Titanic's artifacts

Titanic was the ship of dreams, carrying aristocrats home to their American mansions and working-class emigrants toward new and better lives.She boasted luxury never seen on the seas before: Opulent suites, grand dining rooms, a sweeping staircase. The biggest ship of her time, she was said to be unsinkable.

Four days into Titanic's maiden voyage, the ship's captain received an iceberg warning. Then, just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the ship's lookout shouted the fateful words: "Iceberg right ahead!"  There was a monstrous jarring, and the mighty liner began to sink. Within hours, 1500 people had died and the world's most famous vessel lay on the ocean  floor.

Here are some artifacts offered on USA auction.

This key to the binoculars store on the Titanic fetched more than $170,000 when it was sold in April 2010. The key, marked with the tag 'Crows Nest Telephone Titanic' was not on the ship when she set sail from Southampton on her maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. As a result, the lookouts could not open the cabinet and had to rely on the naked eye as the ship navigated a treacherous ice field. A postcard (rear) sent home by a passenger on-board sold for more than $32,000 at the same sale. Photo: Henry Aldridge, AP

Christie’s Hong Kong Spring Highlights 2012 Tour

Christie’s Hong Kong invites you to a preview exhibition of highlights from upcoming Spring sale series to be offered 25-30 May at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Spring Sales series this year will present a spectacular array of rare and exceptional collecting treasures ranging from Chinese paintings, ceramics and works of art, to iconic works by modern masters and cutting-edge contemporary artists throughout Asia, as well as fine wine, magnificent jewelry and important watches.

Event Date: 12 April - 21 May 2012

The object of the day: English 19th century painting

On the Scent (England c. 1860)

Edward Armfield (1817-1896)

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

50 inch wide (127.00 cm)
30 inch high (76.20 cm)

Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles

The graceful sensuality of Art Nouveau lasted a mere 20 years between the 1890s and the outbreak of the First World War. After the guns fell silent in 1918, the seeds of modernism, sown before the war, able to take root and flourish. The style of the 1920s and 30s became known as Art Deco, an abbrevation of L'Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes (The Paris Exhibition), which took place in 1925. Both were reactionary movements, Art Nouveau against the staid traditionalism and revivalism of the late 19th century and Art Deco against the curvaceous excesses of Art Nouveau. The former was probably the last great decadent style and the latter the first trumpet call of the truly modern age.



Whereas Art Nouveau took organic forms and used the writhing, sinuous shapes of plants, flowers, insects and birds as its inspiration, the straight, stepped, soaring lines and geometric shapes of Art Deco mirrored the exciting post-war developments in technology and mass production techniques. Art Nouveau designers worked with wood, glass and clay, as had their predecessors, but their counterparts of the 1920s and 30s took advantage of the new materials such as tubular steel, plate glass, concrete, plywood and even plastics.

Antique Japanese porcelain basics

Before the early 17th century, all the porcelain used in Japan was imported from China, but the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan wanted to be free of the Chinese merchants and, during raids carried out on Korea, captured their native potters.They brought them back to Japan and settled them inland at Arita, which became the main area of production after 1616  when the correct type of clay was found locally.