Each week our specialists publish a research paper about Art and its markets.
Antiques, painting, drawing, sculpture, furniture, fine art, porcelain, ceramic, work of art, carpet, tapestry, silver are among the subject studied.
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 Date, and estimate a Louis XV commode, your dream? Authenticite Partnership revealed to you today some of the "stuff" the expert use for recognizing and assessing the value of a classic furniture.
The model studied here will be auctioned on April 1.
Type
First task of the expert: dating! The type of furniture appraised is the first indicator of dating.
You should know that the commode is a piece of furniture that is not very old. In France, during the reign of the Sun King (1638-1715) it appears for the first time. The first two commodes dated with certainty are delivered in 1708-1709 by the renowned cabinetmaker André Charles Boulle for the King's Chamber at Trianon. » More

In a difficult economic environment in 2011, the auction houses in Paris have shown a remarkable dynamism either Anglo-Saxon auction houses , Sotheby's or Christie's, or auctioneers in Paris performing at Drouot, the proceeds from sales of works and objects of art has progressed significantly.
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Tintin
Published : February, 07 2012
Despite its ascending cotation, the tireless hero of 24 albums is always between two investigations, kidnapping or assassination attempts which he escapes continuously, at 26 rue du Labrador in Brussels.
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 On January the 14th, the auction house Philocale with the assistance of our cabinet d'expertises auctionned books, old masters and modern paintings, furniture and objets d'art. The majority of the lots was sold in their estimation, but there were some noticeable surprises.
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 Quality, rarity and high end. This trio sums up the new edition of the BRAFA - the antiques fair held in Brussels until January 29, in the vast warehouse of Tour & Taxis - and undermines the discourse surrounding pessimistic weighed down by the economic crisis.
Over the stands, we perceive great potential customers through a selection that returns a high-end image quality, that the president Bernard De Leye wants. The fair has become the meeting point of beginning of this year, the first major test to take the temperature of the market even if some prefer the Biennale des Antiquaires! On opening evening, the red dots gave the tone of sold pieces.
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The manufacture of Boch Frères Kéramis (Belgium, Province of Hainaut, La Louviere) is now well known through the work of the very dynamic Charles Catteau . The one of the sculptor Catherine Barjansky is much less even though her career is international: Rome, Berlin, New York, Vienna, Paris, Brussels ...
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 Saturday, January 14, the SVV Philocale, in collaboration with our team of experts in antique furniture and works of art, will auction in Olivet old books, old masters and modern paintings and drawings, jewelry, watches, silverware and furniture and works of art.
Let's have a look to some lots.
The amateurs of old books and fine bindings will find under lot 5 of the catalogue a book by d'Hozier, Les noms, surnoms qualitez armes et blasons des chevaliers et officiers de l'ordre du st Esprit. Published in Paris by Mr. Tavernier in 1634. This is a in 4 demi, the binding later with on the front " M. Caminade de Castres officier des ordres du Roi, maitres des requestes honoraire de l'hotel du Comte d'Artois. 1779. We find an ex-libris on title page. Cutter short at the top. It is decorated with an engraved half-title, three large and beautiful plates by A. Bosse and 58 pages (out of 59, one missing as in many copies) with the coat of arms of each knights and commanders; the sheet 3 is a title. Some margin short but a good book. Our book is a first and only edition; it is expected around 400/600 Euros.

In old paintings, note lot 28. There are two oil on panels’ paintings from the Flemish school of the eighteenth century, Le relais de poste, after to Philips Wouwerman and Le maréchal ferrant. These two paintings forming pendants measure 53x40 cm and are estimated 3500/5000 Euros for two.

Among the many bronzes and sculptures we chose the lot 93, Bust of Daphne. This is a bronze with brown patina, signed and dated 1919 Etienne Forestier. It rests on a wooden pedestal Stand and measures 43 cm high off base. Our bust is estimated 500 to 800 Euros.

In glass and Art Nouveau let us look the lot 140 which is a red glass globular vase with collar decorated with tan spotted. The shoulder is highlighted by two side handles stretched and applied hot. It is signed Daum Nancy and measures 27 cm high.

Lot 190 is a pair of ormolu bronze covered vases forming brule parfum on a square base with pearls. They have a rich ornamentation of love, garlands of vines, triglyphs, drops and interlacing. The handles are supported by rams' heads. They are signed "E. Carlier" and date from the mid-nineteenth century. The Parisian sculptor Emile-François Carlier has worked with the jeweler Emile Froment-Meurice. The pair is expected around 2000 to 3000 Euros.

Our favorite (main illustration) is a magnificent chest of drawers, lot 200, estimated 5000/8000 Euros. With an arched facade, veneer in kingwood decorated with square on the tip, it opens by five drawers on four rows separated by rails. It has a rich ornamentation of ormolu bronzes such as handles, keyholes with dolphins and a female face apron. It dates of the Regence period. It comes with a later marble top.
Over 230 lots will be auctioned with reasonable estimates and works for everyone from the seventeenth to the twentieth century and for all budgets, the lowest estimate being less than 50 Euros. Feel free to come to the exhibition and indulge yourself.
Cedric Henon, Continental Furniture Specialist
Informations :
Online catalogue : Catalogue
Viewing: Friday 13th January from 12h to 18h and Saturday 14 th January from 10h30 to 12h
Sale: Saturday 14th January 2012 from 14h30
Where: Domaine de la Fontaine -1379, rue de la Reine Blanche - 45160 Olivet
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 At the top of the wines of Champagne reigns the "special vintages" of the great Champagne houses. Some of them are symbol historic vineyard, such as the vintage "Winston Churchill" with POL ROGER, which marked the enduring friendship between the Great Man and Odette Pol Roger, started at a lunch around a memorable POL ROGER 1928 shortly after the release.
A part of history
On the same register, we will remember the special order of Tsar Alexander II of Russia that gave birth to the famous crystal bottle with flat cul. Specially designed on the order of Louis Roderer, it was designed to meet the desire of singularity of the monarch and his phobia of poisoning of his favorite beverage or concealment of explosives.
A low maturation
However, the success of these wines "haute couture" is not only in their historical basis or in the work it takes. The treatment of these unique wines from the vineyard to bottling them make some of the great wines of exceptional gifted superb aging potential. They are produced from the best vineyards, the best years only, to the sole discretion of the cellar master, with grapes harvested from a single year, in contrast champagnes "no year" produced by assembling vintage.
Moreover, aging of wines on the lees in the cellar for several years (sometimes more than 10 years for some) will give rise to highly complex aromas and a finesse of bubbles none.
Dom Perignon at the top
Thus it falls to date only 36 vintages of Dom Perignon from the first vintage produced in 1921, sold only in 1935. It is also regarded as the greatest of all time! An auction at Christie's New York in 2004 has sacralized forever this vintage of 1921 by the award of a set of 3 bottles to $ 24 675!
Top years on the market
Today we find on the market special vintages of superb year 2002. Kept generally 6-7 years in a cellar before marketing, the first bottles of this vintage were offered for sale last year from Dom Perignon. Roderer has meanwhile already run out of Cristal 2002 and now offers its 2004 vintage. The grapes of the 2003 vintage were not considered eligible by the winemaker to develop this exceptional vintage.
The best special vintages widely available right now are Bollinger "Grande Année" 2002 (+ / - € 90), Taittinger "Comtes de Champagne" 2000 (+ / - € 90), and Dom Perignon 2002 (+ / - € 120).
Nacim TILOUINE, fine wine specialist.
More:
- Vins et Millésimes, the top wine specialist, http://www.vinsetmillesimes.com/
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 While the news and the market have the Street Art on an ascending wave such as in Paris, London and New York, there is an place where urban art has simply not right to exist Singapore. Any artist caught in full realization of a fresco on the walls of the city is sure to get a ticket for a stay in prison, without any recourse. For the record, a Swiss artist, who rose to the challenge of painting on a train a year ago, was sentenced to imprisonment without the intervention of the Swiss authorities. The punishment is disproportionate, but we must remember that Singapore is a dictatorship and that everyone's life is under control.
A true artistic involvement
In this context, the exhibition "Off the Wall" which just closed its doors on November 26 in Singapore takes a very special meaning. In addition to the proposed meeting between 9 artists from France (including an American, Sonic) and eight Singaporean artists, this is a forum to give this art a force to express on canvas. Creativity is not so far restrained and works explode originality fueled by a strong cultural heritage - despite a global flood and a Western model reference in the development of the city. The ancestral grounds (carp up » More

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