Animal and Plant Motif Jewelry Appearing at Public Auctions

Thanks shah for taking all the trouble to fish out more interesting plant and animal motif jewelry from Christie's Geneva May 2009 auctions. The images you uploaded are fantastic and speak for the quality of the pieces highlighted !

As in the Christie's "Jewels : The London Sale" held on June 10, 2009 highlighted previously by AnitaP, signed pieces by reputed jewelry designers and jewelry houses, had also performed extremely well at the May 13, 2009 Christie's Jewels : The Geneva Sale, registering prices much above the upper estimate. This was clearly evident in the three lots 114, 117 and 120 highlighted by shah, all exceptional pieces designed by reputed jewelry house, Van Cleef & Arpels.

Lot 114, sold for US$65,968 which was 2.9 times the lower estimate of US$22,632 and 2.4 times the upper estimate of US$27,158. Lot 117 sold for US$111,918 which was 2.5 times the lower estimate of US$45,264 and 1.5 times the upper estimate of US$72,422. Lot 120 sold for US$133,756 which was 1.6 times the lower estimate of US$81,475 and 1.2 times the upper estimate of US$108,633. Apart from the unique design features that contributed to the escalation of price realized, the other contributory factor appears to be the use of diamonds and expensive colored gemstones like rubies and sapphires in the settings.

The other signed pieces that performed well at these auctions, are Lot 24 and Lot 107. Lot 24 was An Agate Cat Figure - by Faberge and Lot 107 - An Ebony, Sapphire And Diamond "Blackamoor" Brooch, by Codagnato. Antique pieces by Faberge always fetch premium prices at public auctions and Lot 24 was not an exception. The lot sold for US$34,121 which was 7.5 times the lower estimate of US$4,526 and 5.4 times the upper estimate of US$6,337. Hence in terms of escalation of estimated price Faberge's piece had out performed all other seven animal and plant motif lots at this auction.

Lot 107 - An Ebony, Sapphire and Diamond "Blackamoor" Brooch by Codagnato sold for US$18,198 which was twice the lower estimate of US$9,053 and 1.3 times the upper estimate of US$13,579. The brooch was designed by Attilio Codagnato, a world renowned jewelry artisan from Venice, Italy, the current owner and 4th-generation heir of Casa Codagnato founded in 1866, by Attilio's great-grandfather, Simeone Codognato. Attilio's work continues with the family tradition of exquisite jewelry making using the finest materials. The prized Codognato blackamoor designs are inspired by the paintings of 15th century Venetian artist Vittore Carpaccio and 18th century painter Pietro Longhi.

Codognato "Blackamoor" brooches are as popular and highly collectible as Nardi's blackamoor brooches, first designed and popularized by Nardi, the renowned Venetian jewelry designer based on the famous Venetian Icon, the Moretto depicting the head and shoulders of a turbaned Moor of Venice, with its gem-encrusted turban and tunic. Nardi's blackamoors became very popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

Lot 8 - An Emerald and Diamond Flower Bracelet - though not a signed piece, registered a reasonable impact at the auctions, assigned a moderately high pre-sale estimate of US$13,579 - $18,106 and selling slightly above the upper estimate for US$18,198. What are the possible reasons for its moderate showing despite the piece being unsigned ?

Factor 3 above - Lots set predominantly with diamonds - appears to be the main reason why the lot was assigned a higher estimate and as expected also sold slightly above the upper estimate, even though the piece was not a signed jewel. Besides this, the use of emerald-cut emeralds as the centerpiece of each flower and the design features of the flower bracelet, might also have had an impact on the final price achieved by Lot 8.

One of the Christie's auctions in which at least eleven Animal and Plant Motif Jewelry featured was the Christie's "New York Jewels" sale, held on June 11, 2009. It took quite some time for me to fish out these pieces of jewelry. An interesting observation about these lots, is that out of the 11 lots, seven lots were creations by Jean Schlumberger, Chief Jewelry Designer of Tiffany & Co.
The 11 Animal and Plant Motif Jewelry lots are :- 10, 11, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82, 84, 114, 137 and 178.
The 7 Lots by Jean Schlumberger are 76, 77, 78, 80, 82, 137 and 178.

Details of these lots are as follows :-

Lot 10 - A CULTURED PEARL, DIAMOND AND GOLD OWL BROOCH, BY RUSER - Pre-sale estimate of US$2,000 - $3,000. Price realized - US$3,250.

Lot 11 - A DIAMOND AND GOLD LION BROOCH, BY VAN CLEEF & ARPELS - Pre-sale estimate - US$3,000 - $5,000. Price realized - US$6,000.

Lot 76 - A LAPIS LAZULI, COLORED DIAMOND AND GOLD "BIRD ON A ROCK" PENDANT NECKLACE, BY JEAN SCHLUMBERGER, TIFFANY & CO. - Pre-ale estimate - US$7,000 - $10,000. Price realized - US$16,250.

Lot 77 - A DIAMOND, RUBY AND GOLD "GAZELLE" BROOCH, BY JEAN SCHLUMBERGER, TIFFANY & CO. - Pre-sale estimate US$6,000 - $8,000. Price realized - US$20,000.

Lot 78 - A MULTI-GEM, ENAMEL AND GOLD ELEPHANT BROOCH, BY JEAN SCHLUMBERGER, TIFFANY & CO. Pre-sale estimate US$25,000 - $35,000. Price realized - $43,750.

Lot 80 - A MULTI-COLORED SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND BUTTERFLY BRACELET, BY JEAN SCHLUMBERGER, TIFFANY & CO. Pre-sale estimate US$$15,000 - $20,000. Price realized - $37,500.

Lot 82 - A GOLD, MULTI-GEM AND DIAMOND CAMEL BROOCH, BY JEAN SCHLUMBERGER, TIFFANY & CO. Pre-sale estimate - US$4,000 - $6,000. Price realized - US$13,750

Lot 84 - AN ANTIQUE EMERALD, DIAMOND AND GOLD SERPENT NECKLACE - Pre-sale estimate - US$15,000 - $20,000. Price realized - US$72,100

Lot 114 - A GOLD AND EMERALD LION PENDANT NECKLACE - Pre-sale estimate - US$5,000 - $7,000. Price realized - US$8,125.

Lot 137 - AN IVORY, TOURMALINE AND GOLD FLOWER BROOCH, BY JEAN SCHLUMBERGER - Pre-sale estimate US$$15,000 - $20,000. Price realized - US$22,500.

Lot 178 - AN ENAMEL AND MULTI-GEM PARROT BROOCH, BY JEAN SCHLUMBERGER, TIFFANY & CO. Pre-sale estimate US$$5,000 - $7,000. Price realized - US$18,125.

Images of Lots 82, 84, 114, 137 and 178 of June 11, 2009 Christie's "New York Jewels" sale, are uploaded here because of space constraints above.