Decorative Arts/Jewellery – Extremely rare Meissen teapot

With several important private collections this season, Lempertz has released a special catalogue of porcelain and ceramics, highlighting in particular the Hiemisch collection as well as the porcelains of Renate and Tono Dreßen which sold to great success in the previous three auctions. The Hiemisch and the Dreßen Collection Part 4 are especially interesting due to the abundance of exceptionally painted Meissen porcelain objects from the era after the Seven Years’ War, i.e. post-1763.

Early Meissen porcelains, objects from the Imperial Manufactory in Vienna and from Sèvres come from further European collections. The highlight of the auction is an extremely rare, highly important, Meissen famille verte teapot with a K.P.M. mark, dated 1725, one of three known examples from the period 1722-1725 (lot 1034, € 200/250,000).

The Decorative Arts catalogue presents almost 200 silver works of art, led by four silver candelabra for Elector Friedrich August II of Sachsen, made for everyday use (lot 515, € 80/100,000), as well as Kunstkammer objects, furniture, and rare collectables. Worth mentioning in particular is an impressively large pair of wall lights, height 79.5 cm, made in Paris in around 1750-60 and attributed to Jean Claude Duplessis (lot 819, € 60/80,000).

The Jewellery offer encompasses 271 lots in chronological order, as is tradition. The antique stone cuts with gems and cameos follow the historical jewellery. One star lot is a granulated fine gold parure in the style of Castellani, made in 1990 by the Roman goldsmith Porro on commission of the collector, and set with two halves of an over-100-carat emerald which he had brought back from his travels (lot 177, € 25/35,000). From the Cologne estate of François Kramer, working in Paris in the mid-19th century as court jeweller to the French Empress Eugenie, is a high-carat bangle with Columbian emeralds and diamonds, offered in its original case (lot 77, € 20/35,000).

There is particular focus in the auction on the rich offer of artist’s jewellery. This includes two extremely rare examples of German Expressionism: brooches of chased silver sheet, made in 1910/11 by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff for the artist Emma Schmidt from Oldenburg, from whose estate they originate, and listed in the catalogue raisonné from Wietek (lots 104/105, € 6/8,000 and 4/6,000).

The famous Cologne goldsmith Elisabeth Treskow custom-made a necklace with granulation and richly coloured gemstones for her sister in 1971; up until now owned by the family, it was published in Treskow’s Cologne catalogue (lot 110, € 8/10,000). In addition, a number of works are offered from Friedrich Becker, Fritz Deutsch, Gebrüder Hemmerle, Marianne & Peter Heyden, Georg Hornemann, Otto Jakob, Arnaldo Pomodoro and Albert Sous.

The chapter of post-1945 jewellery offers high-calibre pieces: A lose 5.34 ct old-cut diamond solitaire (lot 215, € 25/30,000), and a Frankfurt clip brooch, lavishly set with diamond baguettes and with three natural Burmese rubies (lot 220, € 10/15,000).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 0221/92 57 29–30.

Edgar Abs
Press and public relations
Cologne, November 2021