Sale-rooms
Stomach-
Alistair McAlpine
0 n 19 August Christie's sold a selec- tion of medical instruments, spectacles and related instruments from the last three cen- turies — the 'first ever sale' entirely devot- ed to medical instruments. For myself, I have never felt so happy to live in the latter half of the 20th century. The sale was packed with stomach-turning impedimenta and illustrations giving instructions on how they should be used. Lot 198 — 'a large medical print, French, early 19th century' — shows in detail the use of Dupuytren's Bow-drill to break up a stone in the blad- der. Two surgeons were needed to operate it and the patient was made to swallow two litres of olive oil beforehand. The cata- logue description forbears to describe how this dreadful weapon was used, entering the patient's body through an extremely delicate member in order to get at his blad- der. This demonstrates that advances in medical science during the last 50 years have entirely compensated for any fear of nuclear holocaust we have lived with since the second world war.
Christie's have a jollier sale on 26 Aug- ust, in which the star item is 'Madonna's Thirst Quencher'. The lot turns out to be far less exotic than even a lazy imagination may have suggested. It is, in fact, an Evian bottle, signed by Madonna and with pink lipstick around its neck — on the face of it hardly likely to fetch its estimate of £700, although it does come complete with cus- tom-made phallic-shaped case. Another lot belonging to Madonna is also offered for sale — a backless, black leather brassiere and thong, signed on the crotch and used by her in her book Sex. It is estimated to fetch £6,500.
I have always had an interest in memora- bilia and so has the public, it seems, for even in the dark days of the last three years during the recession the goods and chattels of the infamous and famous alike have fetched very high prices, while minor works by important artists were often returned unsold to their owners. I have, however, no real enthusiasm for either of these lots, let alone for the prices that Christie's expect.
Christie's are selling yet more memora- bilia along with some works of art from the collection of the late Rudolf Nureyev, to be sold in both London and New York. They are expected to fetch 13-4 million. A great work of art expected to fetch £500,000 is Heinrich Fuseli's 'Satan Starting from the Touch of Thuriel's Lance'. Work by Fuseli is extremely rare, and what is more he is a wonderful painter. As for memorabilia, there is on offer Rudolf Nureyev's 14-carat gold fountain pen inscribed with his name and the date 17/3/77. This is expected to fetch £800 — well worth the money, espe- cially when you look at the cost of gold fountain pens which have never had such an illustrious owner. Other items in the sale are his exotic shawls and ballet cos- tumes worn in landmark performances.
This October, Sotheby's will celebrate 20 years of trading in Hong Kong. The star lot of their first sale there was from the great English collection of Mr and Mrs Alfred Clark. Returned to the East, their fluted Xuande mark and period bowl fetched £.190,000, then the highest price ever paid for a piece of porcelain. In the forthcoming sale this October, they are offering a blue and white Yuon Dynasty jar, painted with a huge, striding dragon. The Dragon Jar belongs to a small group believed to be the work of an unrivalled master. A similar example of his work can be seen in the Idemitsa Museum in Tokyo. The jar is expected to fetch HK $900,000.
As a child, I was raised on the Eagle. Each week I awaited the arrival of that comic at my boarding school. It was the only comic the headmaster thought well of — all others were banned. The wretched comic was the source of considerable trou- ble between that good man and myself, for I, inspired by the adventures of Dan Dare, expressed the desire one day to go to the moon. 'Foolish boy,' said my headmaster, 'it would take so long that you would be dead a thousand years before you got there.' How wrong he was, Sotheby's will this autumn sell the relics of space travel in New York.
And Christie's on 25 August are having their first ever sale devoted entirely to Dan Dare. That comic strip made a powerful Impression on me and, I am sure, on the shape of the world we live in. I have always believed, for example, that the central ter- minal of Charles de Gaulle airport came straight from the world of Dan Dare — a glass dome transected by glass tubes with at its centre a conveyance that could move up and down and side to side. All that is miss- ing is the Mekon, with his bulging eyes and vast green head, sitting on his chariot.
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