Auction 1265 on Friday 16th May 2025

Applied arts bring history to life, as the outstanding objects in the Lempertz decorative arts auction impressively demonstrate: from the key role played by maritime navigation to developments in cities to the discovery of porcelain in Europe, these outstanding works write and illustrate history in a tangible way. One such witness to historical events was a carpet on which the DFB team were welcomed as world champions in Bonn City Hall in 1974.

Over the centuries, the Hanseatic city of Tallinn has not only changed its name, but also its nationality: in 1710, the former Reval passed from Swedish to Russian rule. Shortly before this, the silversmith Johann Seliger created a special tankard. This exquisite example of his craft bears the coat of arms of the von Drenteln family, who played a prominent role in the history of the city at the time. Tsar Peter I confiscated their summer residence towards the end of the Great Northern War and used it as his retreat. He compensated the family with 1,400 rubels. This exquisitely crafted and lavishly decorated tankard will go up for auction in Cologne at an estimated price of € 20,000 to € 24,000.

Like Tallinn / Reval, Regensburg owed a large part of its prosperity to long-distance trade. Then as now, this was fuelled by seafaring. Ships were therefore a popular motif in the art of the time - the more successful the merchant, the more lavishly they were depicted in art, for example in this parcel gilded silver goblet in the form of a ship.

In the 17th century, a merchant from Regensburg hid this particularly important specimen in his house along with numerous other treasures to protect them from looting during the Thirty Years' War. However, it was not until the 19th century that the treasure was rediscovered. Even then, this sensation attracted a great deal of media attention, and today the Regensburg silver find is legendary. An outstanding piece from this treasure trove will form a highlight of the Decorative Arts auction on 16 May. The work, created between 1604 and 1623 by Nuremberg master Tobias Wolff, is valued at € 100,000 to € 120,000.

This special object from the Dresden court silver collection has also seen eventful periods in history: the platter with a warming cloche bears the monogram of Prince Elector Frederick Augustus III on the underside as well as the Dresden assay mark with the year letter K for 1784 and the maker's mark of the Dresden silversmiths Carl Christian and Friedrich Christian Schrödel. These objects go back even further in history, as they were ordered by the Saxon court as additions to the so-called ‘matt-gilt silver dinner service’, which Augustus the Strong had commissioned in 1718 on the occasion of his forthcoming wedding in Augsburg. In the course of the division of property between the Free State of Saxony and the former royal house, the silver collection became the property of the House of Wettin in 1924, which occasionally provides an opportunity to acquire objects from the Dresden court silver on the antiques market. The estimated price for this platter with cloche is € 24,000 to € 28,000.

Emmy Roth was one of the most remarkable silversmiths of the 20th century. Not only was she one of very few women to work as a silversmith in the 1920s and 1930s, she was also internationally successful. Her style reflects the development from Art Nouveau to the formal language of the Bauhaus period.

Born in Hattingen, she first studied in Düsseldorf and then opened her own workshop in Charlottenburg until she was forced to leave Germany in 1933 because she was Jewish. In her new home in Jerusalem and later Tel Aviv, she was only able to devote a small amount of time to design. Objects of simple elegance such as this vase or a pair of mugs, estimated at between € 2,500 and € 4,000, date from the years before.

It was a long journey to the development of porcelain in Europe, and the Meissen manufactory in particular led the way. Two years before the first porcelain was created on European soil, Meissen was already able to produce precious objects in so-called Böttger stoneware. This important teapot can be dated to the end of this phase or shortly afterwards. Only two other examples of this teapot model have been published to date; the example on offer at Lempertz was refined for royal use, polished to a high lustre and fitted with a chain attached to the handle, a finial on the lid and a hinged cover on the spout. This piece, made between around 1710 and 1725, has an estimated value of € 15,000 to € 25,000.

The auction on 16 May will also feature numerous faience pieces from the lively tables of earlier centuries. Particularly spectacular is a rare Künersberg barrel rider from around 1750, estimated at € 15,000 to € 20,000. The piece, which measures 33 centimetres high, is as fine an ornament for any table as the selection of 18th century trompe l'oeil dishes with estimated prices between € 1,000 and € 8,000.

The bowl with grotesque motifs is much older. The majolica was made around 1600 in the Patanazzi studio in Urbino, estimated price € 10,000 to € 15,000.

Contemporary history was written in Bonn City Hall in 1974 when the players of the DFB team signed the Golden Book of the then German capital after winning the World Cup in their home country. The carpet also witnessed the visit of the Dalai Lama and many other events during its ‘period of service’. It will be auctioned in Cologne on 16 May with an estimated price of € 6,000 to € 8,000.

The sale also features two outstanding and particularly imposing cabinets: one important work that is attributed to Maasland in the third quarter of the 18th century, tells the story of a day's activities in four reliefs with genre scenes, estimated at € 8,000 to € 10,000.

The great Mainz tradition of exquisite furniture production is demonstrated by a writing cabinet, which is traditionally called a cantourgen in Mainz. Fully sculpted bands of scrolls, carved composite capitals and diamond parquetry are among the features of this piece, made around 1760 to 1770, with an estimated price of € 60,000 to € 80,000.

Jan Bykowski
Press and Public Relations
info@lempertz.com
Tel. 0221 925729 -57