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Bonhams Auctioning Gerd Dreher Gemstone Carvings
Works of the fourth-generation animal figure carver, including a gem silica chrysocolla and malachite carving of seahorses, will lead the auction house’s Los Angeles sale this month.
This gem silica chrysocolla and malachite carving of seahorses from master carver Gerd Dreher could sell for as much as $30,000 at Bonhams this month.
Los Angeles--Buyers will get a rare chance to own pieces from master gemstone carver Gerd Dreher this month.
The carvings will be featured as part of the Lapidary Works of Art, Gemstones, Minerals and Natural History auction scheduled to take place at Bonhams Los Angeles on May 17.
Dreher’s carvings are among the most sought-after in the lapidary world, Bonhams said, as he creates fewer than 10 carvings per year.
A gem silica chrysocolla carving of seahorses could sell for between $25,000 and $30,000. In addition to the green malachite and milky quartz that are exposed on the reverse side of the carved seahorses, the dorsal fins of the animals are set with 18-karat gold and small cabochon sapphires for the eyes.
Another Dreher piece featured in the sale is a four-color tourmaline carving of a tropical fish on a rock crystal quartz base. The fish measures eight inches across (roughly the size of a small dinner plate), Bonhams said, and has 18-karat gold fins.
It can be removed from the rock crystal quartz backdrop, which is of near-optical quality and reverse intaglio carved to depict a coral.
In addition to Dreher’s works, there will be a number of other significant gems and mineral in the sale.
The top lot of the auction is expected to be an exceptional pair of large non-nacreous orange pearls from the South China Seas. Weighing approximately 30.75 carats (16.01 by 15.96 mm) and 29.85 carats (15.82 by 15.62 mm), they could garner as much as $130,000.
There also will be a large rubellite tourmaline from Mozambique weighing 116.83 carats that is expected to sell for between $100,000 and $120,000.
Click through the slideshow to see the two Dreher pieces as well as some of the top overall lots of the sale.
The base of the “Freesias with Dragonfly” piece by Manfred Wild is a large single crystal of green-black Brazilian tourmaline weighing nearly 800 carats, supporting three sprays of freesias crafted of frosted rock crystal or rose quartz on 18-karat gold stems. The removable dragonfly brooch features pink and Paraiba-type tourmalines and diamonds. The predicted sale price is $55,000 to $75,000.
The tourmaline fish on this Dreher piece measure eight inches across, around the size of a small dinner plate, and is decorated with 18-karat yellow gold fins atop rock crystal. Bonhams expects it to garner between $20,000 and $30,000.
The gem silica chrysocolla used in this piece from Gerd Dreher has “extraordinary translucency and evenness in color,” Bonhams said. It also features malachite and milky quartz as well as 18-karat yellow gold and cabochon sapphires, and could sell for between $25,000 and $30,000.
This gold nugget from Australia weighs 24.5 ounces and has smoothed surfaces, revealing its “water-worn past.” It’s rare for a piece this size to have survived the smelting process, Bonhams said, and could garner as much as $60,000.
This pair of orange non-nacreous pearls from the South China Seas is predicted to sell in the range of $110,000 to $130,000 at Bonhams this month.
This piece from Luis Alberto Quispe Aparicio is made from white kascholong opal from Siberia, which has a porcelain appearance without a play of color, with the feathers and feet of the peacock rendered in gold vermeil. It could sell for up to $60,000.
The “true distinguishing feature” of this 116.83-carat rubellite is its color, Bonhams said--it has a deep, hot reddish pink hue that appears without any evidence of brown modifying colors, as is prevalent with many tourmalines from Africa. It could sell for as much as $120,000.
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