The Malta Independent 6 October 2024, Sunday
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Christie’s Collections in Paris, New York and London for October 2024

Marie Benoît Saturday, 28 September 2024, 08:00 Last update: about 10 days ago

In October, Christie's online sales series Collections, New York, London and Paris, celebrates the enduring craftsmanship and beauty of important decorative arts from notable private collections spanning the 16th to the 20th centuries. The auctions concurrently present European, English and 19th century furniture and works of art, silver, ceramics, glass, clocks and gold boxes. Estimates range from works offered with no reserve up to $250,000 / £190,000 / €230,000. The sales will open for browsing on 4 October (New York and London) and 9 October (Paris), and open for bidding from 9 to 22 and 23 October respectively (New York and London) and from 16 to 29 October (Paris).

PARIS

Collections: Including the Property of International Interior Designer Robert Couturier

In Paris, amongst the collections offered online from 16 to 29 October, Christie's France will celebrate the collection of the renowned interior designer, Robert Couturier. The collection, which comes from his 17th-century property in Normandy, includes more than 160 lots, gathering an eclectic mix of furniture, objets d'art and paintings. Though Robert Couturier has lived and worked in New York for 40 years, it is his passion for the 18th century French style that has always driven him and guided his choices and designs. He combines taste, materials and colours in a chic harmony of French elegance, creating harmonious and warm ensembles. His collection brings together renowned French cabinet-makers and carpenters of the 18th century such as Pierre Migeon, Nicolas Heurtaut and Jean Gourdin, as well as Etienne Doirat, whose work will be offered in the sale in the form of a Regency ormolu-mounted rosewood commode (estimate: €25,000-40,000), along with modernist legends like Jean-Michel Franck including his modern straw marquetry four-leaf folding screen (estimate: €30,000-50,000). Alongside the furniture of the collection, European and American painters will be highlighted through a series of portraits including a charming portrait of Eleanor Gordon by Gilbert Stuart (estimate: €40,000-60,000), an impressive full-length Portrait of a man by Gilbert Jackson (estimate: €30,000-50,000) and a colourful portrait of Elizabeth Dorme executed by the seventeenth-century English school (estimate: €20,000-30,000). In-situ images give a glimpse of the unique taste of Robert Couturier.

 

NEW YORK

Property from three Northeast collectors leads this sale: the estate of Glenn C. Randall, the estate of Dr. Jeffrey Lant, and Christie's first offering of Delftware from the Peter Van Slyke collection. Glenn Randall was one of America's foremost English furniture dealers. His collection showcases his discerning taste and encyclopedic knowledge, with pieces ranging from the early Charles II era to the Regency period, many with important provenances. Jeffrey Lant was a marketing guru, author, news-media personality, and Harvard trained educator. He was passionate about all things early-19th century. His collection, primarily assembled at auction in Europe and the States, illustrates his particular interest in lots with illustrious provenance, and includes deep holdings of silver, clocks, and decorative objects from the Empire and Directoire periods. Peter van Slyke assembled one of the most important collections of Dutch Delft in America, and the sale includes more than two dozen lots including exceptional pieces, such as a rare puzzle jug and cover with commedia dell'arte figures, a massive blue and white vase by Samuel van Eenhoorn, a figural tulip vase, a tankard dated 1707 with the arms of Augustus the Strong, and unusual forms like Buddhas, wig stands and wine coolers. This auction includes the first installment of this wonderful collection. Beyond works from these three notable collections, the sale includes a variety of lots from collectors and connoisseurs, including 19th century sculpture, European silver from a Private collector, a group of Russian works by Fabergé, and more.

LONDON

The London Collections sale includes property from the Earl of Harewood and the 7th Earl of Harewood's Will Trust, from Harewood House. Recognised as one of England's most splendid stately homes Harewood House, was built and furnished for Edwin Lascelles (1712-1795) between 1760 and 1780 with some of the greatest architects and craftsmen of the time engaged on the project such as John Carr and Robert Adam. The most celebrated cabinetmaker in British history, Thomas Chippendale, was commissioned to furnish and decorate the entirety of the house in his largest and most important commission, from which the sale presents a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire items. The works being offered are led by armchairs and window seats, depicted and detailed below left, which were supplied to the 1st Baron Harewood (1712-95) that have remained in the collection, the latter probably supplied for Lady Harewood's Dressing Room.

Elsewhere, European, English and 19th century furniture, porcelain, silver, gold boxes and works of art dating from the 16th to 20th centuries highlights by leading makers of the 18th and 19th centuries from other private collections include: a pair of royal wall-lights (above middle right) from a Private Roman Apartment Overlooking the Tiber ; a bureau de pente (above far right) by Jacques Dubois - formerly part of the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Deane Johnson of Bel Air, California; and a Louis XV ormolu-mounted dressing-table, by Léonard Boudin, circa 1765-70, formerly in the collection of Baroness Mathilde von Rothschild (estimate: £20,000-30,000).


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