The Paris Credit Municipal was set up in 1777 to offer the poor an alternative to high interest rates.
A pastel by Renoir was auctioned for 190,000 euros on Thursday at an auction of hundreds of artworks and Art Deco objects owned by the pawnshop.
Run on a not-for-profit basis in partnership with the city, it accepts [...]

Christie’s July 2 auction will feature seven pieces of the French fashion designer’s clothing and jewelry include a 1958 cocktail dress for Dior and a 1970s Rive Gauche camel cable-knit sweater trimmed in fox fur, estimated $250 to $400.
“What’s exciting about the collection is that you see the progression of his career. He was a [...]

GreenCat Gallery’s fourth art auction takes place at the Hilton Hotel in Sofia on June 14 at 6.30pm, with viewing up until a few hours before the start.
One hundred pieces will be on the block, including works by contemporary artists Spartak Yordanov, Adalbert Gans and Carlos Fuentes; modern artists like Pablo Picasso and Felicien Rops; [...]

A rare Austrian postage stamp showing the face of the Dalai Lama is to be auctioned in the German city of Dusseldorf this week, the auctioneers said Tuesday.
The Austrian post office designed the stamp to mark the 70th birthday of the Tibetan leader in 2005, but the stamp did not go into large-scale production.
“There were [...]

Bulgaria will auction a wireless mobile phone licence on July 29 that will allow the launch of a fourth wireless operator in Bulgaria, the telecoms regulator said on Tuesday.
Some 12 companies, including Turkish mobile operator Turkcell TCELL.IS, have expressed initial interest in acquiring the 20-year GSM licence.
The tender will have a starting price of 38 [...]

eBay has been convicted by a French court of selling counterfeit goods and ordered to pay 20,000 euros in damages to French luxury group Hermes.
This is the first time in France, where eBay have been held jointly responsible for items sold on the site. The court has ordered them to publish the ruling on [...]

A Sweden auctioneers says it sold an 18th century rococo writing desk for a record-breaking 15.2 million kronor.
Auction manager Knut Knutson says it is the highest price ever fetched for a piece of furniture in Sweden.
The curved writing desk is adorned with Chinese lacquer panels and was made by craftsman Nils Dahlin in the 1770’s.

On 11 June 2008 Sotheby’s will offer art from Africa, Oceania and British Columbia, comprising 180 lots with a total estimate of €6-9 million.
AFRICAN ART
Sapi-Portuguese Ivory Salt Cellar, Sierra Leone, late 15th/early 16th century (lot 120, estimate €400,000-600,000) Afro-Portuguese ivories were the first items from Sub-Saharan Africa to enter European collections. Amongst the earliest and [...]