Two exceptionally rare celestial globes or spheres have made their mark in Geneva and London salerooms in recent times – and on the same day.
The most expensive of them, by some distance, was a clockwork-driven Japanese celestial sphere that in a December 13 sale of works from the Givaudan family collections conducted by Swiss auction house Piguet (20% buyer’s premium). It sold for a much higher than predicted SwFr750,000 (£567,000) to a Hong Kong-based bidder.
Before the auction, the saleroom consulted a number of experts about its age and origins, notably Prof Christopher Cullen, whose 69pp report, along with a lengthy metallurgical study, were both made available to prospective bidders.