Exceptional Private Collections to Highlight Christie's May Sale of Important European Furniture Christie’s New York will present an exceptional sale of Important European Furniture, Ceramics, and Carpets on May 20, which will include approximately 390 lots from the 15th through the 19th centurie
News-Antique.com - May 17,2008 - Important European Furniture, Ceramics, and Carpets
May 20, 2008
New York – Christie’s New York will present an exceptional sale of Important European Furniture,
Ceramics, and Carpets on May 20, which will include approximately 390 lots from the 15th through the 19th
centuries. Works from private collections offer important reflections of collectors’ exquisite taste and
connoisseurship, such as a magnificent lacquer bureau plat from the Viennese Rothschilds, a Louis XV
cream-painted paneled room, and a porcelain mantel clock- a gift from Louis XVIII to the Duc d'
Angoulême, and rare ivories from the Baden Kunstkammer.
A Lacquer Bureau Plat from the Viennese Rothschilds
Leading the Furniture section of the sale is a Louis XV ormolu-mounted black
and gilt-japanned bureau plat, circa 1750 by Jacques Dubois (image left- estimate:
$700,000-1,000,000). Once in the fabled collection of the Viennese Rothschilds,
this sumptuous bureau plat is decorated with mountainous landscapes, temples
and pagodas in the European imitation of oriental lacquer. The sinuous lines and
beautiful harmony of the Chinoiserie decoration and flowing rocaille bronzes,
marks this superb bureau plat as one of the finest examples of the mature style of
Jacques Dubois of the 1740's and 1750's.
The Edulji Dinshaw Louis XV Boiserie
This splendid boiserie once graced the legendary Fifth Avenue
townhouse decorated in the 1940’s by the fabulously wealthy
Indian collector Edulji Dinshaw. Edulji Dinshaw (1916-1970),
a parsi from Mumbai, settled in New York shortly after World
War II. He filled his townhouse with eighteenth century
furniture, porcelains and other works of art. Some of the
pieces chosen by Dinshaw for his Fifth Avenue residence were
of the highest museum quality and of the utmost historical
importance. The Louis XV cream painted paneled room being
offered is richly covered in C-scroll with vine-carvings and
were used for a fireplace, a doorway and mirrors (image rightestimate:
$100,000-200,000).
Property from a Distinguished Private Collection
From a distinguished collection come two rare survivals from the
celebrated Kunstkammer of the Dukes of Baden. Traditionally the
Kunstkammer contained a family’s private and precious treasures such
as objects of semi-precious stone, amber, ivory and other rare
materials. The Baden pieces comprise of two 17th century ivory
carvings- a beautiful pair of German ebony, ivory and fruitwood vases with flowers (image left- estimate: $50,000-100,000) and a German ivory relief of Christ before Annas (estimate: $30,000-
50,000). Also of note from the American Private Collection is a rare porphyry profile relief bust of the Virgin of the Annunciation by Mattias Ferrucci after 1653 (estimate $100,000-200,000).
Other Highlights
Highlights among the various owner objects include a magnificent pair of
Louis XVI ormolu three-branch wall-lights by Louis-Gabriel Feloix, circa 1787.
Each wall light is intricately designed with a satyr’s mask, panther’s mask, and
eagle’s mask entwined with grapevines, tassels, cymbals, Pan’s pipes, classical
urns filled with grapevines and flowers (estimate: $150,000-250,000). Also on offer will be an impressive Louis XV giltwood mirror and en suite console table – an extremely rare
discovery to find a console surviving with its matching pier
