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.… Read More
By Jane Viator
Skinner’s summer Americana auction took place on August 14 and 15. 772 lots were offered, totaling over $2.3 million with buyer’s premium. Stephen Fletcher, chief auctioneer and Skinner executive vice-president, noted that the sale’s success demonstrates the strength of this part of the market. “Lively” is his word for it.
Five of the top ten lots were paintings:
♦ Portrait of Electa Snow Pierce, top seller of the two-day sale, is an iconic example of the prized work of Ruth and Samuel Shute.… Read More
By | Jane Viator
On a Christmas morning in the 1880s, an Indian chief in full war regalia distributed gifts to the delighted inhabitants of Castlemorres, a grand Irish manor house.
A close look would reveal that the Indian garb was from different tribes and time periods: shirt and leggings of a Blackfeet chief of the 1830s, feather-decorated Ojibwa headdress of the 1840s.
And the gift-giver was not a transplanted Plains Indian chief. He was the son of the lord of the manor, a British nobleman who had collected the garb during his military service in Canada during the 1860s.… Read More
BOSTON, MA – September 23, 2014 – A monumental Fencai Imperial Qing Dynasty vase auctioned for $24.7 million at Skinner on September 17th, topping all sales of Chinese works of art in the U.S. and setting a record as the top grossing lot ever sold in New England. The Skinner Asian Works of Art auction coincided with Asia Week, and this vase surpassed all other objects sold during the event.
An intensely focused and enthusiastic crowd packed the auction room, and most rose to their feet as the vase soared past the $10 million mark.… Read More
Next time you sort through boxes in your basement, setting aside items for a yard sale, think twice about what these items may be worth. You could be the unknowing owner of a buried treasure.
In the Skinner Oriental Rugs & Carpets auction on Saturday, February 11, 2012, An important Kashmir Moon Shawl hammered at $50,000 after intense, competitive bidding. The phone lines were all busy with bidders calling in from around the world.… Read More
Skinner set a new world record for a painting by Fitz Henry Lane in November 2004: a record that still stands today. The $5.5 million price bested the previous world record price for the artist by over $1.5 million. Even more exciting, this was the third record price that Skinner set for a work by Fitz Henry Lane, who is widely regarded as one of the foremost American painters of the 19th century. At the time, this painting was also the most valuable artwork ever sold at auction in New England.