The Prussian Sale and Berlin Salon - Highly important study by Gropius & Meyer

Alongside the successful Prussian Auction, Lempertz Berlin presents a new format, Berlin Salon, in which high value design objects, the incunabula of modern furniture construction are offered. The superlative highlight is the museum-worthy, complete study by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, in its original condition. Produced in 1923 in the Bauhaus workshops, this unicum is the only furniture from that era not found in a museum and which now comes onto the market. It has an estimate of € 100,000 - 150,000. This lot also includes the written correspondence between Gropius/Meyer and the client, Georg Hanstein, and the plans for the individual pieces in 1:1 scale. Further pieces of furniture by Henry van de Velde, Peter Behrens and Bruno Paul round up the offer (up to € 24,000).

The Prussian Auction of 297 lots is led by the first part of the collection of the art historian Dr. Annedore Müller-Hofstede who died in 2017. She collected German porcelain in parallel to husband-and-wife Heimisch, focusing on classicist iconography such as Werther motifs or depictions after Angelika Kauffmann. The collections are complemented by numerous objects from the orders for Friedrich II for his court household including a pair of candlesticks from the ‘New Silver Service’ which Friedrich II commissioned from Lieberkühn after the end of the Second Silesian War. Originally comprising 50 to 60 settings – later supplemented by numerous additions – each place at the table was assigned one of the small single-flame candlesticks (lot 7, estimate € 38,000-40,000). Magnificent pieces date from the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm III: a chandelier in chinoiserie pagoda by the Berlin manufacturer Werner & Mieth (lot 120, € 40,000-50,000), a hoop chandelier with prism pendants from the ‘wood bronze’ manufactory of Carl August Mencke, around 1825-35, after a design by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (lot 163, estimate € 20,000-30,000), and a published vase from KPM, Berlin, dated to 1815-1816, painted on both sides with mythologies (lot 139, estimate € 20,000-25,000).

A highly important, probably unique bronze case depicts the explorer Alexander von Humboldt, cast during his lifetime in 1851 after the model by Carl Wolgast. The Berlin sculptor Wolgast (1819-1876), a student of Christian Daniel Rauch, was represented at the Academy exhibitions from 1844 to 1874. The statuette of von Humboldt is only mentioned as a zinc cast by Thieme/Becker – a bronze example was long unknown (lot 193, estimate € 70,000-80,000).

Furthermore, three works on paper by Adolph Menzel are offered at auction: One sheet being the important and topical watercolour ‘In front of the Church’ from 1890 (lot 260, estimate € 100,000-120,000), whilst the second is from the year 1894 and shows ‘Putto on the Grave of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm in Potsdam’ (lot 261, estimate € 20,000-25,000).

Auction dates

Auction 1193 - The Prussian Sale

Fine Art Decorative Arts Modern Art
Saturday 07. 05. 2022, 11:00 am
Lot 1 - 297
Auction 1193
Auction
Berlin
Saturday, May 7

11 am: Lot 1 - 297
3 pm: Lot 300 - 317

The auction will be streamed online. We kindly ask you to place your bids online, by phone or as absentee bids. Online bids at least 48 hours before the auction.

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Poststr. 22
10178 Berlin (Mitte)
T +49.30.27876080
F +49.30.27876086
Preview
Berlin, Poststr. 22

Friday 29 May to Thursday 5 May:
11 am - 5 pm

Friday 6 May:
by appointment
Catalogue
PDF-Catalogue

Auction 1193 - Berlin Salon

Fine Art Decorative Arts Modern Art
Saturday 07. 05. 2022, 11:00 am
Lot 300 - 317
Auction 1193
Auction
Berlin
Saturday, May 7

11 am: Lot 1 - 297
3 pm: Lot 300 - 317

The auction will be streamed online. We kindly ask you to place your bids online, by phone or as absentee bids. Online bids at least 48 hours before the auction.

Kunsthaus Lempertz
Poststr. 22
10178 Berlin (Mitte)
T +49.30.27876080
F +49.30.27876086
Preview
Berlin, Poststr. 22

Friday 29 May to Thursday 5 May:
11 am - 5 pm

Friday 6 May:
by appointment
Catalogue
PDF-Catalogue

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, April 2022