Product Description
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.
Bismarck Family Crown – House of Koch, Chignon crown, Moonstones and diamonds set in an elaborate platinum mount, original leather box, c. 1900
ARAM GESAR USA
Venetian Blinds 1979
Ciba-chrome print, maple frame
Signed: 790069, LXXIX (on back)
Framed size: H: 17 9/16” x W: 23 ½”
Price: $24,000
Aram Gesar has been published internationally and has exhibited his photographic work in New York, San Francisco, Zurich and Geneva since 1977. As a producer, art director and photographer, Gesar created advertising campaigns for major corporations in the U.S. and Europe focusing on the fields of travel, banking, financial services, aerospace and motion pictures. He also created and produced documentaries on travel, aviation and yachting for national cable networks and the home video markets and television commercials and corporate programs for various U.S. and European corporations.
Gesar is currently one of the leading international experts on travel and air transport, and the founder and CEO of The Pyramid Media Group, which includes several magazines, newsletters, web sites, books, eBooks and other publications integrating a spectrum of business, travel and aviation content.
ARRIGO VARETTONI DE MOLIN (1902-1985)
Passaic Rooftops 1932
Oil on canvas
Signed: A V de Molin ’32
Listed: Who’s Who in America, Series II, no. 11 (November 1, 1941) p. 6.
Exhibited: New Jersey State Annual, Montclair Art Museum, 1934
Canvas: H: 39” x W: 35”
GYÖRGY KEPES (1906-2001) Hungary/USA
Abstraction 1942
Silver gelatin print
Signed: 9 (in a circle, on back); Gyorgy Kepes 1942 (in ink on back)
György Kepes was a Hungarian-born painter, designer, educator and art theorist. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design, then Institute of Design, then Illinois Institute of Design or IIT) in Chicago. In 1947 He founded the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he taught until his retirement in 1974.
Framed size: H: 29 3/16” x W: 25 ¼”
ARCHIBALD KNOX (1864-1933) UK
LIBERTY & CO. London, UK
Hand mirror 1908
Sterling with large matrix cabochon turquoise
Marks: L & Co. cipher, Birmingham assay marks for 1908
Similar works with turquoise Illustrated: Archibald Knox, ed. by Stephen A. Martin (London: Academy Editions, 1995) ; Liberty Design 1874-1914, Barbara Morris (London: Pyramid Books, 1989) p. ; The Designs of Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co., A.J. Tilbrook (London: Ornament Press Ltd., 1976)
L: 11″