100 Top Treasures
November 2007
46 Going Grien
Franz Koenigs was a highly respected collector of Old Master drawings in Germany and Holland. At Christie’s New York January sale of Old Master Works and 19th-Century Drawings, six drawings from his collection were the day’s highlights. Topping the list was "Head of a Man" by Hans Baldung Grien, a powerful and deeply expressive drawing, which brought $3.7 million, a world auction record for the artist. The three-quarter view, rendered in black chalk on light brown paper, dates from between the early 1510s and mid-1530s. It is one of a small group of head studies by the artist and among his largest works to have survived. Fewer than five known drawings are believed to remain in private hands. Born into a family of academics and intellectuals, Baldung began his studies in Strasbourg, then moved in 1503 to Nuremberg, where he acquired the nickname "Grien," most likely because of his preference for the color. Among the most powerful influences on Grien was Albrecht Dürer, but while Dürer leans to formal perfection, Grien tends to informality and unpredictability. "He’s an incredibly rare artist; a Grien drawing appears once in a generation," says Christie’s Old Master drawings specialist Jennifer Wright. —D.G.
47 Class Glass
Dragonflies were one of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s favorite forms and have become a signature motif of his lamps. In December 2006 the Art Institute of Chicago acquired a circa-1906 Tiffany Studios hanging-head dragonfly lamp on a mosaic and turtleback-tile base. A similar lamp sold at a Christie’s New York 2004 auction for just under $1 million. "The brilliant hues of the glass complement the turtleback insets and mosaics on the bronze base," says Ellen Roberts, the museum’s assistant curator of the American art department. —D.G.
48 Urban Life
At Christie’s Impressionist and modern art sale in New York in November 2006, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s "Berlin Street Scene" (1913) was purchased by New York’s Neue Galerie for $38 million. The work depicts an urban crowd painted primarily in blues with a prostitute in a bright-red dress on the left. It came to Christie’s only three months after the German government returned it to the heirs of Alfred and Thekla Hess. It had been hanging since 1990 in Berlin’s Brucke Museum, which acquired it from the German government. "It was a thrillingly rare example of Kirchner’s street scenes and is arguably the finest one still on the market. The painting’s visual impact lies in its exciting evocation of Berlin street life on the eve of World War I," says Conor Jordan, senior specialist in Christie’s Impressionist and Modern art department. —D.G.
49 In Stitches
Were it proper to look beneath the black coats and capes worn by Amish men and women, viewers would likely discover colored shirts and dresses, all handmade. This "Diamond in the Square" wool quilt, made by Amish women in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s, is meant to reflect the hues found on their inside clothing—teal blue, lavender and vermillion, among other shades. This example is one of 11 quilts given in November 2006 to the Shelburne Museum in Vermont by Barbara and Michael Polemis, noted New York–based collectors. "In their quilts, Amish women conform to a conventional format," explains Jean Burks, senior curator at the Shelburne. "A central design sits within a narrow inner border, while a wide outer border is finished with an added binding, usually of a contrasting color. Elaborate, sweeping feather, wreath and floral-spray quilting designs balance the stark geometry of the piecing of Lancaster quilts." Individual values vary greatly, but recent auction records of Amish quilts of the period reveal that similar examples have sold for about $20,000. —D.M.
50 Czarist Splendor
When legendary Paris dealer Maurice Segoura decided to retire, his collection, including a number of private pieces, was sold at Christie’s New York in October 2006. Anticipating strong public interest, the auction house had interior designer Juan Pablo Molyneux recreate Segoura’s sumptuous gallery for the presale exhibition. Among the top lots in this setting was a pair of Russian gilt-bronze console tables that sold for $1.36 million, a record for Russian furniture. The circa-1800 tables have green serpentine marble tops above a paneled frieze inset with jasper panels centered by a female mask within a scrolled cartouche. "They were superb examples of the Russian stonecutter’s art combined with beautiful gilt-bronze mounts," says William Strafford, Christie’s head of European furniture and decorative arts. "Although they date from the beginning of the 19th century, their clean lines have a wonderfully contemporary feel." —D.G.
51 Waist-Bound
In 19th-century Europe, members of the aristocracy and the wealthy bourgeoisie would often adorn their vests with a chatelaine, a decorative belt hook or clasp from which hung a series of chains. As described by Jutta-Annette Page, curator of glass at the Toledo Museum of Art, which acquired this circa-1845 French example from H. Blairman & Sons Ltd. of London last March, "Each chain is mounted with a useful household appendage, in this case a vinaigrette, a key and a seal. This appears to be the grandest and most complete chatelaine by Froment-Meurice that is still in existence today." By 1844, the jewelry firm of Froment-Meurice had become known as the best in Paris. This version features rounded arches and sculptural elements reminiscent of Italian and French Renaissance architecture; some of the figures depicted include Dante and his ever-elusive love Beatrice and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and busts of his children—at least the legitimate ones. The last available value for the chatelaine is $19,359, achieved when it sold at a Christie’s auction in Amsterdam in 2002, but Page stresses that the work is worth considerably more today. —D.M.
52 Maharaja Magnificence
In India the pearl was a treasured gem that was not only worn but woven into and embedded in the pillars and doorways of royal residences. Among the most passionate jewelry collectors were the Maharajas of Baroda, in particular the Maharaja Khande Rao (ruled 1856–1870), who came into possession of a seven-strand pearl necklace, which was broken up in 1948. At Christie’s New York jewelry sale in April, expectations were high for the final lot, the remaining two strands of the original Baroda necklace. Composed of 68 pearls perfectly matched in color and graduated in size (some as large as marbles) it sold to an Asian collector for $7 million. (The previous record was set at Christie’s Geneva in 2004 when a double strand of 88 graduated pearls brought $3.1 million.) "The color of the pearls was perfect, slightly creamy with pink overtones. Their skin was flawless, absolutely blemish-free," comments Rahul Kadakia, head of Christie’s jewelry department for the Americas. "I can say without hesitation these were the finest pearls offered for sale ever." —D.G.
53 Winged Sphinx
Last March as Alan Darr, curator of European sculpture and decorative arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts, led patrons and high-level museum personnel through the crowded Maastricht art fair (TEFAF), he discovered what he calls a "masterpiece of French Directoire and pre-Empire furniture." For years, Darr had been looking for an important example of such furniture, typical of the late 18th century, and what he and his colleagues found at the booth of the Zurich dealer Richard Redding is, says Darr, "one of the great pieces of European furniture to come up in the market in many years." One of the specialists on the trip with Darr made the pronouncement that no other American institution had anything like this mahogany pier table with a sphinx monopod, designed by a virtual consortium of period master artisans. The masterful demi-lune Parisian pier table, or console, is characterized by reddish-brown mahogany veneers, gilt bronzes, Wedgwood medallions, a blue marble top and a winged sphinx. As Darr explains, the Greek version of the Egyptian sphinx features wings. He would not disclose the purchase price except to say, "It is worth well above $500,000." —D.M.
Franz Koenigs was a highly respected collector of Old Master drawings in Germany and Holland. At Christie’s New York January sale of Old Master Works and 19th-Century Drawings, six drawings from his collection were the day’s highlights. Topping the list was "Head of a Man" by Hans Baldung Grien, a powerful and deeply expressive drawing, which brought $3.7 million, a world auction record for the artist. The three-quarter view, rendered in black chalk on light brown paper, dates from between the early 1510s and mid-1530s. It is one of a small group of head studies by the artist and among his largest works to have survived. Fewer than five known drawings are believed to remain in private hands. Born into a family of academics and intellectuals, Baldung began his studies in Strasbourg, then moved in 1503 to Nuremberg, where he acquired the nickname "Grien," most likely because of his preference for the color. Among the most powerful influences on Grien was Albrecht Dürer, but while Dürer leans to formal perfection, Grien tends to informality and unpredictability. "He’s an incredibly rare artist; a Grien drawing appears once in a generation," says Christie’s Old Master drawings specialist Jennifer Wright. —D.G.
47 Class Glass
Dragonflies were one of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s favorite forms and have become a signature motif of his lamps. In December 2006 the Art Institute of Chicago acquired a circa-1906 Tiffany Studios hanging-head dragonfly lamp on a mosaic and turtleback-tile base. A similar lamp sold at a Christie’s New York 2004 auction for just under $1 million. "The brilliant hues of the glass complement the turtleback insets and mosaics on the bronze base," says Ellen Roberts, the museum’s assistant curator of the American art department. —D.G.
48 Urban Life
At Christie’s Impressionist and modern art sale in New York in November 2006, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s "Berlin Street Scene" (1913) was purchased by New York’s Neue Galerie for $38 million. The work depicts an urban crowd painted primarily in blues with a prostitute in a bright-red dress on the left. It came to Christie’s only three months after the German government returned it to the heirs of Alfred and Thekla Hess. It had been hanging since 1990 in Berlin’s Brucke Museum, which acquired it from the German government. "It was a thrillingly rare example of Kirchner’s street scenes and is arguably the finest one still on the market. The painting’s visual impact lies in its exciting evocation of Berlin street life on the eve of World War I," says Conor Jordan, senior specialist in Christie’s Impressionist and Modern art department. —D.G.
49 In Stitches
Were it proper to look beneath the black coats and capes worn by Amish men and women, viewers would likely discover colored shirts and dresses, all handmade. This "Diamond in the Square" wool quilt, made by Amish women in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s, is meant to reflect the hues found on their inside clothing—teal blue, lavender and vermillion, among other shades. This example is one of 11 quilts given in November 2006 to the Shelburne Museum in Vermont by Barbara and Michael Polemis, noted New York–based collectors. "In their quilts, Amish women conform to a conventional format," explains Jean Burks, senior curator at the Shelburne. "A central design sits within a narrow inner border, while a wide outer border is finished with an added binding, usually of a contrasting color. Elaborate, sweeping feather, wreath and floral-spray quilting designs balance the stark geometry of the piecing of Lancaster quilts." Individual values vary greatly, but recent auction records of Amish quilts of the period reveal that similar examples have sold for about $20,000. —D.M.
50 Czarist Splendor
When legendary Paris dealer Maurice Segoura decided to retire, his collection, including a number of private pieces, was sold at Christie’s New York in October 2006. Anticipating strong public interest, the auction house had interior designer Juan Pablo Molyneux recreate Segoura’s sumptuous gallery for the presale exhibition. Among the top lots in this setting was a pair of Russian gilt-bronze console tables that sold for $1.36 million, a record for Russian furniture. The circa-1800 tables have green serpentine marble tops above a paneled frieze inset with jasper panels centered by a female mask within a scrolled cartouche. "They were superb examples of the Russian stonecutter’s art combined with beautiful gilt-bronze mounts," says William Strafford, Christie’s head of European furniture and decorative arts. "Although they date from the beginning of the 19th century, their clean lines have a wonderfully contemporary feel." —D.G.
51 Waist-Bound
In 19th-century Europe, members of the aristocracy and the wealthy bourgeoisie would often adorn their vests with a chatelaine, a decorative belt hook or clasp from which hung a series of chains. As described by Jutta-Annette Page, curator of glass at the Toledo Museum of Art, which acquired this circa-1845 French example from H. Blairman & Sons Ltd. of London last March, "Each chain is mounted with a useful household appendage, in this case a vinaigrette, a key and a seal. This appears to be the grandest and most complete chatelaine by Froment-Meurice that is still in existence today." By 1844, the jewelry firm of Froment-Meurice had become known as the best in Paris. This version features rounded arches and sculptural elements reminiscent of Italian and French Renaissance architecture; some of the figures depicted include Dante and his ever-elusive love Beatrice and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and busts of his children—at least the legitimate ones. The last available value for the chatelaine is $19,359, achieved when it sold at a Christie’s auction in Amsterdam in 2002, but Page stresses that the work is worth considerably more today. —D.M.
52 Maharaja Magnificence
In India the pearl was a treasured gem that was not only worn but woven into and embedded in the pillars and doorways of royal residences. Among the most passionate jewelry collectors were the Maharajas of Baroda, in particular the Maharaja Khande Rao (ruled 1856–1870), who came into possession of a seven-strand pearl necklace, which was broken up in 1948. At Christie’s New York jewelry sale in April, expectations were high for the final lot, the remaining two strands of the original Baroda necklace. Composed of 68 pearls perfectly matched in color and graduated in size (some as large as marbles) it sold to an Asian collector for $7 million. (The previous record was set at Christie’s Geneva in 2004 when a double strand of 88 graduated pearls brought $3.1 million.) "The color of the pearls was perfect, slightly creamy with pink overtones. Their skin was flawless, absolutely blemish-free," comments Rahul Kadakia, head of Christie’s jewelry department for the Americas. "I can say without hesitation these were the finest pearls offered for sale ever." —D.G.
53 Winged Sphinx
Last March as Alan Darr, curator of European sculpture and decorative arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts, led patrons and high-level museum personnel through the crowded Maastricht art fair (TEFAF), he discovered what he calls a "masterpiece of French Directoire and pre-Empire furniture." For years, Darr had been looking for an important example of such furniture, typical of the late 18th century, and what he and his colleagues found at the booth of the Zurich dealer Richard Redding is, says Darr, "one of the great pieces of European furniture to come up in the market in many years." One of the specialists on the trip with Darr made the pronouncement that no other American institution had anything like this mahogany pier table with a sphinx monopod, designed by a virtual consortium of period master artisans. The masterful demi-lune Parisian pier table, or console, is characterized by reddish-brown mahogany veneers, gilt bronzes, Wedgwood medallions, a blue marble top and a winged sphinx. As Darr explains, the Greek version of the Egyptian sphinx features wings. He would not disclose the purchase price except to say, "It is worth well above $500,000." —D.M.
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