Hippocamps and hummingbirds

Also, Carl Jung's Navajo ring and LOTS of Tiffany glass

Hello all, it’s me again! Late as usual. We have careened into December without seeming to stop for November, and as I look back on a year that has been unrelenting garbage, the one bright spot is the fact that — despite my complete failure to promote this poor newsletter — people still seem to find it and enjoy it and pass it along. So on that note, I would like to shout out a huge HELLO! to those of you who have recently arrived from kottke.org and BUST Magazine, and send my wholehearted weepy thanks to Edith Zimmerman and Lisa Butterworth for their support and enthusiasm. Thank you! <3

It’s that time again for the Magnificent Jewels sales, so let’s get my preliminary gripe about diamonds out of the way. BUT I ASK YOU, how am I supposed to care about all these giant, ultra-rare diamonds when there are clearly enough of them around to keep populating all these fricking auctions every year? Today’s sale at Sotheby’s New York has an unmounted 133.03-carat yellow diamond estimated at $4 – $5 million, while tomorrow’s sale at Christie’s features a set of orange-yellow diamond earrings estimated at $7 – $12 million. Good LORD.

Whatever, Monica, stop being a buzzkill. The hook for the Sotheby’s sale is that it’s got a bunch of stuff that was previously owned by old Hollywood royalty: Frank and Barbara Sinatra, Red Skelton, Mary Tyler Moore, and Tony Randall. Sotheby’s has kindly separated their collections out for us here, but I’m going to highlight my favorite piece from the whole sale: the delightful little hippocamp brooch above, from the collection of Tony Randall.

The hippocamp (or hippocampus) is one of my favorite mythological creatures; it’s a horse/fish hybrid that appears in Greek, Phoenician and Etruscan mythology, and has been depicted in various forms — paintings, coins, mosaics, sculpture — for centuries. Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, is often shown driving a chariot pulled by hippocampi, and they’re also seen flanking Oceanus, the Titan god of water, in Rome’s 18th-century Trevi Fountain. (Also, please check out this absolutely phenomenal late 16th century Spanish hippocamp pendant in the collection of the British Museum.)

Tony Randall’s adorable little brooch is by Verdura, who I told you about back in June. Circa 1962, it features a bright ruby eye and a body set with round diamonds. His little legs are killing me. Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000.

Note: If you can’t get enough of mythological horsies, check out this huge colored diamond and pink gold Pegasus bracelet in the Sotheby’s New York Fine Jewels sale closing on Dec. 7.

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Amid a sea of diamonds and big brassy Retro jewels, my choice of the Christie’s sale is this elegant circa 1915 Tiffany & Co. necklace, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It’s a riot of gemstones, mixing chrysoberyl, opal, orange garnet, sapphire, topaz, green garnet and seed pearls in a yellow gold setting. Estimate: $50,000 – $70,000.

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If you’re less of a Tiffany & Co. jewelry person and more of a Tiffany Studios glass person, get ready to scroll, because there are three back-to-back auctions happening in New York this week. On Wednesday, Sotheby’s will present The Cycad Collection: Masterworks by Tiffany Studios and Prewar Design, featuring a large range of lamps — including this Wisteria lamp, estimated at $600,000 - $800,000 — and some quirky bronze desk accessories.

Next up on Thursday is The Doros Collection: The Art Glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany (also at Sotheby’s New York). American glass collectors Jay and Micki Doros were married for 71 years and obsessed about glass for seemingly all of them, attending more than 50 seminars at the Corning Museum of Glass and rooting out pieces in antique shops during their family vacations. Starting out focusing on glass knife rests, they eventually moved on to a couple of decades of studying and buying American cut glass, and finally settled on the glasswork of Louis Comfort Tiffany. 66 pieces from their collection are featured in this auction — the majority of which are exquisite Favrile glass vases produced by Tiffany Studios. It’s one side of Tiffany that I don’t know much about at all, and I keep being drawn to this “Apple Blossom” paperweight vase, because it’s so unlike anything I usually associate with the name “Tiffany.”

Jay and Micki are sadly no longer with us, but their son Paul wrote about his parents for Sotheby’s last year, and they sound like they were lovely people:

“Mom and Dad never believed that their role was as keepers of the Louis Tiffany flame. The collection was for their own personal enjoyment and for the few people who were fortunate enough to be invited to visit the house and go on one of Jay’s lengthy but enjoyable “tours.” Dad would practically bounce from case to case, with a sparkle in his eye, talking enthusiastically, and sometimes endlessly, mostly about glassmaking techniques. And everyone was required to handle each and every object under discussion.”

Finally, on Friday, Christie’s New York will present Tiffany, a 41-piece auction spanning everything from lamps to vases to paintings to windows — including the stunning circa 1910 “Grapevine and Trellis” window shown above.

Most of the leaded glass windows made by Tiffany Studios were commissions for churches, so when they got to make something for a private residence — like the window above — Tiffany had a little more freedom to explore his desire to bring the outside in. The window features a grapevine motif that symbolizes abundance and prosperity, but it also contains a depiction of wrought iron fencing, which is an unusual design element for Tiffany Studios that Christie’s believe may be unique to this particular window. The symmetrical rigidity of the fencing/trellis contrasts wonderfully with the wildness of the leaves and vines — I highly recommend clicking through and blowing up the image and/or looking at some of the closeups in the lot essay. The way the studio used shards of confetti glass to create depth and the illusion of foliage at the bottom of the window! Gah! It’s a beautiful thing. Estimate: $250,000 – $350,000.

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Any Rush fans out there? I know there’s at least one of you. Years of observance has shown me just how dedicated Rush fans are, so you guys are probably already aware of the Selections from the Geddy Lee Collection and Important Baseball Memorabilia sale that’s happening at Christie’s New York tomorrow. Please bear with me while I bring it to the attention of those who tend to orbit outside of the Lee/Peart/Lifeson universe (i.e., all of womankind). (I KID, I KID.) There’s a second online auction that closes on the 7th.

So apparently Lee — the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the band — has been collecting baseball stuff for over 4 decades, and he explained on Instagram why he’s now selling some of it:

It’s been an education and privilege for the past 35 years to amass a wonderful and supremely mammoth collection of baseball memorabilia. Yet, I’ve decided it’s time to move some of it on for other collectors to enjoy. I admit I’m a crazy person, who’s been obsessed with the acquisition of many, MANY, fascinating things. Most recently, of course, a wonderful collection of vintage bass guitars. Yet, you just can’t have it all! What an effin’ blast it’s been, but I must have had too much stuff because after these selections were sent to Christies my wife stepped into my office and said, “Hey! I thought you were selling some of your collection?? ” … Uh, yeah Honey, I am…. Oopsie!

The sale features an absolute ton of historic signed baseballs, but one of the most iconic pieces of Lee’s collection is the baseball above, which was signed by all four members of the Beatles at their August 15, 1965 Shea Stadium concert in New York. It’s estimated at $100,000 – $300,000, and I’m curious to see how this one sells. Beatles AND Rush provenance? Hmm.

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Circa 1890, these three tiny hair ornaments take the shape of silver and gold swallow-tailed hummingbirds, with emerald and diamond plumage and ruby eyes. The set comes with four hairpins, and the larger bird — complete with long tail feathers set with additional emeralds and diamonds — also has a detachable brooch fitting. They’re included in the London Jewels auction on December 7 at Bonhams London, and are estimated to sell for £10,000 - £15,000 ($12,600 - $19,000).

I’m just grateful they’re not real hummingbirds, because the feather trade — which extended into jewelry made from actual bird heads — was still booming at the time these pieces were made. Bonhams notes:

At the 1867 Universal Exposition in Paris, Napoleon III and Eugenie paid the jeweller Leon Rouvenat more than 25,000 francs for a hummingbird brooch of emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds. Soon every wealthy lady was wearing hummingbird jewellery, either mounted in precious metals and gemstones or made from trochilidae skins.

Thankfully, tastes started to change in the early part of the 20th century, but unfortunately not before countless species of birds were hunted into extinction. (There is a suite of hummingbird head jewelry on the website of London antique jewelry dealer Rowan & Rowan, if you really want to see.)

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You never know what extremely random object might turn up in a Books & Manuscripts auction, and this silver and turquoise ring is a good example. It’s believed to have been presented to Swiss psychologist Carl Jung by a member of the Navajo Nation during Jung’s trip to the American southwest in January 1925. According to Sotheby’s, “his party undertook a wide-ranging tour during their short visit to New Mexico, visiting Native American tribes in Taos Pueblo and Frijoles Canyon.”

Jung had the opportunity to speak at length with a tribal leader Ochwiay Biano (Chief Mountain Lake) while he was in Taos Pueblo, and he described one of their conversations in his book Memories, Dreams, Reflections:

See,” Ochwiay Bianco said, “how cruel the whites look. Their lips are thin, their noses sharp, their faces furrowed and distorted by folds. Their eyes have a staring expression; they are always seeking something. What are they seeking? The whites always want something; they are always uneasy and restless. We do not know what they want. We do not understand them. We think they are mad.”

I asked him why he thought the whites were all mad.

“They say they think with their heads,” he replied.

“Why of course. What do you think with,” I asked him in surprise.

“We think here,” he said, indicating his heart.

I fell into a long meditation. For the first time in my life, as it seemed to me, someone had drawn for me a picture of the real white man [....] What we from our point of view call colonisation, missions to the heathen, spread of civilisation, etc., has another face – the face of a bird of prey seeking with cruel intentness for distant quarry – a face worthy of a race of pirates and highwaymen. 

Yeah no shit, Carl.

The ring is included in the Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern auction at Sotheby’s London on December 12, and carries an estimate of £3,000 - £5,000 ($3,800 - $6,300).

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That’s gotta be it for today; this post is groaning from the sheer volume of links. Sorry!

I also have some sad jewelry-world news to share: the iconic fourth-generation Venetian jeweler Attilio Codognato passed away last month at the age of 86. Women’s Wear Daily reported that, prior to his death, Codognato was “in talks with Francesca Amfitheatrof about taking over creative control of the family company, which she has agreed to do sooner than anticipated.” Amfitheatrof, the former design director of Tiffany & Co., will take on the role in addition to her current position as artistic director of jewelry at Louis Vuitton.

Codognato’s death is a huge loss to the jewelry world. He was truly a throwback to another time: fiercely private and deliberately small-scale (just one shop, in Venice), with skills and designs that went back four generations. I’m glad he made provisions for the company to continue, but it won’t be the same.

I included my favorite piece of his — a memento mori ring featuring a skull partially obscured beneath a murky window of emerald — in this newsletter back in 2020, before many of you signed on. Click through if you’re so inclined.

Sorry to end on such a bummer. Um, at least it’s not Monday anymore? Have a good week, everyone!

M xx