Furniture, works of art and Old Master paintings collected by members of the famous Rothschild banking family are to be offered for auction by Christie’s in London as part of its summer season sales.
Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | Anne Crane
The 50-plus lots, many of them collected by Baron Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911), will be up for sale on July 4 with selected highlights going on tour prior to this in New York (April 25-30) and Hong Kong (May 24-27).
Many of the pieces offered also come with prestigious earlier provenances.
The potential star of the sale is a pair of very grand early 18th century Flemish cabinets on stands in tortoiseshell, brass and pewter marquetry and giltwood. They belong to a group of four that were originally commissioned in Antwerp c.1713 for Philip V, King of Spain, from the furniture maker and dealer Henrick Van Soest.
The pair is estimated at £1.5m-2.5m.
The sale also includes a writing table by the famous ébéniste Jean-Henri Riesener which was commissioned by Queen Marie Antoinette c.1780, almost certainly for the Petit Trianon.
The table, which is marked with the queen’s garde meuble brand that was applied to her furniture after 1784, is estimated at £600,000-1m.
Works of art in the sale include a set of 10 parcel-gilt polychrome enamel plaques of c.1550 by Leonard Limousin, each depicting an apostle (estimate £200,000-300,000), and a Venetian parcel-gilt, gilt-bronze and rock crystal casket of c.1600 that once belonged to the famous collector William Beckford and featured in the celebrated 1823 Fonthill Abbey sale (estimate £100,000-150,000).