Christie’s 1/20/24

Ancient arms and armour: meet the man who has assembled the world’s largest private collection



‘Each one brings back loads of memories’: guitars of note from Mark Knopfler’s musical journey


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‘The greatest anatomist of his day’: Vesalius’s Fabrica, with 1,000 notes in the author’s hand



Come together: how The Beatles composed their only known painting in a Tokyo hotel room



‘You should buy pieces because you fall in love with them’ — the passions of Philip Hewat-Jaboor



The painter and the connoisseur: the Bruegel drawing that inspired copies by artists across Europe


More stories

Editor’s picks





J.M.W. Turner first visited Thun in Switzerland in 1802, but this delicate watercolour, The River Aare at Thun, dates from one of his final trips, about 45 years later. As well as capturing the majestic Alpine vista, the work also hints at the rise of Swiss tourism, with a lakeside inn and the funnel of a passenger steamer to the left

Estimate: $300,000-500,000
31 January, New York






Despite a catalogue of climatic challenges — spring frost, excessive summer heat and heavy September rain — Château Mouton-Rothschild 2017 turned out to be a triumph. Offered here in three double magnums, the wine is already highly rated and expected to mature beautifully for several decades to come

Estimate: HK$32,000-48,000
until 30 January, Online






These two late Louis XVI armchairs were made by Georges Jacob for the Marquise de Marbeuf’s house in Paris around 1788-90, and were later owned by Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain. With their winged sphinx armrests, they reflect a taste for Egyptian art that was just taking root in France

Estimate: $100,000-150,000
1 February, New York






A Flemish ‘proverb painting’ on the subject of reckless behaviour, He is looking for the hatchet is by a follower of Hieronymus Bosch. The tavern’s landlady, pictured with a doctor and a lawyer, has been struck on the head by a drunkard and is starting to draw her sword, while the man’s long-suffering wife carries him off

Estimate: $20,000-30,000
31 January, New York

 

Fun stuff Spring ! The one thing I'd really love to own would be the Turner,and to fool around with- Knopfler's guitar of course.
PS-My auto correct suggested the word 'Snorkeler' to replace 'Knopfler'. My amigo AI-always helping.