AMSTERDAM.- Two-day sale at Sotheby’s Amsterdam totals €4.25 million THE two-day auction "Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Other European Houses", conducted in 6 sessions on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 September 2004 at Sotheby’s in Amsterdam, raised a total of €4,25 million - by far exceeding the pre-sale estimate of €2,4 million.

 

The auction of 1143 lots comprised paintings, furniture, paintings and works of art and silver consigned by the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and from circa forty other Royal and Noble Houses from Germany, Austria, England and Russia. The majority of the objects had been unseen for generations and were fresh to the market.

 

The highest price of the sale was €€200,000, offered for lot 547, a very rare set of 14 baroque limewood panels carved in relief with Scenes from the life of Christ. The panels, attributed to Christoph Daniel Schenk and his workshop, were acquired by the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna. This museum also bought lot 767, a 5-piece Vienna porcelain centrepiece garniture for €20.400.

 

Three times estimate, €114,000, was paid for lot 592, a rare 17th century baroque ebonised wood and semi-precious stones inlaid cabinet on stand that was owned by Princess Marianne of Prussia, Princess of the Netherlands (1810-1883). Also owned by Princess Marianne was lot 634, a very fine secrétaire en commode, made by Abraham Roentgen and his workshop in Nieuwied, circa 1755-60, selling for €105,600, above the high estimate. The section of photographs was also highlighted by an item from the collection of Princess Marianne; lot 1118, five numbered albums with photographs, estimated at €500-800, sold for €13,200.

 

There was a lot of interest for lot 4, a full length portrait of James I, king of England and Scotland (as James IV), painted by a follower of John de Critz the Elder. The more than life-sized portrait that once adorned the walls of Castle Greinburg in Austria, one of the castles of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was acquired by a UK buyer for €€115,200, almost ten times the estimate.

 

Lot 532, A very unusual ormolu and bronzed copper mantel clock, shaped as an Egyptian temple with six columns flanked by intaglio figures of gods and royals and estimated at €10,000-15,000, created a sensation when it sold for €45,600.

 

Lot 551, a very rare South German ivory hunting cup, attributed to Johann Michael Maucher, circa 1670-80, sold for €36,000, over four times the estimate

 

The sale saw many surprises. To name but a few: Lot 1097 A very rare Russian volume of the "Plan de la ville de St. Petersburg" by the Academie Imperiale des Sciences & des Arts, St. Petersburg, 1753, sold for €48.000, almost five times the estimate. Lot 1109, a Russian ten-part silver-gilt and niello vodka set, with the maker’s mark of W. Akimow, Assayer Viktor Sawinkow, Moscow, 1888, and decorated with views of Moscow. The wodka set, a present of Tsar Nicolas II to the Dutch Honorary general consul of Russia in Batavia, Jhr W.A. Baud, went to Israel for €45,600, nine times the estimate.

 

Lot 920, a magnificent Habsburg Royal family chain of Miniature Orders (26), by Rothe of Vienna, was acquired by the Dutch Rijksmuseum Paleis het Loo for €21,600. Lot 1204, an oil on canvas by Gillis Coignet the Elder (Antwerp 1542-1599 Hamburg) of The Wedding at Cana, fetched €42,000, far above the estimate. Painted in 1591, it is one of the only 16 known works by this master 42,000. Lot 726, an Ottoman glazed pottery dish (Sahan), diameter 36.2 cm, estimated at €4,000-6,000, sold for €28,800. Lot 129, a large Austrian Renaissance revival oak and walnut four poster bed, mid 19th century, from Castle Greinburg sold for €22,800, seven times the estimate. The monogram "E" on the curtains of the bed, represent Ernst I Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1783-1844)

Lot 700, A Dutch Delft garniture of three vases and one cover, estimated at €500-600, was secured by a Russian collector for €40,680.

 

The Russian National Museum in Moscow acquired circa 12 lots of Photographs, the majority related to the Russian Imperial family.

 

The sale was 90.3% sold by value and 81.6% in lots. Many lots sold for prices well above their estimates. There was keen bidding by enthusiastic collectors in the saleroom and on the many telephones. The interest in the sale was truly international with buyers from Holland, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, UK, Austria, Switzerland, France, Monaco, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Russia, Turkey, Israel and the US

 

Dr Philipp Herzog von Württemberg, Managing Director of Sotheby’s Germany and Sotheby’s France, and one of the auctioneers of the sale, said: "The sale has captured the imagination of thousands of people from all over the world. We have witnessed a very enthusiastic bidding, both from the saleroom and by telephone. The distinguished provenance of the objects proved to be irresistible; they were fresh to the market and usually in original condition. There was a considerable competition between bidders to acquire them".