If you have a fad for wheels and aspire to have a gold touch in every accessory you own then free feel to ink a neat deal here with Mike Dunlap. No, he is not engaged into the production of real-time models of coupe’ or heavy forms of jewelry but for past 25 years specializes in designing intelligent sculptures that offers a blend of both. Developed only for deep pockets, these gold automobile sculptures are real masterpieces as they elegantly replicate the ready-to-burn roads sedans or bikes. Mike maintains a standard proportion of 1:12 scale and is handcrafted with a 24 karat gold finishing. Besides offering a best way to invest your overflowing wealth, other reasons that work as excuse for installing it include welcoming invitation at museums displays and as trophies to honor special automotive racing events.

The retailing of the models varies as per project, which is commissioned as per the needs of the clients. Giving you just a fair idea, the Indy cars exhibited on the website lately got sold off for $60,000 while NASCAR models managed to generate $70,000. Ask Mike Dunlap about his current project and you will get an instant smiling response: $180,000 yacht for a Dubai-based potential client.

Featured above is a lately exposed wooden sculpture of Dainichi Nyorai or Buddha carrying religious objects sealed in its torso for almost 800 years. It got sold for $14.3 million (€9.07 million) during Christie’s auction, thereby breaking the earlier record set by a Rakuchu Rakugai screen that fetched $1.76 million in 1990. Enjoying the presence in the sphere of Japanese work of art by making a world record, the figurine is accredited to Unkei, measured as one of the two best sculptors of the early Kamakura period in 1190s, when Buddhist art was actively practiced.

It was sold off on 18 March 2008 by Mitsukoshi Ltd. You would be surprised to know that the presale estimate was $1.5-2 million. Made of Cyprus wood, the Buddha is clad in generous attire and is positioned in a lotus position with a tiara and trinkets, and hair in a topknot.

Its whereabouts were unknown until now when it was sold to a dealer of Buddhist art most recently. The identity of the buyer is not to be disclosed. The knowledge of the owner considering Buddha statue to be hollow underwent an X-ray at Tokyo National Museum and it was identified that it carries three memorial items, representing Buddhist cipher viz. a wood pagoda, a crystal pagoda and a crystal ball on a bronze stand.

Via IHT

Featured above and blingy skulls by Los Angles based sculptor Amy Sarkisian. True, in terms of cost these ‘Gold and Ruby’ Skulls stand nowhere in front of Damien Hirst’s diamond skull that inked a neat deal of $100 million. But someone has rightly said that value of a product cannot be predestined only with the cost involved but also to the extent it interests your eyes and heart.

Dive into the picture gallery for a closer view.

Via Asark

The yearly seven-day snow festival began on 5 February in Sapporo exhibiting 290 ice and snow figurine in three sites in the city counting the main Odori Park site in Chuo Ward. Running till 11 February, the festival is expected to invite around 2 million people from across Japan and overseas.

Major highlights of this year’s festival revolves around the subject of nature and the surroundings such as two children grasping a statuette of the planet Earth and a mammoth snow effigy of a brown bear that occupies the Shiretoko area of Hokkaido. To make these sculptures possible, the organizers utilized 7,500 truckloads of snow by transporting it from neighboring countries as there wasn’t enough in the city during early January. As a part of the festival, a dance contest is also being scheduled for the first time; assigning a street near the Odori Park site that will be a vehicle-free esplanade this weekend.

Gallery: Snow Festival Begins in Sapporo

Via JapanToday

The very first look at this featured Motorcycle Ooopsssssss….. Motorcycle #1 would make you realize that this Los Angeles-based sculptor Bruce Gray doesn’t fall in the list of ordinary sculptors. Also, this seemingly fan of Nicolas Cage is surely a futuristic concept. Every bit of this ghostly bike is bathed with monolith manufacturing parts. Its huge wheels are made up of colossal bulldoze gears, seat of train pairing, shockers of train springs and a massive chain. Away from the heights of weirdness, its engine-BMW R75/5 is the only factor that restores the sense of normalcy.

Pinch yourself as this designer product is nothing grand than being a mere art sculpture. This makes it obvious that it is not rideable even though it looks. And yes, the contemporary model bears a price tag of $25,000 and those who are low on budget shall pick one by dropping mere $200.

Gallery: Motorcycle #1

Without any doubt, Dragons predict kismet and this cannot be denied. Another undeniable feature is that they represent the outstanding features of strength, passion, blaze and horror. Whilst the visibility and availability of dragons in different forms is now known to you in different forms viz. giant dragon boat, alien eerie furniture; today I came across a unique statuette. Featured above is a Shen Lung Dragon Figurine, a fraction of the Lustre compilation, which is hand-painted in different shades viz. brown, orange and green with a metal finish.

They are also available in the form of a handset with multihued celebrated Swarovski crystals that emphasize the shades of dragon and the green globe that is preset at the front paw. This Shen Lung Dragon small sculpture twinkles impeccably in stunning traces and is retailed at $2,600.

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A miniature and awfully rare 5,000- year-old white sandstone sculpture from ancient Mesopotamia got sold for $57.2 mn in New York. The breaking sale of the sculpture has set a record in the industry of artistic creation of sculpture and antiquities. Featured above is a Guennol Lioness that is over eight-centimetres tall and has bagged the tag of being the one of the last known magnum opus from the dawn of civilisation residual in private hands.

Before the prospective customers could start making bid for the sale of this great connoisseur of art, a pool of praises was around declaring it to be the ‘finest sculpture on earth’ taking it for granted that the market agreed with him. Counted five bidders were battling for the sculpture, three on the telephone and two in the room. The proud English buyer wishes to stay anonymous. The holder and now seller of this masterpiece sculpture is a benevolent trust recognized by the family of Alastair Bradley Martin, a former chairman of Brooklyn Museum who tagged this sculpture to his name around 59 years ago.

The record-breaking sale managed to break the previous record of the highest price paid for a sculpture that stood at $29.1 million for the Sotheby’s for Picasso’s “Tete de Femme (Dora Maar)” during last month.
Via Reuters

Whilst days back we bought Ginza’s Tanaka’s creation of $18, 17,355 Santa Claus dipped in Gold on to the board inviting filthy-rich, today there comes another avatar of Santa attracting all foodies. Featured above is a seemingly sculptural creation of $100 Santa by Paul McCarthy. This 10″ Chocolate Santa is not made up of ordinary chocolates but carries a tag of “Peter Paul Chocolates.” Weighing one-pound, bell-ringing chocolate Santa holds the Christmas and consumes 14 oz. of Guittard semi-sweet dark chocolate. Santa is retailed at $100 inclusive of shipping and handling.

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Among the attractions of the auction, there is a set of 15 Chinese objects of art enthused by the West including a rare Beijing enamel glass brushpot, a blue and white “Boys” Ming jar, a large bronze figure of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy and a tranquil creation of Taiwan port oil painting by Chen Cheng-Po. The auction is all set to drive the curiosity of its visitors by offering a stunning medley of innovative creation of frenzied smirking sketches by Yue Minjun and a colossal sequence of “gunpowder” paintings by Cai Guoqiang. “Market Scene” by the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet would also get worthy respect here. The great work carrying prominent sauce and grease marks on a browning print is expected to fetch $500,000.

Below are the featured artworks that are inviting eyeballs:

A rare Beijing enamel glass brushpot adorned with European “mother and child” pictures from the Qianlong period on the four-sides is expected to generate $3.8 million.

A blue and white “Boys” Ming jar that would generate nearly $5 million.

A huge bronze sculpture of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy that is expected to be sold for $4.5 million.

“Danshui at Sunset,” a calm Taiwan port oil painting by Chen Cheng-Po might earn the label of being the most expensive Chinese paintings ever sold at an auction.

Via Reuters