Latest news with #Sothebys
Vogue
2 hours ago
- Business
- Vogue
Now You Can Own the Original Birkin Bag
If you thought the Himalaya Birkin is the rarest bag on Earth, think again. The prototype of the now-iconic Hermès purse, custom-made for its namesake, Jane Birkin, is up for auction for the first time in 25 years, hitting the Sotheby's block on July 10. The Birkin was created especially for the on-the-go actor and singer in 1984, after she told Jean-Louis Dumas that she needed a bag that accommodated her hectic everyday life. 'I think I drew it on the sick bag—or the not-be-sick bag. And [Dumas] said 'I'll make it for you',' Birkin told Vogue from the front row of Hermès's fall 2012 show. Jane Birkin at Jean Paul Gaultier's spring 2005 show. Michel Dufour The original Birkin bag, which will be auctioned by Sotheby's on July 10. Birkin, who died in 2023, donated the original purse in 1994 to benefit the French AIDS charity, Association Solidarité Sida. It was purchased again in 2000 by Catherine Benier, a Paris-based collector and vintage store owner. Sotheby's sent the bag on a world tour ahead of its impending sale, displaying it in their Paris and Hong Kong maisons. Benier also previously lent it out for exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Now it has returned to New York, and will be viewable at the auction house's galleries from today through June 12.
National Post
21 hours ago
- Business
- National Post
Gloves from Wayne Gretzky's last Stanley Cup run with Oilers up for auction
Article content A pair of gloves worn by Wayne Gretzky during his last Stanley Cup run with the Edmonton Oilers is going up for auction. Article content Sotheby's announced Wednesday that bidding is underway for the Hockey Hall of Famer's game-worn gloves from the 1988 NHL playoffs. Article content Article content Bidding will close June 16. In a release, Sotheby's said the gloves are 'photo matched' to Gretzky's last game with Edmonton and the pair is estimated to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000. Article content Gretzky had 43 points in 19 games during the '88 playoffs as the Oilers won their fourth Stanley Cup in five years, sweeping the Boston Bruins in the final. Article content
CTV News
21 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Gloves from Wayne Gretzky's last Stanley Cup run with Oilers up for auction
A pair of gloves worn by Wayne Gretzky, as shown in this handout photo, during last Stanley Cup run with the Edmonton Oilers is going up for auction. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Sotheby's *MANDATORY CREDIT * A pair of gloves worn by Wayne Gretzky during his last Stanley Cup run with the Edmonton Oilers is going up for auction. Sotheby's announced Wednesday that bidding is underway for the Hockey Hall of Famer's game-worn gloves from the 1988 NHL playoffs. Bidding will close June 16. In a release, Sotheby's said the gloves are 'photo matched' to Gretzky's last game with Edmonton and the pair is estimated to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000. Gretzky had 43 points in 19 games during the '88 playoffs as the Oilers won their fourth Stanley Cup in five years, sweeping the Boston Bruins in the final. 'The Great One' was traded to the Los Angeles Kings before the start of the next season and did not win another Stanley Cup. The announcement of the auction came on the same day if Game 1 of the 2024-25 Stanley Cup final between the Oilers and the Florida Panthers. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Prepare Your Bids For This Exceptional Watch Trunk
The Connoisseur's Trunk by Trunks Company Jaipur is Lot 1 at the upcoming Important Watches auction ... More at Sotheby's on June 10, 2025. There is something remarkable that truly stands out among the lots at the upcoming Sotheby's Important Watches: Take A Minute auction. No, it's not the impressive collection of rare timepieces with exceptional movements from stalwarts like Patek Philippe, Rolex, F.P. Journe and Richard Mille. These watches are a given at a watch auction after all. The item that is bound to pique the interest of devoted horologist — and any luxury lover for that matter — is Lot Number 1. A watch trunk that marries the finest virtues of craftsmanship and technology. It is made of handsome gray leather with refined brass hardware. It measures 90 x 40 x 61cm (approximately 35 x 16 x 24 inches) and weighs roughly 85kg (187lbs). It resembles a small steamer trunk when it is closed. The top opens and the front slides into two panels to reveal, layer by layer, an exquisite beige and blue leather interior to hold an impressive watch collection, plus dedicated compartments for a crystal decanter, drinking glasses, ice bucket and bar tools, and cigar accoutrements. Watches and spirits are elegant bedfellows. One can almost imagine that this trunk could very well trace its provenance to a real life James Bond. The Connoisseur's Trunk marries timepieces and spirits, featuring compartments not only for watches ... More but for a crystal decanter, glasses and bar tools, and cigar accoutrements. But it is a one-off piece, especially created for the June 10, 2025 Sotheby's auction. The trunk was designed by Paritosh Mehta of Trunks Company Jaipur. It has been christened The Connoisseur's Trunk and according to the Sotheby's catalog it is estimated to fetch between $25,000 - $50,000. Trunks Company was founded in 2011 and it is steadily setting the gold standard for bespoke trunks. 'Sotheby's as an institution truly aligns with what we stand for at Trunks Company as creators,' explains Paritosh. Our ideology is that trunks are synonymous with treasures, created with intricate artistry and deep emotion, meant to be passed down through generations. Sotheby's values that same sense of artistry, so organically, our dialogue evolved with Geoff Hess, Sotheby's Global Head of Watches, we spoke about the world of watch collectors, their passions and obsessions - and how they connect with their timepieces. One question stayed with me: If there were a perfect world for a true collector, what would it look like? That set the narrative and context for what would eventually become The Connoisseur's Trunk—complimenting the nuances of fine watches and watchmaking, crafted with intention for those who appreciate not just function, but heritage of arts & crafts, innovation and intentional design thinking." FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder The trunk took over 2800 hours of artisanal craftsmanship to produce. Much like in the creation of timepieces, painstaking attention to detail in both aesthetics and mechanism was necessary. 'Every element of the Trunk has been envisioned, designed, and engineered entirely in-house at our Jaipur Atelier. Our Signature Watch Sentinels—ingeniously engineered with a rack-and-pinion mechanism and enveloped in fine leather—crafted to cradle each timepiece with exacting precision, adjusting seamlessly to the unique fit of the collector's wrist. The Signature Hinges, infused with the geometry of our Hexagonal Insignia, they were not merely built to function, but to glide with the same elegance as the hands of a watch sweeping across a dial. This dedication to innovation is fueled by a deep, almost defiant desire—to reimagine and reinvent beyond what the world already offers, by perfecting each and every component by ourselves,' describes Paritosh. 'The result is a singular creation where nothing is incidental—the first one that carries my signature.' Lovers of luxury, craft and heritage are bound to keep on eye on The Connoisseur's Trunk. It is a stellar example of a thing a beauty that will stand the test of time. The Connoisseur's Trunk resembles a steamer trunk. It is made of fine leather with top notch brass ... More hardware, all designed by the Trunks Company.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The incredible ceramics collection with a very surprising owner
Among the students of Oxford University, Sylvanus Sydney Denton was a name to be conjured with. For many years, he made his money selling bicycles to students, while simultaneously developing a passion for modern and contemporary ceramic art. He amassed a collection of over 220 examples which he kept in a specially built kitchen extension. Denton died last year at the age of 90 and his collection has gone on view at Sotheby's this week prior to being sold at the end of the month. It is estimated to fetch as much as £1.7 million. It is not known exactly when Denton caught the ceramic bug, but it was probably not until his late forties. Having done his National Service in Kenya he found work back home in Oxford fixing bikes and refurbishing caravans before investing in a bike and toy shop. By 1982 he had four shops and was displaying his ingenuity buying vintage 19th century bikes on which he posed for the local press. Sotheby's believes his journey to ceramics began with Modern British art (Henry Moore, LS Lowry and Barbara Hepworth) before he discovered more affordable ceramics by the likes of 1930s refugees from Nazi Germany, Hans Coper and Lucy Rie whose pots were beginning to be seen as fine art and superior to craft. According to the sale catalogue, one of Denton's earliest acquisitions was a work by Coper which he bought in 1988 at the trailblazing Oxford Gallery, which presented contemporary ceramics with avant-garde modern art by the likes of Terry Frost and Patrick Heron. Two works he bought there in the 1990s were by Edmund de Waal, the ceramicist and author of The Hare with Amber Eyes, long before he was swept up by the upmarket Gagosian contemporary art gallery. Denton also shopped at auction and in 1997 bought a Black Cycladic Form Arrow pot by Coper at Bonhams for about £9,000. To give an idea how Coper's prices have moved, another Cycladic Form Arrow pot bought by a different collector in the 1970s for £250 sold in 2018 for £381,000. Denton's example at Sotheby's is a comparatively tame £100,000 (check). Sotheby's describes Denton's collection as 'one of the finest collections of studio and contemporary ceramics in private hands'. Apart from Coper there are several delicate works by Rie in the £25,000-50,000 range, and a standout work by Elizabeth Fritsch, who is currently enjoying a high-profile exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield museum near Leeds. Denton bought Fritsch's 20-inch, vividly coloured 'Spout' Pot (1998) for a double estimate record £10,160 at Bonhams in 2004, since when her record has risen to £51,400 last year. The estimate for Spout Pot has now doubled to £12,000-18,000. Another auction buy was a playfully twisted 'Monumental Body Pot', by Joanna Constantinidis which Denton bought for a record £1,600 at Bonhams in 2002, two years after she died. Posthumously, her prices have crept up to £15,000 for another Body Pot in 2021 so Denton's example, now estimated at £4,000-£6,000 should make more. His favoured method of acquisition, however, was to buy directly from the artists themselves; he was very popular with potters. One was Dame Magdalene Odundo, the British Nigerian who was the subject of an impressive exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield in 2019. Three burnished terracotta pots by her in the sale all date from 1990/91, before she was famous. There is no record of their cost, but by this point art dealers were charging £5,000, compared to £250 in the 1970s. Since then, her prices have been multiplying. At auction in around 2010 they were selling for £10,000-£15,000, but after The Hepworth Wakefield show was announced and she was signed up by leading contemporary art dealer Thomas Dane, wealthy collectors like fashion designer Jonathan Anderson (who has been announced as the new head designer at Dior) began buying her work and at auction they soared to a record £533,400 for one of her pots in 2023. The estimate on that work was £100,000, a record for Odundo at the time. Now Sotheby's has gone a step further with two from Denton's collection estimated at £150,000 each. This is, though, a collection of value extremes. While most of the value is concentrated in just a handful of artists, the majority of lots are estimated at under £3,000 each, some with no reserve minimum price. Other artists include Janet and David Leach, the wife and son of the influential potter Bernard Leach, and Richard Batterham, a student of Leach who died in 2021 the same year that a pair of his pots hit a record £20,000 at auction. So, for fledgling ceramic collectors it's time to get on your bikes and bid. How the art market is coping with sanctions on Russia The sanctions that were imposed on Russian businesses after Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 put an end to the regular art sales, worth millions of pounds, which London used to stage mainly for the benefit of Russian buyers. Russian art auctions in London went from being worth over £100 million a year to nothing. But last year, Sotheby's held a sale – unnoticed by the press – entitled Fabergé, Imperial & Revolutionary Works of Art, which included Russian paintings, and it exceeded its £2.9 million estimate to make £3.9 million. And this November they are planning a repeat. So what is going on? According to analysis conducted by advisory group Overstone Art Services, Russian art continues to appear, but in different sale categories – from Old Master and 19th century to Modern. Russian art can be bought and sold, so long as the client is not a Russian passport holder or on a sanctions list. This April, for instance, Sotheby's included two paintings by the 19th century artist Richard Zommer, who worked in Central Asia and would previously have been sold in a Russian art sale, in its sale of Orientalist art together with a variety of European artists. One of his paintings, a depiction of a chaikhana (or meeting place for travellers) on the Silk Road, was estimated at £20,000 and sold for a record £114,300. Trade sources believe the Russian art market is buoyant within Russia, better than property, and that Russian buyers are still active in the West but operate under a dual nationality, as Ukrainian, say, or Belarusian. In a statement released to the Telegraph last week, Sotheby's said: 'Today there is a significant diaspora of Russians who collect. As ever, we have worked to ensure that we are complying with sanctions and other restrictions placed on Russian clients and property of Russian origin. Where appropriate, we have also been offering Russian paintings in international sales across various selling locations. While the international auction market for Russian art remains significantly smaller than it was, we have seen areas of positive momentum.' The statement echoes Overstone's observation that while sale totals are down, average hammer prices for Russian artists have increased, indicating that 'growth is already beginning to occur. If this trend continues, it seems likely that the accessibility of the Russian paintings market will increase, thus allowing for the market to grow again when the situation is more settled.'
