For me, nothing captured the spirit of new collecting more this year than our sale of the Penguin Playground ring. Meticulously crafted from agate, aquamarine, diamond and sapphire, the ring quite literally looked like a miniature playground for penguins and sold for a staggering $17, 080 (IBP)! The playfulness and complexity of this piece also found its way in to other categories and auctions and here we highlight fourteen results from 2015 that captured our imagination.
From complex antique musical clocks to luxurious international jewels, this year at auction witnessed the continued rise of The New Collector, as new collecting passions jostle for attention amongst categories hundreds of years old.
John Albrecht
Managing Director & National Head of Collections
An Important Emerald & Diamond Suite
Sold for $366,000 IBP
Jacob Marrel, A Vanitas Still Life with Parrot
Sold for $48,800 IBP
A Museum Quality Working Scale Model of a Beam Engine, English, c. 1940s
Sold for $46,360 IBP
A Fine Regency Musical Automata Clock By James Smith, c. 1790
Sold for $41,480
A Rare Chinese Imperial Semi-Formal Chestnut Brown Nine-Dragon (Longpao) Robe (Jifu)
Sold for $33,000 IBP
A 19th c. Automaton, Pierrot Serenading the Moon, Gustav Vichy, Paris, France, c. 1890
Sold for $19,520 IBP
Damien Hirst, Souls I, II, III and IV
Sold for $18,300 IBP
Antique Patek and Czapek Gold Pocket Watch
Sold for $18,300 IBP
A Fender Stratocaster 1965, Serial no. L99887
Sold for $17,080 IBP
Contemporary Handcrafted Penguin Playground Ring
Sold for $17,080 IBP
Very Rare set of Flavelle Brothers Australian Birds Royal Worcester Porcelain coffee cups & saucers, by Reginald Austin
Sold for $15,860 IBP
Birkin Handbag by Hermes
Sold for $15,860 IBP
Very Fine Shibayama Gold Lacquer Mokkogata Tsuba, Meiji Period
Sold for $14,640 IBP
Rare Peugeot S57 Scooter, France c. 1950s
Sold for $13,420 IBP