Bonhams will offer a rare bird-shaped pestle pommel from the Central Highlands of Papua, New Guinea, made between circa 4000-1000 BC in the African, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian Art auction on November 14 (est. $15,000-20,000). Confirmed by petrographic study as one of the earliest works of Oceanic art ever to come to auction, pestles such as […]
Bonhams Asian Decorative Arts auction on October 9 followed directly on the heels of the firm’s Samurai auction which successfully concluded in the New York sales room the prior day. The San Francisco auction was a solid success, achieving a result of more than $2.15 million with 84% of the lots sold. The sale saw […]
Headlining Bonhams Cameras, Scientific Instruments and Mechanical Music sale in London’s Knightsbridge on October 29th is a rare three-rotor German Enigma enciphering machine (1944) by Heimsoeth & Rinke, Serial No. 19088. It is expected to fetch between £30,000 and £50,000. The Enigma comes complete with its original I, III and V rotors with Bakelite thumbwheels […]
An impressive iron kawari kubuto, or “eccentrically shaped helmet,” was the top lot at Bonhams Arts of the Samurai auction held on October 8, realizing $377,000 after a lengthy telephone bidding war. Shaped like a conch shell, this Edo period (18th century) gem is likely an allusion to the traditional battle call made by sounding […]
Bonhams announce its Asian Decorative Arts auction in San Francisco, taking place Wednesday, October 9 at 10 am. The auction will include more than 500 lots of predominantly Chinese decorative art and paintings – but also featuring artwork from Japan, India and Southeast Asia. Many of the items, which have not been seen on the […]
An important and extremely rare wucai fish bowl decorated with a bird theme ? mandarin ducks, geese, swallows and crested egrets in the rippling waters of a lake – is estimated to sell for £500,000 to £800,000 at Bonhams sale of Fine Chinese Art in London on November 7. The fish bowl used as a […]
Bonhams announce the sensational “white glove” results of the “Tacasyl Collection of Magnificent United States Proof Gold Coins” sold on September 23 in their Los Angeles salesroom. This collection of 27 lots represented a virtually complete collection of every major gold design type issued in proof in the US between 1836 and 1915 and realized […]
Exceptional gilt bronze figurative sculpture dominated Bonhams diverse offerings in the auction of Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art on September 18, claiming seven of the auction’s top ten spots. The majority of these highlights came directly from private collections and surpassed their pre-auction estimates substantially. Splendid examples from China, Nepal and Tibet all proved […]
The contents of ‘The Decorator Source’, the well known antique shop in the heart of the Cotswold town of Tetbury, will be sold in a single owner sale of antiques and decorative furniture at Bonhams Knightsbridge on 8th October. The sale will include over 500 lots made up of the contents of the large Queen […]
