At the private viewing, Joel A. Rosenthal, the famous American jeweler who has been based in Paris for the past 30 years and signs with the initials "jar," fell in love with the finial. Together, the German couple’s prompt acquisition of the Sardinian bronze and Rosenthal’s equally swift purchase of the bronze finial symbolize the newly recovered control of the art market by connoisseurs. And that makes the market as secure as it has ever been, because a true collector’s impulse to go after a desired work of art is stronger than any fears inspired by economic problems.

Souren Melikian is the international editor of Art+Auction.

"Triumphant TEFAF" originally appeared in the June 2009 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's June 2009 Table of Contents.