: The two-session Christie's sale of the Wildenstein collection of
French furniture, objets d'art and tapestries on December 14 and
15 realized $38.8 million, well ahead of expectations. The sale
was 85 percent sold by value and 80 percent sold by lot.
The top lot was a late Louis XIV ormolu-mounted brass-inlaid
ebony and tortoiseshell marquetry bureaux plat by the famed
furniture maker André-Charles Boulle that sold for $5,180,080,
the third highest price ever for a work by the maker and the
tenth highest price ever paid for a piece of French furniture.
Charles Cator, international director of furniture, Orlando Rock,
director and head of the collections department, London, and
Amjad Rauf, director and head of European furniture sales,
London, commented, "This magical time-warp revealed the very
private world of that leviathan of the arts Nathan Wildenstein."
"His unerring eye for quality and craftsmanship was greeted with
huge enthusiasm by collectors and museum curators throughout the
world, and we are delighted with the exceptional prices realized
by these very rare chefs d'oeuvres. The largest single-owner
collection of French furniture ever to be sold at King Street,
this sale marks the end of an era," he said.
One of a matched pair of Louis XIV ormolu-mounted and boulle
brass-inlaid brown tortoise-shell pier tables, (shown left)
circa 1710, attributed to André-Charles Boulle, which realized
$1,961,334. Achieving ten times its presale estimate, this
Louis XV ormolu-mounted nautilus shell, circa 1740-45, 8 1/4
inches high, made $1,961,334.
All ten of the top lots sold for more than $800,000, and no
fewer than four lots sold for more than $1.7 million. "In what is a
robust but challenging market, this sale underlined the timeless
appeal of the greatest French furniture," the Christie's officials,
who added that the sale marked the end of a remarkable year for the
collections department in London, which has realized more than $140
million in 2005.
The Wildenstein collection was one of the most important sales of
French furniture ever held. The collection comprised more than
250 works of pieces of furniture and works of art, the majority
of which had not been seen in decades and were offered in an
untouched and unrestored condition. The auction was highlighted
by the unprecedented offering of magnificent Boulle furniture.
The remarkable ensemble was largely the creation of one man -
Nathan Wildenstein (1851-1934). Hugely influential in the history
of taste in the early Twentieth Century, Nathan Wildenstein was
the founder of the Wildenstein dynasty, which to this day
represents more than a century of tradition, expertise and
connoisseurship. The collection was sold to create new facilities
to house the archives and research workrooms of the Wildenstein
Institute, the world's leading publisher of catalogues raisonné.
In the sale, a matched pair of Louis XIV ormolu-mounted and
boulle brass-inlaid brown tortoiseshell pier tables, circa 1710,
also attributed to Boulle, realized $1,961,334.
A Louis XIV ormolu-mounted brass-inlaid brown tortoiseshell,
ebony and boulle marquetry armoire, circa 1700, attributed to
André-Charles Boulle, 46 inches wide, sold for $1,802,384.
An extraordinary Louis XV ormolu-mounted nautilus shell,
which was probably designed by Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier and came
from the fabled collections of the Viennese Rothschilds through
Rosenberg and Steibel, was another top lot. The magnificent object
sold after a fierce bidding battle for $1,961,334, ten times its
presale estimate. Further highlights included a superb Louis XIV
bronze group representing Bacchus and Ariadne by Corneille van
Cleve, circa 1704, which sold for $1,603,696.
Rounding out the sales top ten lots were a Louis XIV
ormolu-mounted brass-inlaid brown tortoiseshell, ebony and boulle
marquetry petit armoire, circa 1700-1710, also attributed to
Boulle, $1,802,384; a late Louis XV ormolu-mounted mahogany and
floral trellis marquetry secretaire a abattant, by Jean-Francois
Leleu, circa 1772, $1,563,958; a pair of Regence brass and
ormolu-mounted amaranth coquilliers, circa 1715-25, in the manner
of André-Charles Boulle, $1,464,614; a pair of late Louis XVI
ormolu-mounted brass, pewter, ebony and tortoiseshell boulle
marquetry side cabinets (bas d'armoire), circa 1780-1800,
$1,206,320.
Also, a Louis XV ormolu-mounted brass-inlaid tortoiseshell and
ebony boulle marquetry bureau plat and cartonnier, second quarter
Eighteenth Century, the clock by J. Henry Enderlin, attributed to
Boulle fils, $1,126,844; and a Louis XV ormolu-mounted and boulle
marquetry pewter, brass and copper-inlaid brown tortoiseshell and
ebony table de milieu, circa 1761, by the marchand julliot,
constructed using elements from a cabinet stand by André-Charles
Boulle, circa 1700, $1,007,632.
Prices reported include buyer's premium. For information,
www.Christies.com.
