On December 17, before a buoyant room of collectors who had traveled from around the world, Sotheby’s sale of property from the Delmonico collection of important Judaica achieved $7,721,438, surpassing the presale estimate of $4.1/5.5 million.. The sale was 71 percent sold by lot and 92 percent sold by value.
David Redden, Sotheby’s vice chairman and the sale’s auctioneer, said, “This is an extremely active collecting area with dedicated collectors who found an extraordinary buying opportunity in this sale, and took full advantage of it, resulting in strong prices. This sale showed that even in financially complicated times, a great collection will achieve exceptional prices.”
The sale’s top price was achieved by an extremely rare and exquisite Fifteenth Century illuminated Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, on vellum completed by Levi ben Aaron Halfan in Florence, 1489, which sold for $362,500. A series of 40 lots from the Babylonian Talmud printed in Venice by Daniel Bomberg, 11 of which derived from the only known copy printed on blue paper, more than doubled the high estimate to achieve $2.25 million. After spirited bidding, all 11 lots of Bomberg’s Talmud printed on blue paper were purchased by a private collector, and will remain assembled as a collection.
Chief among these was four tractates printed on blue paper, which brought $230,500 against a presale estimate of $40/60,000. Two tractates on blue paper brought $206,500, and a single tractate on blue paper soared to $194,500.
Collectors also enthusiastically competed for the largest selection of Hebrew incunabula, or early printings, to come for sale in years, yielding strong prices for the first complete edition of the entire Mishnah, with the commentary of Maimonides, completed in Naples, 1492, which achieved $254,500. Nahmanides’ Perush ha-Torah (Commentary on the Pentateuch), Rome, 1469‷3, which totaled $338,500; and the Teshuvot She’elot (Answers and Questions) by Solomon ben Abraham ibn Adret, Rome, 1469‷3, which brought $302,500.
The December 16 sale of Israeli and international art brought $2,817,376, was 60.6 percent sold by lot and 66.1 percent sold by value. Nine of the top ten lots achieved more than $100,000, with bidding from a wide range of countries from the United States to Israel. The sale’s top lot achieved $158,500 for Chana Orloff’s “Femme Qui Croise Les Bras (Madone),” 1913, which set a record for the artist at auction.
The December 17 afternoon sale of important Judaica achieved $1,990,438, was 47.6 percent sold by lot and 53.4 percent sold by value. Leading the sale was a pair of George I parcel gilt silver Torah finials, William Spackman, London, 1719, which brought $338,500.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, 212-606-7000 or www.sothebys.com .
