PARIS.- Still life with a basket of fruit, seashells and a lizard by the German master Jacob Marrel leads The Classics sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris on Wednesday 19 April 2023. It is estimated at €30,000-50,000.

Marell (1614-1681) was born in Germany but from 1632-1650, trained with the major still life painter Jan Davidszoon de Heem in the city of Utrecht. After two years back in Frankfurt, he returned to Utrecht in 1660 where he established a successful art dealership before settling in Germany permanently five years later.

The painting forms part of a fine private European collection which also includes:

• A pair of Louis-Philippe ormolu twelve-light sphinx candelabra, circa 1830-40, in the manner of Thomire & Cie. Although they are unsigned, these candelabra are very much in line with the later production of one of the most celebrated bronzier fondeur-ciseleur of the First French Empire, Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843). He established his own atelier in 1776 but handed control of the business to his sons-in-law in 1823 after which the firm came to be known as Thomire et Cie. The pair is estimated at €30,000-50,000.

• A Louis XV ormolu-mounted and tôle peinte clock garniture. It has three smaller matching branch candelabra mounted with Meissen figures. Estimate: €10,000-15,000.

• A Louis XV vari-coloured gold oval snuff box. Signed G à Paris, Paris 1756-62. Applied and chased with trophies of hunting, music and love. Estimate: €20,000-25,000.

Nette Megens, Bonhams Director of Decorative Arts for Europe and UK, said: “This exquisite collection demonstrates a great eye for quality and artistry, and I am anticipating a lot of interest from collectors.”

Other highlights of the sale, which consists of 169 lots, include:

A very rare set of twenty-one Meissen 'Cris de Paris' figures, circa 1755. Modelled by Peter Reinicke after drawings by Christophe Huet of 1753, the set includes crier with a magic lantern, the oyster seller, the hurdy-gurdy player, the grape seller, the lemon seller, the liquorice-water seller, the cook with a stove and the lemonade seller. Estimate: €50,000-70,000.

From a Royal Collection, an impressive and very large silver-gilt nef, probably, Hanau, circa 1900. In the 17th century style, typically formed as a three-mast galleon in full sail on a figurative support stylised as Triton above Hippocampi and embossed dolphins to the foot. Estimate: €7,000-10,000

• A Deruta maiolica albarello, circa 1500-1510. Estimate: €15,000-20,000.

• Madonna and Child from the workshop of Joos van Cleve (Cleve circa 1485-circa 1540 Antwerp). A studio version of a very popular composition by Van Cleve. Estimate €22,000-28,000.

• A pair of remarkable Louis XV Gobelins tapestries from The Don Quixote series. The Don Quixote series, which was woven eight times, was designed by Charles Antoin Coypet and illustrates episodes from Cervantes’ famous tale of the chivalrous knight. The panels in the sale come from the sixth weaving – executed between 1757-1764. They were commissioned by the Marquis of Marigny, Director General of the King’s Buildings, Director of the Gobelins factory and brother of the influential Madame de Pompadour, official mistress to Louis XV from 1745-1751. The Marquis ordered 23 Don Quixote panels; some were sold, others used as part payment for the furnishing of Versailles and Fontainebleau, and some given as personal or diplomatic presents. The two panels in the sale, The False Princess Micomicon asking Don Quixote to Restore her to her Throne, and Don Quixote made a Knight by the Inn Keeper, were at one time part of the vast and fabled collection of the 4th Marquess of Hertford. Estimate: €60,000-80,000.