The Throne of a Chinese Emperor from Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong period was sold at Sotheby’s for record-braking $11 million – the highest price for any Chinese piece of furniture ever sold.

Courtesy of Sotheby's. Click for bigger image

The frenzied bidding lasted 10 minutes, with 36 bids from all over the world. The winning bid by an unnamed Shanghai businessman considerably exceeded the highest estimate of $4 million.

Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, commented after the sale: “This throne was literally the seat of Imperial power and this has aroused enormous interest among discerning collectors from around the world. As the finest piece of Imperial furniture to come to the market in decade, it is appropriate that it has now broken the world auction record for Chinese furniture”.

The “dragon” throne is 140 centimetres long and carved of zitan wood. It feautures carved panes, curved legs and five dragon carving on the back. The number of dragons was not accidental; it represented the ‘five blessings’ of old age, health, virtue, wealth and peaceful death.

To read more about Imperial Family of China, visit this thread.

Marsel Chinese Royals, Historical Royals Auction, Qing Dynasty, Sotheby’s

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Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia hosted an auction in aid of breast cancer prevention at the White Palace in Belgrade, 29 September 2009. Princess Ira von Fürstenberg attended the event as special guest of Their Royal Highnesses.

The auction was organized by HRH Crown Princess Katherine Foundation and featured limited edition of rubber footwear. Also for auction were 25 unique styled items featuring woven designs. The event was attended by a large number of Serbian dignitaries, including State Secretary for Health.

Both Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine delivered speeches, where they highlighted the importance of cancer prevention. Addressing the guests before the auction, the Crown Prince said: “What we are doing here is not just raising funds for breast cancer prevention… We gathered here tonight to show that we care and that we want the number of women cured from breast cancer be at least as high as in developed countries”.

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After the auction, the Crown Princess thanked the guests for attending the auction and for supporting the breast cancer prevention campaign in Serbia. She stated: “…I am glad to be surrounded by gracious people who want to help. I will repeat what I have already told Serbian women many times: breast cancer can be cured! Death is not an option, and I appeal to all women to undergo medical check and prevent something that is totally avoidable. Let us win this battle; I am sure that we can and we will”.Members of the Government also made speeches, where they thanked the Crown Princely couple for their efforts and emphasized the importance of non-Governmental organizations in tackling issues like breast cancer.

Princess Katherine Foundation is actively supporting breast cancer awareness campaign and encourages the Serbian women to take steps to prevent the terrible disease. The foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, launched Pink Ribbon Shopping Month: special events are planned for October, which is the International Breast cancer awareness month.

For more information about Serbian (Yugoslavian) Royals, visit this thread.

Marsel Serbian Royals Auction, Cancer, Crown Princess Katherine Foundation, Health, Patronage, Prince Alexander, Princess Katherine

Countess Alexandra of Frederiksborg, the former wife of Prince Joachim, will be selling two of her most ‘delicious’ bags, one by Burberry and one by Versace, on trendsales.dk to benefit UNICEF. Other participating in the celebrity auction include Crown Princess Mary’s stylist Anja Camilla Alajdi and Marianne Dulong. Going on sale on October 5th, the starting price is DKK0, but it is hoped that plenty of money will be raised for a good cause.

For more information, please see this thread.

alex001 Danish Royals Auction, Countess Alexandra, Patronage, UNICEF

click to read the article in Pravda (in Russian)

Swedish news agencies report that a collection of jewels have surfaced in the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s storage rooms. The jewels are worth over  2 million Euros and belonged to the Russian Imperial Family. A confidant of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna handed the valuable items to the Swedish Embassy in St. Petersburg for safekeeping after the 1917 revolution. The Grand Duchess died in France, apparently without telling her family about the jewellery.

The collection includes over 100 gold and silver cigarette cases and cuff links as well as jewels made by Fabergé and the Bolin family (court jewellers of several consecutive Russian and Swedish Monarchs). The jewels were kept in Sweden for over 90 years and were found while storage items were being moved and examined. The Ministry then immediately contacted members of the Romanov Family and handed over the finding.

detailed picture of the Faberge cigarette case

A representative of the Sotheby’s commented: “We are absolutely thrilled to be offering for sale one of the most remarkable collections relating to the Romanovs to be offered at auction. Unknown for generations until their recent rediscovery, the objects truly evoke the grandeur and sublime taste of their original owners. We fully expect that the allure of this intimate and precious group, with its links to the historical events connected with one of the world’s most fabled dynasties, will hold the highest appeal for discerning collectors.” You can read more about he Romanov Jewels in this thread.

Marsel Russian Royals Auction, Fabergé, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, Jewellery, Sotheby’s, Sweden

This year marks what would have been Princess Grace of Monaco’s 80th birthday. Princess Grace, born Grace Patricia Kelly, an American Academy Award winning actress, married His Serene Highness Prince Rainier of Monaco and is the mother of Monaco’s current Sovereign, Prince Albert II.  Although she died in 1982, she remains a popular figure in both American and European culture and it shows in the current headlines.

Click to see Photo at Newscom

In keeping with last year’s popular, traveling exhibit of her chattels, Hello Magazine reports that Cartier is hosting an exhibit of some of her jewels.  Cartier, one of the more popular royal jewel makers, designed many pieces for the Princess, including one of the few tiaras she used.  That tiara will be included in the display as part of the exhibit “Memories Of Cartier Creations” in Tokyo’s National Museum through May 31.

A second exhibit for “”to one of the most stylish women of all time” is to be held at the Monaco Casino from April 24 until May 2.  The exhibit, a painting by artist Peter Engels, will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s to benefit the Lions Club of Monaco.  The portrait of the Princess as a younger woman in her Hollywood days is reportedly the largest painted portrait of the Princess and is done “with a pallet knife in sepia colourite.”

Engles told one news organization that “Princess Grace was a captivating woman. She died tragically in the prime of her life. And just like John F. Kennedy, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway, Elvis Presley and John Lennon, she remains an icon who even now, 25 years after her death, continues to leave an impression. Even on art, so it seems.”

Sg1Fan Historical Royals, Monaco Royals Auction, Exhibition, Grace Kelly, Jewellery, Prince Albert II, Princess Grace, Sotheby’s

Click the image to see the article at The Daily Telegraph

 For readers with a sweet tooth, a piece of Princess Louise’s 1871 wedding cake went up for auction at the Antiques for Everyone Fair in Birmingham, England this past week. The piece of cake is believed to be the only remaining portion of the wedding cake. Bids were set to begin at $215 (145 pounds). John Shepard, the antique dealer, purchased the piece from a descendant of a noble family in Kent.

Princess Louise, a gifted artist, was the fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was, in a sense, a very modern princess who refused to marry another royal, looking instead for a love match. Her choice irritated most of the Royal Family by threatening to pull the family into politics; the Prince of Wales was unhappy that his sister was the first British princess to marry a commoner (albeit an aristocrat) since 1515, when Henry VIII’s sister Mary married the Duke of Suffolk. Read more…

iowabelle British Royals Auction, Princess Louise (Duchess of Argyll), Wedding

At the end of this month the auction house Christie’s will auction a small clay sculpture that was made by queen Beatrix.  It is a small red/brown clay sculpture of the head of a horse that she made in 1948, and it is signed: ‘Trix 48′. It is expected that the item will bring in between 2400 and 2800 Euros. Christie’s estimates are founded on the price they received last year when they auctioned two childhood drawings of the Dutch queen.

Click on image to see sculpture at PPE

Christie’s does not want to say who is selling the statue to newspaper ‘Het Parool’, but their spokes person, Maarten van Gijn does say that the queen knows about the auction. Items like these usually come into the posession of people by inheritance from their parents or grand parents. Items like these are usually bought by fans of the royal family or by one of the Orange associations. Last year the two drawings were bought by ‘Princess’, a company for household electronics. They now have the drawings in their boardroom, ‘isn’t that nicer than leave such stuff on the atic?’, asks van Gijn.

The sculpture will be auctioned in Amsterdam at an auction where more private items of royalty and nobility are auctioned, among them a napkin of Tsar Nicholas II. From 27 to 30 March potential buyers can have a look at the items that are auctioned. The auction it sell will be on 31 March and 1 April.

Marengo Dutch Royals Auction, Christie's, Queen Beatrix