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 […]
A fine and rare gilt bronze figure of Shadakshari Lokeshvara from the Yongle period has sold for $1,370,500 at Bonhams Chinese Art from the Scholar’s Studio auction, realizing more than six times its pre-auction estimate. The elegantly posed 15th century figure was produced by the imperial workshops, to be brought to Tibet during one of […]
A pair of 13th century Samurai swords by master maker Bizen Nagamitsu (or, “Nagamitsu from Bizen province,” active 1264-1287) is estimated to sell between $150,000-200,000 at Bonhams October 8 auction, Arts of the Samurai. The two swords, of different lengths, are a matched pair called a daisho, which means “large-small” in Japanese. Made of a […]
