Auctions 1264 and 1265

The Renaissance silver nef from the Regensburg silver find exceeded expectations: The sensational piece realised around € 330,000 at the Lempertz auction. Modern silver was highly successful. 18th century furniture was also particularly sought-after.

The precious ship goblet by the Nuremberg master Tobias Wolff survived for centuries in a secret hiding place in Regensburg, where it was supposed to be concealed from looters during the Thirty Years' War. It was only rediscovered in the 19th century and later auctioned by Lempertz - then still J. M. Heberle (H. Lempertz). Now the magnificent goblet has been offered by this house for the second time. Instead of the estimated €100,000 to €120,000, the successful bidder realised around €330,000 for this exceptional example of silversmith's art. Comparable pieces can be found in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

A gilded Augsburg jewellery box set with precious stones was also only sold after the bids rose high above the estimate. The lavishly designed and richly decorated work realised over €93,000 although it was originally expected to fetch between €24,000 and €30,000. 

Items by Emmy Roth also achieved solid results in the Modern Silver section. Her stylistic idiom, from the transitional period between Art Nouveau and Bauhaus, continues to inspire connoisseurs today. All of her works in the auction were sold for several times their estimates; bidders raised the price of a stembowl created in circa 1925 to around € 29,000.

Among the range of historical furniture on offer at this auction, bidders were particularly drawn to pieces from the 1760s. First and foremost was a Mainz cantourgen cabinet. The successful bidder paid €75,600 for this important example of Mainz cabinetmaking, which is well-known in specialist literature. A bureau plat made in Paris after 1762 was estimated at an attractive €6,000 to €8,000, but realised a good €20,000 euros at the end of a hotly contested bidding battle.

The faience pieces on offer impressed bidders with their important provenance. For example, a rare pair of orange boxes from the manufactory of Paul Hannong was raised from an estimate of €6,000 to €8,000 to over €13,000. The original pieces are thought to have been made for one of the hunting services of the Cologne Elector Clemens August.

A historical curiosity from England also caught the attention of the bidders in Cologne: Namely a bone ship crafted out of kitchen scraps by members of the Napoleonic army in British captivity. These pieces represent exceedingly accurate replicas of ships of the time and are popular collector's items today. The 82-centimetre-long model of a frigate from around 1800 from a private collection in the Rhineland fetched €39,000 at auction.

The jewellery and watches auction held on the previous day had already attracted numerous bidders. In the historical jewellery section, a bracelet with Neoclassical intaglios was particularly coveted. Interested parties had to prove their staying power before the piece was finally sold for €10,000. A Belle Époque ring with a rare natural pearl fetched a solid result of €50,000.

Art Déco pieces were also in demand. An onyx bracelet by Jean Després realised €25,200 after an international bidding contest, while a solid gold cuff bracelet achieved €16,300. A ring with lapis lazuli, also by Després, more than tripled the expected price of €4,000 to achieve over €15,000.

Contemporary jewellery was led by a necklace and a pair of clip earrings by Hemmerle, which passed on to their new owners for €47,800 and €25,200 respectively. A cocktail ring with a natural yellow fancy diamond weighing 5.13 ct was the stand-out piece among the jewellery, fetching a good €30,000.

The curated selection of high-value wristwatches in the auction was sold in its entirety, including a Rolex King Midas, which almost quadrupled its moderate estimated price to achieve an end result of € 46,600.

In total, the jewellery, decorative arts and Old Master paintings auctions generated around 11 million euros, exceeding the previous year's sales. With this strong international demand, Lempertz is expanding its market leadership in the areas of Old Masters as well as silver and historical furniture.

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