We don't normally suggest that our audience booze and bid at the same time, but in this instance, we think it might go rather well. Our newfound thirst is a delightful side effect after browsing Skinner Auctions, Fine Wines & Rare Spirits sale coming up on June 26th. With First Growth Bordeaux, including a case of 1990 Margaux, two bottles of  Domaine de la Romanee Conti Romanee Conti 2010 and the Rhone, Piedmont, Tuscany and California vintages fully outfitted, the only thing that seems to be missing is a plate of rosemary crackers and stinky cheese.   Lot 137, Domaine de la Romanee Conti La Tache 1985, 3 bottles; Estimate $11,000 - $15,000 Here to give us three quick tips while we sip and search this upcoming catalog is Marie Keep, the founder and Director of the Fine Wines department at Skinner: BSQ: What advice would you offer to someon...Read More

This all started with a loving wife reminding her husband to drive carefully.  Firstly, the Rolex Daytona watch wasn't particularly desirable in the late 1960s - its large graphic typeface and cream on black dial was flashy, in an Art Deco sort of way, and not many customers gravitated toward it. Realizing that it was a tough sell, Rolex limited production for the model and unknowingly created a crackerjack that would come to mystify vintage watch collectors decades later. Lot 2104, A Rare and Highly-Desirable Rolex "Paul Newman" Daytona, 1968; Estimate $150,000 - $300,000 It wasn't until Joanne Woodward - actress and wife of the mega movie star Paul Newman - selected this little worn Rolex Daytona, as a cautionary gift for her husband at the onset of his race-car driving career, that it would begin to gain traction. On the backside of her ...Read More

Much like São Paulo, their city of residence, Humberto and Fernando Campana (popularly known as The Campana Brothers) have found a way to freely merge flashes of flamboyance with outlandish baroque opulence. For the design worlds favorite family duet, providing functional objects that also bring "joy" and "fun" into peoples lives remains a key aspect when approaching their brand of furniture design.  Lot 646, The Campana Brothers, Anemone Chair, 2001; Estimate €2,000-€2,000 Based out of their studio in Sãn Paulo, Brazil, The Campana Brothers have gained acclaim for assembling materials such as recycled cloth, pipes, hoses and stuffed animals into and onto intriguing forms. As seen above in Lot 646 of Quittenbaum Art Auctions upcoming sale, the ancient art of weaving was given a much needed muscle relaxant. Steering away from the rigidity of...Read More

As the equinox makes its way toward midsummers' tilt, to provide us with optimal sunshine, the Bidsquare platform has been busy luring in several radiant rocks of its own.  Plucked from Grogan & Company, The Spring Auction catalog on June 3rd as well as Rago, Fine Jewelry catalog on June 10th, these five pieces have set an optimistic tone for the beginning of the month:  Lot 251, Platinum, Sapphire, and Diamond Ring; Sold for $31,250 - Grogan & Company Classic glamour - weighing in at an impressive 20.05 cts., this oval-cut sapphire and diamond ring was ablaze with online bidding activity! The sheer weight of the stone, in combination with a completely custom made setting, makes this bright blue sapphire a supreme example of a Princess Diana style ring.  Lot 224, Platinum and Diamond Ring; Sold for $31,250 - Grogan & Company This European-c...Read More

Have you ever spotted an unusual chair and wondered what it would be like to sit on? At first, it appears like a foreign object curiously offering up a new experience; you imagine lowering yourself into its uncharted contours, wiggling to and fro and proclaiming "how comfortable!" or "how odd!" - an unpredictable yet familiar analysis.  It takes a bold designer to resuscitate the brilliance of everyday objects in this way, and the upcoming 20th Century Design auction at Skinner is loaded with looping lounges and pristine pairs.  For this week’s Bidsquare Picks, we’re showing off our chair flair:  Lot 286, Mark Newson for Cappellini Beech Bentwood Chair; Estimate $1,000 - $1,500 Tightly curled and locked into place like a rebellious rake, this Italian made seat by Australian born designer, Mark Newson, is a stunning silhouette. Don't let its...Read More

Marie Zimmermann (1879 – 1972) is considered the most versatile and skilled craftswoman of the 20th century with an oeuvre that spanned movements, styles, and mediums. A female pioneer in metallurgy, a field dominated almost exclusively by men, she dedicated the first 25 years of her career to learning the techniques she would later employ in artworks produced in her own atelier from the 1910s through the 1930s. The result was a rich outpouring of work as varied as it is impressive. She produced jewelry, candelabra, vessels, garden gates, and more, in a dizzying array of materials--gold, silver, bronze, copper and iron. She was also a painter, sculptor and furniture maker. It is nearly impossible to ascribe Zimmermann’s creations to a single artistic movement or period. In nearly every piece she created, aesthetic inspirations drawn from an...Read More

The surrealist, the classicist, the craftsman, the strategist; four designers deeply dedicated to their distinct methods and ideologies. However, despite their differences, these four (soon to be named) characters equally effected and swayed society's understanding of modern design. Grappling with the role and function that furniture played in peoples everyday lives was a fertile topic - quite literally “on the table” for 20th-century designers like Meret Oppenheim, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, George Nakashima and Pierre Jeanneret. On May 20th, Rago Auctions in Lambertville, NJ unified these four influencers, amongst many others, in their Modern Design sale rich with fresh-to-market pieces and privately owned selections. The well-established network of collectors participating online from the Bidsquare platform secured several important lots th...Read More

Sarasota Estate Auction held their two-day sale of Fine Art on April 28th and 29th. The first day featured over 150 Asian Art objects from China, Japan and the Himalayan region, and included snuff bottles, porcelain, paintings, export wares and Buddhist art. The most impressive object by far was lot 140, a Finely Enameled Chinese Famille Rose Plaque; conservatively estimated at $400- $800, bidding exceeded $231k.   Lot 140, A Finely Enameled Chinese Famille Rose Plaque; Sold for $231,800 The plaque depicts a bucolic landscape with mountains in the background and a lush forest and lonely hut in the foreground. Stylistically, it is painted in qianjiang enamels, 淺絳彩, which literally means ‘shallow light-brown’. This term is taken from traditional literati scroll paintings from the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) where darker colours (including browns...Read More

It has never fully satisfied me to hear how mountain ranges like the Alps or Sierra Nevada’s came to be. The Alps, for instance, began forming 65 million years ago when African and Eurasian tectonic plates blindly pushed against one another in an unrelenting, upward act of crushing determination. While a scientist could continually explain how and why this happened, a profound disconnection remains. How could such an enormous calamity unfold to then exist in relative silence? For when you approach a beautiful mountain, all of the random, shattering violence has already occurred; they are simply there for us to admire and absorb in grand totality. Accepting and scaling this idea should make ones heart beat harder.  The same sentiment is felt when faced with the sculptural work of John Angus Chamberlain. How exactly does a several-ton vehicle...Read More

There is such a thing as the right place at the right time, between the right people. It is the potency of these ''right'' moments that vary in directional degree and spin on with unpredictable torque - sometimes fast tracks can open up. When Jim Walrod was sixteen years old, he crossed the Hudson River from New Jersey to find a summer job in New York City - Bloomingdales would decline to hire him as their stock boy. That same day, the ambitious, redheaded boy wandered down the street thinking of how and who to ask next; a question that the magnetism of Manhattan would take care of for him.  While passing by the original Firorucci shop, Andy Warhol would spot an unemployed stranger (Jim Walrod) and decide to offer his recommendation. That''s right, Andy Warhol. Known for striking up conversations with attractive young men, Warhol devised a ...Read More