ZURICH.- Koller’s autumn auctions of Old Masters, 19th Century Antique Decorative Arts and Books revealed a robust market across the board in these collecting categories, with energetic bidding and strong results. Numerous works were either acquired by or underbid by museums, attesting to the quality of the works on offer.

The top lot in the Old Masters auction was an important still life with falcon and prey by the Dutch Baroque artist Clara Peeters, which sold for CHF 622 000 to an international museum (lot 3027, estimate CHF 300 000 / 500 000). The dramatic masterpiece by Dutch Caravaggist Matthias Stomer depicting the Supper at Emmaus was purchased by a European private collector for CHF 548 800 (lot 3020, estimate CHF 300 000 / 500 000). Nicolaes van Verendael’s magnificent floral still life tripled its upper estimate to sell at CHF 325 000 to an overseas bidder (lot 3055, estimate CHF 70 000 / 100 000), and a depiction of Lucretia by Lucas Cranach the Elder sold for more than four times its lower estimate at CHF 325 000 (lot 3016, estimate CHF 70 000 / 120 000).

Among the 19th Century Paintings the undisputed star was a rare oil painting by Honoré Daumier depicting a shadowy Parisian attorney, which nearly tripled its upper estimate at CHF 585 000 (lot 3244, estimate CHF 150 000 / 200 000). Daumier was known for his biting criticism of contemporary society, and his low opinion of the French system of justice is clearly rendered here. The work has an impressive provenance, possibly beginning with the artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, as well as an extensive exhibition history.

The Decorative Arts auction featured a private collection of Baroque sculpture including a small 16th-century bronze satyr attributed to the Venetian sculptor Il Bresciano, which sparked a long bidding war resulting in a final price of CHF 85 000 (lot 1026, estimate CHF 5 000 / 8 000). The Books & Autographs auction was highly successful, in particular a group of works of Natural History, for example William Gould’s Birds of New Guinea, coloured with Gould’s own technique which faithfully replicates the shimmering tones of the subjects’ feathers, and which fetched CHF 78 750 (lot 4140, estimate CHF 50 000 / 80 000).