Carlo Crocco launched Hublot, a Swiss luxury watchmaker, in 1980 and began designing unconventional watches soon after. The company’s signature piece is made of metal and rubber, two elements brought together for the first time in watchmaking history. Featured in the upcoming Jewelry and Watches Auction, offered by Morton Subastas, is a Big Bang King Power Diver Musée watch by Hublot. The timepiece has an automatic movement accented with a titanium rounded case.
Among the highlighted lots is a La Flamme watch from Patek Philippe. The company’s belief in quality craftsmanship has driven 181 years of watchmaking. Jewelry collectors can find several pieces in this auction, including a pair of stud earrings. They feature GIA-certified diamonds with SI1 clarity. This auction will present over 250 lots of Rolex, Omega Constellation, and Audemars Piguet watches, as well as collectibles. Those interested in these or any other pieces can register to bid on Bidsquare.
The Order of St. Olav is awarded by the King of Norway for outstanding service on behalf of the country. It is the highest civilian honor Norway confers. Available in the July Auction, presented by Eldred’s, is an Order of St. Olav medal from the late 19th or early 20th century. This piece is made of 18-karat gold and comes in its original case. Embellishments on the medal include five gold and crowned letter “O”s for King Oscar I, who was the first king to award this order.
The July Auction features watches, jewelry, and furniture, among other lot categories. Watch collectors can consider the Patek Philippe Calatrava wristwatch. This watch has a black crocodile band and a Patek Philippe gold buckle. Jewelry collectors will find a monkey brooch by New York jeweler David Webb. The monkey has ruby cabochon eyes and wears both a diamond necklace and two 18-karat gold earrings. Interested bidders can register on the auction house’s Eldred’s website.
In the upcoming 20th Century, Modern, & Contemporary Fine Art auction, pieces from Charles Demuth, Marcel Duchamp, Gene Davis, and Andy Warhol will be featured. Demuth was an American painter from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He primarily worked with watercolors, then turned to oils later in his career. He developed a style of painting called Precisionism, which is considered among the first Modern art movements in the United States. In this Stair auction is Demuth’s Song and Dance watercolor and pencil on paper. The 1918 piece shows a man and a woman dancing and is signed and dated in one corner.
Included in the auction is a screenprint from Marcel Duchamp. This piece of work is a 1968 version of his 1936 Coeurs Volants, which became the cover of a poem collection by Emmett Williams. This screenprint is an example of the artist’s last graphic work. Also found are three screenprints by Gene Davis, photographs from Andy Warhol, and a collection of art books from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Visit Bidsquare to view the entire catalog and register to bid.
From a John Lennon gift box to an Elvis Presley hand-painted poster, the upcoming Bonhams Music Memorabilia Online Sale presents a range of items from the music industry. A signed guitar from Keith Richards is among the featured lots. According to the auction house, this is believed to be the second Richards-owned guitar to appear at auction.
Also in the sale is a leather jacket once owned by Kurt Cobain. As the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Nirvana, Cobain rose to fame in his twenties. Between 1991 and 1994, Nirvana was one of the biggest bands in the world with hits such as “Come As You Are.” The available jacket was owned and worn by Cobain. It is believed that the singer traded this particular leather jacket for a custom printed ‘Pearl Jovi’ t-shirt in a bar. A gifted sterling silver box from John Lennon and Yoko Ono is offered as well. Lennon’s last studio album, collaborating with Ono, was released on November 17, 1980. As a celebration of the release, the pair made 12 of these sterling boxes as gifts friends. View any of these items and register to bid at Bonhams.
A model, actress, and political activist, Tina Modotti was introduced to the world of photography by her mentor and partner Edward Weston. After her husband’s death, Modotti moved to Mexico City with Weston in 1923. There, she managed Weston’s studio in exchange for photography lessons. Although Weston influenced Modotti, she developed a distinctive photographic viewpoint as she devised architectural studies, still lifes, portraits, and nude compositions. The upcoming auction, presented by Sotheby’s, highlights a photograph titled Interior of Church Tower at Tepotzotlán, Mexico by Modotti. This platinum print of a church interior was taken during her visit to the Mexican town of Tepotzotlán in 1924.
The sale, which offers photographs from the collection of Ginny Williams, also features a gelatin silver print titled Dunes, Oceano by Weston. He began his signature studies of the massive dunes at Oceano in 1934. However, it was not until 1936 that he won a Guggenheim Fellowship for his studies, making Weston the first photographer to receive the grant. Rounding out the sale are works from 20th-century artists such as Ruth Bernhard, Irving Penn, Ansel Adams, and David Hockney. Interested collectors can explore the full listings and register to bid online on Sotheby’s.
Described by The Art Story as “part jazz-age femme fatale, libertine, and social climber, and part canny self-promoter, self-styled experimental artist,” Tamara de Lempicka spent a lifetime challenging social norms. She was a Polish painter traditionally associated with the Art Deco movement, a style she combined with Italian Renaissance themes. Lempicka’s painting titled La Couronne de Fleurs II will be available in the upcoming Dialogues: Modern and Contemporary Art auction. Offered by Christie’s, this work blends classical motifs with the Modernism of the 1930s. The artist’s model wears a wreath of myrtle leaves and a translucent draped veil on her head. A bronze sculpture from Louise Bourgeois, another leading woman artist of the sale, is also available.
The catalog for this sale surveys many art movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, from a Surrealistic religious painting by Marc Chagall to contemporary portraits by Amoako Boafo. Leading the listings is an oil painting by Jack Butler Yeats, titled California. The piece shows a young woman from Ireland arriving on the shores of California. She is greeted by a crowd of men who personify Yeats’ view of an exotic land. For more information on this or any other lot, visit Christie’s and register to bid
The upcoming Clars auction features a watercolor piece titled Victory: The Spanish War (1947). With over a million lives lost and the eventual victory of a fascist ruler, the Spanish Civil War was one of the most devastating conflicts in Spanish history. This watercolor and Indian ink painting by Surrealist Salvador Dalí depicts the consequences of the war. Dalí was recognized for connecting his paintings with contemporary political events. In this work, he distorted the proportions of the central figure to suggest the suppression of the war’s opposition. The painting is accompanied by a letter of authenticity.
Alongside several pre-Columbian prints, sculptures, and pieces of furniture, a selection of luxury watches and fine jewelry will be available. Highlighted among these is the “Reine de Naples” vintage wristwatch. Made by Breguet, it features a moon phase aperture. This piece was inspired by an early bracelet for the Queen of Naples. Visit Clars to browse the entire catalog or to register to bid.
In 1912, U.S. Navy gunner George D. Stillson wrote a letter to the Bureau of Construction and Repair complaining about the Navy’s equipment and procedures. The Bureau assigned Stillson the task of analyzing the existing methods as a result. In 1915, Stillson submitted his guidelines in his “Report on Deep Diving Tests.” It contained drawings and descriptions of his recommended U.S. Navy diving helmet, the Mark V. A year later, the U.S. Navy commissioned the A.J. Morse Company to build the first Mark V helmet, which remained in production until 1984. The upcoming auction, presented by Nation’s Attic Inc., offers a 1916 Mark V diving helmet from Morse. The helmet has an identification plate stating the manufacturer, model, serial number, and manufacture date.
In 2006, the Mark V Monument Project Committee commissioned a bronze military diver monument known as ‘Jake.’ To raise the necessary funding, the committee created 300 monument statuettes from 2007 to 2012 and sold them to collectors worldwide. One of these statuettes is highlighted in the auction. The available statuette is the only known piece that was commissioned in stainless steel. A selection of maritime artifacts, posters, books, and diving equipment will be available as well. Interested collectors can view these lots and register to bid on Invaluable.
The upcoming Sotheby’s Music, Continental Books, & Medieval Manuscripts auction opens with 45 lots of music-related works on paper, including several letters between Johannes Brahms and Ernst Ruderoff. The lot includes an autographed music manuscript that proposes a solution to a problematic passage in Mozart’s “Flute Concerto.” Also in the sale are unpublished letters and notes by Beethoven, Chopin, and Mendelssohn, as well as music manuscripts by Gounod, Wagner, and Massenet.
Beyond music, the auction house will feature a first edition copy of Sir Isaac Newton’s “most important treatise,” Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. This is Newton’s first major publication, in which he describes his solution to the problems of planetary motion as well as the law of universal gravitation. Additional scientific works up for bid include a letter handwritten by Albert Einstein to Gabor Straus in which he discusses the representation of curved spacetime. Other lots in the sale include a book of 19th-century prints by Achille Devéria, the first edition score of the St. Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach, an autographed letter by Frederick the Great to his sister Anna Amalie of Prussia, and more. View any of these items and register to bid at Sotheby’s.
The late Italian painter Nicola Simbari was celebrated for his distinctive approach to Neo-Impressionism. Several of his works explore Mediterranean scenes while experimenting with pastel colors. Among the featured lots in the upcoming Elegant Home auction, presented by Bonhams, is Simbari’s oil on canvas work titled Windy Morning. The piece shows a view of the beach with two girls walking toward the ocean. Also highlighted in this event is a Heriz carpet. This Persian piece comes from Heris, a town in northwest Iran best known for its minimalistic medallions.
Among the silverware pieces available in this auction is a set of 16 Canadian sterling silver cups by Henry Birks & Sons. Established in 1879, Henry Birks first started the company as a small jewelry shop in Montreal. After a few decades, the company took over a silverware and medals manufacturer. That move helped establish Henry Birks & Sons as a leading silver producer of the 20th century. A sculpture by Charles Hafner of a mother walking with her two children is offered as well. View other pieces and register to bid on Bonhams.
