Figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Tibet, 13th-14th century. Bronze. H 45 cm. CHF 400 000 / 600 000. Photo Koller Auctions

ZURICH.- On 7 and 8 May Koller will offer at auction a number of top quality Buddhist figures from long-standing private collections and numerous works of art from Japan, India, South East Asia and the Islamic regions. The top lot is a large Tibetan figure of Buddha Shakyamuni with an estimated value of CHF 400 000 / 600 000. 

The Asian Art auction at Koller in November 2012 attracted numerous international bidders, with a bronze figure of a Tibetan tutelary goddess reaching CHF 3.24 million. Now, on 7/8 May 2013 Koller can again offer several top works of art from Tibet and China. One especially outstanding work is a 45 cm-high bronze figure of the Buddha Shakyamuni from the 13/14th century. This work has been in a Swiss private collection since 1990 and is in very good condition. It will be offered with an estimate of CHF 400 000 / 600 000. The figure shows the Buddha in the diamond position seated on a lotus throne, deep in contemplation shortly before the moment of enlightenment. The age, size and beauty of this piece render it especially rare and valuable (lot 105). 

Figure of a four-armed deity, probably Tara or Prajnaparamita, Nepalese school, Tibet, 14th-15th century. Gilt copper with stone inlays. H 30 cm. CHF 180 000 / 250 000. Photo Koller Auctions

Amongst the key highlights at this auction is a gilt copper figure of a four-armed goddess. It presumably represents Tara or Prajnaparamita in a loose Lalitasana pose, decorated with numerous brightly coloured stones and made in the 14/15th century. The attachment, which is visible on the back of the head and which had been removed from the plinth, indicates that the figure was once part of a Tashi Gomang from the Densatil monastery. The monastery, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, was considered one of the most splendid in Tibet. The goddess, which was consigned from a German private collection, will be offered with an estimate of CHF 180 000 / 250 000 (lot 112). 

Figure of Bodhisattva Manjushri, tibeto-chinese, Yongle mark and period. Gilt bronze. H 26 cm. CHF 100 000 / 150 000. Photo Koller Auctions

Alongside further Buddhist figures such as a Bodhisattva Manjushri (lot 125), in the May auction there will be a very rare “money tree” from China. This comes from the Eastern Han Dynasty and is made in bronze and ceramic. The tree is sonamed because of the treasure of coins depicted in the branches: these were not necessarily for the benefit of the deceased in the aftour erlife, but were intended as a sacrifice to the gods. The tree comes from a German private collection and will be offered with an estimate of CHF 80 000 / 120 000 (lot 172). 

Money Tree, China, Sichuan, Eastern Han dynasty. Bronze and ceramics. H 135 cm. CHF 80 000 / 120 000. Photo Koller Auctions

Another Buddhist figures: 

Damcan, tibeto-chinese, 18th century. Gilt bronze. H 30 cm. CHF 60 000 / 80 000. Photo Koller Auctions

Figure of Jnana Dakini, Tibet, 16th/17th century. Gilt copper. H 22 cm. CHF 70 000 / 90 000. Photo Koller Auctions

Figure of Vajrabhairava Yamantaka, tibeto-chinese, 18th century. Gilt bronze. H 25 cm. CHF 25 000 / 35 000. Photo Koller Auctions

Figure of Eleven-headed Avalokiteshvara, tibeto-chinese, 18th century. Gilt bronze. H 41 cm. CHF 12 000 / 18 000. Photo Koller Auctions

Great Blue Sapphire of Louis XIV.

During the 17th cent, a Roman prince named Ruspoli sold it to a salesman, who sold it to King Louis XIV before 1691. The Ruspoli jewel escaped confiscation & theft during Revolution, probably saved by its peculiar form. In 1796, the revolutionary government allowed the Museum to choose a few gems for educational purposes. Today the Ruspoli Sapphire can be viewed in the Muséum National D’Histoire Naturelle

A large Iznik polychrome pottery dish, Turkey, circa 1575 - Sotheby's

of shallow rounded form, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue, viridian green and relief red, outlined in black, featuring a vase emanating sprays of tulips and hyacinths, with an arabesque motif in the centre, the rim with a series of lobed archways, the reverse with paired tulips; 36cm. diam. Estimation: 60,000 - 80,000 GBP

NOTE: The present dish stands out for its deep and richly coloured design comprising tulip stems and hyacinths emanating from a vase and featuring chinoiserie motifs, within a petalled border. The production of Iznik pottery underwent an important revolution in technique and style during the mid-sixteenth century. Primarily due to the introduction of a new colour known as ‘Armenian bole’, a fresh tonal breadth was infused into the polychrome palette and catalysed the move towards the inclusion of predominantly floral and vegetal designs (Venetia Porter, Islamic Tiles, London 1995, pp.103-4). Armenian bole is a rich sealing-wax red pigment produced by combining silica and iron oxide. Itsemployment on Iznik ware spawned a “decorative style … in which tulips, hyacinths, carnations, roses and other flowers were depicted with great realism, along with other Chinese-inspired motifs, such as the lotus flower, chrysanthemum and peony” (Maria D’Orey Capicho Queiroz Riberio, Iznik Pottery and Tiles in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, Lisbon 2009, p.51).

This dish can be compared to two dishes in the Château d’Écouen, France, notably one with a combination of similar floral and chinoiserie motifs, inv. no. E.CI.8422 (DS 2437), dated to around 1580, and another with a comparable border, inv. no. E.CI.8298 (DS 2362) dated around 1590 (illustrated in Paris 2005, p.185, fig. 238 and p.252, fig. 381).

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World. London | 24 avr. 2013 www.sothebys.com

An Iznik polychrome pottery dish, Turkey, circa 1560 - Sotheby's

With a bracketed rim, decorated in underglaze red, cobalt blue, grey-green and black outline with a near-symmetrical design of chrysanthemum stems intermixed with tulips and hyacinth all issuing from a leafy tuft with a beribboned base, the rim with paired tulips, alternately in red and blue, on a ground outlined with a radiating petal design, the reverse with rosettes and three-petalled motifs alternately, the base applied with a circular label inscribed “JEAN LAGONICO 33”, a rectangular label with a red stripe inscribed “M”, a small scalloped label inscribed “1615”, and a brown label inscribed “2”; 30.2cm. diam. Estimation: 50,000 - 70,000 GBP

PROVENANCE: The Lagonico Collection, sold Sothebys Monaco, 7th July 1991, lot 47.

LITTERATURE: Carswell 1998, p.77, no.51.

NOTE: This is an important example of an early polychrome dish. It dates from the earliest years of the use of red at Iznik, a development which is thought to have occurred during the last years of the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent (r.1520-66). At its inception, the red was applied in a thinner manner and hence took on a more orange-red appearance after firing. This occurs on a mosque lamp in the Victoria and Albert Museum which, since it was made for the mosque built for Suleyman, the Suleymaniye, has been assumed to date to just before 1557, the date of the mosque’s inauguration (Atasoy and Raby 1989, p.224 and no.377). By comparison, this dish can be dated to the same period or very slightly later and still within this brief and somewhat experimental stage. Other elements which confirm the transitional nature of the decoration of the dish are its grey-green foliage, a colour more familiar in the so-called ‘Damascus’ wares of the mid-sixteenth century. Furthermore, the design itself is also from an earlier period, imbued with a spirit that John Carswell termed “the fantasy of the 1550s” (Carswell 1998, p.78). Along with this dish, he mentions two further dishes which together form a group characteristic of this moment in the evolution of Iznik pottery. Of these two other dishes, one is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other is in the Musée de la Renaissance, Ecouen (ibid., p.76).

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World. London | 24 avr. 2013 www.sothebys.com

An Iznik polychrome pottery tankard, Turkey, circa 1575-80 - Sotheby's

of tall cylindrical form with applied with a square-form handle with projecting corners and elongated mounts, decorated in underglaze red, cobalt blue, green and black outline with a bold design of tulips rising on fields of fish-scale pattern, a frieze of interlocking keyfret design around the rim and base, the handle with cursive scrolls and hatching; 20.8cm. height. Estimation: 50,000 - 70,000 GBP

PROVENANCE: Andrew Lynn, Esq., sold in these rooms, 9 July 1974, lot 3
Sold Sotheby’s, New York, 21 May 1981, lot 212
Anonymous sale in these rooms, 13 April 1988, lot 343

NOTE: The tankard form, or hanap, was derived from a European form typically constructed in leather or carved from wood.The decoration may also have been derived from another medium since it has been noted elsewhere that the overall ‘textural covering’ of the surface is highly reminiscent of the engraved or repousse decoration of metalwork (Atasoy and Raby 1989, p.342). The fish-scale or imbricated ground had appeared on Iznik pottery in the 1520s and in its earliest form includes a section of white at the base of each scale. By the reign of Murad III (1574-95), the white area was trailed along the outer edge of the scale and a decorative scheme of fields of green and blue scales separated variously by tulips, cloud scrolls and saz leaves produced some of the most striking and successful Iznik objects of the period now held in the collections of the British Museum, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Musée National de la Céramique, Sèvres (ibid., p.260 and nos.733, 743, 745, 732 and Denny 2004, p.63, respectively).

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World. London | 24 avr. 2013 www.sothebys.com

An Iznik Polychrome pottery Dish, Turkey, 16th Century - Sotheby's

of shallow rounded form, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue, green and relief red with thin black outlines, featuring tulips and carnations emanating from a leafy tuft, the rim with a breaking wave motif, the reverse with flowerheads and leafy motifs; 30.4cm. diam. Estimation: 20,000 - 30,000 GBP

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World. London | 24 avr. 2013 www.sothebys.com

Art Deco Natural Fancy Blue Diamond, Diamond, Platinum Ring, J.E. Caldwell. Photo Heritage Auctions

The ring features a natural fancy blue marquise-shaped diamond measuring 17.49 x 7.54 x 4.26 mm and weighing 3.50 carats, enhanced by baguette-cut diamonds weighing a total of approximately 0.20 carat, accented by full and single-cut diamonds weighing a total of approximately 0.10 carat, set in platinum, marked JEC & Co. for J.E. Caldwell and Company, reference number L2534. A GIA Laboratory report # 5151093895 dated November 12, 2012 stating Natural Fancy Blue color, VS1 clarity, as well as a working diagram indicating that the clarity may be potentially Internally Flawless, accompany the marquise diamond. Gross weight 3.75 grams. Size: 5 (sizeable). Estimate: $1,000,000 - $1,500,000.

Property of a New England Estate

J.E. Caldwell & Co.:Based in Philadelphia, this American jewelry firm was founded in 1839 by James Emmott Caldwell, a trained silversmith. The firm sold silver objects, jewelry and giftware. After changes in ownership, the name officially became J.E. Caldwell and Co. in 1868. Their exquisite hand fabricated jewels are among some of the finest examples of American Art Nouveau craftsmanship in evidence. Throughout the 1920’s, they produced refined pieces of Art Deco jewelry for which the firm is still recognized. The business continues to service the Philadelphia area today.. Jeweler, Silvermaker

Heritage Auctions. 2013 April 29. Jewelry Signature Auction - New York - http://jewelry.ha.com

Fancy Deep Yellow Diamond, Diamond, Platinum, Gold Ring, Piranesi. Photo Heritage Auctions

The ring features a pear-shaped diamond measuring 15.28 x 10.38 x 6.14 mm and weighing 7.02 carats, enhanced by kite-shaped diamonds weighing a total of 0.86 carat, set in platinum and 18k gold, marked Piranesi. A GIA Laboratory report # 1122904603 dated December 20, 2010 stating Natural, Fancy Deep Yellow color, VS2 clarity, accompanies the center stone. Gross weight 10.58 grams. Size: 6-1/2 (sizeable) Estimate: $130,000 - $150,000.

Heritage Auctions. 2013 April 29. Jewelry Signature Auction - New York - http://jewelry.ha.com

Diceros bicornis (Linnaeus 1758), Mounted head of black rhinoceros, East Africa. Photo: Courtesy of Nigel Monaghan: Keeper National Museum of Ireland – Natural History

DUBLIN (AFP).- Masked men stole eight rhino horns from the National Museum of Ireland with a street value of about 500,000 euros ($650,000), officials said Thursday.

The gang of three broke into the museum archives building in Dublin late on Wednesday, tied up a security guard and loaded four rhino heads -- each with two horns --- onto a van, police said.

The guard, who was unhurt, eventually freed himself and raised the alarm, but not before the thieves had made off with their haul.

Rhino horns have become increasingly valuable as a component of traditional medicines in Asia, where they are falsely believed to have powerful healing properties.

Poachers feeding the lucrative market have decimated rhino populations across Africa -- in South Africa, more than 200 of the animals have been killed so far this year.

A spokeswoman for the Irish museum said fears about a possible theft had prompted curators to move the horns from public display last year into storage.

"Their price is based on weight and the total amount stolen could have a street value in the region of 500,000 euros," she said.

Police said they had begun an investigation into the theft, adding: "The crime scene is sealed off for forensic technical examination."© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

Ceratotherium simum (Burchell 1817), Mounted head of white rhinoceros, East of Yalu River, Moru District, Mongalla, Upper (White) Nile, Sudan. Gift: Maj. C.W. Spinks. Shot 1914. Rowland Ward mount. Photo: Courtesy of Nigel Monaghan: Keeper National Museum of Ireland – Natural History

DUBLIN.- Four rhinoceros heads were stolen from premises of the National Museum of Ireland late in the evening of Wednesday 17 April 2013. A security guard was overpowered by a number of raiders and tied up but has not been injured. He managed to free himself and notify Gardaí who are investigating the robbery. Photo: Courtesy of Nigel Monaghan: Keeper National Museum of Ireland; Natural History.

Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), The Sacrifice of Polyxena, 1647. Oil on canvas, 179x131 cm.

PARIS (AFP).- A 400-year-old masterpiece that only came to light during a renovation at Paris's Ritz hotel has been sold for 1.44 million euros ($1.88 million) to New York's Metropolitan Museum, auction house Christie's said on Thursday.

The painting by 17th century artist Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) had adorned one of the suites in which fashion designer Coco Chanel lived for more than 30 years.

Its presence came as news to hotel management when it was discovered in July 2012 by Christie's expert Olivier Lefeuvre a month before the Ritz closed its doors for a two-year renovation.

"The Met does not yet have a work by Charles Le Brun (so) this completes its collection of 17th century paintings," said Lefeuvre, adding that the work was sold at auction on Monday.

The painting is expected to go on display in New York from the end of May.

Proceeds from the sale will go to the foundation established by Ritz owner Mohamed Al Fayed in memory of his son Dodi, the late boyfriend of Princess Diana.

The oil painting has been identified by experts as an early work by Le Brun that would have been completed before he became the official painter at the court of Louis XIV, and established his reputation as one of the dominant figures of 17th century French art.

The building that houses the hotel on the swanky Place Vendome dates from 1705 and was initially a family home for French nobles.

It became the Ritz after it was bought by Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz in 1898.

The painting depicts the killing of Trojan princess Polyxena after she was implicated in the death of Achilles.

In the absence of any historical records, Christie's have named the painting "The Sacrifice of Polyxena."© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

The wool and silk tapestry, depicting the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, had been stolen in December 1979.

WASHINGTON (AFP).- A 16th century religious tapestry stolen from a Spanish cathedral in 1979 and sold at auction three years ago for $369,000 was returned to Spain on Wednesday by the US customs service.

In a statement, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said special agents from its Homeland Security Investigations unit seized the artifact last November from the unidentified Texas business that had bought it.

The wool and silk tapestry, depicting the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, had been stolen in December 1979 from the Cathedral of Saint Vincent, Martyr of Roda de Isabena in the Aragon region of northeastern Spain.

After it turned up in a Brussels art fair catalog in 2010, Belgian, Spanish and US investigators established it had been acquired in 2008 by a gallery owner in Belgium along with two partners from Milan and Paris.

"Today's repatriation is an example of what can be accomplished when law enforcement partners from around the world work together in the effort to ensure that stolen and looted priceless cultural objects like this are returned to their rightful owner," said ICE director John Morton.

Madrid's ambassador to Washington Ramon Gil-Casares accepted the tapestry on behalf of his nation at a ceremony at his residence.

Since 2007 more than 6,600 artifacts -- including paintings from Europe, manuscripts from Peru and cultural artifacts from China, Cambodia and Iraq -- have been returned by the United States to 24 countries, according to the ICE. © 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

L’Office du Tourisme de Vienne allie classicisme et art contemporain avec une exposition audacieuse.

Pour la 4^ème année consécutive, Vienne propose en plein cœur de Paris un événement mettant en avant une activité culturelle de la ville de Vienne. Après les « petits chanteurs de Vienne » en 2012, l’Office du Tourisme de Vienne propose cette année une exposition du 16 au 25 avril 2013, sous la verrière de la gare Saint-Lazare.

Angelika Krinzinger artiste autodidacte autrichienne de renom qui évolue dans le domaine artistique depuis sa plus tendre enfance, expose une œuvre inspirée par son exposition Mother’s Milk qui s’est tenue à Vienne en fin d’année dernière.

Cette photographe, passionnée par l’image, obtient un master en Photographie et s’installe à Vienne en 1991. Cette figure culturelle de la ville, fille de galeriste, expose ses œuvres, à travers toute l’Europe, mais aussi à New York. Angelika a notamment participéà la FIAC à Paris en 2001. Connue pour ses photographies sensuelles et charnelles Angelika explore les corps et la nature humaines.

A travers son exposition, Angelika interpelle les passants et les invite à se plonger dans une série de photographies où le corps est sublimé. Fascinée par le Kunsthistorisches Museum (Musée de l’Histoire de l’Art de Vienne), elle souhaite faire partager aux parisiens l’atmosphère de ce musée en mêlant à la fois classicisme et modernité.

« Cette exposition témoigne de l’impact de l’art baroque de nos jours, » déclare Angelika Krinzinger. «A travers cette œuvre, je souhaite attirer l’attention des voyageurs sur la modernité des œuvres d’autrefois. »

« Vienne n’est pas seulement un mélange entre la tradition et la modernité. C’est une ville agréable, pleine de douceur et de sensualité. Et l’art baroque, que transpose de nos jours, Angelika Krinzinger, artiste contemporaine par excellence, est le parallèle parfait de ce que la ville offre à ses habitants et ses touristes, » déclare Norbert Kettner, directeur de l’Office du Tourisme de Vienne.

En exposant dans l’un des endroits les plus fréquentés de Paris, Angelika Krinzinger et l’Office du Tourisme de Vienne souhaitent mettre la culture à la portée de tous.

Deux guides conférenciers seront à dispositions des passants pour décrypter cette œuvre et expliquer la démarche de l’artiste. 

Sapphire, Diamond, Platinum Ring, Monture Harry Winston. Photo Heritage Auctions

The ring centers a cushion-shaped sapphire measuring 12.86 x 12.54 x 10.65 mm and weighing 16.11 carats, enhanced by marquise-shaped diamonds weighing a total of 0.83 carat, accented by pear-shaped diamonds weighing a total of 2.44 carats, set in platinum, marked 'Monture Harry Winston'. A GIA Laboratory report # 5151209638, dated January 31, 2013 stating Natural Corundum, Indications of Heating, Madagascar Origin, accompanies the sapphire. Gross weight 14.45 grams. Size: 6 (sizeable) - Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000

Property from a Los Angeles Collector

Heritage Auctions. 2013 April 29. Jewelry Signature Auction - New York - http://jewelry.ha.com

Fancy Intense Yellow Diamond, Diamond, Platinum, Gold Ring. Photo Heritage Auctions

The ring features a radiant-cut yellow diamond measuring 11.50 x 9.60 x 6.77 mm and weighing 7.04 carats, set in 18k gold, enhanced by full-cut diamonds weighing a total of 0.92 carat, set in platinum. Total diamond weight is 7.96 carats. An EGL Laboratory report #US 904845602D dated February 17, 2012 stating Natural, Fancy Intense Yellow Color, accompanies the center diamond. Gross weight 9.70 grams. Size: 5-1/2 (sizeable) Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000.

Heritage Auctions. 2013 April 29. Jewelry Signature Auction - New York - http://jewelry.ha.com

A fine and rare shufu-type deep porcelain bowl with carved décor, China, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Photo Nagel Auktionen

The large and deep Shufu-type porcelain bowl has an opaque lightly bluish tin, its inner thick glaze is quite deeply carved with two flying geese, separated by stylised clouds and the characters "fu" (happiness) and "lu" (prosperity) beneath a narrow band of classic scrolls. The exterior is more finely incised with an interlaced weave band below the rim and around the base large scroll-filled petals. The footrim is pared by knife and the base left unglazed. h.: 10,3 cm, diam.: 19,8 cm. Estimate 30000/50000 €

Provenance: Private collection Rhineland, Germany, purchased at Sotheby's, London, 19. June 1984, lot 286

and with further references to similar Shufu-type bowls - Cf. M. Crick, Chinese trade ceramics from South-East Asia, Fondation et Musée Baur, Geneva 2010, no. 88, a flat and smaller bowl (diam.: 12,5 cm) with a moulded floral scroll and further references.

Nagel Auktionen. 2013/05/08. http://www.auction.de/

Diamond, Platinum Ring. Photo Heritage Auctions

The ring features a pear-shaped diamond measuring 21.95 x 9.94 x 6.16 mm and weighing 8.10 carats, enhanced by tapered baguette-cut diamonds weighing a total of approximately 0.60 carat, set in platinum. A GIA Laboratory report # 2155088728 dated November 12, 2012 stating K color, VS1 clarity, accompanies the main diamond. Gross weight 9.25 grams. Size: 7-1/2 (not easily sizeable) Estimate: $50,000 - $70,000.

Heritage Auctions. 2013 April 29. Jewelry Signature Auction - New York - http://jewelry.ha.com

Barnett Newman, Onement VI, 1953© 2013 Barnett Newman Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 14 May 2013 will include the most important painting by Barnett Newman ever to appear at auction. Onement VI from 1953 stands as a masterwork not only of Newman’s artistic enterprise, but of the entire Abstract Expressionist movement. The vast 8½ x 10 feet canvas overwhelms the viewer with cascading washes of vibrant blue intersected by the artist’s revolutionary vertical ‘zip.’ Onement VI is the most momentous of the six paintings in the series and one of only two Onement works remaining in private hands. Onement VI is estimated to fetch $30/40 million and will be on exhibition at Sotheby’s from 3 May. 

Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s commented: “Onement VI is one of the most significant pieces of Contemporary Art I have handled in my 20 years at Sotheby’s.” 

Barnett Newman is regarded as among the most independent and courageous artists of the 20th century. He was deeply admired by his fellow abstract expressionists and, as an exhibitions organizer for the newly opened Betty Parsons Gallery in 1946, played a critical role in the careers of friends such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Clyfford Still among others. Newman’s paintings also went on to influence the next generation of artists such as Frank Stella. In addition Onement VI was singled out for praise by the acclaimed critic and proponent of Jackson Pollock Clement Greenberg. 

The paintings of the Onement series are characterized by the distinctive stripe running down the centre of the canvas. The zip is considered a defining turning point in the artist’s practice and was formed by using tape and allowing the blue paint to bleed irregularly into the central area. In Onement VI the zip is distinguished both by the sharp edges that retain the memory of the tape and the gentle laps of darker paint seeping into the cool light blue. Newman gave Onement VI to his wife Annalee in December 1953 and it remained in her collection for nearly a decade. It was later acquired by the prestigious collectors Frederick and Marcia Weisman in 1961, the same year that the Newmans lent the painting to the influential Abstract Expressionists and Imagists show at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and also the year Vogue Art Director Alexander Liberman shot the famous photograph of the artist with the painting. 

Onement VI is the final, largest and definitive work of the venerated cycle. Of the six paintings in the series four are held by major museums; two in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, with one each at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford and the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio. There is only one other work from the series in private hands, the much smaller Onement V which was sold at auction in 2012 and currently holds the record for the artist. Not only is Onement VI the largest in that acclaimed cycle, it also one of the largest paintings from Newman’s mature career. Of the 119 paintings created by Newman between 1945 and his death in 1970 just nine exceed the scale of Onement VI, eight of which are in major international museum collections, firmly establishing the work’s place as one of the most important examples of Newman’s oeuvre. 

Barnett Newman and Onement VI in the artist’s studio, New York, 1961. Photo: Alexander Liberman. Courtesy of the Alexander Liberman Photography Archive, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2000.R.19)© J. Paul Getty Trust© 2013 Barnett Newman Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

A rare Imperial Ming underglaze-blue 'Double-Dragon' circular box and cover, China, Wanli six-character mark within double-circles and of the period. Photo Nagel Auktionen

The domed cover is painted with a pair of confronted five-clawed dragons contesting a 'flaming pearl' amidst flames and cloud-scrolls, the rounded sides of both box and cover with the Eight Buddhist Emblems are embedded in a lotus scroll band, the rims have a narrow zig-zag band with radiating cloud scrolls. D. 19,5 cm  - Good condition. Estimate 35000/50000 €

For a similar box and cover from the Imperial collection see 'Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red II - The complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum', Hongkong, 2000, no. 154.

Compare two very similar boxes and covers from the Collection of Kwong Yee Che Tong and Dr. Michael L. Yuen illustrated in The University Museum and Art Gallery, The Fame of Flame, Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods, Hong Kong. 2009, nos. 94, 95

Nagel Auktionen. 2013/05/08. http://www.auction.de/

A very rare relief-moulded blue and white porcelain vase, 'fang gu', China, Wanli six-character mark and of the period. Photo Nagel Auktionen

The square vase is moulded in relief and painted in cobalt with pairs of dragons amid floral sprigs in panels on both the splayed base and the bulbous mid-section, pierced lion-mask handles have been additionally applied. The waisted neck features two rows of overlapping plantain leaves, the vertical rim with a scroll band interrupted by the reign mark within a cartouche, the base painted to represent a stand, with shaped spandrels connecting the ruyi-shaped legs, all supported by the squared foot with a further classic scroll band - H. 59,1 cm - Estimate 40000/60000 €

Provenance: Former collection T.T.Tsui, Hongkong

Only four other vases of this rare shape, size and moulded pattern appear to be published, one is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Ceramic Art of the World, Ming Dynasty, vol. 14, p. 99, pl. 102; the other was included in the Osaka Museum exhibition Ming and Qing Ceramics and Works of Art, 1980, p. 26, fig. 92; the last from the Shinichi Sasagawa Collection, Osaka, Japan, is illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo, 1976, fig.95 and the last example was offered by Christie's Hong Kong, 1.12.2009, Lot 1879.

Nagel Auktionen. 2013/05/08. http://www.auction.de/

Kashmir Sapphire, Diamond, White Gold Ring. Photo Heritage Auctions

The ring features a cushion-shaped sapphire measuring 10.10 x 8.85 x 6.08 mm and weighing 5.09 carats, enhanced by tapered baguette-cut diamonds weighing a total of approximately 0.25 carat, set in 14k white gold. A GIA Laboratory report # 1142625126 dated April 17, 2012 stating Natural Sapphire, CMT Type I, Origin Kashmir, No Indications of Heating, accompanies the sapphire. Gross weight 6.07 grams. Size: 7-3/4 (sizeable) Estimate: $50,000 - $70,000.

Heritage Auctions. 2013 April 29. Jewelry Signature Auction - New York - http://jewelry.ha.com