Press Release London
For Immediate Release
London | +44 (0)20 7293 6000 | Matthew Floris | [email protected]
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Frankfurt | + 49 69 740 780 | Selei Serafin | [email protected]
SOTHEBY’S EUROPE
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
JUNE – JULY 2009
2009
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
19 TH CENTURY EUROPEAN PAINTINGS
3 June
Exhibition: 29
29 May – 2 June (excluding 30 May)
The 19th Century European Paintings sale features a
choice group of 15 works by some of the most
representative Spanish artists of the time: Hermenegildo
Anglada-Camarasa, Santiago Rusiñol, José Maria Sert,
Joaquín Sorolla and Ignacio Zuloaga. The Bathing
Hour, a striking canvas by Joaquín Sorolla (18631923) is the highlight of this section as it has never
before been seen in public and has always remained in
private collections (pictured left). Painted in 1915 but
signed and dated in 1917, The Bathing Hour is one of a
select number of oils that Sorolla executed on La
Malvarrosa beach at Valencia that year. The striking
spontaneity of Sorolla's depiction of the young girl
running into the sea, the boy lying on the shore and the small child playing in the waves is matched by the
artist's dramatic use of foreshortening to eliminate the horizon line, the reduction of all other pictorial elements
to bare essentials: sea, sand and boats, and his audacious palette. Blanca Pons Sorolla, the artist’s great niece,
biographer and leading expert, observes that the model for the young girl was almost certainly Sorolla’s
youngest child Elena. Throughout his career, Sorolla returned to Valencian scenes, which demonstrate his
fascination with the shimmer of light on the sea and sand, and with the movement of children at play. Sorolla's
increasing use of children as a subject matter was inspired by his growing family and the importance that he
attached to domestic life, not least as a response to his own upbringing: he had been orphaned as a child and
raised by relatives. His paintings retain a much-admired photographic spontaneity, a technique first inspired by
his mentor Antonio Garcia Peris, a local photographer who provided the young Sorolla with his initial artistic
training. Aware of his straitened circumstances García offered to pay for the cost of much of his schooling and
in return Sorolla worked in his photography laboratory, thus gaining an introduction to the compositional
opportunities that photography offered. There Sorolla fell in love with García's second daughter, Clotilde,
whom he married in 1888, a union that ensured continuing close ties with García and his photographic
business. The Bathing Hour is estimated to sell in the region of £1,700,000-2,500,000*.
Sotheby’s annual sale of Scandinavian Art – one of the components of the 19th Century European Painting
sale – will be led by five important works by the Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershø
Hammershøi (1864-1916). The group
of three intimate portrait works and two landscapes includes three paintings that featured in the well-received
and critically acclaimed exhibition Vilhelm Hammershøi: The Poetry of Silence, which was staged at the Royal
Academy in London during the summer of 2008 and then travelled to the National Museum of Western Art
in Tokyo that autumn. All five works show many of the artist’s signature elements.
Double Portrait of the Artist and his Wife, Seen Through a Mirror and Portrait of the Artist’s Mother are the two
most valuable works of the group, both having estimates of £80,000–120,000. The double portrait of
Hammershøi and his wife, Ida, was painted in 1911 at Spurveskjul, the county house in Lyngby (just north of
Copenhagen) that was his summer residence that year. Though Hammershøi traditionally spent his summers
painting landscapes, Spurveskjul provided an ideal environment and subject for him to paint. The great hall,
for example, provided a different sense of space and light than the artist was used to in his Copenhagen
apartments. In the portrait, Hammershøi captures himself looking in a mirror in the shadows of a cool, dark
room in an almost detached and melancholic manner, while his wife is connected to the light of the world
outside the room. The painting was acquired directly from Hammershøi by his sister–in-law, who is the
grandmother of the present owner. It therefore comes to the market with exemplary provenance.
Painted in 1886, Portrait of the Artist’s Mother
(Kunstnerens Moder Frederikke Hammershøi) is one
of two similar portraits Hammershøi produced of his
mother Frederikke that year (pictured left).
Hammershøi did not accept portrait commissions and
only painted those that he knew personally so his
portraits have an emotional resonance. Never before
offered at auction, the work is distinguished by its
impeccable provenance, having been acquired by the
family of the present owner from its first owner,
Alfred Bramsen (1851-1932), the Copenhagen
dentist who was Hammershøi’s foremost champion
and author of the first comprehensive catalogue of his
work. Composed in muted, black and grey tones - a
characteristic of so many of the artist’s works - the
sitter’s face, hands and kerchief stand out in clarity
against the dark background while the subject stares
into the distance seemingly detached from the artist. The work clearly takes its cue from the American painter
James McNeil Whistler’s famous Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother, which Hammershøi
admired.
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This sale also will bring to the market a
fine selection of works from the
Orientalist genre, a corner of the
international market that has seen its
profile continually gather momentum
on the international stage in recent
years. In 2008 Sotheby’s sales of
Orientalist Art worldwide brought a
combined total in excess of $36 million.
Eugè
Eugène Delacroix’s (1798-1863) Le
Combat is the most valuable of the
Orientalist works on offer in London in
June with an estimate of £300,000500,000 (pictured left). Painted circa
1856-58,
the
highly
focused
composition epitomises the eminent French artist’s dynamic North African subjects. The work – which is
brimming with energy – portrays a cloaked combatant on his rearing horse taking two attackers, lying in
ambush, by surprise and it combines Delacroix’s first-hand experience of Morocco with his own romantic
vision. Widely celebrated as the most innovative, influential and accomplished artist of the 19th-century
Orientalist school, Delacroix brought to this work a love – and understanding – of the Near and Middle East
that is second to none. He was already an established artist when he was invited to join a diplomatic
delegation to Morocco led by Charles de Mornay, who had been summoned by the King to appear before the
Sultan of Morocco, Moulay Abd er-Rahman. The North African journey proved a thrilling experience for
Delacroix and it heralded a whole new departure in his work, providing an endless array of subjects that would
dominate his painting for the rest of his career. Perhaps the most important legacy of the North African trip
was that it inspired Delacroix to synthesise his classical tradition – the basis of his artistic training – with a newfound exoticism that touched his romantic temperament. This inspiration is evident in Le Combat with his
mixing of the North African costumes and the pyramidal form of the riders and horses, a quintessentially
classical construct taken from the Venetian Renaissance. Le Combat has been in the same private collection
since 1975 so its appearance at auction represents a rare opportunity for collectors in the Orientalist field.
SOTHEBY’S PARIS
20TH CENTURY DECORATIVE ARTS AND
AND DESIGN
4 June
Exhibition: 30 May – 3 June
Sotheby's sale in Paris of 20th Century Decorative Arts & Design, to be held
on 4 June, includes 20 pieces of furniture by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann,
reflecting the strikingly modern look of the furniture he was producing in the
late 1920s. Most of these items were designed between 1925 and 1928, and
several of them are unique; they have detailed provenance, and were
collected over the last twenty years.
Unique items of furniture include an ebony and silvered steel bookcase
exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in 1926, which bears eloquent
witness to Ruhlmann's creative genius (est. €300,000-500,000; pictured
right), a piano (with matching chair) in ebony, burr amboyna and ivory is one
of six Ruhlmann pianos with a lyre-shaped pedal-frame (est. €450,000-
3
550,000), and the Lit Corbeille double-bed he designed for the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in 1928
(est. €60,000-80,000).
The sale devoted to works of varied provenance includes some notable French decorative art: François
Pompon, Marc du Plantier, Gilbert Poillerat, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Royère, Line Vautrin or Janine Janet.
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
RUSSIAN ART EVENING SALE
8 June
Exhibition: 5 – 8 June
On 8 June, Sotheby’s London will hold its biannual Russian Art Evening auction, as part of its Russian Art
Sales Week. The auction, which is rich in works from private collections and rare pieces, many of which have
not appeared on the market for several years, will present 28 lots. In addition to the rediscovered painting,
Nanny with Children by Isaak Izrailevich Brodsky (1883-1939), the sale will also include three paintings from
the Colefax Collection, and further important works by Russian artists such as Nikolai Roerich,
Roerich Boris
Kustodiev,
Kustodiev Mikhail Nesterov and Sergei Vinogradov.
Vinogradov The Russian Art Evening auction will be followed by
Contemporary Art: Russian & Ukrainian on 9 June, the Day Sale of Russian Paintings on 10 June and the
Day Sale of Russian Works of Art,
Art Fabergé & Icons on 10 June.
One of the most important works to headline the
upcoming Evening Sale, is the oil on canvas The Village
Fair by Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878-1927),
signed and dated 1920, which comes from a private
French collection (pictured left). As Kustodiev's spine
condition worsened during the 1910s, he became
physically removed from the outside world which
inspired him, and the artist felt compelled to represent
the world of his memories. Estimated at £1-1.5 million,
The Village Fair is typical of Kustodiev’s idyllic depictions
of the Russian provinces and exemplary of the artist’s
ability to convey the sounds as well as the sights of
provincial Russia. The composition teems with colours
and details, from the clatter of the horse-drawn carts to
the gentle snoring of a woman who has fallen asleep in
the shade of a birch-tree. The post-Revolutionary period
coincided with a surge in Kustodiev's popularity among Russians and Western European intelligentsia.
Kustodiev's paintings harked back to a gentler, bygone age at a time of political upheaval.
The 1920s, saw an impressive set of Russian émigrés arrive in New York, of whom Sonia Colefax was one of
the most engaging. The daughter of a successful fisheries merchant appointed by the Tsar, Sonia begun life in
Russia but left before the Revolution with only her books and school uniform. After a brief post-war marriage
in Germany she began a new life in New York in 1922, immediately enlisting a compatriot to build her a
Russian dacha on Long Island, which would become a mecca for Russian musicians, artists, intellects and
bohemians. Sonia had installed there stunning paintings by Mikhail Nesterov and Alexander Moravov, and
continued to build her collection in the States and Europe between 1924 and 1930. A passionate and
discerning collector, she also acquired works by early American painters, glassware, and early American and
English furniture.
4
Of the numerous figures drawn by her magnetic character was Peter Colefax, whom Sonia met towards the
end of the 1920s and was married to for over 25 years. Peter was the eldest son of another remarkable lady of
her era, Sybil Colefax, famous today as a founding partner of the interior design company Colefax & Fowler.
Sergei Arsenevich Vinogradov’s (1869-1938) oil on canvas Lady In An Interior, dated 1924, is estimated at
£150,000-200,000 and was one of the first paintings the artist executed in the flat he and his wife rented at
8 Elizabetes Street in Riga’s city centre, the recent date of the move reflected in the relative austerity of the
room. Vinogradov was en route to New York to organise the 1924 ‘The Russian Art Exhibition’ at Grand
Central Palace in New York, when he visited Riga with Grabar and Somov in December 1923. He was so
taken by the "delightful tranquility" of Riga that after his trip to America, "with its never-ending chatter and
almost manic sense of hurry" Vinogradov moved to Latvian capital in late summer of that year and never
returned to Moscow.
A further auction highlight is Alexander Konstantinovich Bogomazov’s
Bogomazov (1880-1930) oil on canvas laid
down on board, Abstract Composition (illustrated below), executed circa 1914-15, which has come from a
distinguished San Francisco collection. Bogomazov, a leading member of the Ukrainian avant-garde
movement, attended the Kiev School of Art in 1902, but was expelled in 1905 for his participation in political
demonstrations and strikes. He moved to Moscow and continued his studies in the private art schools of Fedor
Rerberg and Konstantin Yuon, from which many famous Russian Cubo-Futurist artists had emerged. In 1913–
14 Bogomazov was associated with the Russian Cubo-Futurist artists and came into contact with the Italian
Futurists. Under these influences, he started painting in a Cubo- Futurist mode and became a leading
exponent of this style.
Bogomazov's commitment to modernist formal experimentation led him to concentrate on harmonious
arrangements of line and colour, illustrated in the work included for sale, Abstract Composition of 1914–15.
Closely spaced sequences of interpenetrating diagonals, curves, and acute angles create an impression of
rhythmically pulsating volumes. The mosaic of planes recalls Cubism, while the clear trajectories of movement
indicate the influence of Futurism. The painting demonstrates the artist’s increasing liberation from mimetic
reproduction in favour of pure visuality. The kinetic and luminous vibrations of forms create a tense power field
reminiscent of a kaleidoscope. The painting, which was acquired by the present owner in 1989 and has been
off the market for almost 20 years, is estimated at £300,000-400,000.
Russian Paintings Day Sale
Highlighting the Russian Art Day Sale are two works by the Ballet Russes
artist Léon Bakst (1866–1924). His 1911 gouache and gold paint over
pencil on paper laid on board, Costume Design for a Young Hindu Prince
In le Dieu bleu, is estimated at £15,000-20,000 (pictured left). ‘Le Dieu
bleu’, a ballet based on a Hindu legend written by Jean Cocteau and
Frédéric de Madrazo and set to music by Renaldo Hahn, was planned for
the 1911 season in Paris. Once rehearsals for the season started in full, it
became obvious that the proposed program was too ambitious and
Diaghilev was forced to postpone ‘Le Dieu bleu’ until 1912. The majority
of Bakst's designs for this production were inspired by traditional Indian
and Hindu costumes, especially those in Mogul miniatures. Many
costumes also echo types Bakst had designed for Schéhérezade and
Orientales. Bakst’s gouache and gold paint over pencil on paper laid on
board, Costume Design for The Priest Soma from Le Dieu dleu, 1911, is
estimated at £15,000-20,000.
5
SOTHEBY'S ZÜRICH
SWISS ART
8 June
Exhibition: 5 – 7 June
Sotheby’s spring sale of Swiss Art will take place in Zurich on 8 June. For this auction, Urs Lanter, specialist in
charge of the sale, and his team have gathered together 117 works covering 250 years of Swiss art history.
While the sale does include classical artists such as Augusto Giacometti, Cuno Amiet, Albert Anker, Ernest
Biéler, Paul Camenisch or Ferdinand Hodler, this spring auction also highlights contemporary artists such as
Silvia Gertsch, Xerxes Arch, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Luciano Castelli or Rémy Zaugg.
The works to be offered for auction will
include Bergdorf (Haus und Garten in
Stampa) (Mountain Village, House and
Garden in Stampa), a very attractive oil on
canvas by Augusto Giacometti (18771947) (est. CHF 600,000-800,000 /
€393,000-525,000; pictured left). It
depicts a view in the village where the artist
was born, namely Stampa, located in the
canton of Grisons. This canvas is a
marvelously clear demonstration of the
artist’s main qualities: it allows a true
appreciation of his pictorial technique,
characterised by thick patches of paint laid on
a very flat background in which unpainted areas create an effect of airiness in the painting. This major canvas
was displayed for many years at the Kunstmuseum in Chur.
The auction also includes a magnificent work entitled Frau im Garten (Woman in Garden) painted in 1911 by
Cuno Amiet (1868-1961). This oil, saturated with colour, is a manifestation of what has been called “Swiss
colourism,” a genre dating from the beginning of the 20th century. Estimated at CHF 700,000-900,000 /
€455,000-585,000, this painting perfectly illustrates the talents of this artist. After joining the German
expressionist group Die Brücke in 1906, Amiet let himself be carried away by his enthusiasm for colour. As
this canvas illustrates, his brushstrokes are broad and clear, and the daring with which he combines warm and
cold tones imparts great strength to this scene which should appeal to connoisseurs and amateurs alike.
Another of the leading paintings in this auction is an oil by the artist Paul Camenisch (1893-1970) entitled
Herbstlandschaft im Mendrisiotto (Autumn Landscape in the Mendrisiotto). Painted in 1925, a year after he had
founded the expressionist group “Rot-Blau” with Albert Müller and Hermann Scherer, this oil on canvas is one
of the highlights of his artistic output (estimate CHF 80,000-120,000 / €52,500-79,000). Since this
artist produced relatively few works, his paintings seldom appear in public sales. The quality of his work and the
importance of his movement during the expressionist years make him one of the major Swiss painters of that
period. A feature of his biography is the contacts he had with the expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner,
who certainly influenced his approach to his art. Testifying to its importance in the cultural history of
Switzerland, this painting is illustrated in the “Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Art” (Dictionnaire biographique de
l’art suisse) published by the Swiss Institute for Art Research, ISEA, 1998.
6
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN CONTEMPORARY ART
9 June
Exhibition: 5 – 8 June
On 9 June, Sotheby’s London will stage its first Russian
Contemporary Art auction to include a major offering of
Ukrainian Art. The Contemporary Art: Russian and
Ukrainian sale, which forms part of Sotheby’s London
Russian Week in June, will present around 109 lots that
have been sourced from both Russian and Ukrainian
galleries, private collections and also directly from the artists’
studios. Estimates in the sale range from £2,000-3,000
up to £180,000-220,000. Highlights include MalevichBlack Square by Ale
Alexander Kosolapov (est. £25,00035,000; pictured right).
SOTHEBY’S MILAN
OLD MASTER PAINTINGS, 19 TH CENTURY PAINTINGS, FURNITURE, CERAMICS, WORKS
OF ART AND BOOKS
BOOKS
9 – 10 June
Exhibition: 5 – 9 June
Sotheby’s sale in Milan over a two-day period on 9 and 10 June will
include Old Master Paintings from the Contini Bonacossi Collection.
Alessando Contini Bonacossi (1878-1955) was a collector, connoisseur
and dealer, and one of the most prominent figures in the Italian art world
in the first half of the 20th century. Following his marriage in 1899 to
Victoria Galli, Alessandro moved with his wife to Spain but the couple
returned to Italy in 1918. Now rich and with the title of Count,
Bonacossi met Robert Longhi who directed his passion for art towards
the old masters. From the 1920s on, he began using his flourishing
connoisseurship to make a name for himself as a dealer, and after the
end of the Second World War – through a friendship with Bernard
Berenson who became his advisor – he became a benefactor to the
Museum of Castel S. Angel and the National Institute of Renaissance
Studies. Alessando Contini Bonacossi died in Florence on 22 October 1955, leaving over 1,000 paintings.
144 of these comprised a donation to the Uffizi in 1967, including works by Cimabue, Bellini, Tintoretto,
Veronese, El Greco, Goya and Bernini. Three paintings to be offered for sale are of particular note. Portrait of
a Woman with Lute by Francesco
Francesco Ubertini, called Bachiacca (1494-1557), estimated at €250,000350,000; Portrait of a Young Man by Jacometto Veneziano (active 1472-1497), estimated at €150,000200,000 (pictured above); and La Chiamata Di Sant’ Andrea by Federico Barocci,
Barocci estimated at
€250,000-350,000.
Highlights among the 19th century works include Roman Women, Contemporary Scene by Gerolamo Induno
(1827-1890). Dated 1864 and estimated at €350,000-450,000, it shows the women reading news of
the annexation of Rome to Italy, part of il Risorgimento, or "The Resurgence", the political and social
movement that annexed different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century.
7
Study of a Woman writing by Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) is a fresh and vibrant work executed circa 1920
(est. €65,000-85,000). The composition refuses to stay static with its dynamic brushwork which increases
in velocity in the drapery of the woman’s dress.
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
MUSIC
10 June
Exhibition: 5 – 9 June (excluding 6 June)
Sotheby’s London auction of Music on 10 June will present for the
first time at auction an autograph letter by Carlo Broschi Farinelli,
one of the most famous Italian contralto and soprano castrati singers
of the 18th century (est. £4,000-6,000, pictured left). Written by
the singer considered to be the greatest of all time, this remarkable
and extremely rare letter marks Farinelli’s retirement from the
operatic stage.
Farinelli, the subject of the eponymous film that won the Golden
Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1995 and was also nominated for an
Academy Award in the same category, was adored in his lifetime by
both the cognoscenti and the public. His talents won him much
affection and he was lavished with gifts from admirers, including King
Louis XV who gave Farinelli his portrait set in diamonds. After
establishing his reputation throughout Europe and proving himself to
be so formidable a performer that his rival and friend the castrato
Gioacchino Conti ("Gizziello") is said to have fainted from sheer
despondency on hearing him sing, Farinelli sang in London during the years 1734-1737 for the Opera of the
Nobility, deadly rivals of Handel’s opera productions.
The public’s interest in opera was unable to sustain two rival opera companies, and on 15th July 1737 Farinelli
left London and went to Madrid in the service of Philip V of Spain where the queen, Elisabetta Farnese, had
come to believe that Farinelli's voice might be able to cure the severe depression of her husband
(contemporary physicians believed in music therapy). In effect the great foreign star had been lured overseas
again by a better paid and more glamorous contract. On 25th August 1737 Farinelli was named chamber
musician to the king and criado familiar - honorary member of the Royal Family. Nonetheless, he was still under
contract in London in the summer of 1737, and the autograph letter to be offered for sale is in response to a
letter from Lord Charles Cadogan, a director of the Opera of the Nobility, addressing Farinelli’s conduct and
the fulfillment of his obligations to the company. Farinelli never sang again in public and for the remaining nine
years of Philip's life gave nightly private concerts to the royal couple.
The sale, which comprises 136 lots and is expected to raise in excess of £800,000, also features a newly
discovered piano duet in F major by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), the foremost French composer of his
generation (est. £15,000-20,000), which is believed to be complete and remains unrecorded and certainly
unpublished. The earliest Beethoven manuscript to have appeared at auction for many years is a further
highlight in the sale - a remarkable early autograph working manuscript for several unidentified works,
containing unknown themes and ideas (est. £100,000-120,000) - in addition to the first collection of
keyboard music printed in Britain which includes an apparently new source for 17th-century English keyboard
music, with nine previously unknown and unpublished pieces est. £60,000-80,000).
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SOTHEBY’S PARIS
ASIAN ART
11 June
Exhibition: 6 – 10 June (excluding 7 June)
Sotheby’s sale of Asian Art, to be held in Paris on 11 June, includes 302 lots of Chinese, Buddhist and
Japanese art. The sale begins with a rare collection of 102 Chinese snuff-bottles – several of them of imperial
origin – from the 18th and 19th centuries. The highlight of this private collection, patiently assembled over 20
years, is a rare black and white jade snuff-bottle from the Suzhou School of Zhiting (c.1750-1850), featuring
the explorer Zhang Qian, said to have discovered the Milky Way (est. €40,000-60,000).
Other highlights include especially, a rare, blue-and-white Ming porcelain flask
decorated with flowers of the four seasons, from the Yongle Period (140324). Only five other examples of this model exist, all in museums. The sixth, to
be offered here, could be found until recently in the lounge of a family
château in the west of France, mounted as a lamp (est. €200,000300,000).
Buddhist statuary plays a central role in the sale, led by the piece shown on the
front-cover of the catalogue: a very rare grey limestone Buddha (height 4ft
7in) from the Sui Dynasty (581-618). Consigned from a private French
collection, and formerly in the C.T. Loo Collection, this first appeared at
auction in 1969, at the Palais Galliera in Paris (est. €500,000-700,000;
pictured right).
Works of art include some splendid jades – notably a rare, archaistic 16th century Ming rhyton (est.
€60,000-80,000) and a white jade bowl bearing the Qianlong Yuyong mark designating pieces reserved
exclusively for the emperor's use (est. €80,000-120,000).
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
INDIAN ART
16 June
Exhibition: 12 – 16 June (excluding 13)
Sotheby’s annual sale of Indian Art in London will this year take place on 16 June and it will bring to the market
a fine assortment of works by leading Modern and
Contemporary Indian artists as well as rare and important
Indian Miniatures. A significant number of the works on
offer have exemplary provenance having long been part of
private collections. The 86 lots are expected to bring in
the region of £1.2 million.
Jogen Chowdhury’s
Chowdhury (b. 1939) ink and pastel composition
Day Dreaming graces the cover of the sale catalogue and
this work highlights the artist’s graceful and distinctive style
of fluid lines and simple forms defined by crosshatching, a
style which derives from his appreciation of the Bengal pat
tradition. Dating from 1979, the work (pictured right)
9
beautifully illustrates Jogen’s sensitivity to and awareness of pattern and texture; skills that he perhaps
mastered during his training and work as a textile designer in the late 1960s. Day Dreaming is a continuation
of a series of works that Chowdhury produced between 1968-76, entitled Reminiscences of a Dream, and all
the works in the series capture symbols and figures from a world of dreams floating against a dark background
that are devoid of place and time. Chowdhury, who trained in both Kolkata and Paris, is best known for his ink
works and this example was exhibited at the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1979. Never offered at auction before and
one of the largest works of its type by Chowdhury to ever come to the market, it is estimated at £80,000120,000.
An untitled painting by Manjit Bawa (1941-2008), which featured on the front cover of the first-ever issue of
Art India in 1996, is another notable highlight and is expected to fetch £70,000-100,000. Bawa’s work
questions the dynamics of the relationship between humans and the animal world and the icons and myths of
both. His distinctive and bold use of colour is rooted in his training as a silk-screen printer and his study of
Rajput and Pahari miniature paintings.
Among the miniatures on offer is a group of three Mughal
illustrations that come from the famed Ehrenfeld
Collection,
Collection the collection that the renowned Mrs Lois
Ehrenfeld built with her husband, the late Dr. William
Ehrenfeld, and that was inspired by their love affair with the
arts of India. One of the illustrations is from a Persian
translation of the Kathasaritasagara of Somadeva in India
and this opaque watercolour heightened with gold depicts a
king slaying a mendicant observed from above by a deity
seated on a lotus cloud (pictured left). The scene possibly
refers to the incident at the end of the tale of King Trivikramasena when a demon enters a human corpse. A
second miniature is a portrait of Prince Sulaiman Shikoh and his father Prince Dara Shikoh, who was the eldest
son and apparent heir of Shah Jahan, while the third is a genre scene of a Prince meeting a holy man, which
closely follows the style of the Mughal artist Govardhan who produced a number of portraits of holy men,
dervishes and ascetics, often at the request of Prince Dara Shokoh. The three miniatures are estimated at
£8,000-12,000, £10,000-15,000 and £12,000-18,000 respectively.
The sale will also offer a selection of works by Contemporary Indian artists such as Rashid Rana (b. 1968) and
Abir
Abi r Karmakar
Karmakar (b. 1977). Photographic works by Pablo Bartholomew (b. 1955) and Atul Bhalla
Bhalla (b. 1964)
will also feature.
SOTHEBY’S AMSTERDAM
HAUTE ÉPOQUE - FURNITURE
FURNITURE AND DECORATIVE ARTS
16 June
Exhibition: 12 – 14 June
A special sale at Sotheby’s Amsterdam on 16 June is devoted to Haute
Époque, or Early Art. The creativity of the western European artists from
the Romanesque period down to 1700 was unsurpassed and this sale of
European sculpture, furniture and works of art includes medieval wooden
sculptures and furniture, sculpture and works of art from the Renaissance
and the early Baroque. Rare items include a polychrome sculpture of Mary
and Child, possibly Middle Rhenish, and dating from circa 1440 (est.
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€40,000-60,000; pictured on previous page). There are interesting clocks such as a Dutch ebony brass
mounted astronomical table clock by Otto van Meurs (est. €50,000-70,000) and a German tortoiseshell
gilt brass basket top quarter repeating table timepiece by Christoph Schoener, late 17th century (est.
€12,000-18,000). Very rare is an Antwerp carved walnut mirror frame with bronze medallion from the
second half of the 16th century, estimated at €40,000-60,000. Furniture includes a Dutch carved oak
cupboard 'Beeldenkast', dated 1637, Renaissance (est. €12,000-18,000), an important medieval oak
boarded chest, 15th century (est. €30,000-50,000) and a pair of South German 17th century cream
painted and carved giltwood figures of angels (est. €5,000-7,000).
SOTHEBY’S
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
FINEST AND RAREST WINES FEATURING THE COLLECTION FROM THE CELLARS OF
CHÂTEAU CHEVAL BLANC
17 June
Sotheby’s will offer for sale an extraordinary range of
Cheval Blanc wine direct from the cellar of the Bordeaux
Château on 17 June. The auction, which will take place in
London, represents the first time that Cheval Blanc has
opened its treasure trove in this way and is therefore an
historic opportunity for collectors to acquire and enjoy
vintages directly from the cellars of the most iconic St.
Emilion Château. This auction is the latest of a number
of sales at Sotheby’s that have included wine direct from
top Bordeaux estates. In 2007 Sotheby’s New York sold
Treasures from the Private Cellar of Baroness Philippine
Rothschild and in 2008 Sotheby’s London auctioned wine direct from Château d’Yquem in April and in
November sold Treasures from the cellars of Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande.
With wines from 1900 – 1995 the sale spans nearly a century and includes over 1,000 bottles grouped into
287 lots including a very large selection of rare and sought after bottles, magnums, Double Magnums,
Jeroboams and Imperials. The auction includes a number of verticals including one of over 30 bottles
covering 60 years from 1905 that is estimated at £15,000–20,000.
Château Cheval Blanc dates from 1832 when the first part of what is now the Cheval Blanc estate was
acquired from the Figeac estate. The wine has long been synonymous with the highest quality and won medals
in the London and Paris International Exhibitions in 1862 and 1867 that are still displayed on the labels today.
Cheval Blanc is known as one of the most consistent wines in the world that tastes magnificent at any age. This
extraordinary balance is a result of the unique terroir that gives Cheval Blanc both the richness and opulence of
wines made on clay and the close knit tannic structure of those from more gravely
soil. Cabernet Franc is the main grape variety used in Cheval Blanc wines but it is
balanced with a large proportion of Merlot. There are approximately 37 hectares of
vines that, on average, are around 40 years old. Château Cheval Blanc is one of
only two St Emilion Châteaux to be awarded the top Class A classification.
One of the most iconic Cheval Blanc vintages – 1947 – features widely in the sale
and it is available by the bottle, magnum or as part of verticals (pictured right). The
1947 vintage is known as one of the great Bordeaux wines and has been described
by Serena Sutcliffe MW as “quite unlike all other red wines.” The sweltering summer
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created a vintage that has built up an extraordinary reputation and is often compared to Port because of its
power and sublime sweetness. Single bottles are estimated at £4,000–5,000 and magnums at £8,000–
12,000.
SOTHEBY’S PARIS
BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS
17 June
Exhibition: 13 – 16 June (excluding 14 June)
On June 17 at Sotheby’s in Paris, the Association Espace SaintExupéry and the Saint-Exupéry - d’Agay Estate will offer for sale an
exceptional manuscript of Terre des Hommes, in aid of the Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation under the auspices of the Fondation
de France. The 58-page autograph manuscript covers all six of SaintExupéry's exclusive articles for L’Intransigeant, published between
30 January–4 February 1936 under the title Le Vol Brisé: Prison de
Sable (Shattered Flight: Prison of Sand). This series of articles would be
reworked for Chapter 7 of Terre des Hommes, entitled Au Centre du
Désert, published at the start of 1939. It is estimated at €200,000300,000 (pictured left).
SOTHEBY’S PARIS
AFRICAN AND OCEANIC ART
17 June
Exhibition: 13 – 16 June (excluding 14 June)
On 17 June, Sotheby’s Paris will offer for sale the private collection of
Philippe Guimiot and his wife Domitilla de Grunne. The 65 selected
works from Africa, Oceania and South-East Asia include a number of
masterpieces. While several have been shown in major international
exhibitions – such as Africa: Art of a Continent (London 1995-96),
Mains de Maîtres (Brussels 2001), and Utotombo (Brussels 1988) –
many others have never before been seen in public. Philippe Guimiot
was one of the greatest of all tribal art dealers, and the only one to have
spent nearly fifteen years living in Africa, pursing his passionate interest
in discovering different styles of tribal art and revealing them to the
western world. Now, after ceasing his dealer's activity six years ago, he
has decided to unveil his personal collection – formed over twenty years
with his wife Domitilla de Grunne – to the public for the first time.
Among the collection’s numerous highlights is a large Urhobo female figure from Nigeria, 4ft 6in (1.38m) tall,
collected in situ by Philippe Guimiot in 1969 (est. €300,000-500,000). The figure's monumentality
derives from its size, magnificent carving and superbly dignified pose. Alongside the maternity figure in the
Musée du Quai Branly, and the male figure in the Roger Vanthournout Collection (both also collected by
Philippe Guimiot), it counts as one of the leading masterpieces of Urhobo art, which Philippe Guimiot brought
to international attention in the early 1970s. In 1972 Guimiot returned to Europe and settled in Brussels – the
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main centre for works of art from the former Belgian Congo, now (after a spell as Zaire) officially designated
the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of the collection's most outstanding Congo pieces from is a
powerful Songye fetish figure, 2ft 10in (87cm) tall, collected in situ by Karen Plasmans (est. €300,000450,000; pictured on previous page). The figure helped François Neyt identify the carving workshop in the
Eki/Kalebwe region, with its characteristic hair arrangements involving four raised buns.
The grandeur of Oceanic art is thrillingly evoked by a superb Maori prow figure from New Zealand, 17in
(44cm) tall, collected by Major-General Horatio Gordon Robley in 1864, and thought to date from the Te
Puawaitanga period, i.e. before 1800 (est. €250,000-350,000). Equally impressive is a house post from
Lake Sentani (Papua New Guinea), 6ft 11in (2.10m) tall, whose sinuous lines and subtle carving reflect the
elegant mastery of the art of Lake Sentani (est. €150,000-250,000). The collection's exquisite quality
throughout, with each work exuding its own individual appeal, reflects Philippe Guimiot's "eye for the
absolute." Emotional power, says Guimiot, is vital: "The emotion within a work is largely proportional to its
degree of perfection in attaining the essential truths which sculpture seeks to express."
Alongside the Guimiot Collection, a second catalogue features some sixty works from various owners, almost
forming a collection in their own right. Highlights include a rare Kwele "altar sculpture" (Gabon/Congo), 16in
(41cm) tall, whose striking design – with the head on an elongated neck emerging from a stool-shaped
support – marks it down as one of the most powerful creations of Kwele art (est. €450,000-600,000).
SOTHEBY’S MILAN
IMPORTANT OLD MASTER PAINTINGS, FURNITURE AND WORKS OF ART
From the Piano Nobile di Palazzo Contarini di Corfù Scamozzi
23 June
Exhibition:
On 23 June, Sotheby’s Milan will present the sale of a
private collection from an extraordinary Venetian
residence on the Grand Canal. The Palazzi Contarini
di Corfù, within reach of the Accademia, was
redesigned in the 17th century by Palladio’s pupil
Vincenzo Scamozzi, and combines palatial interiors
with intimate smaller rooms. The Contarinis, the
original owners, formed the collection with passion and
discernment over more than 30 years.
Quintessentially Italian, the collection is predominately
composed of Tuscan and Venetian Old Master
paintings and furniture from the Trecento to the 18th
century, complemented by a number of select works of
art and bronzes. Of particular note are four capricci by Hubert Robert (est. €200,000-300,000), dated
circa 1754 just after his arrival in Rome (one is pictured above).
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SOTHEBY’S LONDON
IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART
EVENING SALE
24 June
Exhibition: 19 – 24 June
June
A group of works from a private European collection by Alberto
Giacometti will feature in the 24th June Impressionist and
Modern Art Evening Sale. The group, which has a combined low
estimate of £4.2 million, is led by Buste de Diego (Aménophis), an
iconic sculpture of the artist’s younger brother estimated at £2-3
million (pictured right). This work depicts Diego whose slender
head emerges from a voluminous bust and is typical of many of
the portrayals of Diego by his brother after the war. A further
Giacometti work is Diego (Tête au Col Roulé), estimated at £1–
1.5 million and dating from the early 1950s. This painted plaster
sculpture brings together the rich surface of plaster with the
liveliness of a painted work. Another work in this Giacometti
group is a bronze bust of his wife; Buste d’Annette VII belongs to
a series of sculptures that are characterised by a delicate
rendering of Annette’s distinctive features. A slender neck
supports a raised head, large eyes, pointed nose and delicate chin.
Estimated at £1.2–1.8 million the present work is one of only two
casts of Buste d’Annette VII with the other in the collection of The
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco.
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
CONTEMPORARY ART
EVENING SALE
25 June
Exhibition: 19 – 25 June
Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Contemporary Art on 25 June will feature as its cover lot the monumental oil on
canvas Almost Grown by Peter Doig (b. 1959), which was executed by the artist in 2000. The painting ranks
in the very highest tier of Doig's prodigious repertoire of portentous landscapes and is fine example of his
skilled handling of paint. The artist's upbringing in the rural tranquillity of Canada has served as catalyst for
many of his best known works and the source for this landscape is the farm of Doig's parents, near Cobourg
and the shore of Lake Ontario near Toronto. Almost Grown crystallises the artist’s very best painting in its
physical layering of surface upon surface, resulting in a work that is replete with vestiges of memory and
experience, and the vast expanse of the canvas affords a monumental rendition of nature. A group of three
discoloured photographic sources from the artist's studio shows the basic topographical template for Almost
Grown, but as evident from the Doig’s accompanying sketches, from these photos he has developed the
composition using the memory of a familiar place as well as his imagination. This work came at the end of an
extraordinarily successful decade that saw Doig graduate from the Chelsea College of Art and Design in
1990, win the prestigious Whitechapel Artist Prize, mount a solo exhibition at the gallery in 1991, and become
short-listed for the Turner Prize in 1994. Almost Grown is estimated at £1.4-1.8 million.
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A major work from Alexander Calder’s (1898 – 1976) careerdefining years of the early 1930s, is A Cinq Morceaux De Bois,
which comes from a private European collection (pictured right).
The wood, string, rod, and wire standing mobile measures 127 by
92 by 21cm and is one of the artist’s most important standing
mobile sculptures ever to be presented at auction. This sculpture,
which was acquired by the present owner in 1993 and has
remained off the market for almost 16 years, is an exceptionally
rare work that exactly captures the artist's revolutionary vision in its
earliest form. A Cinq Morceaux de Bois also represents the exact
moment when the famous sculptor's art changed from being based
in the figurative world to the abstract, precipitating a fundamental
shift in the development of sculpture in the 20th century.
The craftsmanship of the sculpture recalls the artist's training at the
Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey between 1915 and
1919, and his long development of wire animals, performers and
maquettes in his infamous Cirque Calder series executed in Paris from 1926. A Cinq Morceaux de Bois is
typical of his very best works and demonstrates Calder's capacity to orientate the movement of his mobiles
according to both horizontal and vertical axes to heighten the sense of surface animation. From an extremely
early moment in his epic career, the sculpture is a definitive testament not only to Alexander Calder's technical
skill, imaginative genius and talent for organic composition, but also his ability to breathe life into that which
was previously inanimate. It is estimated at £1.2-1.8 million. A further work by Alexander Calder is his 1956
painted metal hanging mobile, Untitled, which is also estimated at £1.2-1.8 million.
SOTHEBY’S AMSTERDAM
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART
1 July
Exhibition: 26 – 29 June
The sale of Modern and Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s
Amsterdam on 1 July offers interesting works from the 20th
century, by international and Dutch artists. A relief by Jan
Schoonhoven, R 61-5, Jalousienrelief / fanlight-shutters, is signed
and dated 1961 in felt tip on the reverse. A basic principle for Jan
Schoonhoven was that an artist should express no personal
feeling. Impersonality and objectivity were his ideals. He achieved
this by placing simple elementary forms in rows under and across
each other. Schoonhoven's works are brushed with a coat of white
paint but they are not really paintings as such. The use of light as
a fundamental artistic principle plays an important part in his work.
On the present relief, the effect of light is clear; the rhythm of the
succession of shapes is accentuated by the rhythm of the light.
The relief, consigned from a Dutch private collection, is
estimated at €120,000–150,000.
Works by the British female artist Marlow Moss (London, 1889 –
Penzance, 1958) are rare, as much of her early work was destroyed when German bombs hit her studio in
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Paris. Her early works - such as White, Black, Blue and Red - show a clear influence of Neo-Plasticism, a theory
developed by Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. Marlow Moss was a pupil-follower of Piet Mondrian
but she made some radical departures from the Mondrian doctrine. It is therefore suggested by some that she
influenced him more than the other way around. Works by Marlow Moss can be found in the collections of the
Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Tate Modern in London, the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, the
Gemeentemuseum in The Hague and Museum Kröller-Müller in Otterlo. The Gemeentemuseum Arnhem
organised an exhibition on Marlow Moss in 1994. The present work in oil on canvas (the wooden frame is part
of the work), is signed and dated on the front Marlow Moss 1944 (est. €30,000-50,000; pictured on
previous page).
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
WESTERN MANUSCRIPTS AND MINIATURES AND MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED
MINIATURES AND THE KORNER HOURS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE ERIC
KORNER
7 July
Exhibition: 3 – 6 July
Sotheby’s sale of Western Manuscripts on 7 July will comprise both The
Korner Sale and the Various Owner Sale, with a combined total sale
estimate of £3 million. The highlight of the Various Owner Sale is a
stunningly illuminated manuscript dating to the mid-15th century that has
surfaced for the first time in half a century and contains three illustrations
considered to be the earliest depictions of Joan of Arc (pictured right).
Estimated at £1-1.5 million, this remarkable manuscript documents the life of
one of the most important and powerful emperors in Europe in the late
middle ages, Sigismund of Luxemburg (1368-1437), king of Hungary,
Germany, Bohemia, Lombardy, and Holy Roman Emperor. This
swashbuckling and often blood-thirsty account marks a significant
development of ambitious pictorial decoration and vernacular literature and
is a celebration of the emperor’s involvement in many major events in this
era’s history, including the religious wars with the Hussites and the story of
Joan of Arc, who had significant contact with Sigismund before leading the
French army against the English, resulting in her capture, trial and
martyrdom in 1431.
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
IMPORTANT ENGLISH AND CONTINENTAL FURNITURE, SILVER, CERAMICS AND
CLOCKS
7 July
Exhibition: 3 – 7 July
Sotheby’s London will present the very best of decorative arts in its sale of Important Furniture, Silver,
Ceramics & Clocks on 7 July 2009. The sale of 68 lots is expected to raise in excess of £5 million and
comprises the finest selections of both English and Continental furniture, in addition to the very best of
decorative arts.
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The highlight of the continental furniture
featured in the sale is a very fine and important
pair of Italian carved giltwood settees, dating to
around 1740-1744 and estimated at
£200,000-300,000 (one pictured left).
These exceptional settees originally come from
one of the most important and sumptuous
rococo interiors ever conceived in Italy, the
Galleria Dorata, in Palazzo Carrega-Cataldi in
Genoa – so important in fact that the doors
from the room where the settees were originally
placed are now split between the collections of the Metropolitan Museum and the Louvre. The 18 chairs that
once formed part of this suite were sold in the Yves Saint Laurent sale earlier this year. The aquatic theme
typified by mermaids, scallopshells and dolphins displayed on this pair of sofas was typical of the Genoese
decorative repertoire and the rococo style in general which was intended to rival the French interiors of the
time.
From the fine collection of English furniture one of the most important highlights
is a George II mahogany armchair, possibly Irish, circa 1755, after a design by
Thomas Chippendale (est. £60,000-90,000; pictured right) which can be
associated with a group of chairs of equally elaborate design, including an example
at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and another in the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston (a chair from the suite supplied for Grimsthorpe Castle). Conceived
in the 'French' taste of the mid-1750s, the chair bears a striking resemblance to a
design published by Thomas Chippendale in his The Gentleman and CabinetMaker's Director.
Two important highlights from the selection of ceramics in the sale are a garniture of five Meissen vases and
three covers, and a pair of Sèvres vases. The Meissen porcelain vases, dated to circa 1730-40 and the
decoration probably circa 1745, comprise three large ovoid vases and covers and two flared beaker vases,
each with chinoiserie scenes within elaborate ombrierte gilt baroque reserves among scattered sprigs and
sprays of deutsche Blumen and are estimated at £100,000-150,000. The decoration on these vases
represents a late flowering of the early chinoiserie style initiated by J.G.Höroldt. The combination of this
decoration with sprays of naturalistic European-style flowers is also found on a pair of yellow-ground vases in
the Rijksmuseum.
A William IV Silver Chandelier by Robert Garrard, London, dating to 1834-37 and incorporating 18th-century
Flemish and Portuguese elements, is an important highlight in the selection of silver to be offered for sale.
Estimated at £80,000-120,000, until recently this chandelier hung in a private villa in Saint-Jean CapFerrat where it is believed to have been since the villa was built in the late 19th / early 20th century. Also
featured is the property of a Private Continental Collection - a pair of George III Silver wine coolers, liners and
rims by Paul Storr for Storr & Co, London, dating to 1808 and estimated at £50,000-70,000. These
coolers are the earliest-known copies of original 18th-century examples bearing the mark of Paul de Lamerie.
An important bohemian glass goblet and cover engraved by August Böhm and dating to 1845 is estimated at
£250,000-350,000. The thick walled octagonal bowl is finely carved with a panel showing a battle scene,
after Charles Le Brun. Depicting Alexander the Great defeating the Persians on the Bridge over the River
Granicus, it is similar to another goblet and cover by Böhm in the Victoria and Albert Museum, engraved with
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the same subject and dated 1840. This goblet was considered so highly in his homeland that plaster casts
were taken and kept in Bohemia to encourage other engravers.
The highlight of the selection of clocks is an Italian neo-classical mantel clock of gilt-bronze-mounted white
marble, porphyry and granite, attributed Valadier workshop (est. £80,000-120,000). The dynasty of
Roman goldsmiths and founders that included Luigi Valadier (1726-1785) and his son Giuseppe (17621839) was renowned for being the best bronzier workshop in Rome in the 18th century, and their
craftsmanship was sought by popes and princes of the era.
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
THE BARBARA PIASECKA JOHNSON COLLECTION: RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE
MASTERWORKS
8 – 9 July
Exhibition: 3 – 8 July
Sotheby’s is to hold a two-day single-owner sale of property
from The Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection at its New
Bond Street saleroom on the evening of 8 July and then the
following day on 9 July. As an art connoisseur, humanitarian and
philanthropist, Barbara Piasecka Johnson - the wife of the late J.
Seward Johnson Sr, one of the co-founders of the Johnson &
Johnson medical and pharmaceutical firm - has been a wellknown figure in the art world for many decades and her
distinguished collection is internationally renowned for its quality
and focus on Renaissance works of art and Italian and Spanish
Baroque painting. The spectacular single-owner sale will bring to
the market a wealth of paintings, sculpture, furniture and objets
d’art - all with a unique spiritual aesthetic - and is expected to
total in the region of £5 million. It will be a tribute to Mrs
Piasecka Johnson’s knowledge and judgment as a collector and
art lover. Highlights from the collection will be exhibited at
Sotheby’s New York, Madrid and Paris in the months and weeks
leading up to the sale.
Old Master Paintings will form the core of the single-owner sale and these span a period of some 200 years,
from the late Gothic period to the High Baroque. The selection is particularly rich in Italian Renaissance and
early Baroque works but also features major examples from the Spanish, French, Netherlandish and German
schools. One of the key attributes of the group is how it reflects the enormous role that religion has played in
the greatest works of Western Art.
With an estimate of £800,000-1,200,000, Jusepe de Ribera, called Lo Spagnoletto’s dramatic
Prometheus (pictured above) will be one of the stars of the paintings on offer. The painting, a masterpiece of
High Baroque art, represents one of the most important re-discoveries and additions to Ribera’s work in recent
years and it is also of significance given that it is arguably his first rendering of a mythological subject as well as
a prime example of his terribilità. The composition’s epic scale - it measures 194cm by 156 cm - also reflects
the fact that it was the artist’s first undertaking on the theme of the giants or titans of classical antiquity, a
subject for which he is perhaps best known; the torture of Prometheus is one of the most famous of the Greek
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myths. Prometheus is the precursor to two of his most celebrated works – the great Tityus and Ixion of 1632,
which today hang in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
SOTHEBY’S LONDON
FINE JEWELS
16 July
Exhibition: 12 – 15 July
The London Jewellery sale on 16 July comprises 230 lots and is
estimated to raise in excess of £1.6million. The sale presents a
wide variety of jewels of exceptional craftsmanship including
jewels from the Estate of the Late Lady Samuel of Wych Cross.
The selection of period jewels includes an exceptional diamond
bracelet circa 1925 (pictured left, est. £50,000–£70,000) and
signed jewels by notable designers such as Van Cleef and Arpels,
Boucheron and Cartier. From the late 1960s and 70s, signed
pieces from Grima, Tapio Wirkkala, Alan Martin Gard, Peter
Gorringe and later from Munsteiner feature. From the Estate of
the Late Lady Samuel of Wych Cross there are some very fine
examples of 1940s and 1950s jewels, including a ruby and
diamond bracelet (est. £25,000-30,000, pictured left), an
impressive ruby and diamond floral spray brooch with earclips
ensuite (est. £10,000–12,000), a Boucheron multi-gem-set feather brooch with matching earclips (est.
£4,000-5,000) and Vanity items by Cartier. The sale covers an array of jewels spanning the diverse history
of jewellery design, which is ample enough to satisfy the most discerning of collectors.
About Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s is a global company that engages in art auction, private sales and art-related financing activities. The
Company operates in 40 countries, with principal salesrooms located in New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris.
The Company also regularly conducts auctions in six other salesrooms around the world. Sotheby’s is listed on the
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BID.
IMAGES AVAILABLE VIA EMAIL
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium
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