LONDON.- Sotheby’s announced that a pair of Magnificent Pair of Imperial Porcelain Vases, Period of Nicholas I (1825-1855), St Petersburg, will headline Sotheby’s Treasures: Aristocratic Heirlooms Sale in London on Tuesday, July 6, 2010. The auction – the first ever sale of its type at Sotheby’s – will bring together some 21 lots, the intrinsic quality and importance of which will be matched by the extraordinary nature of their provenance. Ranging in date from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and emanating from all corners of Europe, the works in the sale span the entire range of the decorative arts, from porcelain to silver, snuff boxes to furniture, and textiles to objects of Vertu. Mario Tavella, Sotheby’s Deputy Chairman Europe, who has spearheaded the sale, describes what first triggered the idea: “Someone asked me once: what makes something a treasure? I thought about it…. In my world, the