The highest price achieved during the three-day auction was “The History of Philosophy” by Alfred Boucher, carved marble, 36¼ by 13 inches, which had exhibition and publication history as well as provenance to a Rhenish private collection. It sold to a buyer in Belgium for $69,681.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Photos Courtesy Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY — Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen conducted a three-day whirlwind of sales March 7-9, in which more than 2,100 lots of European fine and decorative art, rugs and musical instruction crossed the block. Bidders from around the world participated in person, online and on the phones.
The sale’s top price of $69,681 was achieved on the third day by a carved white marble relief titled “The History of Philosophy” that had been carved by Alfred Boucher (French, 1850-1934). The 36¾-inch-tall piece depicted a standing female nude, seen from behind and by a rock with her arms aloft, a sailing ship in low relief in the background and a small flower at the bottom. Boucher exhibited the relief at the 1898 Salon des Paris and again at the Exposition Universelle in 1900; it is included in J. Piette’s catalogue raisonné, Alfred Boucher 1850-1934: L’oeuvre sculpté (2014). Previously in a private Rhenish collection, it sold to a buyer from Belgium who was bidding on the phone.
Also selling on the third day and realizing $48,777 was a still life of tulips and roses in a clay vase by Jan Breughel the Younger (Flemish, 1601-1678) that shared provenance to a private Rhenish collection. The composition, rendered in oil on cradled oak panel, dated to 1640-50 and had been examined by Dr Klaus Ertz; a letter he wrote confirming his attribution to Breughel accompanied the lot. An online bidder from France had the top bid.
A buyer in France, bidding online, paid $48,777 and the second highest price overall, for this still life by Jan Breughel the Younger, oil on cradled oak panel, 21 by 14½ inches.
Another buyer from France but one bidding by phone paid $25,084 for a bronze pigeon by identical twin brothers and French sculptors, Jan (1896-1966) and Joël Martel (1896-1966). The 12½-inch-tall sculpture had a foundry stamp “Susse Frères. Éditeurs Paris.” The result more than doubled its high estimate.
A highlight of Nineteenth Century paintings offered on the second day of the sale was a painting of ducks, chickens, turkeys and a peacock by Carl D.Ä Jutz (German, 1838-1916) that will be staying in Germany, purchased by a local buyer bidding on the phone for $11,149.
Porcelains were a draw on the first day of the sale. A Meissen baluster vase painted with floral bouquets and further embellished by gilded rocaille overpainting stood 18½ inches tall and found a new home with a buyer in Taiwan, who competed over the phone and won it for $19,511. The house did not confirm if the same Taiwanese phone bidder won for $9,756 a late Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century Meissen parcel gilt plate titled “Venus after Titian.” Other noteworthy porcelain results that day included a Meissen covered polychrome and parcel gilt and silver mounted snuffbox that dated to circa 1735 and had provenance to the Ehlen Collection in Rhineland; a German buyer, bidding online, took it to $9,059. Staying in Germany but selling to a buyer bidding in the room for $6,402 was another piece from the Ehlen Collection: a pair of Frankenthal polychrome and parcel gilt porcelain cachepots with landscape decoration.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house and have been converted into USD from Euros based on the conversion rate on the day of the auction. For additional information, www.kunstauktionen-duesseldorf.de/en.
