42 21st January 2012 international events


A SINGLE-OWNER consignment of silver and vertu offered on December 7 in Paris afforded collectors the chance to acquire some 17th and 18th century French silverware, a rare opportunity given how much of it went into the melting pot in the Revolutionary era. It formed part of a 200-lot sale of pieces from


the collection of Edouard Cochet assembled over a period of around 40 years, which Paris étude Fraysse et Associés are dispersing in a series of auctions. The December offering was almost equally


divided between the gold and silver elements and furniture and works of art. Given the freshness and scarcity of the material,


it was not surprising that take-up was especially high in the former section, where just one lot failed to get away and prices routinely catapulted over what were largely conservative estimates. The furnishing section which followed the silver


saw 80 of the 100 lots change hands. A group of 34 gold boxes, mostly 18th century


examples from Paris, got proceedings off to a bullish start. Topping the bill at €120,000 (£109,090) was the


example illustrated on this page, which was made by Jean François Garand in 1774 and set with lapis panels to the side. It has a cover enamelled with a scene of lovers in a cornfield after Boucher, signed by J.B. Le Tellier and dated to 1775-76. There was no shortage of other high-flyers,


such as the cut-cornered gold-mounted snuffbox inset with panels of lapis lazuli, marked for Adrien Vachété Paris, 1782-89 and guided at €4000-6000 that finally came in at €49,000 (£44,545). The Cochet silverware, which made up just


under 70 lots, was notable for the large number of provincial French pieces. Apart from Paris, more than a dozen different


towns were featured, from Marseilles in the south to smaller places like St Omer or St Quentin in the


north, and the ensemble was especially well endowed with pieces bearing Strasbourg marks. One of these was a rare group of


nine silver-gilt pieces that formed part of an extensive presentation toilet set made for the Comtesse Von Der Leyen on the occasion of the birth of her son, other elements of which are currently in the Musée des Art Décoratifs de Strasbourg. This group comprised a pair of 8in


(20cm) high fluted column candlesticks, pictured here, ten cosmetic boxes in various sizes, three trays and a brush. As well as the family armorials, they


bore Strasbourg marks for 1788 and ‘89 with ten pieces marked for the master goldsmith Jacques Kirstein and two for the master goldsmith Emmerich. An estimate of €80,000-100,000


was surpassed when the group took €128,000 (£116,360). Another piece of silver-gilt from the


same city, a 12in (31cm) wide, two- handled covered écuelle with matching stand was decorated with neoclassical swags and roundels and a marquis’ armorial. It also had an extravagant handle formed as four hazelnuts with foliage. Weighing 70oz and marked for Jacques Henri Alberti 1779, it took €50,000 (£45,455).


Earlier, and simpler in conception, was


a small 4oz, two-handled cup, that was formerly gilt, with a hammered band resembling sharkskin to the body marked for Josias Dieffenbecher and dated to the last quarter of the 17th century. It overturned a €4000-6000 guide to


take €17,000 (£15,455). Also in demand was a simple 8in


(20cm) high pair of fluted square-based column candlesticks by the Parisian maker Claude Motte marked for 1687- 88 and weighing 34oz. A guide of €25,000-35,000 proved conservative when bidding finally halted at €72,000 (£65,455).


Silver from the northern French city


of Saint Quentin on the Somme doesn’t surface that often, which probably accounts for the double-estimate bids for two admittedly attractive pieces of rococo inspiration made in 1752- 55 by the goldsmith Toussaint Claude Guillaume. The first at €26,000 (£23,635) was a


14oz baluster-shaped teapot with spout terminating in a duck’s head and wooden handle, the second at €27,000 (£24,545) was a 13oz covered sugar basin. A further instalment of silver from the


Cochet collection will appear at the same auction house on February 8.


Three pieces in demand at Fraysse et Associés’ sale. Above: 18th century candlesticks, part of a silver gilt Strasbourg toilet set sold for €128,000 (£116,360) Below left: gold-mounted snuffbox with cover after Boucher – €120,000 (£109,090). Below right: sugar pot by Toussaint Claude Guillame – €27,000 (£24,545)(£24,545).


Bidders seize silver missed by revolutionaries


Age of travel


and a time of war THIS poster, above, by Roger de Valério advertising Air France’s flights from Paris to London is one of around 350 lots of posters to be offered by Tajan on January 25. Measuring 3ft 3in x 2ft (1m x 62cm) and described as in “new condition”, it is guided at €1000-1200. The sale is based around the dual


themes of tourism and the Second World War, offering plenty of opportunities for posters advertising travel by rail, air and sea (including a Cassandre inter-War poster for Le Normandie, a rare variant guided at €7000-10,000). Second World War subjects include


one of the posters printed with General De Gaulle’s address to the Free French from London.


Corrections


THE late 18th century bronze candelabra pictured on page 36 of last week’s ATG sold for SFr320,000 (£218,550) at Koller not at Sotheby’s as printed.


IN ATG 2019 when we reported on a pair of Lalique glass doors which made a record €1.75m (£1.59m) in Sotheby’s Paris, the previous record was given as a figure sold for $500,000 (£335,570) in 2010 in New York. It has since been pointed out to us that back in 1990, Christie’s Geneva sold a Lalique glass fountain for SFr1.2m (then around £500,000).


BUYER’S PREMIUMS Christie’s 25/20/12% Sotheby’s 25/20/12% Binoche et Giquello 23% Castor Hara 20% Fraysse 23.92% inc VAT Beaussant Lefèvre 20% Jean Marc Delvaux 23.9%inc VAT


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64