ZURICH.- The Old Masters auction on 23 September was led by a very rare series of five allegorical paintings representing the months of February, March, April, October and December by Abel Grimmer (ca. 1570 – ca. 1620). The paintings had been conserved in the same private collection for over 300 years, and their rarity and beauty convinced a private collector to part with CHF 745 000 in order to obtain the series (lots 3033A – 3033E, estimate CHF 500 000 – 700 000).

Other highlights of the paintings auctions included a Madonna and Child by Tommaso di Credi (active in Florence circa 1490-1510) which sold for CHF 96 500 (lot 3012), and a Bathing Nymph by German artist Carl Spitzweg (1808 Munich 1885) that also changed hands for CHF 96 500 (lot 3232).

Two works by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1727 Venice 1804) sold well in the Drawings auction on 23 September: an oil sketch depicting the Rest on the Flight into Egypt (lot 3425) attributed to the master was possibly made as a model for Tiepolo’s workshop. It garnered CHF 24 500. A brown ink drawing of a standing figure in Oriental dress (lot 3452), remarkable for its spontaneity, sold for CHF CHF 8 750.

Furniture and Decorative Arts
The Schmitz-Eichhoff Collection: trompe-l’oeil ceramics in high demand
The wonderful Baroque trompe-l’oeil ceramics collection of Marie Teres Schmitz-Eichhoff aroused international interest, and the 19 September auction registered a total of over 90% sold by value. The catalogue contained approximately 250 faience trompe-l’oeil wares and animal figures from the 18th century: cabbage-form tureens, covered dishes in the shape of bundles of asparagus, and plates with eggs, beans and nuts. Many of these items were the subject of an exhibition in 1999 in the Museum of Decorative Arts (MAK) in Cologne, and again at the Hetjens Museum in Düsseldorf in 2006.

Among the highlights of the auction were a mid-18th century French trompe-l’oeil platter with eggs (lot 1751) which sold for CHF 9 375 against an estimate of CHF 4 000 – 6 000; a large mid-late 18th century cabbage-shaped terrine from Brussels (lot 1758, sold for CHF 9 375) and a Höchst porcelain covered vase decorated with insects and flowers, the bidding for which rose to CHF 10 625 (lot 1783).

The Furniture & Sculpture auction on 22 September featured a pair of Régence/Louis XV ormolu-mounted porcelain vases (lot 1089) of extraordinarily fine quality, which went to a new owner for CHF 156 500. A 14th/15th century northern Italian polychrome sculpture of a Madonna and Child sold for CHF 42 500 (lot 1027), and a Louis XV ormolu-mounted porcelain clock in the form of a smiling Chinese “magot” (lot 1095) changed hands for CHF 62 900.

Books & Autographs
Fossils and Erotica
The first illustrated work on fossils ever published was sold in the Books & Autographs auction on 24 September for more than five times its low estimate, CHF 74 900 (lot 428, estimate 14 000 – 20 000). Richly illustrated by Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner, it was published in 1565-66.

The erotica collection in this auction was a solid success, including the CHF 58 100 paid for the Marquis de Sade’s first published work, La nouvelle Justine, written while he was imprisoned in the Bastille (lot 191).

Among the more modern works in the sale, a Russian avant-garde illustration by Lyubov Popova for a 1921 exhibition catalogue, 5 x 5 = 25, sold for CHF 42 500 against an estimate of CHF 4 000 – 6 000 (lot 256).