44 9th June 2012 international events Old Master sets a new high


■ Work by Rembrandt’s pupil is most expensive Old Master painting in a German auction


Jonathan Franks reports £1 = €1.24


LEMPERTZ (22% buyer’s premium) in Cologne had good reason to be satisfied with their sale of Old Master and 19th century paintings on May 12. The 2ft 2in x 1ft 23in (68 x 54cm) canvas Maler in seiner Werkstatt (Painter in his Studio) by Rembrandt’s pupil Gerrit Dou (1613-75), became the most expensive Old Master painting ever sold at a German auction.


It was estimated at €1.5m-2m and


bidding started at €1.26m. After the preliminaries it was down to a South American collector and an English dealer, who slogged it out until the collector gave up at the €3m mark (£2.41m). Another high point of the sale was the 12 x 21in (31 x 53cm) Winter Landscape by Hendrick Avercamps (1585-1634), which was estimated at €800,000- €1.2m. In this case a Belgian dealer had to contend with a determined Swiss collector and was taken to €1.5m (£1.2m). More surprising was the strong demand for Toebackje (Tobacco), a 19 x 17in (49 x 42cm) panel with a still life with smoking utensils, painted in 1665


estimate €600,000 (£481,625). There were fewer pleasant surprises at


the works of art sale on May 11. Many of the premier pieces failed to find buyers, among them the pair of Neapolitan marquetry commodes by Francesco Celebrano, which were estimated at €700,000-€900,000. The table by Martin Carlin, previewed in ATG No 2040, failed to make the reserve of €200,000 and is under negotiation. A rare early 17th century south German automaton clock with a lion and a blackamoor doubled its lower estimate to sell for €220,000 (£176,600) to a French collector, while the English trade secured a 16th century Castel Durante armorial maiolica dish, measuring 16in (41cm) in diameter, depicting the Sacrifice of Marcus Curtius for €135,000 (£108,370), just under the low estimate.


Below: at Lempertz’s May 11 works of


art sale, this rare early 17th century south German automaton clock took €220,000 (£176,600) from a French collector.


by Jan Fris (1627-72). It was estimated at €120,000-€140,000, but went on to sell to the English trade against international competition for a substantial €560,000 (£449,520). Salomon van Ruysdael’s (1602-70)


pair of 2ft 4in x 2ft 6in (63 x 75cm) oval landscapes, one with a farmhouse, the other with a river scene with ferry boat, sold to a Dutch collector for a top-


Above: an English dealer paid €3m (£2.41m) for this Maler in seiner Werkstatt (Painter in his Studio) by Gerrit Dou, setting a record for an Old Master painting at a German auction in the process.


St Petersburg porcelain paintings reach a monumental price


A PAIR of monumental 19th century porcelain paintings from the Imperial factory at St Petersburg caused the biggest sensation at the May 11-12 auction in Cologne at Van Ham (25/22% buyer’s premium). The 2ft 6in x 2ft (76 x 60cm) plaques


were housed in ornate gilt frames. Both were painted in 1852 with highly detailed inn scenes, based on original paintings by Hendrick Joseph Dillens (1812-72), which are assumed to have once been part of the Hermitage collection. The plaques had belonged to a


German family since the 1970s and were put in the catalogue with an enticingly low estimate of €10,000. In the run-up to the sale numerous commission bids from Russia made it clear that a long bidding match was inevitable. On the day there were 20 participants on the phones, who competed with several bidders in the room. The field soon thinned out considerably, after several Belgian dealers and the majority of the Russians dropped out and at the close a London dealer settled the affair at €410,000 (£329,110).


Left and right: this pair of monumental St Petersburg paintings, measuring 2ft 6in x 2ft (76 x 60cm) sold to a London dealer at Van Ham’s May 11-12 sale for €410,000 (£329,110).


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