2008 Auction History

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

All Results in BOLD

On Dec. 7 and 8 in Los Angeles, Bonhams and Butterfield sells two gold crystals respectively for 125 K $ (Lot 1299) and 100 K$ (Lot 1298). (UNSOLD)

Chance of culture: I just discovered who was Jean Fusoris, and here is an astrolabe made circa 1400 that can be attributed to his workshop. It is at Sotheby's in London on December 3, lot 75. (estimated 100 K£) (UNSOLD)

Done in Augsburg in 1570, an astronomical compendium is to be sold by ERA in Villefranche on November 29. (UNSOLD) We find in the same sale an eight tube English telescope of the end of the seventeenth century. (SOLD 30 K€ before fees)

A microscope from Louis XV time in gilt bronze is worth 700 K €. It is the lot 65 of Sotheby's sale in Paris on October 22. (SOLD 900 K€ including fees).

In one of the best specialist houses, WestLicht in Vienna, on November 30 we find a photo-book by Scovill and Adams (60 K €) (SOLD 40.5 K€ before fees) and an Escopette of Darier (40 K €). (SOLD 42.5 K€ before fees). A dismountable camera obscura made in 1752 is estimated 6 K €. (SOLD 4.6 K€ before fees).

A rare book made in silk is at number 1495 in the sale of Reiss in Königstein on 28 and 29 October (9 K €). (UNSOLD)

On 26 September in New York, Sotheby's offers for $ 40 K a whale tooth scrimshaw engraved at sea, signed, dated 1835. (SOLD 100 K$ including fees).

On October 4 at Pouancé, Artcurial disperse the collection of trees and shrubs of a professional gardener. (SOLD 19 K€ before fees an acer palmatum).

On July 19 at Henley, Bonhams sells a superb steam engine on wheels built in 1840. Named Hercules, it is a model of a true locomotive (15 K £). (UNSOLD).

On June 22 in San Francisco, Bonhams and Butterfields will try to sell at 90 K$ in a single lot tangle skeletons of five dinosaurs including three fairly complete. In the press release, a director of the auction house consider that this lot is "aesthetically pleasing". (UNSOLD). For only 35 K$, you are entitled to prefer the skull of a saber-toothed cat, which is another marvel of ancient times. (UNSOLD). A meteorite found in Russia is estimated 65 K$. (UNSOLD).
More original: in this sale are grouped some works and furniture made by Zee Haag from minerals or petrified trees. A coffee table could be worth 65 K$. (UNSOLD).

On July 19 at Henley, Bonhams sells a giant salmon. The fisherman had spent 30 minutes to leave it from water, in 1928. 5 K£ for a weight of 50 lbs, that made just 100 £ per salmon lb. I let to you translate into other units. Thank you not to use this sale to deduce the price of fresh fish. (SOLD 6 K£ before fees this painted model).

A diorama at the cover of a catalogue of art!! It is astute because it shows the diorama like one of the ancestors of our installations. This work representing the first giraffe of France is to be sold at Leclere in Marseilles on May 3 (20 K€, 85x80x40 cm, lot 305). (SOLD 11 K€ before fees ; la Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot published an estimate of 12 K€, 20 K€ was the low estimate available in the catalogue).

A 263-carat opale will be sold in San Francisco by Bonhams and Butterfields on June 22 (150 K$). This is not the biggest opale from the sale, but perhaps the most perfect: to attract fans, the auction house announced that it is shaped like a "fried egg"! ! (SOLD 100 K$ before fees)

Encouraged by the success of its similar auction last year, Christie's organizes April 16 in Paris a sale of paleontology conducted drum beating (picture it!) by a three horned triceratops skeleton 7.50 meters long (500 K €). It will be exhibited avenue Matignon from March 8, making it already the star of Parisian spring sales, with extensive media ensured, (UNSOLD at auction, SOLD 590 K€ the day after), thus following in the footsteps (yes!) of the beautiful mammoth of last year.