PARIS.- Sotheby’s, in association with the Leclère-mdv, announced the sale of the Robert Zellinger de Balkany collection in Paris, during the week of 19th September 2016, at the same time as the Biennale des Antiquaires. This exceptional collection, assembled over more than fifty years by Robert Zellinger de Balkany, comes from the Hôtel de Feuquières at Rue de Varenne, Paris.

A passionate and exacting collector, Robert Zellinger de Balkany lived in a setting that was both luxurious and welcoming: a subtle mix of paintings by great English and Italian masters, exceptional items of furniture, works of art, timepieces and painted decorations. Part of the collection also reflects his particular liking for precious materials, whether fabrics or objects in hardstone, gilt bronze and silver. Some 800 lots illustrate the refined way in which this prominent businessman chose to live, as can be seen from the catalogue devoted to this magnificent collection.

To quote Mario Tavella, Président-directeur général Sotheby’s France and Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, "I knew Robert personally for many years. I was always fascinated by this cultivated polyglot, who had a keen sense of friendship, a powerful appetite for life and unbounded energy, which he expressed in his life as a businessman, dedicated sportsman and refined collector."

Damien Leclère of the Leclère-mdv : "The collections of the Hôtel de Feuquières illustrate the genius of Robert Zellinger de Balkany, who was a true collector. Here we have a fabulous, splendid inventory redolent of the great French style, and a fascinating collection of clocks, unique in the world."

FURNITURE AND WORKS OF ART
A man of refined taste, Robert Zellinger de Balkany surrounded himself with pieces by the most outstanding artists of their times. French furniture is superbly represented by the extraordinary set of furniture stamped by Bernard Molitor, listed as a classified monument, probably made for the private mansion in Rue de Grenelle belonging to Antoine-César, Duc de Choiseul-Praslin (commode, estimate: €300,000-500,000; secrétaire, estimate: €150,000-300,000), and the medal cabinets by André-Charles Boulle and his follower, JeanFaizelot-Delorme (estimate: €800,000-1,200,000).

Numerous lots illustrate the collector's liking for pietre dure, like this spectacular pietre dure mounted inlaid ebony cabinet, Roman in c. 1620, which once belonged to Pope Paul V Borghese. This unique piece was bought in 1959 by Robert's father, Aladar Zellinger de Balkany, on his son's advice.

The magnificent decorative arts mingling English and Italian influences brilliantly illustrate the style of grand 19th and 20th century residences influenced by previous centuries, which were the homes of celebrated builders, financiers, industrialists and aesthetes, like the Rothschilds, Stravos Niarchos, Giovanni Agnelli, the Patiños, Charles de Beistegui, Arturo LopezWillshaw and Baron de Redé.

The private apartments provide a moving testimony of the interior designed by Henri Samuel in the 1980s and commissioned by Robert Zellinger de Balkany. They were filled with works little known to the public but now highly sought-after by leading collectors.

OLD MASTERS PAINTINGS
Several major Old Masters Paintings marvellously illustrate the most noble genres: portraits and history painting. The first, with Jacopo Tintoretto's majestic Portrait of Nicola Doria, where the artist takes the splendour of the genre to its peak (estimate: €200,000-300,000). There is also Anthony van Dyck's enigmatic Portrait of the Countess of Carnarvon, typical of the artist's influence to English painting (estimate: €800,000-1,200,000). Lastly, another portrait, this time of an animal, by the greatest painter of the genre, George Stubbs: a superb painting of Viscount Gormanston's White Dog; a very rare work on panel, signed and dated 1781 (estimate: €200,000-300,000).

History painting, mainly Venetian, is illustrated by a powerful work by Antonio Molinari. Using a close viewpoint that makes the scene particularly imposing, it shows a key episode in Greek mythology: The Abduction of Helen (estimate: €80,000-120,000).

History painting makes a further appearance, this time immortalising the history of modern times, with the monumental painting attributed to Jacopo Tintoretto, brilliantly depicting a great naval battle, The Battle of Lepanto. On 7 October 1571, in the Gulf of Patras in Greece, the Holy League (202 galleys) and the Ottoman fleet (210 galleys) clashed in a combat that ended in a crushing, resounding victory for the Western forces (estimate: €300,000-500,000).

CLOCKS
Robert Zellinger de Balkany's greatest passion in terms of art was the one he nurtured for timepieces. He was fascinated by the many different craftsmen involved in the complex creation of a clock, from the clockmaker to the bronzeworker by way of the cabinetmaker, and by the everlasting character of the object, which could function perfectly centuries after it was made. Around 60 clocks and wall clocks brilliantly illustrate the history of clockmaking in Europe from the 16th to the 19th century.

From the late 16th to the early 17th century, southern Germany, particularly the region of Augsburg, was the uncontested clockmaking centre in the West. Pieces by celebrated clockmakers like Hauckh, Schmidt, Pfaff and Koch provide marvellous examples of the expertise of the leading clockmakers and craftsmen who produced these masterpieces.

The greatest clockmakers of the late 17th century, the beginning of the golden age of French clockmaking, are represented, including Gaudron, who worked closely with André-Charles Boulle, and created marvellous mechanics of extraordinary beauty (estimate: €70,000-100,000). The large French Regency Day and Night clock in patinated gilt bronze, with a clock face by Abraham Gilbert, is another example of collaboration with this great French cabinetmaker (estimate: €500,000-1,000,000).

The 18th century is illustrated by a spectacular musical clock by the great London clockmaker Charles Clay (estimate: €120,000-180,000). An example of a case similar to this clock's is now in the British Royal Collection. This masterpiece is one of many other fine French clocks in chased gilt bronze from the mid-18th century.

The 19th century pendulum clock by Raingo, which stood in the Salon Rouge, represents a technical and aesthetic feat from the Empire period (estimate: €100,000-150,000). The extraordinary gilt bronze pendulum clock by François Linke, which was placed in the dining room, demonstrates how the high quality of this know-how continued up to the late 19th and early 20th century. This monumental piece is a copy of one produced 150 years earlier by Claude-Siméon Passemant and Jean-Jacques Caffieri, now in the Château de Versailles (estimate: €100,000-200,000).

SILVER
Robert de Balkany took care to choose spectacular silver works. French masterpieces are seen together with large Augsburg silver-gilt cups and covered cups, and monumental candelabras by Paul Storr. The Duc de Penthièvre's tureen by Antoine Sébastien Durand, converted to current taste at the request of his grandson, King Louis-Philippe, by Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot and Charles Nicolas Odiot, is part of the only surviving French royal dinner service (estimate: €500,000-800,000). The pieces of the service are now in international public and private collections. The collection also features significant works by Fabergé, Klinkosch, Garrard and Wickert, the greatest European goldsmiths. A set of table ornaments consisting of three candelabra by Paul Storr, London, 1817, was made for the second Earl Talbot (1777-1841) (estimate: €150,000-200,000).

19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS
The fine collection of ‘portraits of interiors’ by Alexandre Serebriakoff, Isabelle Rey and Jeffrey Bailey, is certain to appeal to collectors. This represents a valuable record of the Rue de Varenne mansion's interior design during the 1980s.