Aste Bolaffi

Biography

Aste Bolaffi is a Bolaffi group company that holds auctions of collectors' items.

The auction house was established in the early Nineties, but the connection between the name Bolaffi and the world of collecting is far older and covers more than a century of history. It is a story that begins in 1890, when a young Alberto Bolaffi Sr., who had an eye for the customs of the time and collector's tastes, transitioned from the exchange of stamps to the purchase and sale of stamps, opening a philatelic business in Turin. It was the beginning of an entrepreneurial adventure that continued seamlessly until the third millennium, with the fourth generation at the helm. Auctions were a natural progression from that commercial philatelic business, soon expanding into the numismatic sector and then vintage posters, and quickly becoming a point of reference for the national market.

Today, almost 130 years later, Aste Bolaffi examines, advises, and sells with the same passion and attention to detail that defined it from the outset, with the addition of careful monitoring of the international market, solid expertise developed over decades of study and important sales, an eye for trends in the most varied fields of collection, and the use of the latest digital technology.

In the last decade, Aste Bolaffi has further increased its offer for collectors of wine, photography, jewellery, watches, art, cars and design, selecting a group of highly qualified experts for each sector, who collectively have over 250 years of experience in evaluating, estimating and selling collector's items between them.


Notable Sales

The history of Aste Bolaffi is studded with record-breaking sales: just one year after the first philatelic auction, during the sale of the prestigious 'Pedemonte' collection, the Tre Lire Faruk, one of only two examples in the world of the extremely rare stamp from the Provisional Government of Tuscany on the 'Faruk' cover, sold for 800 million lire.

In 1996, the vintage poster department opened, which has made a name for itself over the years with historic sales such as the 'Fiat in pista' poster by Plinio Codognato, which sold in 1999 for 220 million lire (113,600 euros), a record that remains unbeaten for an Italian poster.

Coins arrived on the auction block in 2002: from Roman Aurei to Marenghi from the Kingdom of Italy, numismatic auctions became an unmissable appointment at the auction house in Turin, with record-breaking sales such as the 10 Scudos of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy, which sold for 220,000 euros in 2007.

In December 2014 the department of antique books and manuscripts marks a new record: the highest earnings at an Italian auction for Somma di arithmetica, geometria, proporzioni e proporzionalità by Tuscan mathematic Luca Pacioli, printed in 1494 in Venice and sold for 530,000 euros.

Among the new records, in September 2016 the sale of the top lot in Aste Bolaffi history, the rare 'Very light pink' 7.44-carat diamond that sold for 700,000 euros.


Services & Staff

Appraisals, lot display and promotion, transport and storage, administrative paperwork, house sales, exhibitions, charity auctions

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