The French Queen's pearl pendant was part of a collection of 100 lots of royal jewellery from the Bourbon-Parma family. Ten of the lots previously belonged to Marie Antoinette. Estimated at SFr1m-2m, it eventually sold for SFr36.4m or £27.8 million including buyer's pr...
Champlevé enamel has been produces in Limoges from the 12th century and was revived in the 19th century.
Chorley's sold the copper enamel tazza at their Prinknash Abbey salerooms on September 18th for £8,500. Although it was catalogued as being 'Renaissance style', it...
A bust, signed A Rodin and Gruet Aine Fondeur Paris, has been discovered by Black Rock Galleries of Connecticut. The piece was discovered when the auctioneers were clearing items from a deceased estate.
The bust is one of two, with the other being in the...
The Art Loss Register has been succesful in returning an Etruscan bronze stolen from the Archaeological Museum in Siena along with other items in 1988.
The bronze was offered for sale unwittingly by a UK auction house. The consignor then renounced his title. It was then...
This watercolour bearing the signature of John Sell Cotman sold for £20,000 at Nottingham auction house Mellors and Kirk. Despite the signature, the auctioneer Nigel Kirk decided that he could not give the painting the full attribution to the artist and instead opted t...
The Star Warsfilm franchise is one of the most recognised and successful of all time, earning over 2.5 billion dollars since the release of the first film and creating a cult phenomenon (in the 2011 England and Wales census over 176,000 people marked 'Jedi' as their re...
How to value a 17th century chest of drawers.
A typical 17th century chest
Questions to consider:
Is the chest made of solid timber?
Is it made of walnut or oak?
Do the drawer fronts have moulded decoration?
Has it been made with joined construction?
Are the drawer linings oa...
How to value a 17th century coffer.
A typical 17th century carved oak coffer
Questions to consider:
Is it built from solid oak?
Is it carved?
Is the construction of panels and frame?
Does the construction appear hand made?
Does it have its original feet, panels, hinges or lo...
Source: CNN Money
A typical George III mahogany chest of drawers
Questions to consider:
Is it made from mahogany?
Is the back unpolished?
Do the drawer fronts either overlap or have cockbeading around the edges?
Does it have bracket or ogee bracket feet?
Are the drawer linings fine (ro...
