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AUCTION Sales round up A ROUND the HOUSES From a gun used in the Valentine’s Day Massacre to Princess Diana’s favourite ballgown, auction houses around the world have enjoyed a busy few weeks Sotheby’s New York A velvet ballgown worn by Princess Diana achieved more than five times its pre-auction estimate when it sold in New York for £500,000 ($604,800). Designed by Victor Edelstein the dress was famously worn by the Princess of Wales in the 1997 photo shoot by Mario Testino for Vanity Fair months before her death, immortalising her in one of her most iconic and favourite dresses of all time. Edelstein also designed the midnight-blue, off-the- The princess became increasingly bold in her fashion choices shoulder, velvet gown she wore at a state banquet at the White House when she danced with John Travolta. At an earlier auction one of the princess’s favourite pieces of jewellery, the Attallah Cross, was bought by Kim Kardashian for £163,800 ($197,453) – more than doubling its estimate. Made from square-cut amethysts and circular-cut diamonds it was part of a pendant created in 1920s by court jewellers Garrard. The silk velvet dress was the gown the princess wore in the famous photo by Mario Testino The well-designed French bulldog was an unexpected hit Chiswick Auctions, London A blue and gold silk banner, publicising the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, expected to make £1,000-£2,000 sold for £14,375 at the London auctioneer’s recent sale. At the same sale a life-size French bulldog pull toy, c.1890, expected to make £500-£700, sold for £1,375. Set on wooden casters under its paws, the dog had a painted papier mâché head with glass eyes and coconut husk collar. When pulled by a chain on the back of its neck, the pooch makes a growling or barking noise. The important historic banner sold for more than 14 times its low estimate RR Auctions, Boston A Colt .38 revolver, recovered from the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, sold for £112,000 ($135,473) at the Massachusetts auction house’s recent sale, alongside a press photo of the shooting, which doubled its low estimate to fetch (£1,700) $2,020 Part of the US auctioneers ‘Gangsters, Outlaws and Lawmen’ sale, the gun belonged to Frank Gusenberg one of Bugs Moran’s North Side Gang – Al Capone’s Chicago rivals. On the morning of February 14, 1929, four unknown assailants—two dressed as police officers— shot seven North Side Gang members and affiliates at the 2122 North Clark Street garage, including brothers Peter and Frank Gusenberg. The massacre saw 70 rounds fired from an arsenal that included two Thompson submachine guns, the favourite firearm of the notorious Chicago syndicate. An accompanying photo from the crime scene, stamped on the reverse Chicago Bureau, Tribune Tower’ A press photo of the grisly scene also sold at the ‘gangsters’ sale had a low estimate of $1,000. 12 ANTIQUE COLLECTING The Colt Detective Special .38 revolver belonged to a gang member
page 13
Gildings, Market Harborough A single-owner collection of coins from famous shipwrecks more than doubled its estimate of £2,000£3,000, selling for £6,440 at the Leicestershire auction house. Coins from the collection of sunken treasure realised £6,440 The sale featured 51 coins in four lots grouped in the wrecks they were recovered from, ranging from 1686 to 1806. The standout lot in the auction was 17 coins from the Hollandia, a Dutch East India Company ship, which was wrecked on the Isles of Scilly’s Gunner Rock in 1743, resulting in the loss of 276 crew and company members. The lot sold for £2,700 against an estimate of £850-£1,250. An Isles of Scilly-based diver who was part of the team that recovered some of the coins in the ‘70s was among the successful bidders. Hansons, London Two paintings of flowers by Queen Victoria discovered in a Surrey cottage doubled their pre-sale estimate of £8,000-£10,000 when they sold for a combined total of £19,500. Hansons’ Chris Kirkham said: “I was astounded and delighted when I discovered the paintings.” Both had been purchased decades ago by the seller’s grandfather who lived on the Isle of Wight and bought them at a sale of items relating to Osborne House, Queen Victoria’s holiday home on the island. Both paintings had letters of provenance on the reverse. The paintings show a more colourful side to the monarch Parker Fine Art Auctions, Farnham A 16th-century oil on board by the Italian Renaissance artist Palma Vecchio (14801528) more than doubled its low guide price when it hammered at £42,000 at the Surrey auction house. Several phone bidders competed for The Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene, c. 1514, after its authenticity was confirmed by the specialist Philip Rylands (author of a book about the artist) who stated “there is no-one else it could be by.” Working in Venice in the late 15th and early 16th century, Vecchio is widely considered to be the greatest artist after Titian. A painting of the Virgin and Child, thought to be by the 15th-century Italian artist known as the Master of Roncajette, sold for £8,500, against a low estimate of £5,000, after being confirmed as a work by the artist by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The oil on board by was authenticated by a leading authority The Virgin and Child by The Master of Roncajette sold for £8,500 in Surrey Bonhams, Knightsbridge A 1941 WWII recruitment poster banned for being too seductive, and condemned by the wartime leader Winston Churchill as “too Soviet”, almost doubled its low pre-sale estimate, selling for £3,825 at the London auction house in February. Designed by Abram Games (1914-1996) to recruit women into the Auxiliary Territorial Service, its pouting red lips and blonde curls attracted widespread attention in the press, causing it to be dubbed the “Blonde Bombshell”. Bonhams’ Richard Barclay, said: “While WWII posters such as ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ are instantly recognisable ‘Join the ATS’ is much rarer and has cemented its place as a desirable vintage poster.” The poster was banned for sending the wrong message Lawrences, Crewkerne An enamel and gem set pendant by Carlo Giuliano and a gem set and enamel bracelet by Carlo and Arthur Giuliano both doubled their their top estimate to make a combined total of £28,125 at the Somerset auction house. Giuliano’s jewellery was inspired by the Renaissance and ancient Egypt Carlo Giuliano (c.1831-1895) moved to London from Italy in the 1860s and set up in business with Alessandro Castellani in Frith Street in Soho. By 1874 his two sons, Carlo Joseph and Arthur Alphonse, had joined him in the business and they opened a new shop at 115 Piccadilly. Giuliano’s jewellery was inspired by the Renaissance and ancient Egypt and usually decorated, as in this case, with polychrome enamels and coloured gemstones. ANTIQUE COLLECTING 13

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AUCTION Sales round up

A ROUND the HOUSES

From a gun used in the Valentine’s Day Massacre to Princess Diana’s favourite ballgown, auction houses around the world have enjoyed a busy few weeks

Sotheby’s New York A velvet ballgown worn by Princess Diana achieved more than five times its pre-auction estimate when it sold in New York for £500,000 ($604,800). Designed by Victor Edelstein the dress was famously worn by the Princess of Wales in the 1997 photo shoot by Mario Testino for

Vanity Fair months before her death, immortalising her in one of her most iconic and favourite dresses of all time.

Edelstein also designed the midnight-blue, off-the-

The princess became increasingly bold in her fashion choices shoulder, velvet gown she wore at a state banquet at the White House when she danced with John Travolta.

At an earlier auction one of the princess’s favourite pieces of jewellery, the Attallah Cross, was bought by Kim Kardashian for £163,800

($197,453) – more than doubling its estimate.

Made from square-cut amethysts and circular-cut diamonds it was part of a pendant created in 1920s by court jewellers Garrard.

The silk velvet dress was the gown the princess wore in the famous photo by Mario

Testino

The well-designed French bulldog was an unexpected hit

Chiswick Auctions, London A blue and gold silk banner, publicising the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, expected to make £1,000-£2,000 sold for £14,375 at the London auctioneer’s recent sale. At the same sale a life-size French bulldog pull toy, c.1890, expected to make £500-£700, sold for £1,375. Set on wooden casters under its paws, the dog had a painted papier mâché head with glass eyes and coconut husk collar. When pulled by a chain on the back of its neck, the pooch makes a growling or barking noise.

The important historic banner sold for more than

14 times its low estimate

RR Auctions, Boston A Colt .38 revolver, recovered from the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, sold for £112,000 ($135,473) at the Massachusetts auction house’s recent sale, alongside a press photo of the shooting, which doubled its low estimate to fetch (£1,700) $2,020

Part of the US auctioneers ‘Gangsters, Outlaws and Lawmen’ sale, the gun belonged to Frank Gusenberg one of Bugs Moran’s North Side Gang – Al Capone’s Chicago rivals.

On the morning of February 14, 1929, four unknown assailants—two dressed as police officers— shot seven North Side Gang members and affiliates at the 2122 North Clark Street garage, including brothers Peter and Frank Gusenberg.

The massacre saw 70 rounds fired from an arsenal that included two Thompson submachine guns, the favourite firearm of the notorious Chicago syndicate.

An accompanying photo from the crime scene, stamped on the reverse Chicago Bureau, Tribune Tower’

A press photo of the grisly scene also sold at the ‘gangsters’

sale had a low estimate of $1,000.

12 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The Colt Detective Special .38 revolver belonged to a gang member

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