November 12th, 2008 – 2:51 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi/London, Nov 12 (IANS)
Leading international auction house Sotheby’s has kicked off its winter carnival sale of art, books, jewellery and antiquities Wednesday with a rich Indian spread. The winter show-cum-sale will be spread over November and December.
The auction house is offering a rare 22-carat gold and enamel Water Ring estimated at 15,000-20,000 pounds designed by India-born Briton Anish Kapoor in its Dec 17 sale of jewellery by top contemporary artists and jewellers from around the globe.
The ring, signed by Kapoor, has been sourced from the famous Water Ring collection and has been donated by Kapoor and Louisa Guinness, a London-based art dealer who had commissioned Kapoor to design a series of limited edition rings called the “Water Rings”, said a release issued by Sotheby’s from London.
A ruby pendant encrusted with black and colourless natural diamonds by Indian artist Subodh Gupta will also feature on the sale as one of the highlights. The one-off pendant is made of a circular cut ruby and scattered cut diamonds of near black and colourless tints. It is estimated at 20,000-25,000 pounds.
Gupta, who works with everyday objects to create symbols of the society around him, has carved the pendant in the shape of a stainless steel pan in white gold and used the precious stones to elevate the kitchen utensils into decorative jewellery. Gupta is known for his paintings of cooking utensils.
Also on display will be a silver charm bracelet by British artist Damien Hirst estimated at 12,000-17,000 pounds. It is designed as a curb link chain suspending 17 charms of various sizes depicting cast pharmaceutical pills.
As part of its auction of rare books, the auction house will offer some of the finest original drawings of Winnie-the-Pooh, the popular children’s animation character, by artist E.H. Shepard sourced from his original collection on Dec 17.
The drawings are estimated at 40,000-60,000 pounds. Limited editions of the children’s classic signed and inscribed by the author A.A. Milne will also be on sale. The books are estimated at 50,000-70,000 pounds.
On Nov 13, the auction house will bring a collection of rare books on Turkey and Greece under the hammer. The highlight of Thursday’s sale will be a colour-plate book on the Ottoman Empire by Le Hay with illustrations of the traditional attires and textiles of Greece, Turkey and Persia. The book is estimated at 40,000-50,000 pounds.
Sotheby’s winter sale will also feature Russian Art, Swiss Art, rare watches, Oriental art, wine and works of great masters.
