Adornment - White Glove Sale
18th January 2023
One of the largest private collections of Oceanic jewellery has sold in a timed online auction for over £100,000 with a sell rate of 100%.
Every single lot found a buyer in the first part of artist’s Romy Rey’s collection of silver and beaded jewellery, which came up for sale at Woolley and Wallis on 17th January. The first part of Rey’s collection of African and Oceanic works of art sold in September 2022, with the second part due to be sold in February.
Swiss-born Rey drew strong artistic inspiration from her collection, much of which was on display in her London home. Her jewellery collection was largely stored in cabinets and tall chests of drawers, each of which revealed a host of colourful treasure.
“Some of the most sought after pieces in the collection were the beaded Naga necklaces from northeastern India,” explained African and Oceanic Art specialist, Will Hobbs. “These are bright, multi-beaded necklaces that would have been traded for other items and remain highly wearable as well as collectable.”
The auction’s top lot was one such Naga necklace, made of carnelian and blue glass beads with brass spacers, which sold for £3,750, while two other glass bead necklaces sold for £2,000. A North American Navajo ‘squash blossom’ necklace of silver-coloured metal and turquoise sold for £940, and an Algerian Great Kabylia cloak pin, studded with coral and enamel, fetched £1,060.
The 230 lots took just over two hours to sell in a timed online auction that was a first for the African and Oceanic Art department. The lots were available to view by appointment, and condition reports and extra images were available for each lot.
“There is a lot of work involved in an auction of this type, but many collectors live overseas and so it made sense to put the collection online in this way,” explained Hobbs. “It’s an incredibly large collection to process, but I’m delighted it has been so well received. Especially since we have more to come!”
The sale concluded with a total of £115,437, surpassing conservative expectations. The next part of the Romy Rey collection will be sold as part of the department’s main auction on 22nd February.
