BOSTON — Grogan & Company’s November 7 Fall Auction saw a fabulous circa 1935 “Mystery-Set” platinum, 18K gold, ruby and diamond leaf brooch sell for $781,250, well over estimate. Auctioneer Lucy Grogan Edwards patiently allowed bidders time to make their decisions. The “Mystery Set” technique, which hides signs of how it was constructed, was invented by Van Cleef & Arpels. It requires perfectly matched stones, hand cut with additional facets to hide the metal settings and requires hundreds of hours of labor. Another brooch, this one by Rene Boivin, sold for $120,000. In addition to the numerous other pieces of fine jewelry selling more than $10,000, the half of the sale devoted to paintings saw a large 1993, ink, oil and collaged paper on canvas work by Ellen Gallagher (b 1965) sell for $156,250. In 1994, the painting, titled “Lips and Paper,” was exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. As with the jewelry, numerous other paintings sold well into five figures.

A full report will follow.