BOSTON, MA – September 11, 2018 – Skinner is pleased to announce September 25th as the date for our second Important Jewelry auction of the year. Collectors and buyers who wait in anticipation of this event will be pleased with the breadth and content of this auction, featuring over 400 lots of diamonds, colored stones, and antique and period jewelry. Art Deco Jewelry Our Important Jewelry auction features several exceptional examples of Art Deco design from the 1920s and 1930s. The cover of our catalog is an impressive and rare diamond strap bracelet by Cartier (Lot 66, Estimate $100,000-$125,000). We are also pleased to offer a late 1930s ruby and diamond bracelet, also by Cartier (Lot 106, Estimate $30,000-$50,000). Artist Designed Jewelry Since its founding in 1980, the Skinner jewelry department has had a special interest in jewelry designed by artists. Leading our collection of artist-designed jewelry in this […]
The Hot Bid’s Sheila Gibson Stoodley recently spoke with Skinner Director of Asian Works of Art, Judith Dowling about the record-setting Chinese Vase sold by Skinner. What you see: A monumental Fencai Imperial vase dating to the Qianlong period. Skinner sold it in 2014 for $24.7 million– a record for any Chinese work of art sold in the Western world. The expert: Judith Dowling, Director of Asian Works of Art at Skinner. Can you tell us what we know about how the vase came to be? Why might it have been made? The theory and I say theory because in China there are no actual documents, comes from observation of a vase in the Palace Museum in Beijing called the “mother of porcelain.” The Qianlong Emperor wanted a compilation of accomplishments the Chinese had made up to that point in porcelain. By repute, the superintendent [of the Imperial porcelain […]
Join us in these New England cities for a complimentary auction evaluation of jewelry, silver, coins & currency, American & European works of art, sculpture, and musical instruments and the opportunity to consign property to upcoming Skinner auctions. New Haven, CT | September 12, 2018 Providence RI | October 10, 2018 Portland ME | November 14, 2018 Chatham MA | December 12, 2018 Appointments by reservation only. To make an appointment, please email info@skinnerinc.com, or phone 508-970-3000.
An Evening of Art & Anecdotes with Joby Baker Wednesday, September 19, 5:30PM Skinner welcomes Joby Baker, the widower of Dory Previn who will discuss Dory’s art collection, music, and poetry as we tour the gallery and view her works. This event is held in conjunction with a preview of Skinner’s September 21st auction of American & European Works of Art. Skinner Boston Gallery 63 Park Plaza Boston MA, 02116 Reception: 5:30pm Talk: 6pm RSVP Contact Us: events@skinnerinc.com 508-970-3240
BOSTON, MA – August 23, 2018 – On Friday, September 21, Skinner presents an outstanding two-session auction of Prints, Multiples & Photographs and Paintings & Sculpture with over 350 lots spanning Old Masters through contemporary offerings. Robin S. R. Starr, Vice President and Director of American & European Works of Art, notes, “We’re excited about the depth and breadth of the works in the September auction, from a rediscovered Gérôme masterpiece to a considerable number of fresh to the market works from private collections, including of the composer, lyricist, author, playwright, recording artist, and performer, Dory Previn.” Paintings & Sculpture The marquee lot of the sale is by Jean-Léon G érôme. This newly rediscovered orientalist painting called Evening Prayer (Lot 266, Estimate: $400,000-600,000) has been described as a “perfected” version of one of Gérôme’s most evocative compositions, showing Muslim men at prayer on a Cairo rooftop. With all of the technical hallmarks […]
Skinner Jewelry specialists Kaitlin Shinnick and John Colasacco will be hosting a preview of Important Jewelry being offered in our September 25 Boston auction. The September auction features over 400 lots of diamonds, colored stones, antique and period jewelry. Highlights include several exceptional examples of Art Deco design from the 1920s and 1930s, vintage and contemporary jewelry by prestigious makers Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati, David Webb, Jean Schlumberger and Aldo Cipullo. Also on offer, artist-designed jewelry by Arthur King, John Paul Miller, Art Smith, Etienne David, Eric De Kolb, Barbara Anton, Bent Gabrielsen, and Illario. Private preview times are available by appointment. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 REQUEST APPOINTMENT Skinner New York 415 Madison Avenue, #1418 New York, New York Contact us: jewelry@skinnerinc.com 617.874.4313
An Evening with Phillip Thomas Friday, October 12, 2018 Join us for an Evening with Phillip Thomas on October 12, for a Q&A on Incorporating Antiques: Through the Eye of an Interior Designer. Skinner is excited to have had the opportunity to collaborate with interior designer Phillip Thomas—an ideal platform to showcase Phillip’s talent for seamlessly mixing an eclectic combination of antique objects, furniture, and works of art, all inspired by the property in this auction. Phillip artfully shows how to incorporate antiques in today’s interiors. This event is held in conjunction with the European Furniture & Works of Art auction on Saturday, October 13. Reception: 5:30pm Talk: 6pm LET US KNOW THAT YOU WILL ATTEND events@skinnerinc.com 508-970-3240
Our colleagues at Bidsquare sat down with Skinner Fine Jewelry specialist, John Colasacco There is a certain level of satisfaction that comes with wearing vintage and antique jewelry that just cannot be contested with present-day makes. For instance, clasping a Cartier bracelet around ones wrist that was forged for the likes of Hollywood stars such as Sofia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn conveys an air of tribute and elegance that demands prestige. Vintage and antique jewelry contains the histories and creative eyes of the times it was defining – adding a special dash of interest that just isn’t inherent in contemporary styles (yet). Familiarizing oneself on how to tell styles like Art Deco, Edwardian and Art Moderne apart, not only makes for a clever conversation starter, but it makes browsing through auction catalogs much more exciting. To get you started on the basics, we called upon John Colasacco, […]
Robin heads American & European Works of Art, one of Skinner’s most active and important specialty departments, conducting three major auctions annually and contributing artwork to other department sales. In this key role she oversees a staff of specialists who appraise and catalog prints, paintings, sculpture, photographs and works on paper for a wide variety of Skinner clients, including arts and cultural institutions, estates, major collectors, and private individuals. Outside of her role at Skinner, Starr is a major contributor to the success of Boston’s thriving arts and culture community. She conducts numerous benefit appraisal days, lectures, and benefit auctions throughout the year. She is also a familiar face on the 16-time Emmy® Award-nominee PBS program Antiques Roadshow. How did you get your start in the auction world? After finishing my master’s degree I wanted to get a little work experience before moving on to my Ph.D. Ultimately I was going to […]
Joan Miró is best known as a painter of Surrealistic figures that dance across flat surfaces like alien cartoon creatures searching for a party. Wise collectors know that he was also a skilled and prolific printmaker, working in lithography and intaglio techniques for much of his career. He began experimenting with printmaking in the 1920s, but it wasn’t until later in life that he pursued it vigorously. Like many artists, Miró had particular themes and subjects which reoccurred throughout his career. He repeatedly returned to Alfred Jarry’s character Ubu Roi. The Barcelona Series, published in 1944, was a group of 50 lithographs created as the artist’s response to the Spanish Civil War. Ubu Roi is the central character here, but the suite was really a thinly veiled rebuke of General Francisco Franco and his cohorts. In 1966 Miró returned to the subject, this time creating illustrations for a published version […]
Skinner’s September 21 Fine Photographs auction opens with two special groups (both vintage and later prints) of images by Eugène Atget and Berenice Abbott. Atget (1857-1927) is remembered for documenting historical aspects of the city of Paris as it was being transformed by modernization. His work inspired Abbott (1898-1991) to focus on the changing buildings and neighborhoods of the city in her project Changing New York. Atget and Abbott met in 1926, and developed a special bond. When he died the following year, she acquired his archive and for the rest of her life worked tirelessly to preserve his photographic legacy. Eugène Atget’s 30 year-career bridged the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 1890s, he photographed what he described as “Documents pour artistes”—streets, gardens, monuments, and architectural details like doorways and ironwork, etc. Beginning around 1900, as the urban landscape was being transformed by Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s modernization campaign, he […]
The antique and estate jewelry presented in the Fine Jewelry Collections online auction was lovingly assembled over more than four decades by George and Jackie Bernheimer. Their interests were primarily in unusual colored stones, snake rings, and moonstones, especially those sculpted into cameos and intaglios. The inspiration for collecting jewelry was initiated by gifts from George’s parents, Paul and Louise, who were best-known for their splendid Harvard Square gallery, Bernheimer’s Antique Arts (1963-1992); which was an off-shoot of the one of the most prominent art businesses in Europe, the renowned L. Bernheimer of Munich, Germany, founded in 1864. George and his parents fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and eventually settled in Norton, Massachusetts. While he was never directly involved with the Munich or Cambridge galleries, George eventually did find his way to partake in the family tradition, first by opening the Norton Flea Market with his partners in 1971, and […]
