Christie's Online Magazine No.269

From: Christie's - Saturday May 29, 2021 09:18 am

Christie’s

Fabergé treasures, Sydell Miller’s Palm Beach mansion, The world’s best aquavit, Furniture and art from Julians Park, and more |

‘She filled it with marvels’: inside the Palm Beach home of beauty magnate Sydell Miller

Churchill, Chanel, Dalí, Astaire, Beaton — and the transatlantic socialite who befriended them all

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‘Fabergé was a kind of social currency for high society’: treasures from the Romanovs

How to make the world’s best aquavit: caraway seeds, sherry casks, and 14 very special blends

More stories

Editor’s picks

Brigitte Bardot, Steve McQueen and Marilyn Monroe have all appeared in the work of Jonathan Bermudes. The artist uses photocollage and vibrant colour to elevate his favourite icons of popular culture, and here, in Moss fumée Red-on from 2020, he turns his attention to a cigarette-smoking Kate Moss

Estimate: €8,000-12,000
3 June, Paris

This polo player brooch is skilfully modelled to convey a moment of sporting drama. As the pony gallops powerfully forward, flashing with diamonds, platinum and yellow gold, the enamel figure of the rider rises from the saddle and twists around to strike the ball with an outstretched mallet

Estimate: $1,000-1,500
until 4 June, Online

In Russian legend, Kitezh was a place that could be seen only by the pure of heart. Adding a twist to the age-old tale, Konstantin Gorbatov’s 1913 painting The Invisible City of Kitezh places its clustered rooftops and towers on the deck of a giant boat sailing down the Volga

Estimate: £350,000-550,000
7 June, London

Jean Prouvé was a blacksmith before he became a furniture designer. The S.A.M. Tropique No. 503 table is a great example of the durable, practical, beautiful pieces he produced using sheet metal. As he once said of his work, ‘If people understand, there’s no need to explain. If they don’t, there’s no use explaining’

Estimate: €150,000-200,000
1 June, Paris

La Rêverie, the Palm Beach home of Sydell Miller // Cecil Beaton, Audrey Field, 1933-1937 (detail). One of six gelatin silver prints each mounted individually on board. Estimate: £1,200-1,800. Offered in Julians Park and Six Private Collections on 8 June 2021 at Christie’s in London // A large jewelled and enamel gold-mounted obsidian model of an elephant and castle, engraved Fabergé, circa 1890. Estimate: £70,000-90,000 / A gem-set, guilloché enamel and two-colour gold-mounted nephrite bell-push marked Fabergé, circa 1900. Estimate: £20,000-30,000 / A jewelled and guilloché enamel two-colour gold-mounted aquamarine cane handle marked Fabergé. Estimate: £10,000-15,000 / A pair of rare guilloché enamel, rock crystal and two-colour gold and silver candlesticks marked Fabergé, 1908-1917. Estimate: £40,000-60,000. Offered in Russian Art on 7 June 2021 at Christie’s in London // Opland Juvel, crafted from a blend of 14 extraordinary aquavits, the oldest dating from 1929

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Christie's Online Magazine No.269