ZURICH.- Koller’s Old Masters, 19th Century and Works of Art & Decorative Arts auctions were a resounding success, countering the oft-repeated claim that the auction market is in decline. the combined hammer total reached 134% of the aggregate pre-sale estimates, with many works achieving far above their pre-sale expectations.

A portrait of an older woman that had languished for nearly half a century under a misattribution in a Swiss private collection was identified by Koller specialists as an autograph work by Jan Lievens, a contemporary and student of Rembrandt. After fierce competition from more than twenty telephone, online and saleroom bidders, the work sold for CHF 325 000 – over thirty times its low estimate – to an American collector (lot 3030, estimate CHF 10 000 / 15 000).

Renewed interest in the celebrated Crimean painter Ivan Konstantinovitch Aivazovsky, whose works commanded spectacular prices in the mid-2000s, was also evident. A seascape from 1898 fetched CHF 1.7 million after a prolonged battle between two telephone bidders, more than eight times its estimate, and was acquired by a private collector in Turkey (lot 3239, estimate CHF 200 000 / 300 000).

Other notable highlights included a large-scale landscape by the Flemish artist Denijs van Alsloot, which more than quadrupled its estimate at CHF 387 000 (lot 3015, estimate CHF 90 000 / 120 000), purchased by a Belgian institution. A rediscovered altarpiece panel by Antoine de Lohny, which attracted keen interest from both collectors and museums, was acquired by the international trade for CHF 212 000 (lot 3002, estimate CHF 40 000 / 60 000). A striking still life by Adriaen Coorte nearly tripled its estimate, achieving CHF 225 000 (lot 3060, estimate CHF 80 000 / 120 000).

The Works of Art & Decorative Arts auction saw spirited bidding throughout, particularly for the antique jewellery of the Kofler-Truniger Collection and the exceptional Arlette & Antony Embden Collection. The top lot was a small yet well-preserved Cycladic idol, which realised CHF 225 000 (lot 1050, estimate CHF 180 000 / 250 000). A Portuguese colonial reliquary chest sold to a Portuguese collection for CHF 110 000 – more than ten times its upper estimate (lot 1135, estimate CHF 7 000 / 9 000).

In Books & Autographs, a first edition of Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, one of the most influential works in the history of science, sold for CHF 312 000 (lot 4130, estimate CHF 250 000 / 350 000). Abraham Ortelius’ landmark 1612 atlas, Theatrum orbis terrarum, realised CHF 125 000 (lot 4109, estimate CHF 120 000 / 160 000).