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It measures approximately 3.5 in h x 37 in w x 3.5 in d.
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How does a tiny scrap of paper with a simple shape scribbled on it sell for over $200,000?
When it belongs to the Italian Renaissance Master, Michelangelo, the sky is the limit.
Michelangelo’s sketch of a marble block reads “simile.” Photos courtesy of Christie’s.
A sketch by Michelangelo, one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance, perhaps of all time, recently sold for $201,600. It was offered by Christie’s New York in its A Park Avenue Collection auction on April 17 with a presale estimate of $6,000 – $8,000. In this case, the lot selling at over 30 times its estimate is remarkable, not because it sold for so much, but because its estimate was so low. On rare occasions when Michelangelo’s drawings come to auction, they sell for extremely high prices; the auction record for Michelangelo’s works is over $21 million for a sketch, believed to be his first nude, sold at Christie’s in Paris in 2022.
One look at the sketch that sold on April 17 shows why its estimate was relatively low: it’s not a study for one of Michelangelo’s great works, displaying his skill at depicting human forms. Instead, it is a diagram of a rectangular block of marbleetched ‘simile’ mounted on a bifolium inscribed by Cosimo Buonarroti and by John Bowring, which states, “The enclosed writing and outline of Michael Angelo was given on this day by his descendant Cosimo Buonarroti to John Bowring.” Michelangelo is known to have made sheets full of drawings like these. They are sketches of marble blocks he needed for his sculptures and architectural designs, providing instructions for quarrying and transportation. Because this one is marked “Simile” (“similar”), experts believe it was drawn on a sheet with a similar block with its dimensions labeled.
Michelangelo’s block sketch is attached to a handwritten note from Cosimo Buonarroti to John Bowring. Photos courtesy of Christie’s.
Cosimo was known to gift small fragments of paper with Michelangelo’s sketches. These were often authenticated by inscriptions of friendship or esteem. Like this sketch, many featured block designs. Ultimately, they were either auctioned off or found their way into various foreign collections.
Any drawing by Michelangelo is rare; he famously destroyed most of his sketches before his death. According to his contemporary and biographer Giorgio Vasari, an artist, he didn’t want anyone to see the processes behind his work, only his perfected finished products. He may also have been afraid others would try to steal his designs. Today, however, his drawings are valued for their rarity and for the historical information they provide. The sale of the simple sketch of a marble block on a two-inch square sheet for over $200,000 proves that even the most mundane inscription belonging to Michelangelo is a work of art.
Colima-style terracotta armadillo effigy vessel, pre-Columbian, Classic period A.D. 300-900; Western Mexico, $950. John Moran Auctioneers’ “Made in Mexico” online auction on Feb. 7 lured collectors to the more than 270 lots of fine Mexican-crafted or inspired art, jewelry, and silver, including iconic pieces from Hector Aguilar, Los Castillo, Margot de Taxco, Antonio Pineda, and […]
Longtime Art Forger Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison
Earl Marshawn E.M. Washington (b.1962), woodcut after Hale Woodruff, a WPA artist, signed 1937.
Woodblock forgery is probably as old as woodblock printing itself, and it is still going on. On April 2, Earl M. Washington, artist, and seller of woodblock prints, received a prison sentence of more than four years for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. His former wife, Zsanett Nagy, who assisted him, was sentenced last January for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering.
Between 2018 and 2021, Washington and Nagy sold woodblock prints they claimed were made in the 15th and 16th centuries to buyers in France, who in turn sold them to a collector in Germany. Nagy received the payments for the prints through PayPal, moved the money to her bank account, and withdrew the cash before the buyers found out they had bought counterfeit prints created by Washington himself. The French buyers paid nearly $85,000 for the prints.
Washington also sold fraudulent prints to buyers in Pennsylvania. One bought 130 woodblocks, believing they were hundreds of years old, for a total of over $118,000. Another bought prints that Washington claimed were made in the 1920s and 1930s by his great-grandfather, E.M. Washington. Again, the prints were his own work.
Earl Mershawn Washington (1962- ) Josephine Baker linocut, signed and bears the date 1927 in pencil. Although he likely attributed it to his “great-grandfather,” this work was created sometime in the 1980-90’s.
Washington and Nagy were tried in the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia division of the FBI’s Art Crime Team conducted the investigation with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the French Ministry of Justice, and the French National Gendarmerie. Washington was ordered to pay $203,240.90 in restitution and serve 52 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Nagy, who is Hungarian, was ordered to pay $107,159.25 in restitution and serve time plus two years of supervised release. She may also face deportation.
This isn’t the first time Washington has allegedly run such a scheme. An article published in Forbes magazine in September 2004, called “Catch Me If You Can,” tells how Washington sold woodcut prints to dealers through auction houses and on eBay, attributing them to his great-grandfather, Earl Mack Washington. Customers had begun to suspect that Washington had made the prints himself. There was no evidence other than his own claims that his great-grandfather was a printmaker or even existed. Former romantic partners alleged that Washington cut and printed the woodblocks himself or with the help of apprentices. One claimed to have bought his supplies and sold his work. Collectors suspected him of copying or counterfeiting the works of other printmakers like M.C. Escher and Rockwell Kent or forging signatures on prints he sold.
Washington’s prints still sell at galleries and auction houses, although listings make it clear the artist was born in 1962, even if the prints are dated to the 1930s. The Forbes article described his style as “reminiscent of German expressionist work, but often reflecting black American themes.” Brier Hill Gallery of Boston, Massachusetts, believes in the artistic merit of Washington’s prints, as long as you know what you’re getting and “don’t take them too seriously.”
$25 Antique Market Find Goes Under the Hammer, Bringing a Whopping $14,000 USD
Last January, Flora Steel learned, with an assist from Antiques Roadshow, that the brooch she had bought decades ago for under $25 was a long-lost 19th-century piece by celebrated Victorian architect William Burges. The brooch went to Gildings auction house in Market Harborough, England, UK, to sell in an upcoming Jewellery & Watches auction. On March 19, the brooch sold for more than £11,000, or about $14,000 in US currency.
This is a familiar story for Gildings. The Antiques Roadshow episode where jewelry specialist Geoffrey Munn showed a sketch of Burges’ brooch designs originally aired in 2011. Munn also discussed how valuable the brooches would be if any were found: about £10,000 ($12,500). That year, two viewers independently realized that they owned brooches that matched the designs. Both sold their brooches through Gildings. One was sold to the Victoria and Albert Museum in a private sale. The other sold for £31,000 ($40,000) at auction.
William Burges (1827-1881) was an architect and designer in the Gothic Revival style. His admiration for medieval art and his travels throughout Europe and Turkey were major influences on his career. His first major commission was Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral in Cork, Ireland. Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch, both in Cardiff, Wales, are his best-known buildings. Like many architects, he also designed metalwork and decorative arts.
While it wasn’t as dramatically high a price, Steel’s brooch also sold higher than Munn’s original estimate, but not as dramatically high as the one that sold in 2011. $14,000 is still plenty of money, which Steel plans to divide among donations to a breast cancer research fund, giving to her son and travel for herself.
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It measures approximately 5.25 inches square 4.25 inches tall.
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Princess Diana’s Royal Blue and Black Dress Stuns with Record Setting Auction Price
Princess Diana, wearing the royal blue and black dress by Jacques Azagury, with then Prince Charles in 1985. Photo: Getty Images Decades after her tragic death in 1997, Princess Diana’s historic fashion remains in demand. One of the late Princess of Wales’s dresses sold for $1,148,080 recently at Julien’s Auctions, more than 11 times the […]
Kramer of New York’s Diamond Look Shines Brightly for Collectors
By Pamela Wiggins Siegel
Kramer of New York is one of those names dealers run across pretty frequently when sourcing costume jewelry. That usually means a company saw a good amount of success back when the jewelry was newly made. Nevertheless, it’s not a brand most fervent collectors get overly excited about. It might be on the uptick, though, since I’ve noticed pieces lingering in online shops being snatched up these days, indicating a growing base of fans out there in jewelry land.
My personal opinion of Kramer jewelry? It’s always been pretty high. Some of the lines this company marketed in the 1950s are over-the-top gorgeous, and many are undervalued today compared to rhinestone pieces sold by other companies. I was recently chatting about Kramer with a jewelry friend I’ve known for years, and we ran into some friendly differences of opinion about the company. While that’s fresh in my mind, I thought it would be a good time to feature Kramer and share some of that conjecture with you after a brief look at the company’s history.
Kramer necklace with iridescent Aurora Borealis rhinestones, 1950s, $175-$225.
Kramer of New York’s History
As noted by jewelry historian Julia C. Carroll in her book Costume Jewelry 101, Louis Kramer established Kramer Jewelry Creations, Inc. in New York in 1943. His brothers Morris and Harry also joined the firm, but Louis Kramer appears to have been the driving force behind the business. The company they ran together also did business as Kramer of New York, a name more well known by collectors since pieces are marked in that way or simply Kramer.
The company used the slogan “The Diamond Look by Kramer” in magazine ads for rhinestone jewelry dating to the 1950s. The designs featured in these ads are some of the most desirable Kramer pieces among avid jewelry collectors. “The Golden Look by Kramer” was used with gold-plated jewelry devoid of stones during the same period, but those pieces aren’t in high demand even though they’re nicely made.
The Diamond Look by Kramer vintage advertisement.
Kramer also collaborated with Christian Dior in the 1950s to market jewelry signed either by Christian Dior or Kramer by Dior. Those pieces are also highly valued. By the early 1960s, Frank Hess, who had worked designing for Miriam Haskell for many years, had joined Kramer to create a line of jewelry marked Amourelle.
According to Carroll, not much more is known about Kramer other than the company closed around 1980. One question has remained over time, however. Did Kramer produce the jewelry it marketed for decades, or was it made by other manufacturing firms known in the industry as jobbers?
Kramer rhinestone bracelet with matching earrings, 1950s, $150-$200.
A Manufacturer or a Marketer?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard people say that Kramer used jobbers rather than manufacturing jewelry. That seemed like it could be true since the styles and manufacturing techniques varied so widely in jewelry bearing one of their marks. The business didn’t stick with a look that defines most of the pieces branded Kramer or Kramer of New York in the way that Miriam Haskell did, for example. This was at the core of my discussion with an old friend recently, and she relayed that another jewelry historian we both know found in her research that Kramer employed around 200 workers at one time. That piqued my curiosity, so I decided to do some digging to see what else I could find.
As it turns out, beyond relayed word of mouth, there is some evidence that Kramer did manufacture jewelry. A 1952 edition of the “Defense Production Record” noted this in regard to Kramer Jewelry Co. of New York, N.Y.: “Request for permission to use present inventory of white metal alloy in the manufacture of costume jewelry granted when Board concluded relief necessary to alleviate exceptional financial hardship and also to provide employment for workers in this industry.” They were authorized, between April 1, 1952, and Sept. 30, 1952, to use 2,750 pounds of white metal alloy in their inventory. This certainly points to manufacturing going on at Kramer since white metal is a primary component in plated costume jewelry.
I also found proof of a number of patents obtained by Louis Kramer during the mid-to late-1950s for jewelry, including brooch and necklace designs. This points to Kramer protecting his designs in the same way that Boucher and Trifari did back in the day, but does that mean his business was manufacturing them? Given the documentation supporting a lawsuit filed by Kramer against Capri Jewelry, Inc. in 1956 for “copyright infringement and unfair competition,” it certainly seems so. Kramer is listed as engaging in “the designing, manufacturing and selling of costume Jewelry of creative designs.” On the other hand, Capri is described as being in “the business of selling costume jewelry to retailers. It does not manufacture its own jewelry.”
Kramer “Alexandria Collection” earrings with color-changing Alexandrite stones – 1953.
In my mind, these resources do indicate that Kramer produced jewelry. Does that mean they never contracted other businesses to make jewelry for them or that they used jobbers more frequently after the 1950s? Those facts are yet to be discovered by jewelry researchers. For now, though, I think we can conclude that they did employ a fairly large staff of workers who were producing jewelry in New York during the 1950s.
What Makes Kramer Special?
One of the things I’ve always been attracted to is specialty stones in costume jewelry—that is, stones beyond the average round rhinestone. Kramer used several types of stones molded to look like leaves in designs that have always been my favorites. Some look more like art glass with an iridescent finish, and others are frosted glass stones.
Kramer bracelet with leaf stones, 1950s, $125-$175.
Dangling elements always catch my eye, too. Kramer was very good at taking ordinary designs and adding dangling beads to make them more special. Some are clear faceted beads, while others have round beads that add amazing pops of color. Other stones, like Swarovski’s Alexandrite color changers, which vary from lavender to light blue depending on the light source, also decorate some of my favorite Kramer designs.
So, even though Kramer isn’t a brand that collectors eagerly clamor to own beyond the most exceptional lines, in my opinion, their Diamond Look still shines brightly after all these years.
Kovels Antique Trader Vol. 67 No. 10 – August 2023
Marilyn Monroe…Archival Fashion…Lighting…Catalin Radios…’70s and ’80s Toys…Magic Memorabilia…John Dillinger Memorabilia…Fruit Salad Jewelry…Thrift Shop Tips…Collector’s Gallery…Dictionary of Marks…Events Calendar
#Whatsitwednesday
Be the first to guess the pictured item by leaving a comment below. If you have your own whatsit, our editors may include it in a future post. Please send an email to editor@kovels.com and attach a clear picture, the size, and any markings. Hopefully, we will be able to identify it for our readers!
The dimensions are 34 in h x 26 in w x 3 in d.
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Michelangelo’s sketch of a marble block reads “simile.”
Michelangelo’s block sketch is attached to a handwritten note 
Earl Marshawn E.M. Washington (b.1962), 
Earl Mershawn Washington (1962- ) Josephine Baker linocut, signed and bears 
Kramer necklace with iridescent Aurora Borealis rhinestones, 1950s, $175-$225.
The Diamond Look by Kramer vintage advertisement.
Kramer rhinestone bracelet with matching earrings, 1950s, $150-$200.
Kramer frosted leaf articulated brooch, 1950s, $75-$125.
Kramer “Alexandria Collection” earrings with color-changing Alexandrite stones – 1953.
Kramer bracelet with leaf stones, 1950s, $125-$175.