed by France, Germany and Switzerland.
Many more nations have a rich art and antiques heritage with active auction, dealer, fair, gallery and museum sectors even if their market size by value is smaller.
Read the top stories and latest art and antiques news from all these countries.
Before we get to New Zealand
26 March 2001The principal focus of the Christie’s Los Angeles sale of February 22 was a collection of Pacific voyages, with particular emphasis on New Zealand, and I shall return to that sale next week (see issue no. 1483) – but there were a few other things as well.
Locke’s Essay Concerning Humane Understanding
26 March 2001A 1690 first of Locke’s Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, bound in contemporary English mottled calf gilt and formerly in Sir Isaac Newton’s library, that reached $190,000 (£131,035) was acquired by Freilich at the Haskell F. Norman sales of 1998, when the price was $200,000.
Cincinnati Museum project turns up unknown miniatures by Hilliard, Cosway and Cooper
19 March 2001A MAJOR cataloguing project at the Museum of Cincinnati in Ohio has authenticated up to 15 very important and hitherto unrecorded portrait miniatures by the likes of Nicholas Hilliard.
Java princes of Denmark
19 March 2001A highly unusual set of five life-size canvases of Javanese princes and courtiers, attracted a deluge of international trade enquiries when they came up for sale at the Copenhagen rooms of Museumsbygningen (25% buyer’s premium) on March 1.
Showstopping pottery model of a recumbent Bactrian camel
19 March 2001TEFAF Maastricht closed on Sunday with museum-quality goods having sold well – particularly Old Masters, Contemporary art and Oriental – but business was being achieved from the opening party on March 9, when collectors converged on this showstopping pottery model of a recumbent Bactrian camel, 101/2in (27cm) high, on the stand of London specialist Ben Janssens.
The stamp of history…
19 March 2001EIRE: WHYTES of Dublin held their spring coin sale on February 23. Their regular sale results are very useful for gauging the market in Irish material and with the enhancement of the Irish economy in recent years there is much interest in it. This is made manifest by the fact that most of the buyers reported by Whytes are resident in Ireland.
Aldine editio princeps of the works of Aristotle
19 March 2001US: BOUND in late 17th century French red morocco gilt, this is the five-volume Aldine editio princeps of the works of Aristotle, the 1497-98 first edition in Greek and, in the amount of research and editing that went into its creation, let alone the fine typography, the greatest printing project of the 15th century.
Lighting up a Gauloise
19 March 2001FRANCE: THE largest hoard ever of gold Celtic coins – the French call them Gauloise – is being offered at auction in Paris on March 27. The expert is Alain Weil (54 rue de Richelieu). There are 145 of them and they were issued by the Gaulish tribes of the Cenomanes, who bequeathed their name to present-day le Mans, and the Venetes who dominated the area round Vannes on the south coast of Brittany.
Briest join IA in hope of US profit
12 March 2001FRANCE: Francis Briest, France’s leading modern art auctioneer, has replaced Etude Tajan as the French member of International Auctioneers, becoming the tenth member of the worldwide auction grouping (alongside Lempertz of Cologne, the Vienna Dorotheum, Zurich’s Galerie Koller, Lawsons of Sydney, Swann Galleries of New York, Butterfields from California, Finarte Milan and Finarte Madrid).
An honour from beyond the grave
12 March 2001This curious reliquary jewel, 31/2in (8.4cm) tall and with a pin to the back (probably a later addition) for use as a brooch, is a product of the craze for the Napoleonic era that developed in France after Napoleon’s ashes were returned from St Helena in 1840, and culminated in the election of Louis-Napoleon (subsequently Napoleon III) as President in 1848.
Objects of desire: American dogs...
12 March 2001US: THERE may be plenty of people talking about economic downturn in the US but, for the moment at least, American dog lovers retain a healthy enthusiasm for their particular corner of the picture market.
Roman coin of Hadrian
05 March 2001ITALY: THIS quasi-Roman coin (34mm) of Hadrian – actually a ‘cabinet piece’ made in 16th century Padua (the main centre for this type of replica) for the more romantic type of collector – made Li500,000 (£170).
All eyes are on the baseline
05 March 2001Sales in the USA 20th Century Lighting and Quality Antiques was the title of the $2.2m (£1,549,295) January 27 sale conducted by Fontaine Auction Gallery (12 per cent buyer’s premium) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, but it was certainly the former that made this quarterly catalogue so noteworthy. Of 497 lots offered, almost 200 were occupied by table/boudoir lamps, light fittings shades and stained glass panels by the likes of Handel, Pairpoint, Suess and, of course, the Tiffany Studios.
Headgear for when love turns sour...
05 March 2001FRANCE: NOT exactly what you might choose to wear on St Valentine’s Day but this was the array of iron headwear on offer at the Etude Tajan Haute Epoque sale at Drouot on February 14.
Saleroom selection from Christie's Rome
05 March 2001ITALY: NOW that Christie’s numismatic sales have been subsumed into Spink’s they are no longer held in London. However, they offered some very appealing pieces in Rome on December 13 and 14.
Weaving a rich tapestry
05 March 2001SWITZERLAND: ABOUT 75 people filled the room at the Tkalec sale of Greek and Roman coins on February 19. For collectors of useless information (and aren’t we all?) I can report that the T of Tkalec is not pronounced and that the name is the old Croat equivalent of ‘Weaver’.
Silver medal of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (1619-37)
05 March 2001ITALY: MINIATURE-like, this (33 x 47mm) silver medal of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (1619-37) made Li950,000 (£315). The Imperial Crown on the reverse is preserved in the Hofschatz in Vienna.
Doge of Venice
05 March 2001ITALY: ANOTHER Renaissance magnate, the Doge of Venice, Antonio Grimani (1521-23). His (29mm diameter) portrait medal made Li2m (£670).
French auction law reform faces yet another delay
05 March 2001FRANCE: FRENCH auction law reform has suffered another delay because of bureaucracy, with no sales by foreign auction houses now likely before the autumn.
Bare-knuckle bronze is a knockout
26 February 2001BELGIUM: E. Hébert’s dynamic late 19th century patinated bronze group of Two Boxers landed BFr190,000 (£3060) at Amberes in Antwerp on February 5.
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