European Ceramics & Glass

European Ceramics and Glass: 2023 Highlights

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Across sales in New York, London, Paris and Cologne, Sotheby’s has achieved strong results in each of the major collecting categories, including Sèvres porcelain, Meissen porcelain, Glass, Maiolica and European Pottery. From 2023 through to Spring 2024, Sotheby’s Ceramics department has achieved $9.4m in worldwide sales, 197.4% on the total low estimate, with 85% of all offered lots sold, and 44% selling above high estimate. In May 2023, Sotheby’s had the honor of presenting Jacques Garcia, Intemporel, which achieved a €2,552,700 in 6 lots of European Ceramics alone, setting two auction records for the category.

We look forward to building on the successes of 2023 and to maintaining our position in the forefront of the market for European Ceramics and Glass.

European Ceramics and Glass: 2023 Highlights

  • An Important Sèvres 'Beau Bleu' Armorial and Ornithological Part Dinner Service, 1792 and 1793
    This magnificent Sèvres service led the sale of Jacques Garcia, Intemporel in Paris in May and sold for €889,000. This result set an auction record for an 18th century Sèvres dinner service, and it was the highest price achieved for a European porcelain at any auction worldwide in 2023.
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  • An Important Pair of Monumental Sèvres (Hard Paste) Gilt-Bronze-Mounted Purple and Gold-Ground Vases, 'grand vases étrusque' or 'vases "Lagrenée"', Dated 1797
    Formerly owned by the Dukes of Hamilton and displayed in the Venus Cabinet at Hamilton Palace in Scotland, this exceptional pair of Sèvres vases sold for €825,500 in Paris sale Jacques Garcia, Intemporel.
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    A Sèvres Fond Bleu Agate-Ground Vase and Cover, 'vase chinois' or 'à pied de globe', Circa 1786-1788
    Also included in Jacques Garcia, Intemporel, this rare vase sold for 5 times its low estimate achieving €533,400 and set an auction record for a Sèvres 18th century vase.
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  • The Wolf Family Collection of Royal Copenhagen ‘Flora Danica’
    Sotheby’s continues to be the leading auction house for offering Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica. In April in New York, the Wolf Family Collection of Flora Danica achieved a combined total of $289,433, far surpassing it’s combined low estimate of $109,800.
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  • An Important Dutch Diamond-Point Engraved Calligraphic Green Glass Roemer by Willem Jacobszoon van Heemskerk, Second Half of the 17th century
    Inscribed with the motter “Qui feuffrant il vainct” ([Qui souffre il vainct]; Who endures, conquers), and signed by the engraver, W. van Heemskerk (1613-1692), this work, exceptional for its quality of engraving sold for over 10 times its low estimate and achieved £215,900 in November in London. The highest price achieved for European Glass at auction in 2023.
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  • An Important Dutch Diamond-Point Engraved Calligraphic Green Glass Roemer, 17th Century
    In the same sale as the last, this impressive calligraphic roemer also far surpassed its pre-sale estimate of £12,000-18,000 and achieved a staggering £139,700, showing a strength in the market for glass at Sotheby’s.
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  • A Large Maiolica Plate Painted with Diana and Actaeon, Dated to 1550
    Attributed to the artist Camillo Gatti (d. 1567), the dish was probably formerly in the collection of Cardinal Jules Raymond Mazarin (1602-1661) and sold in London in July for an impressive £177,800.
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  • An Italian Maiolica Ewer, Probably Faenza, Circa 1515
    With an excellent pedigree of provenance, formerly in the Collections of Richard von Passavant-Gontard (1852-1923);
    Baron Robert de Rothschild (1880-1946) and Baron Élie de Rothschild (1917-2007), this rare ewer achieved £76,200 in the annual Treasures sale in July in London.
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  • A Meissen Augustus Rex Green-Ground Baluster Vase and Cover, Circa 1730
    From the famed collections of Margarethe (née Knapp, 1878-1949) and Dr. Franz (1871-1950) Oppenheimer, Berlin & Vienna; and Dr. Fritz Mannheimer (1890-1939). The piece was sold pursuant to a settlement agreement with the Oppenheimer heirs and more than tripled its low estimate achieving £76,200 in May in London.
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  • A Dutch Delft Flower Pyramid or Tulipière, 1687-1701, Adrianus Kocx, De Grieksche A factory
    Flower Pyramids were the pinnacle of production for the potters of Delft in Holland in the late 17th Century and are now among the most desired of Delftware works at auction. This example from a private collection offered in London in May almost quadrupled its low estimate, selling £76,200.
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    A Sèvres Bleu Nouveau-Ground Vase and Cover, possibly vase ‘à chaîne’ or ‘à côte de melon’, Circa 1770
    One of perhaps as few as five known examples of this form, this rare Sèvres vase, estimated at €20,000-30,000, more than quadrupled its low estimate when it sold in Paris in June for €88,900.
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  • A Rare Pair of Louis XV Sèvres Hard-Paste Porcelain 'moucheté corail'-Ground Vases and Covers, Circa 1773
    This rare pair of vases formed part of the illustrious Collection Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, Vente du Soir, sold in Paris in December. Formerly from a garniture of five vases delivered to Abbé Joseph-Marie Terray on Christmas Eve in 1773, they achieved an impressive €60,960 at auction.
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  • An Important Pair of Berlin (K.P.M.) Royal Two-Handled Ice Pails, Covers, Liners and Stands, Circa 1825
    These imposing Berlin ice pails were almost certainly two of the four glacières gifted by Friedrich Wilhelm III,  King of Prussia (1797-1840) to his nephew Prince Frederik of the Netherlands, and his daughter Princess Louise of Prussia on their wedding in 1825. The pair then descended through the family until the sold by Duchess Marie von Württemberg, née Princess zu Wied in the inaugural Noble & Private Collections sale at Sotheby’s Cologne for €48,260.
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  • A Rare Chelsea Apple Box and Cover, Circa 1755
    When this charming 18th century Chelsea apple box was brought to auction in New York in October, no other examples of this form had appeared on the market since it last sold with Sotheby’s in 2010. The piece doubled its high estimate and achieved $40,640.
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    A Sèvres Green-Ground Vase and Cover, 'vase ferrés', Circa 1773
    Exceptional for its painting by one of the leading artists at Sèvres, Charles-Nicolas Dodin; and for its provenance, formerly in the historic collections of Baronne Hannah Mathilde von Rothschild (1832-1924), Frankfurt-Am-Main and Erich von Goldschmidt-Rothschild. The vase sold in November in Paris for €44,450.
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  • A Pair of Louis XV Gilt-Bronze Mounted Meissen Porcelain Figures of Leopards, The Porcelain Circa 1745, the Mounts Mid-18th Century
    This pair of Meissen leopards was acquired by Samuel Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Baron Masham of Swinton (1815-1906), circa 1890 for Swinton Park, North Yorkshire, then remained in the family by descent until being sold by the Trustees of the Lord Swinton Will Trust in the annual Treasures sale in London for £40,640.
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  • A Very Rare Böttger Stoneware Polished and Engraved Teapot and Cover, Circa 1710-13
    Apparently unrecorded in the literature, this teapot from a Private West Coast American Collection, exemplified the skills of polishing, engraving, and incising employed on Böttger's newly invented stoneware body between 1710-14. It achieved $38,100.
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  • A Pair of Mintons Pâte-sur-Pâte Peacock-Blue-Ground Pilgrim Bottles by Louis Solon, Circa 1890
    Fresh to the market from a private Canadian collection, these Minton pâte-sur-pâte bottles, signed by the factory’s master artist Louis Solon, almost tripled their low estimate and sold for $35,560 at Sotheby’s New York in October.
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  • A Pair of Berlin (K.P.M.) Pâte-sur-Pâte Circular Chargers, Dated 1893
    These master works of pâte-sur-pâte from one of the Berlin factory’s leading artists in the technique, Edmund Dietrich,
    tripled their high estimate and sold for $25,400 when offered in New York in October.
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  • A Sèvres Plate from the Service des oiseaux des Amérique du Sud, Circa 1820
    This rare plate, painted in 1820 by Pauline Knip, belonged to the service delivered to the daughter of Marie Antoinette, Marie-Thérèse, Dauphine of France, half of which is now considered lost. When offered in New York in April, it sold for over triple its low estimate, achieving $21,590.
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