John Colasacco,Skinner Fine Jewelry Specialist

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.… Read More

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.… Read More

Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983) Plate (Auction 3140B, Lot 75, Estimate: $2,500-3,500)

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.… Read More

Atget, Bar de Cabaret, Paris, 1910-1911, printed later by Berenice Abbott (Lot 110, Estimate: $1,000-1,500)

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.… Read More

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.… Read More

Art Deco Platinum and Diamond Bracelet, Cartier (Lot 66, Estimate: $100,000-150,000)

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.… Read More

Popular in Korea, folding screens were created to decorate rooms and for use as a backdrop to enhance the festive mood for special events such as weddings, birthdays and holidays. Adorned with symbolic images with auspicious meaning folding screens have long been loved; and more recently become a study subject among art historians, who see them essential in understanding Korean art and culture of the late Joseon period.

Eight-panel Sipjangsaengdo Folding Screen, Korea, 19th/20th century, (Lot 531, estimate $1,200-1,500)

Skinner offers four Korean multi-panel folding screens from the 19th and 20th centuries in the September 14, 2018, Asian Works of Art auction in Boston.… Read More

Dory Previn

Skinner’s September 21, 2018, Fine Paintings & Sculpture Auction will include a selection of artwork from the collection of singer-songwriter Dory Previn. Previn was a composer, lyricist, author, playwright, recording artist, and performer. Her early successes came in Hollywood while working for MGM, where she wrote songs for films, usually as a lyricist teaming up with her then-husband, composer and conductor André Previn.… Read More

Sold for $24.7 Million. Monumental Fencai Flower and Landscape Vase, China, Imperial Qianlong period.

 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.… Read More