Strauss & co - Review 2019

Vanessa Phillips, Strauss & Co’s joint managing director, speaking after the successful March sale of the Strong and Bolt collections, said the results underscored Strauss & Co’s ability to handle top works from important collections. “Our business is fundamentally about relationships,” said Phillips. “Consigning major collections to auction takes years, often decades, of dedicated commitment to a single client. To be entrusted with handling their collections is a great privilege.” Strauss & Co’s commitment to discerning collectors continued in its October sale, which featured pieces fromtheNewall Collection and Estate Lapin.The late Sonia Lapin (née Kalmanson) was a New Yorker by birthwho travelled extensively and collectedprolifically. Her holdings included well-known Georgian silversmiths such as Storr, Hawkins and Bateman, as well as jewellery. Her 4.70 carats diamond ring sold for R1.365 million. The biographies of collectors are, at root, stories about networks. Andrew Newall worked with his father, British-born artist Albert Newall, at Gallery Medici. This Kalk Bay institution, now sadly defunct, had an impeccable client list that included the Strongs, British-born and educated medical practitioners who settled in South Africa in 1977 and collected widely. The top-selling lot from the Newall Collection was a Qing dynasty bronze silver-wire figure depicting the Chinese bodhisattva Guanyin. “This is how bidding should be on all lots,” said auctioneer Alastair Meredithwhen seven telephone bidders entered the chase for this 21cm-high statue, which eventually sold for R682 800. The Newall Collection realised R3.671 million from 137 lots sold. A Chinese bronze silver-wire figure of Guanyin, Qing Dynasty, 18th/19th century Sold R682 800 The Andrew Newall Collection A Chinese Export Yixing gold- mounted stoneware teapot and cover, Qing Dynasty, 18th century Sold R54 624 The Andrew Newall Collection A large Japanese gold-lacquer and ivory figural okimono of a woodsman, Meiji period, 1868-1912 Sold R102 420 The Andrew Newall Collection 35