AMSTERDAM.- The two-day auction “Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Other European Houses”, conducted in 6 sessions 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 €€209,600, 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.
