More Stolen Antiques

Stolen

Old Father Thames stolen in Cordoba

05 October 2009

PICTURED here is an artist’s impression of one of a cache of easily identifiable antiques stolen from the Spanish home of two retired British antiques dealers.The 18th century 2ft (60cm) high limestone carving of Old Father Thames, sculpted by Lady Margaret Damer for Henley Bridge, was taken from the house in Cordoba on Saturday, July 25. A candle box incorporating a 14th century Nasrid carved panel and a Spanish 17th century red marble fountainhead were also among the stolen items. Any information should be directed to Guardia Civil, Puesto de Aguilar-de-la-Frontera, Cordoba 14920, Spain. Tel: 0034 95766 0013 (Antique Trade Gazette).

Elizabethan Silver to Shine at Crewkerne

 

Auction Previews

Historic Elizabethen silver dishes to sell in Crewkerne

07 September 2009

According to legend, during the English Civil War, a Royalist descendant of Sir Christopher Harris (c.1553-1625) of Radford, Devon, hid the family silver in a cave before fleeing, fearing for his life.The silver was lost for almost two centuries but was discovered by farm labourers in 1827 and returned to the Harris family.Among the hoard was the so-called Armada Service, a set of 31 Elizabethan silver parcel gilt dishes of varying sizes engraved on the rim with the arms of Sir Christopher Harris.The dishes were purportedly made from New World silver captured from Spanish treasure ships. This theory is unproven, but Sir Christopher did work for Sir Walter Raleigh in Devon and Cornwall as an Admiralty official during the clashes with Spain from 1585 to 1604. Judging by their hallmarks, Sir Christopher is thought to have acquired these dishes with the profits of office between 1581 and 1602. Some 60 years later, having fallen on hard times, the Harris family were forced to sell the dishes but only 26 were sold, five were missing. The new owners sold the 26 again in 1911 at Christie’s for £11,500 and they are now in the British Museum. But now two of the missing five Armada Service dishes have surfaced and willl be sold by Lawrences of Crewkerne on October 15. The 8in (20cm) diameter dishes are hallmarked London 1601 and estimated at £50,000-70,000 for the pair. Lawrences silver specialist, Alex Butcher, said: “It is still a mystery why these dishes were separated from the original set of 31.” The vendor believes that they were purchased in an estate sale somewhere in the Southern states of America. “It would be great to reunite them with the other dishes and be fantastic if the missing three should come to light.” He added: “It’s extremely rare that any domestic plate made before 1640 survives. It was almost all melted down during the Civil War.” Contact Lawrences on 01460 73041. By Anna Brady (Antique Trade Gazette)

Partridge Moves Out.

 

Old news now but it was sad today to pass the Bond Street shop and see the only thing in the window was a roll of bubble paper and some tape – the end to an era – but hopefully the administrators will be able to resurrect the business in a new format. – This follows the article below in July (I think from the ATG)..

Partridge Fine Art seeks buyer after going into administration

21 July 2009

PARTRIDGE Fine Art, the landmark Bond Street dealership in business for more than 100 years, went into administration this week.MCR partners Andrew Stoneman and Matt Bond have been appointed as joint administrators and are running the firm as normal while actively seeking a buyer for the business, its assets and the lease of the building itself.The dealership is housed in possibly the grandest building in Bond Street, a purpose-built four-storey listed building called the Palace of the Arts, from where it has supplied the finest art and antiques to the likes of Queen Mary, the Burrell Collection in Glasgow and, perhaps most notably, the British Museum and the Getty Museum in Malibu, California.   The company ran into trouble around five years ago, when then chairman John Partridge unveiled what he dubbed the worst set of trading figures in his 46 years at the helm.   Former auctioneer and ceramics specialist Mark Law, who already ran porcelain specialists Albert Amor, quickly put together a bid to take control of the company. With the backing of a consortium including former Culture secretary David Mellor – a client of Partridge – he formed Amor Holdings, an investment vehicle that bought out the Partridge family in a £14m staggered deal.   Princess Michael of Kent was later appointed president of the company.Reports indicate that Allied Irish Bank was the main creditor and was offered 65p in the pound to settle the debt on July 17, with Mr Law offering to make up the shortfall from his own funds. The administrators were called in when no deal was struck.Administrator Andrew Stoneman said: “This is a world famous fine art dealer with a strong and loyal customer base.  It is too early to determine the reasons why the company has gone into administration and we are concentrating on saving the business and selling the store as a going concern, thus saving a piece of history as well as the employment of those working there. We are confident that there will be a significant amount of interest.” Although Mr Stoneman could not be drawn on the cause of the firm’s failure, general current trading conditions combined with what are thought to be the high costs of running the four-storey building are bound to have taken their toll.

Graff – Third man charged.

 A third man appeared in court this morning accused of taking part in Britain’s biggest jewellery robbery.

Jamal Mogg, 42, of Westby Road, Bournemouth, is charged with conspiracy to rob over the £40m raid on Graff Diamonds in Mayfair, central London.

Mogg, who has a beard and wore a white jumper, spoke only to confirm his name and address during the short hearing at Westminster magistrates court.

Two other men have already appeared in court accused of stealing valuables worth almost £40m and firearms offences in the robbery at the New Bond Street store on 6 August.

Solomun Beyene, 24, and Craig Calderwood, 26, were remanded in custody and ordered to appear at Kingston Crown Court on 1 September.

Mogg has been remanded in custody to appear alongside Beyene and Calderwood at next month’s hearing.

A 50-year-old man who was held last week in Ilford, east London, has been released on bail pending further inquiries

What happens at an Antique Car Auction?

Antique car auctions can be a great place to pick up a real bargain. They attract classic car enthusiasts from far and wide. The most popular car auction in the US is the Barrett-Jackson annual car auction which is held in Palm Beach, Florida. The last auction attracted over 65,000 people and even if you don”t intend bidding it’’s still worth the trip to soak up the atmosphere and camaraderie between the antique car enthusiasts. There are of course a number of highly respected Auction Houses in the United Kingdom and Europe that either have Classic Car sales as one of their services and indeed some that only deal in Classic Cars.       

Antique Car Auctions Events

Most antique car auctions work the same way as any other kind of auction. The auction house produces a list of the cars that are to be auctioned and the dates it will take place. The cars are sometimes grouped into categories but this really depends on the specific auction house. The list of cars contains the information about the antique cars available. Namely the make, model and sometimes the owner’’s details. The information is usually limited and the condition of cars is not usually stated to avoid any legal comebacks.

You will usually find that the majority of people at an auction are there just to look and not to sell or purchase a vehicle. Auctions attract lots of enthusiastic collectors that just love to be around their favorite hobby. Very often traders and collectors will attend to get an idea of the value of specific cars. Auctions are great places for gauging a price that your own vehicle maybe worth. It’’s kind of like getting yourself a free appraisal.

Selling an antique car in an auction can be a bit of a hit or miss experience. If you are lucky and have the right vehicle and several interested people the price can go quite high, sometimes better than selling privately. However you take your chance that it may sell close to your reserve price or if really unlucky it may not sell at all.

Buying can be tricky and we would always suggest you attend several auctions before bidding so that you get an idea of how it works. The last thing you want to do is to cough and find you just bought yourself a vintage vehicle for several thousand Dollars. All bids at the fall of the hammer are legally binding and must be honored.

You should always be aware that once you have bought the car it is ‘’sold as seen”. This means that should there be something wrong with it there is no comeback and it is assumed you checked the car thoroughly beforehand and was aware of any possible defects. Having said that you can sometimes bag yourself a real bargain if you play safe and don”t jump at the first car you see.

Article by Dale Cudross.

Dale Cudross is a collector and enthusiast of antique and classic cars. He also writes regular reviews and articles at his site AntiqueCarAssociation.com

Investors move towards tangible Assets.

by Alison Stead – Telegraph – 15th June 2009.

Wealthy investors are reacting to market uncertainty by investing more heavily in art, wine and other “tangible” assets.       

A lack of confidence in the financial markets is prompting investors to look towards assets which they can see, feel and enjoy, as even cash and bond investments are considered to be risky, thanks to the recent state of the world’s banking system. Even if the banks are secure, the rates of interest on offer are derisory, so alternative investments are coming to the fore.

Susan Ellis, financial services senior analyst with Datamonitor, said: “2008 was a disastrous year for the world’s wealthy: stock markets experienced unprecedented falls in value; alternative investments such as hedge funds and private equity turned out to be highly correlated with the markets and nose-dived; and then, Mr Madoff’s elaborate Ponzi scheme was exposed, bringing down the fortunes of many wealthy people.

“It is little wonder that confidence is in scarce supply and there is a touch of disillusionment with the wealth management industry.”

Of course, some areas of “tangible asset” investing have fallen in value in recent years – the fine art market, for example, has fallen 35 per cent this year – and the bargain prices have added to the appeal. Everything from golf bullion and jewellery to antiques and collectible cars have appeal, as this is the high net worth equivalent of “putting money under the mattress”, said Ms Ellis.

But there is still a premium to be paid for quality. For example, a rare blue 7.3 carat diamond recently went on sale in Geneva, with a top end estimate of $9 million. It eventually sold for $9.5 million.

Prices are on the rise too in other areas. Sotheby’s has seen many of its fine wine sales sell out at 97, 98 and even 100 per cent. Demand for wine is being driven by Asian buyers particularly, said Serena Sutcliffe, head of the international wine department at Sotheby’s. This could be partly due to a change in the tax system in Hong Kong and Macau, which has reduced the duty due on wine in the region.

Yet the experts are always careful to avoid any suggestion that an item such as a painting or a wine should be bought as an investment.

She added: “Some people may sell some of their collection at some point. But it is an area you have to be very careful with. It has got to be blue chip Bordeaux chateaux in very good years.”

This would include, for example, Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Margaux, Cheval Blanc, Mouton Rothschild and Haut Brion. Ms Sutcliffe added: “If you have good, bankable vintages, you will never go wrong.”

Prices across the board for other tangible assets are rising too, and insurers are also increasing their valuations for the items.

With any collection of fine art or wine comes the need to take care of that item, or items, in such a way that the value will increase rather than diminish. Insurers will assist with this, as it is in their interest to protect the item from damage, but the auction houses themselves will also give buyers information on how best they can protect their purchases.

Ms Sutcliffe said there are many new buyers of fine wines, and it is important that they understand what is involved with buying rare wines.

She added: “We have to emphasise that storage is incredibly important. We have to tell people that if they do not have good storage, then they must use professional storage. Provenance of the wine and traceability is also very important. You must not just pick the wine up anywhere.”

You may need to wait a long time for your purchase to rise in value, but it can depend on what you have bought. Matthew Paton of Christies, said it has a late Picasso which it sold in 2004 for £2.8 million coming up in a sale, and its estimate is £5 million to £7 million.

If you do want to put money into these types of assets, then there is a lot of market research to do before you get involved, and speaking to the experts will help. But you do not necessarily have to have wine, for example, as an investment you hold yourself. You can invest in a wine fund, as an addition to your portfolio.

It is not closely correlated to the performance of returns in other asset classes, so it is being increasingly used as a means of diversifying the assets of high net worth investors. Andrew della Casa, a director of the Wine Investment Fund, said: “Now looks like the right time to be stocking up on investment grade wine as April saw the most positive set of indicators in the wine market for over a year.

“The Liv-ex 100 Index, the industry benchmark index produced by Liv-ex, the fine wine exchange, rose by 2.8 per cent, its largest increase since June 2007.”

The aim of this fund is to generate “double digit” annualised returns by predominantly investing in Bordeaux, and it holds a physical stock of wine in a UK Government bonded warehouse.

Mr della Casa said: “Spreads in the market have tightened significantly, which is a key feature of a hardening market. Looking at retail sales, Asia and particularly China remain a source of strong demand which is reflected both in sales through merchants and high prices being paid at auctions in the Far East.

“Overall, the market feels well placed for growth over the next few months.”

But no matter which area you might choose to invest in, you should always take specialist advice before making any decisions.

Detecting a fortune.

Housewife discovers 15th century Gold hoard with metal detector.

 By Ben Leach
Published: 9:09AM BST 25 Jun 2009 (telegraph.co.uk)

The find is thought to be part of a high-quality reliquary or pendant, and depicts the Holy Trinity. It is the first item of any real worth that Mary Hannaby has found in seven years of combing fields and beaches.

Mrs Hannaby, 57, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, made the discovery while out on one of her regular six-hour Sunday detecting walks with her son Michael, a 33 year-old wood carver.

The treasure, measuring a mere 2.8cm x 2.3cm (pictured on the right) had been buried four inches below the ground for around 500 years – despite repeated ploughing and previous attempts by the Hannabys to unearth treasure on the same patch of arable field between Ashridge and Great Gaddesden.

“You get a buzz every time you get a signal, but chances are it won’t be anything,” said Mrs Hannaby, a former pub kitchen worker.                        

“This time, it popped up all of a sudden,” said her son. “You can literally miss things by inches. We couldn’t believe it. We always dreamed of finding treasure.”

Under the Treasure Act of 1996, finders must report potential treasure such as gold and silver objects more than 300 years old. Finders are offered the market value for their discoveries which museums have first option to buy.

Roger Bland, head of treasure at the British Museum, describes the item – which at 2.8cm by 2.3cm, is barely larger than a postage stamp – as an “important find”, and said he regrets that the museum does not currently have the funds to buy it.

As one of only three of its kind to have survived, the find could be worth even more than £250,000, and its engraving is being compared to that of the Middleham Jewel, which sold at auction for £1.3million in 1986 and was later resold to the Yorkshire Museum for £2.5million.

Sotheby’s will auction it in London on July 9.

Blood Diamonds – The History Channel.

Precious gems obtained through violence, suffering and corruption

BLOOD DIAMONDS on The History Channel®  

Diamonds are symbols of wealth, elegance and love around the world. But in several African nations, they have been a means to power, a reason to terrorize millions of innocent civilians, and may have even helped finance some of the world’s most brutal terrorists. The human cost of the illicit global diamond trade is examined in the provocative documentary.

Because they are portable, easily concealed, and untraceable, diamonds lend themselves to smuggling and corruption. In several underdeveloped African nations, warlords have used diamonds to help finance wars, while the rest of the world has turned a blind eye. Rebel armies have forced tens of thousands of people to mine diamonds in brutal, dangerous conditions under the threat of death, their pay as paltry as a cup of rice per day. In Sierra Leone, rebels chopped off people’s hands, arms, feet, lips, and ears indiscriminately for years during a civil war financed in part by the trade of illicit diamonds.

BLOOD DIAMONDS looks to some of the world’s foremost experts for the facts of the history of the diamond trade, and goes to the heart of the matter, interviewing both the victims and perpetrators of diamond-fueled atrocities in countries like Sierra Leone. One such victim is Usman Conteh. Captured by rebels in Sierra Leone’s Kono district, Usman was forced to mine diamonds for rebels – diamonds the rebels then sold or traded for arms. After months in captivity, Usman escaped only to find rebels had murdered his family.

The documentary explores the factors that led to the violence, tells the vivid details of the suffering, and speaks with the organizations that eventually exposed the link between diamonds and several brutal African conflicts. BLOOD DIAMONDS also looks at the steps eventually taken by advocacy organizations and the diamond industry to combat the problem.

Executive Producer for The History Channel is Margaret G. Kim. BLOOD DIAMONDS is produced by Bill Brummel Productions

Eggs you won’t find at Tesco’s – (unless your’e extremely lucky)

Imperial Eggs – A brief history.

About Fabergé:

The firm was founded in 1842 by jeweler Gustav Fabergé. But it was when son Peter Carl joined the firm that it became more prominent. In 1869 he sold the first pieces to the St. Petersburg Hermitage.

Court Supplier to the Czars:

Court supplier to the last two Russian Czars, Carl Faberge had the honor of using the family crest of the Romanovs in his company logo. It started in 1882 at the Pan-Russian Exhibition in Moscow. Maria Feodorovna, wife of the Czar Alexander III purchased a pair of cufflinks from the company for her husband. From then on, Faberge’s customers included the rich and noble.

The First Imperial Easter Egg:

In 1885 Fabergé won the Gold Medal at an exhibition in Nuremberg for his replicas of the antique treasures of Kerch. It was also in 1885 that the first Imperial egg was produced. The beautifully simple egg opened up to reveal a yolk. Inside the yolk was a golden hen and inside the hen was a diamond miniature of the crown and a tiny ruby egg.The egg was a gift to the Czarina Maria. It reminded her of home and each year thereafter, a new egg was commissioned by the Czar and created by Fabergé for the Czarina. The eggs became elaborately more jeweled, conveyed historical meaning and had a hidden surprise.

Each Year Another Imperial Egg :

The Czar gave his wife an egg every year during the Russian Orthodox Easter festival. From 1895 to 1916, his successor, Nicholas II, gave two Easter eggs each year, one to his wife and one to his mother.A total of fifty Imperial eggs were made for the Russian Czars, but several have been lost. There were seven additional eggs made for Alexander and Varvara Kelkh.

Imperial Eggs Return to Russia:

Malcolm Forbes had the largest privately owned collection of Faberge eggs and after he died his heirs authorized Sothebys (in 2004) to auction off his large Fabergé collection.But before the auction took place, a private sale took place and the entire collection was bought by Victor Vekselberg and taken back to Russia.

Not All Eggs are Fabergé:

Often times advertisements will appear for a Fabergé egg or Fabergé reproduction, but unless it’s been made by an authorized company, it should not be called Fabergé. Often companies will get around this by calling their eggs Fabergé style.

The Bottom Line:

The history is fascinating, the eggs are exquisite and to collect even the reproductions is only for the those with deep pockets. But there is something about a Fabergé egg that even if you can’t own one, you can still enjoy looking at the pictures and, if you’re lucky, can view at a museum.Today there are several ways to own an egg associated with the name of Faberge. There are authorized reproductions of the Imperial eggs, eggs created by the descendants of Carl Faberge and eggs made by the company authorized to use the name Faberge. Confusing? Yes, but like all collecting, always do your research before purchasing!

Fabergé World
The only company licensed and authorized to reproduce the Imperial eggs is FabergeWorld.com. They also have an authorized Collector’s Society.

The company also produces flatware, crystal, frames, silver pieces and ornaments under the Fabergé name.

St. Petersburg Collection
Descendants of Peter Carl Fabergé also create eggs in the Fabergé tradition for the St. Petersburg Collection. If you’re intrigued by the history of Fabergé, be sure to read the history of the Fabergé family on the web site. It’s the stuff of good mystery novels and includes information on the copyright and trademark of the Fabergé name.

Victor Mayer Jewelers
In 1989, its legal successor, Fabergé Co., New York, appointed the Pforzheim jeweler Victor Mayer as the exclusive worldwide workmaster for Fabergé and authorized it to market the precious Fabergé works of art through the members of the Collegium Fabergé. Ever since then Victor Mayer has been selling exquisite jewels and Objets d’ Art, and is continuing the life-work of Peter Carl Fabergé.
Source:Faberge.de

Famous Jewellery Collections.

 Astleyclarke.com.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Jewellery Collection
The jewellery collection belonging to this monarch is so extensive that there is a special room about the size of an ice rink to house it, situated 40 feet beneath Buckingham Palace. This collection does not include the British Crown Jewels, which are kept in the Tower of London. The Queen’s personal fine jewellery is conservatively valued at $57 million. Most of it was received as gifts.
One of the highlights of the collection is the so-called Timur Ruby. This is in fact a substantial 352.50-carat spinel. It is inscribed with the names of several of the previous owners, who were Mughal emperors. Other impressive gems in her collection include the Cambridge and Delhi Dunbar Parure, a suite of emerald jewellery including an emerald diadem (a jewelled ornamental headband) and the Prince Albert Brooch, a huge sapphire given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert the day before their wedding. Equally impressive are Queen Mary’s large ruby earrings. The collection also contains several of the large diamonds cut from the Cullinan, the largest diamond ever mined, weighing in at 3,106 carats, or just under one and a half pounds. From these were cut the ‘Stars of Africa’, the Cullinan I and II, weighing 530-carats and 317-carats respectively. She reportedly refers to the Cullinan III (94-carats) and Cullinan IV (64-carats) as “Granny’s Chips.”

Elizabeth Taylor’s Jewellery Collection 
This is another well-known and extensive jewellery collection, again largely consisting of gifts. It includes the 33.19-carat Krupp diamond and the 69.42-carat pear-shaped Taylor-Burton Diamond, given to her by Richard Burton. This now hangs from a diamond necklace. Elizabeth Taylor also received from Richard Burton the heart-shaped yellow diamond which was originally a gift given in 1621 by Shah Jahan to his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who inspired the Taj Mahal.
There is also an impressive range of emeralds in this collection – Burton gave her a famous emerald and diamond brooch and emerald necklace as a wedding present, and earrings, a bracelet and a ring at later points in their marriage. Some of the emeralds in the set were from the Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia.
Another gift Taylor received from Burton was La Peregrina, a pear-shaped drop pearl weighing 203.84 grains once owned by the Spanish Royal Family. This is one of the largest and most historic pearls in existence.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ Jewellery Collection  
Jackie Kennedy’s jewellery collection grew considerably when she married Aristotle Onassis – it is reported that she received $5 million in jewellery from her husband. Her engagement ring from Onassis reported sold for $2.6 million at the auction of the Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at Sotheby’s on April 24, 1996. At this auction, a 47-carat kunzite ring that President Kennedy purchased for his wife but never had the chance to give her was also sold.

Marlene Dietrich’s Jewellery Collection   
Dietrich wore her own jewellery in many of her films and was a particular fan of emeralds. Most famously, she wore a suite set with huge cabochon emeralds in her role as a jewel thief in Desire in 1938. One anecdote tells of her baking a cake at Katherine Cornell’s house, and being unable to find her 37.41-carat cabochon emerald ring which she had taken off in the kitchen. Despite everybody’s best efforts, the ring could not be found – until it turned up in a piece of the cake during dessert!

 

 

 

 

Joan Crawford’s Jewellery Collection
This actress was so notoriously keen on sapphires that the press called them “Joan Blue” after her. One of her favourite pieces in her extensive collection included a bracelet set with three star sapphires of 60 carats each. Star sapphires are half-dome-cut sapphires with a starlike effect which seems to glide across the surface of the stone, the way the sliver does in a cat’s eye. She was also the owner of a 70-carat star sapphire engagement ring, and a 72-carat emerald-cut sapphire, which she often wore together on the same finger.