* Skinner Marlborough/October 10, Richard Wright Collection: Important Dolls
The top lot was a Roullet & Decamps magician automaton that sold for $80,580 (estimate $25,000-35,000). Other top sales were a set of four Alice in Wonderland character dolls that sold for $40,290 (estimate $30,000-40,000), and a Queen Anne lady doll and case that sold for $50,363 (estimate $50,000-70,000).
* Sotheby’s Milan/October 12-15, Salvatore and Francesco Romano Sale
The sale total was €10.5 million. The top lot was a 6th century Roman marble column that sold for €276,750 (estimate €100,000-150,000). Other top lots were a marble portrait bust of a bishop saint by the workshop of Giovanni Battista Foggini that sold for €276,750 (estimate €80,000-120,000), and a late 17th century terracotta sculpture of a female figure that sold for €185,750 (estimate €25,000-35,000).
* Christie’s London/October 12, Galerie Popoff Sale of Russian Art
The sale total was £5.5 million. The top lot was Karl Briullov’s Portrait of Giovanina Pacini that sold for £289,250 (estimate £100,000-120,000). Other top lots were an 18th century Imperial porcelain covered cup and saucer th
at sold for £157,250 (estimate £150,000-170,000), a dish from the service of the Order of St. George by the Gardner Porcelain Factory that sold for £99,650 (estimate £20,000-30,000), and a painting, The Popoffs’ doll, teddy bear and toy elephant, by Zinaida Serebriakova that sold for £127,250 (estimate £25,000-35,000).
* Christie’s New York/October 13, Musical Instruments
The sale total was $2.2 million, with 297 of 370 lots sold. The top lot was an early 18th-century tenor viola de gamba by Pieter Rombouts that sold for $212,500 (estimate $10,000-15,000)—an auction record for the maker and the form. Other top lots were a 1964 classical guitar by Robert Bouchet that sold for $122,500 (estimate $40,000-50,000), and a bassetto viola da gamba ascribed to Paul Alletsee that sold for $62,500 (estimate $6,000-8,000).
* Bonhams New Bond Street/October 14, South African Sale
The sale total was £2.5 million. The top lot was Irma Stern’s Ripe Fields that sold for £252,000 (estimate £150,000-200,000). Other top lots were Jacob Hendrik Pierneef’s Lowveld, Mica, Eastern Transvaal that sold for £192,000 (estimate £100,000-150,000), and Maria Magdalena Laubser’s A Pondo woman that sold for £168,000 (estimate £140,000-180,000).
* Christie’s New York/October 14, William F. Reilly Collection
The sale total was $6.5 million, with 203 of 234 lots sold. The top lot was a 1st century BC Greek marble statue of Aphrodite that sold for $1.4 million (estimate $200,000-300,000). Other top sales were a Roman marble portrait head of young Marcus Aurelius that sold for $818,500 (estimate $150,000-250,000), an 18th-century Irish marble and scaliola chimneypiece that sold for $182,500 (estimate $100,000-150,000), and a circa 1800 specimen marble side table that sold for $146,500 (estimate $70,000-100,000).
* Sotheby’s New York/October 16, English Furniture
The sale total was over $4.1 million. The top lot was a tie between a set of eighteen George III mahogany dining chairs (estimate $120,000-180,000) and a George III mahogany eight-pedestal dining table (estimate $150,000-250,000) that each sold for $446,500. Other top sales were a Russian imperial tapestry given to Louis XIV that sold for $350,500 (estimate $120,000-150,000), a pair of George IV mahogany armchairs from Hamilton Palace that sold for $254,50
0 (estimate $80,000-120,000), and pair of George III needlework-upholstered library armchairs attributed to Paul Sanders that sold for $134,500 (estimate $70,000-100,000).
* Sotheby’s London/October 16, 20th Century Italian Art
The sale total was just under £7.4 million, with 30 of 33 lots sold. The top lot was Giorgio de Chirico’s Interno con Frutta that sold for £881,250 (estimate £900,000-1,200,000). Other top lots were Marino Marini’s Piccolo Cavaliere that sold for £758,050 (estimate £600,000-800,000), and Jannis Kounellis’s The Black Rose that sold for £409,250 (estimate £200,000-300,000).
* Sotheby’s London/October 16, Contemporary Art
The sale total was £12.7 million, with 159 of 217 lots sold. The top lot was Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Fuego Flores that sold for £959,650 (estimate £800,000-1,200,000). Other top lots were an untitled sculpture by Anish Kapoor that sold for £825,250 (estimate £600,000-800,000), and Yves Klein’s IKB294 that sold for £657,250 (estimate £300,000-400,000).
* Christie’s London/October 16, Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale
The sale total was £11.2 million. The top lot was Martin Kippenberger’s Paris Bar that sold for £2.2 million (estimate £800,000-1,200,000). Other top lots were Peter Doig’s Pine House (Rooms for Rent) that sold for £1.3 million (estimate £1.5-2 million), and Kippenberger’s Kellner Des…(Waiter Of…) that sold for £1.1 million (estimate £500,000-700,000).
Images from above: Dish from the Order of St. George made by the Gardner Porcelain Factory, Moscow, 1777-1778. Courtesy of Christie’s; Armchairs from Hamilton Palace, c. 1827. Courtesy of Sotheby’s; Paris Bar by Martin Kippenberger, 1991. Courtesy of Christie’s.
