Twenty Five Renaissance Jewels and Works of Art, Sotheby & Co., (Book)

A two volume set - Volume 1 covers the years 1789-1861. 439 pages. Volume 2 covers 1862-1910. 423 pages. Extensively illustrated with gorgeous full colour and black & white plates an...

Lily Marinho was a great patron of the Arts, Socialite and Philanthropist, who was married to two Brazilian media moguls. This is the Sotheby's sale catal...

This book follows the changing styles and taste in jewellery after the harsh years of the second world war and the way in which it also followed the trends in haute couture which blo...

This book is a comprehensive survey of the history and uses of the principal types of gems, and provides an insight into their origins, methods and styles of cutting at different tim...

Sotheby's Fine Jewels and Jewels for the Collector, London, 1992. First edition auction catalog. 81pp. with 330 lots illustrated in color, fully described.  

Sotheby's New York: Important Jewelry: 6254: December 11, 1991. 380 lots all photoed in color and fully described with results.          

Fine Jewels and Watches. Sotheby's Sale 7312, Los Angeles, May 4, 1999. Sotheby's, LA, 1999. First Edition soft cover. 208pp, 495 lots photographed in color, with results. Includes t...

Sotheby's Catalog, An Important Russian Imperial Jewel. Geneva 17 November 2005. 1st Ed hardcover. "An impressive and highly important diamond ornament from the collection of the Russian Imperial Family, Russia, second half of the 18th century. This diamond necklace with bowknot clasp is not only a remarkable jewel in itself, but its Russian royal provenance puts it in a class of its own. It evokes the blinding splendour of Catherine II, Empress of Russia: the magnificence of her court, her parks, her palaces, her art collections, and monuments. The most striking and colourful figure on the stage of European political life, for thirty four years she ruled a mighty empire which stretched from Siberia to Poland and left it stronger, larger and richer than when she came to the throne in 1762. After her death in 1796, her friend the Prince de Ligne, who had named her Catherine the Great, declared that this title- which has never been lost- resumed all her genius, courage, sense of justice, and force of character. Using her court as a stage, she played the part of an autocratic but enlightened ruler to perfection, imposing in her public appearances, kind and charming in private. The French ambassador, the Comte de Ségur who noticed how “her majestic head and brow, proud look and dignified deportment made her seem taller than she was”, was also impressed by her feminine grace “ her aquiline nose, well shaped mouth, Saxe blue eyes beneath dark lashes, gentle glance and seductive smile”. In spite of her success, she once confided to the Prince de Ligne that she could have served Russia better if she had been born a man. Ever the courtier, he assured her that being a woman was a positive advantage. “Believe me, you are so much more impressive in your beautiful embroidered orange red velvet dolman or tunic than a man decked out in boots and shoulder sash can ever be. In addition the five huge diamonds blazing out from your hair are far more effective than a man’s hat which is either ridiculously small or ridiculously big”. He was right. Her diamond jewellery proclaimed her power and her rank as Empress and appealed to the Russian taste for sumptuous goods. It impressed the Rev. William Coxe, visiting St. Petersburg in 1778: “the glory and the splendor of the clothing of the court and abundance of precious stones leave the opulence of other European courts far behind” and his opinion was shared by the acute Madame de Stael...