The third sale to take place since lockdown restrictions relaxed last month was the Jewellery & Watches auction on Tuesday 23 June. Similar to the other two auctions that took place before it, the sale was a great success. Despite the postponement and not allowing bidding within the room, the sale produced some outstanding results, with a selling rate of 84%. 

Mark Bowis, Head of the Jewellery & Watches department commented on the sale:

“Having been postponed from March there was a lot of tense anticipation for this live sale and given the difficult times at present, efforts were made to allow potential buyers to view the sale, acquire information, register bids and bid live online and on the phone as easily and comfortably as possible. On a hot day, the sale was extremely busy with a pattern of very prompt and enthusiastic bidding. The fact that there were only seven lots remaining unsold in the first 100 lots was very encouraging. At the end of the session, the sale showed an 84% sold rate. Lots with heavy gold emphasis including pocket watches benefited somewhat by the buoyant uplift in the current bullion price. However antique and esoteric items also sold strongly, this included a group of early rings. Lot 38 with an attractively placed estimate of £500-700 realised £5,250 an Edwardian coral and diamond bangle in original fitted case realised £1,250 and an early 20th-century gold-mounted butterfly wing brooch in original fitted case realised £1,750. A small group of Indian jewels also attracted swift bidding, showing that Indian pieces with age are always popular. Results for diamonds were also solid. High-value diamond lots included lot 324 a 2.30 carat round brilliant-cut diamond of good colour sold at £6,250. While lot 54 an attractive flexible, diamond bracelet realised £3,500. The icing on the cake was lot 133 a very speculated large rose-cut diamond ring with rose-cut diamond shoulders estimate £4000-6000 realised an impressive £40,000. Designer jewels such as pieces by Grima and Elisabeth gage generated traditional interest including an early garnet and diamond ring by Grima, featured on the back cover of the catalogue realised £2,750. We were pleased that the more traditional jewellery from the eminent jewel houses such as Cartier, Boucheron, Bulgari, Tiffany & Van Cleef & Arpels, often the main backbone of a jewellery sale is still consistently achieving strong results. The selection of high-end wristwatches with examples by Patek Philippe, Rolex, Cartier and Vacheron & Constatine did extremely well, with only three unsold lots out of the twenty-nine offered. A small selection of modestly priced pens by Mont Blanc did exceptionally well also. “

The highest value lot of the sale was Lot 133, a rose-cut diamond three stone ring in a gypsy style setting. The central rose-cut diamond was a large stone measuring 12.8mm in diameter. Rose diamonds of this size are quite rare and could have originated from the alluvial areas of India making it ‘an old stone’. These factors and the reasonable colour obviously attracted a lot of interest; speculative stones are always exciting. The low estimate was £4,000-6000 and this sale closed at £40,000. 

Another highlight within the sale was Lot 311, a diamond, ruby, and sapphire bracelet. This was designed in the style of the Art Deco jewellery produced by the great names of Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef & Arpels. Although this bracelet is a more recent copy, the quality is outstanding with attractive Indian carved rubies and vibrant diamonds. Estimated £8000-10,000, this bracelet realised £10,625. 

(Lot 201) Estimated at £3000-4000, this nice clean and typical high-quality platinum-set ring by Cartier, set with a classic top colour 1.00-carat diamond, realised the price of £5,250. Retailed by Cartier London and produced in the 1970s, this gave the ring an added vintage charm and was fiercely fought for on the sale day. 

Continuing with highlights from the Cartier section in the sale was a very fine and attractive emerald and diamond ring. Set in 18ct gold, the strong coloured emerald was flanked by two top colour diamonds typical of Cartier’s timeless three stone designs. The ring was in great condition complete with makers case. Estimated to sell for £2000-3000, this ring (Lot 198) realised a price of £3,750.

(Lot 196) Another small but charming item by Cartier was a 9ct gold circular pillbox of recognizable 40s design. Vintage items by Cartier appear less often on the market now. With an estimate of £400-600, this item realised over double its top estimate, selling for £1,625, proving the popularity of these collectable pieces.

Lot 159 This early 20th-century diamond and sapphire brooch was closely followed, with many eager bidders registering ahead of the sale to secure this lot. Although not desperately sought after as a brooch, old pieces such as this are often set with old un-heated gemstones from sought after regions such as Burma. This brooch was set with an attractively saturated sapphire and probably had no heat treatment to improve its colour. Estimate £1000-1500, this stunning brooch sold for £4,250 to the lucky bidder. 

Lot 269, an 18ct. gold citrine, hematite, and cultured pearl ‘kiss pin’ by Elizabeth Gage realised £2,000. Pieces of ‘Art Jewellery’ by this designer and goldsmith are highly collectable and measuring 6.1cm wide this piece is quite a statement and complete with maker’s case, making it highly attainable. 

With an estimated price of £800-1200, Lot 268, a pair of diamond brooches by Vedura realised £3,500. Typical of Vedura’s high standard in the manufacture and charming design of pine cones, these were a very appealing purchase. 

Estimated to sell for £1500 – 2000, Lot 274 an early 18ct gold, garnet, and diamond ring by Anglo-Italian designer Andrew Grima realised £2,200. Early rings by Grima are scarce and although the design seemed quite simple, the abstract decoration to the mount and gallery showed the early signs of Grima’s flare for the unusual. Coming from his father in laws workshop with the mark HJCO, it was signed by Grima. 

To view all the results from the Jewellery & Watches auction click here. The next Jewellery & Watches auction will take place on Tuesday 22 September.

For any further enquiries in regards to the Jewellery & Watches department please contact the Head of Department, Mark Bowis: markbowis@roseberys.co.uk

For any press related enquires please contact Marketing & PR Project Manager, Peigi Mackillop: peigimackillop@roseberys.co.uk 

International buyers embraced remote bidding at rescheduled auctions of Islamic and Indian Art at Roseberys London.

Portrait of ‘The Messalina of the Punjab’ who fought British rule was among the top-selling lots.

A posthumous portrait of Maharani Jind Kaur – the fearless Sikh queen of Lahore who became a serious obstacle to British rule in India – was a star lot in Roseberys rescheduled Indian and Islamic art sales. 

The oil on canvas came from a private collection in Copenhagen and was painted in c.1905 by the Danish artist Hugo Vilfred Pedersen (1870-1959), a leading painter in the British Indian colonies during the early 20th century. Estimated at £3,000-5,000 in the Arts of India auction on June 17, it attracted fierce competition and eventually sold for £23,750. 

Jind Kaur, popularly known as Rani Jindan, was the youngest wife of Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja of Punjab. Her revolt began when her husband died of a stroke in 1839 and the British tried to wrest the kingdom from Duleep Singh, her infant son, and heir. 

Renowned for her beauty, energy, and strength of purpose, Jindan is chiefly remembered for the fear she engendered in the British in India. In a smear campaign, she was derisively labeled the ‘Messalina of the Punjab’, a salacious seductress too rebellious to be controlled. During her rule as regent, she waged two disastrous wars against the British that led to the annexation of Punjab. Her life was the subject of the 2009 film Rebel Queen. (Lot 79)

With social-distancing restrictions in place, Roseberys rescheduled sales of Islamic and Indian art saw a huge increase in international bidding across online platforms and on the phones. The June sales, originally planned for April and containing a wide range of artefacts from the Islamic and Indian Worlds, was particularly strong on Islamic manuscripts. 

A manuscript of the Qasida al-Burda (Poem of the Mantle) – a celebrated ode to the Prophet Muhammad – sold for £23,750 in the Islamic Art & Manuscripts sale on June 16. The Arabic manuscript was copied and signed by Sadiq bin Yusuf of Sian, China, in 1010AH (1601-02) and contained interlinear translation and copious notes throughout. Online and commission bidders competed before it was eventually won by an international online bidder on thesaleroom.com. (Lot 66)

A £18,750 bid secured a fine and rare Timurid copy of Rumi’s Mathnawi Ma’nawi made in Iran in c.1480 and sourced from a private collection in London. The polychrome frontispiece was particularly admired, with its rigorous and complex pattern of interlacing split-palmettes, flowering vines and stellar motifs. (Lot 134)

Eagerly contested elsewhere was an attractive and colourful Persian manuscript bound in concertina-form and containing ten calligraphic panels set against intricate patterns of weaving gold flowers on coloured paper. This Qajar muraqqa, signed by Ali Raza Abbasi and dated 1007AH (1598), drew fierce bidding across the online platforms Roseberys Live, Invaluable and thesaleroom.com before it was knocked down at £17,500. (Lot 100)

Two large Qajar pottery tiles from a distinguished Italian collection were much admired in the sale. The first was a c.1890 example finely painted with two princely figures on horseback hunting wild boar and was bid to £8,750. The second, a c.1880 piece, depicted the founder of the great Safavid dynasty, Shah Ismail, herding wild animals with his courtiers against a vivid cobalt background. Bidding took place between the telephone and online, eventually going to an online bidder for £5,500. (Lot 248) (Lot 249) 

Further highlights included a dozen ancient black Etruscan bucchero vessels from a private collection in New Mexico that sold together at £5,750 and a large Indo-Persian brass celestial globe signed by Amal Nasir al-Din Tusi in 1305AH (1887-88AD) and extensively engraved with markings, figures, astrological symbols and pictorial representations of the constellations. This was secured by a bidder on Roseberys Live for £3,750. (Lot 14) (Lot 262) 

Bids also emerged for Indian miniatures with distinguished provenance. The scene of a princess lamenting her lover’s departure painted on a miniature from Kangra in North India sold to a telephone bidder for £7,500. The early 19th-century work came from the collection of Dr. WB Manley, a great collector of Indian paintings who had served in the Indian Police in the Bombay Presidency from 1905-24. He exhibited works from his collection on a number of occasions, including in the Royal Academy Exhibition The Art of India and Pakistan (1947-48). (Lot 166)

Also from Kangra was an illustration of Vipralabdha – the so-called ‘disappointed mistress’ and one of the eight ‘nayikas’ who is deceived into waiting all night for a lover who never comes. Another miniature with excellent provenance, it was acquired by Robert Henry Wallace Dunlop (1823-1887) and thence by descent. 

Dunlop was born in Madras and held the position of district officer of the Meerut District during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. He penned the books Service and Adventure with the Khakee Ressalah (1858) and Hunting in the Himalaya (1860). The lot went to a telephone bidder for £3,000. (Lot 162)

The trend for strong sales continued in the jewellery section where a 19th-century emerald inscribed with Quranic verses and set in a European gold mount sold to a commission bidder for £4,750. (Lot 92)

A 19th-century sword with an undulating blade, gold overlaid hilt and an inscription to the inside of the knuckle guard was won by a telephone bidder who paid a multi-estimate £3,250 among a select offering of arms and armour. (Lot 76)

For further information please contact:

Peigi Mackillop

peigimackillop@roseberys.co.uk

+44 (0) 20 8761 2522 

Following its highly successful online Design and Modern & Contemporary Art auctions this Spring, Freeman’s is pleased to announce another stellar result. Its inaugural June 26 Art + Design auction achieved a 95% sell-through rate and totaled just shy of $500,000, comfortably surpassing its pre-sale high estimate.

With works offered at more accessible price points by world-class artists and designers such as George Nakashima, Samuel Yellin, Josef Albers, Robert Motherwell, and Pablo Picasso, the 94-lot auction welcomed a host of new online bidders. Accounting for 40% of successful buyers, the influx of new bidders confirms Freeman’s continued success in attracting new online buyers.

“Not only am I thrilled by the competitive bidding and strong prices achieved throughout our Art + Design sale, but I’m also highly encouraged by the robust presence of new collectors attracted to the sale by its diversity of material and approachable price points,” remarked Head of Sale Shannon Jeffers, “As the art market continues to shift towards a predominantly virtual format, Freeman’s continues to create new and exciting opportunities for first-time, online buyers to join our community of art lovers. We are harnessing the momentum generated by this first Art + Design auction by offering similar sales this fall, including another Art + Design auction as well as a dedicated, online Prints and Multiples auction.”

Last Friday’s auction was led by a Rare Four-door “Chan” Cabinet, New York, circa 1970s by Philip and Kelvin LaVerne (Lot 15), which surpassed its pre-sale high estimate to sell for $43,750.

Other Design works that exceeded expectations include a Special “Triple Cabinet with Sliding Doors”, 1971 by George Nakashima (Lot 70), which sold for $27,500 and a Two-door Gate for the Miles F. Goodman Residence, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1924 by Samuel Yellin (Lot 77), which realized $27,500.

A light-switch cover made by Yellin for the same residence (Lot 78) sparked a lengthy bidding war that saw the piece soar past its pre-sale estimate of $400-600, bringing $16,250.

Prints, multiples, and sculptures by well-known artists from around the world elicited spirited competition, resulting in numerous strong prices. A particular highlight was New York, N.Y. 10008 by Chilean artist Nemesio Antunez (Lot 40), which realized $19,500, far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $800-1,200.

The Untitled sculpture by Mexican artist Pedro Friedeberg (Lot 12) also performed well, nearly doubling its pre-sale high estimate, realizing $5,938.

Works on paper by blue-chip artists such as Adolph Gottlieb (Lot 36); Patrick Heron (Lot 35); Josef Albers (Lot 31); and Paul Jenkins (Lot 94) also achieved prices above their estimates.

The Art + Design auction is the first of its kind at Freeman’s. It presents art and objects from the Modern & Contemporary and Design departments in compelling ways, appealing to a new generation of buyers who collect across categories. A number of similar auctions are planned for Freeman’s Fall/Winter 2020 auction season.

HEAD OF SALE

Shannon Jeffers | sjeffers@freemansauction.com

PRESS INQUIRIES

Madeline Hill | mhill@freemansauction.com