Lempertz is set to open its spring auction season with the Prussian sale and The Twinight Collection Part II

Around one third of the 320 lot Prussian sale originates from a private collection in Lower Saxony. The porcelain on offer from this collection includes works from various porcelain manufactories with a focus on Neoclassical and unusual Art Nouveau pieces. One particularly noteworthy work is an important vase and cover with maritime motifs and harbour views made by the Bing & Grøndahl manufactory in Copenhagen in 1902 – 1914, which is estimated at € 40,000 - 60,000. The Sèvres manufactory is represented by three plates from the Marly d'or service - including one painted by Christophe-Ferdinand Caron - for € 4,000 - 6,000. A déjeuner with views of Italy by the Imperial Manufactory of Vienna depicts well-known sights and stops along the Grand Tour. This long educational sojourn was undertaken by young members of the European aristocracy and middle-classes throughout the 16th to the 19th century, but also led numerous artists through the Rhineland towards Switzerland and Italy (estimate € 4,000 – 6,000).

The regular Prussian offer includes an extraordinary service with micromosaic painting (Berlin, KPM, 1823-32) estimated at € 30,000 – 50,000 Euro, still housed in a specially fitted case. The precious and detailed painting with numerous, finely nuanced shades of green and rich gilding suggests a very wealthy patron. The views painted in elaborate micromosaic technique show ancient monuments in Rome as well as the villas and sights of Tivoli. The most expensive object on offer in the Prussian auction is a KPM vase from 1842 made for the King of Hanover bearing a half-length portrait of King Frederick William III and a Prussian eagle in an oak wreath to the reverse, valued at € 70,000 - 80,000. Prussian King Frederick William IV is thought to have presented this vase to Ernst August I of Hanover, a good friend of his father Friedrich Wilhelm III in 1842 following the latter’s death in 1840. Franz Krüger’s portrait of the aged king in the palace gardens of Charlottenburg, the last official court portrait, was chosen to decorate the piece.

The auction will also feature a choice selection of paintings, including Gottfried Wilhelm Völcker’s “White Lilies and Fire Lilies surrounded by Passion Flowers”. Völker was one of the few artists to specialise in flower painting on porcelain whose works on canvas also graced the exhibition halls of the Prussian Royal Academy. Eduard Gaertner’s "View of St. Catherine's Church in Brandenburg an der Havel", estimated at € 70,000 to 90,000, is one of three paintings by the Berlin veduta painter showing the famous St. Catherine's Church with its unmistakable Corpus Christi chapel.

The sale also includes a Rhenish collection of over 50 works in cast iron, including a set of 18 medallions commemorating the Congress of Vienna, as well as medals, busts, and statuettes of Prussian rulers as well as historic personalities from France, Russia, and Austria.

Following the sensational success of the first part of the Twinight Collection, with which Lempertz opened last autumn's season, the second part of the renowned private collection of royal porcelain amassed by New York businessman Richard Baron Cohen will come under the hammer on the evening of 6 April. The sale features 168 lots, many of which were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and will be opened by a magnificent signed porcelain tray delicately painted with a basket of flowers and a bird’s nest estimated at € 40,000 – 60,000. The piece was painted by Joseph Nigg, who was first engaged at the Niedermayer porcelain manufactory in Vienna in 1800 but was made head of the flower painting department in 1816, the year this tray was decorated. He quickly developed his characteristic and unmistakable style and is still regarded today as one of the most prominent flower painters of his era. Another especially sumptuous piece is a porcelain panel made by the Berlin KPM manufactory in around 1840, painted with a detailed view of an interior in Berlin or Potsdam, here estimated at € 15,000 – 20,000.

The second part of the Twinight Collection also features a large number of important KPM vases, such as a pair of krater-form vases with signed views of Berlin by the famed porcelain painter Johann Eusebius Anton Forst. Another splendid example is the vase with Prussian soldiers and a view of Blücherplatz in Breslau from 1823 - also attributed to Forst - valued at € 40,000 to 60,000. Another showpiece is the vase with a depiction of the Aldobrandini wedding, the so-called nuptial vase from the service of the Hessian Order of the Iron Helmet. The Hessian Prince Elector Wilhelm is thought to have ordered the service in 1818. It consisted of 520 dinner plates and 300 dessert plates and was thus far larger than the other six services ordered by the Prussian generals (estimated price € 25,000 – 30,000).

A highlight from the Sèvres porcelain manufactory is a ewer with a portrait of the philosopher Thales, estimated at € 15,000 to 20,000. According to tradition, this jug was presented to the King of Thailand in 1861 as a diplomatic gift. The choice to portray Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Sages of classical antiquity and one of the most important scientists and philosophers of ancient Greece must have appealed to the recipient. The elaborate and precious vessel was designed in the Empire style, despite being created during the Restoration period.

Preview in Berlin

30th of March until 4th of , 11 am - 5 pm

Opening on 29th of March, 6 pm

Lempertz Berlin - Poststraße 22 - 10178 Berlin

Preview in Vienna (A selection of porcelain by the Imperial Manufactory of Vienna

26th of March, 10 am - 6 pm

A.E. Köchert, Neue Markt 15, 1010 Wien

Sales in Berlin

Pruissen Sale on 6th of April, 11 am

The Twinight Collection II on 6th of April, 5 pm

Lempertz Berlin - Poststraße 22 - 10178 Berlin