Hôtel Drouot

The mammoth disposal of the Aristophil collections of historic manuscripts began last week with a premium-inclusive €17.6m series of seven June auctions offered over four days at Drouot (June 15 and 18-20).

The Hôtel Drouot in Paris is to host a street art fair this autumn.

It is relatively rare to find items of 16th century costume on the market, especially pieces in good condition. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that this gentleman’s doublet from c.1580-1600 should end up going to a major museum when it went under the hammer in a Paris auction this month.

After a continuous 30-year period of trading, and a stockbook tally of around 10,000 pieces, Paris dealer in European ceramics Christophe Perlès has decided to take a break for a couple of years.

This ivory-inlaid fall-fronted cabinet is one of the highlights in a sale of Islamic and Indian art at Drouot by Ader on June 29.

Three extra French auctioneers are to assist in the mammoth disposal of the Aristophil collections of historic manuscripts.

Synonymous with luxury and style, the Normandie epitomised the Art Deco era.

There is, of course, no shortage of works on paper to be found on sale at the Drouot auction centre either in the form of dedicated auctions or as sections within mixed-discipline sales.

This carved wooden figure of Guanyin dating to the Song dynasty (900-1279 AD) will be the headline entry of the Asian art sale to be held by Leclère at Drouot on December 16.

December is traditionally a month when Paris focuses attention on sales of Asian art, with auctions in the rooms across the city and at the Drouot centre.

Among recent highlights at the Drouot in Paris, Beaussant- Lefèvre’s (21.53% buyer’s premium inc VAT) classic sale of Old Masters, furniture and works of art on October 18 produced a substantial €265,000 (£240,910) for a modestly estimated bronze of the goddess Diana.

A number of the French auction rooms have released their sales figures for the first half of the year, with Christie’s Paris operation taking the top slot.

At the Drouot auction centre in June around 3000 items of Asian art went under the hammer in a series of 20 auctions that were either dedicated sales or featured substantial Asian sections.

It is high season for sales in Paris and the Drouot auction centre, home to 75 firms, is busy with its usual roster across all disciplines.