SOTHEBY'S OFFER OF FITZGIBBON “NEPTUNE” CENTERPIECE SOTHEBY’S TO OFFER MAGNIFICENT
GEORGE III MARINE-THEMED
FITZGIBBON “NEPTUNE” CENTERPIECE
ESTIMATED TO SELL FOR
$800,000/1.2 MILLION ON OCTOBER 13, 2007
News-Antique.com - Oct 23,2007 - New York, New York – On October 13, 2007, Sotheby’s will offer Magnificent English and Continental Silver and Russian Works of Art from the Estate of Charles and Yvette Bluhdorn; Mr. Bluhdorn was Chairman of Gulf & Western, including Paramount Pictures. Highlighting this
collection will be a tour de force in craftsmanship, the Fitzgibbon “Neptune” Centerpiece, a magnificent George III silver marine-theme centerpiece, created by James Young in 1786 (est. $800,000/1.2 million*). It will be on exhibition in the 4th floor galleries at Sotheby’s beginning on Saturday, October 6.
This Fitzgibbion “Neptune” Centerpiece is a version of one still preserved in the Royal Collection, associated since 1832 with Frederick, Prince of Wales. The present work was created for John Fitzgibbon, later Lord Chancellor of Ireland – the first Irish national to hold the position since 1725 – who became Earl of Clare in 1795 for his role in the Act of Union with England. The centerpiece, which contains the arms of Fitzgibbon and was rediscovered in 1970, is a masterwork of casting and chasing; the central soup tureen is supported by dolphins and coral above a rockwork plateau and topped by a reclining figure of Neptune. The mark of the maker, James Young, appears on many of the individual parts of this centerpiece; he took painstaking detail in the crafting of this intricate work, a special order for Fitzgibbon. The massive and elaborate centerpiece, derived from a Royal model, is among the most important pieces of 18th century English silver, and was owned by one of the most powerful and opulent figures of late 18th century Ireland.
