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  Bismarck Family Crown – House of Koch, Chignon crown, Moonstones and diamonds set in an elaborate platinum mount, original leather box, c. 1900

  BISMARCK FAMILY CROWN

  HOUSE OF KOCH Germany
  

  Chignon crown c. 1900

  Moonstones and diamonds set in an elaborate platinum mount, original leather box

  The renowned “House of Koch” made this remarkable bejeweled chignon for the Bismarck family of Lauenburg, Germany. It is an early example of exquisite work in platinum and is set with cabochon moonstones and rose cut diamonds. The jewelry firm, known as the “House of Koch” was founded by Robert and Louis Koch in 1879 in Frankfurt, Germany with a branch in Baden-Baden. By 1883, the jewelers had earned the coveted title of Jeweler of the Court of Frankfurt and crafted jewels for many European Royal families. In fact, their jewels were famous across Europe, and their fashionable styles were worn in the courts of several European royals including the King of Italy and the Czar of Russia. By the time Robert Bosch had assumed control of the firm in 1938, the Koch family was forced to “Aryanize” their jewelry house. It was common during the late nineteenth Century for prestigious families to retool old antique heirloom pieces to bring them up to contemporary fashion standards and since this chignon has characteristics of both the 18th and the 19th Century jewelry, it was likely made from older pieces owned by the Bismarck family. The company closed doors in 1987 and jewels from the great time of the House of Koch are very much sought after in today’s antique jewelry market.

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  Tim Liddy, Lie Cheat and Steal (1971) The Game of Political Power Oil and enamel on copper, plywood back 2006

  TIM LIDDY (b. 1963) Missouri

  “Lie Cheat and Steal” (1971) The Game of Political Power 2006

  Oil and enamel on copper, plywood back

  Signed in script: Tim Liddy “circa 1971” 2006, red circular ring

  Provenance: William Shearburn Gallery (St. Louis, MO)

  H: 12” x W: 9” x D: 2”

   

  With his recent paintings, Liddy has both reasserted the construct of hyperrealist painting and developed a thoroughly unique advancement of that mode by extending the cultural reality of the indexed original. Based on the illustrated box lids of vintage board games, Liddy has recontextualized a subject, which evokes the underlying rules of life. Painted on copper or steel in the precise dimensions of the original, the metal is then manipulated to demonstrate the exact rips and tears from years of usage and includes trompe-l’oeil renditions of the scotch tape that might be holding the cardboard box together, the assorted stains, or the various graffiti of time. Liddy leaves no possibility of ambivalence, these works speak to a concurrent understanding of their original object identity and to themselves as works of art engaged in historical and psychological dialogue.