LONDON.- Christie’s presents the private collection of the celebrated international decorator and interior designer Brian Juhos at auction on 1 May 2013. A renowned tastemaker, Juhos’ signature style is an integral part of many sophisticated interiors around the world. Comprising 500 lots, his personal collection includes Old Master, Impressionist and sporting paintings, European furniture and works of art, blue and white porcelain, sculpture, garden furniture and decorative objects. Notable highlights include a set of six Empire white-painted parcel-gilt chairs from the Château de Fontainebleau, attributed to Pierre-Antoine Bellangé, circa 1810, which were almost certainly commissioned for Napoleon I (estimate: £6,000-9,000) and the Louis XVI commode à l’Anglaise, circa 1780 by Jean-Jacques Pafrat, formerly in the collection of Sir Richard Wallace, the majority of whose collection forms London’s world renowned Wallace Collection (estimate £20,000-30,000). The sale will provide bidding opportunities for collectors at every level, with estimates for individual lots ranging from £500 to £40,000. The sale will be on public view from 27 to 30 April 2013 at Christie’s South Kensington, 85 Old Brompton Road, prior to the auction.

EMPIRE CHAIRS FROM NAPOLEON I’s PALACE
The auction includes a notable set of six Empire white-painted parcel-gilt chaises from the Château de Fontainebleau, attributed to Pierre-Antoine Bellangé, circa 1810 (lot 220 estimate: £6,000-9,000). These chairs bear inventory marks of the Château de Fontainebleau and were almost certainly commissioned as part of Napoleon I’s restoration of Fontainbleau. Napoleon is depicted seated in a chair, apparently from the same set as these chairs, in Paul Delaroche’s famous painting of the 1814 abdication. Pierre-Antoine Bellangé was one of the most important fournisseurs to the court of the Emperor, supplying furniture to imperial palaces including Fontainbleau, Saint Cloud and the Tuileries.

SIR RICHARD WALLACE’S COMMODE
Another important highlight is the grand Louis XVI ormolu-mounted commode à l’Anglaise by Jean-Jacques Pafrat circa 1780 (lot 150, estimate £20,000-30,000), which is believed to have been part of the Parisian collection of the great 19th century art collector Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890). The contents of Wallace’s French homes were dispersed in the opening years of the 20th century, and his London collections were bequeathed to the British nation and remain one of the greatest collections of French decorative arts in existence.

Jean-Jacques Pafrat (d.1793), trained under the celebrated ébéniste Martin Carlin (1730-1785) and is known to have supplied furniture to notable patrons such as the Duc d’Orléans for the Château de Raincy. Despite Pafrat’s reliance on the nobility for patronage, he was a revolutionary and took part in the storming of the Bastille in 1789; it was his political activism which drew his promising career to an early close, when he was killed while supporting the revolutionary forces in 1793. The sale of this commode provides a remarkable opportunity for the discerning connoisseur.

BRIAN JUHOS
Brian Juhos's personal collection displays the eclecticism and taste for the sumptuous that has been the hallmark of his style as a decorator. Describing his interiors as 'uniting great comfort and colour with a sensuous combination of materials, furniture and objects', he merges the traditional with the theatrical to create both a sense of opulence and a perfect context for furniture, pictures and objets d'art, by the skilful use of colour and lighting. Juhos has always been drawn to the clean elegance of neoclassicism; this is reflected in his collection where he employs Swedish 18th century furniture and Empire works of art in striking contrast to pale walls as a foil for his collection of paintings. His career began in London over thirty-five years ago with one of his important early commissions being the redecoration of twelve rooms at the National Portrait Gallery. Since then he has used his unquestionable skill and inimitable eye, on a broad portfolio of high profile projects, which have extended from large country houses and Royal palaces to compact city apartments and public institutions, both in the United Kingdom and internationally.