Thursday, December 16, 2010

"Save Our History" Auction Records Set

It was "save our history" week at New York auctions last week, with record prices set at Sotheby's for three items:

1) An original copy of the Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation sold for $3,778,500, the highest price ever paid at auction for a U.S. Presidential document. The 1863 document that declared the slaves were "forever free" was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. The copy that sold, one of 48 originals signed by Lincoln, belonged to Robert F. Kennedy, who bought it in 1964 while he was attorney general of the United States. The new owner remains anonymous.

2) The guidon (the flag carried on a pole that identifies the unit going into battle) carried in Custer's 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn sold for $2,210,500. The swallowtail flag was found after the battle hidden under the body of a dead soldier. All other flags had been taken by the Indians. This flag belonged to the Detroit Musem of Art and had not been on display for over 80 years. The money will be used to buy items related to American Indians.

3) The third bit of history was the document that listed the 13 rules for the game of basketball invented by James Naismith in 1891. It sold for the highest price of all, $4,338,500. The money from the sale will go to the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Duchess of Windsor’s Jewels Sell for $12.5 Million

An onyx and diamond panther bracelet (1952) by Cartier sold for 4.5 million pounds at auction. It had been estimated to fetch between 1 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds at Sotheby's during a sale of jewels formerly owned by the Duchess of Windsor.
A ruby, sapphire, emerald, citrine and diamond flamingo brooch designed by Jeanne Toussaint for Cartier sold for 1.7 million pounds with fees. The item had been estimated to sell for at least 1 million pounds at Sotheby's Nov. 30 auction in London of jewels owned by the Duchess of Windsor.
An 18-carat gold and gem-set cigarette case by Cartier. The item was given to the Duke of Windsor by the Duchess of Windsor as a Christmas present in 1935. Estimated at 150,000 pounds to 200,000 pounds, it was one of 20 pieces that formerly belonged to the Duchess that were sold by Sotheby's in London. The final price was 181,250 pounds
Jewels that King Edward VIII gave the woman for whom he abdicated sold for 8 million pounds ($12.5 million) in London tonight, almost twice the presale estimate, as collectors battled for works by Cartier.
The King of England stepped down in 1936 to become the Duke of Windsor and marry U.S. divorcee Wallis Simpson. Sotheby’s was offering 20 pieces that previously belonged to her. The Windsors were enthusiastic jewelry collectors. They commissioned pieces from Cartier and other makers during their courtship in the U.K. and married life in the Bahamas and France.
Eleven Cartier pieces were included in the sale that was estimated to raise as much as 4.2 million pounds at hammer prices. Among these was an onyx-and-diamond bracelet designed, with the Duke’s encouragement, in the form of a panther by Jeanne Toussaint for Cartier in 1952. This fetched 4.5 million pounds with fees. It was estimated to sell for between 1 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds, as was a flamingo-shaped brooch by Toussaint that the Duchess bought in 1940. The brooch fetched 1.7 million pounds with fees.
“The inscriptions tell the story of perhaps the greatest love story of the 20th century,” said David Bennett, Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewelry in Europe and the Middle East.
An unidentified owner was selling the items, which were acquired at Sotheby’s record “Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor” sale in Geneva in April 1987, the year after her death. At that auction, the panther bracelet and flamingo brooch sold for the equivalent of 860,082 pounds and 497,942 pounds, said Sotheby’s.
Charm Bracelet
The Duchess’s Cartier diamond charm bracelet today sold for 601,250 pounds against a low estimate of 350,000 pounds. The piece featured nine gem-set Latin crosses that commemorate moments of personal significance to the couple, including an assassination attempt on the King.
An 18-carat gold and gem-set cigarette case by Cartier inscribed with the words ``David from Wallis Christmas 1935'' and engraved with a map of holiday destinations they enjoyed together fetched 181,250 pounds. It was estimated to sell for at least 150,000 pounds.
All four lots went to telephone bidders. The flamingo was bought by the Collection Cartier and the panther was a record for a piece by Cartier, said Sotheby's. The panther was also the most expensive bracelet sold at auction.
Sotheby's 1987 Duchess of Windsor sale in Geneva fetched 75.4 million Swiss francs ($71.7 million), which remains an auction record for a single-owner collection of jewelry.
Today’s 20-lot sale carried an official low estimate of 2.9 million pounds, based on hammer prices. All the lots sold.

(Article by Scott Reyburn who writes about the art market for Muse, the arts and culture section of Bloomberg News.)