Top: Highly important silver Nuremberg Renaissance Goblet

The highlight outshining everything was a highly important Nuremberg Renaissance goblet with rare polychromy by Andreas Roßner from the period 1592 -1601. Interest for this very rare object was enormous and triggered a long, intense bidding fight, eventually secured by a private collection for € 338,000, considerably above the estimate of € 80/90,000 (lot 703).

A Renaissance lidded tankard, possibly South German around 1550 doubled its estimate to sell for € 40,000 (lot 700, € 20/24,000). Standing out amongst the eight German Renaissance and Baroque goblets offered from an Italian private collection was a Nuremberg nesting goblet by Caspar II Beuthmüller from around 1612 -1632 which sold for € 29,000, a Nuremberg Renaissance goblet made in 1590 -1600 by Hans Petzolt for € 25,000, as well as an Augsburg shell goblet by Hans Otto from 1663 -1666 which reached € 20,000 (lots 715/714/716).

With a sales quota of over 80% and at 125% of the total estimate, the Jewellery Auction was very successful. Strong international bidding interest triggered a good result for an African necklace with natural red coral stones: estimated at € 1,2/1,500, intense bidding pushed it up to € 37,500 (lot 174).

A further highlight was a flower ring featuring a natural 3.06 ct diamond solitaire in “Fancy Brown greenish yellow” which brought € 15,000 (lot 144, € 12,000). Jean Després’ works were of international interest in the auction, in particular an Art Déco ring made in around 1933 which was pushed from € 2,5/3,000 up to € 15,000 by an American bidder (lot 53). Two private collections featuring works by the Rhenish goldsmiths Mechthild Baumann and Alexander Alberty received a substantial number of bids whilst Piero Dorazio’s abstract decorated golden enamel powder box changed hands for € 10,000 (lot 101, € 6/8,000).

Following the exceptional success of the auction of the first part of the most important European private mortar collection in Spring last year, Lempertz was pleased to offer for sale the second part of this unique Schwarzach collection. Presented in a special catalogue, the select 144 bronze mortars spanned 1000 years from the 8th to the 18th century.

One focus lay on the particularly elaborately worked and richly decorated Islamic mortars. 23 objects represented the variety of the early high culture from the 10th to the 13th century. A further focus, as in the first part of the collection, was on the German and Dutch mortars – a total of seventy lots. The highpoint of the auction was an important bronze Braunschweig ‘elbow’ mortar from the first quarter 15th century, attributed to Hennig Bussenschutte, which with a result of € 45,000, far exceeded its € 8/10,000 estimate (lot 545).

In the area of decorative arts, a number of noteworthy large and small collections were offered, including the remarkable Copenhagen private collection (with its own chapter in the catalogue), featuring a total of 55 lots of very high quality furniture, silver and decorative objects. One highlight with a result of € 37,500 was a pair of Empire table candelabra from the Château de Neuilly, attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, around 1830 (lot 949, € 30/40,000). A rare pair of gondola chairs with zoomorphic décor, made probably in Russia at the end of the 18th century rose to € 31,000, far above the € 4/6,000 estimate (lot 948). An important Meissen group stood out amongst the porcelains: The Indiscrete Harlequin from around 1740 - the model attributed to Johann Kaendler – of which there is no other model with trees. The German trade had to invest € 88,000 to gain the winning hammer (lot 893, € 40/50,000). A Palatine private collection featured a wealth of beautiful Nymphenburg porcelains with a total of 29 objects, out of which shone eight plates and dishes related to the court service around 1760-1765, the painting attributed to Johann Zächenberger. Further highlights included two splendid dishes also related to the court service which sold for € 14,000 and 15,000 (lots 850/851, € 5/8,000).

With a result of € 75,000, a bust of a knight of the Order of the Golden Flies shone out amongst the 13 lots of a Belgian private collection, made in around 1630-1650 and attributed to the circle of Gianlorenzo Bernini or Alessandro Algardi (lot 975, € 60/80,000). In addition, 21 small and large format marble reliefs from Italian ownership were sold, one of the highlights of which included two relief plaques with sacrificial scenes, made in Italy, probably Rome, in the mid-19th century which sold to an Italian collector for € 50,000 (lot 1029, € 40,000 – 60,000).