MASTERPIECES
OF CRAFTSMANSHIP

WORKS OF ART & DECORATIVE ARTS
AUCTION 18 SEPTEMBER 2025

These spectacular animal figures in Meissen porcelain, made around 1742 after models by Johann Joachim Kändler, depict a rooster and a hen with striking vitality, naturalism and Baroque elegance. The rooster raises his head to crow, while the hen, watchful, casts a scrutinising glance at the egg she has just laid. Commissioned by Princess Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau, Abbess of Herford, these porcelains not only attest to masterful technical skill, they also represent courtly rank and symbolise fertility and vigilance.

Among our pieces of sacred silver is this impressive late Gothic cope clasp, known as a ‘Marienheftel’, made in Transylvania around 1500/50. This partly gilt silver object stands out for its exceptional filigree and complex composition: on several tiers rise Gothic pinnacles adorned with animal heads, supported by four figures of saints. At the centre sits a Madonna and Child, surrounded by saints, animals, rosettes and precious stones. The piece likely served as a fastener for a ceremonial liturgical mantle (pluvial). Comparable examples are held in the Transylvanian Museum in Gundelsheim and the Hungarian National Museum.

Made in Paris around 1710/15 by Pierre Gaudron, clockmaker to the king, this so-called ‘tête de poupée’ cabinet clock ranks among the masterpieces of Parisian horology. Resting on bronze paw feet, its cartouche-shaped case is magnificently decorated with contre-partie Boulle marquetry, combining copper, tin and brown tortoiseshell. Comparable clocks are preserved in prestigious collections, notably the Musée de Dijon and the Royal Collection at Windsor. In his expert report, Professor Hans Ottomeyer highlights the perfect harmony of this exceptional piece: ‘This singular clock, as sumptuous as it is refined in conception, is a consummate illustration of Parisian court art. The delicate tortoiseshell fillets and filigree ornaments are flawlessly integrated into the marquetry, uniting the various materials without a seam, in a work of extraordinary unity’.

A sumptuous lady’s writing desk with black lacquer decoration, made in Paris around 1750/55 and bearing the jurande stamp, combines French elegance with the highly fashionable chinoiserie taste of the period. East Asian lacquers were much sought-after in Europe, to the extent that a production specifically for export developed in China: the famous 'export lacquers'. The bombé and curvilinear form of the piece, on tall, slender cabriole legs, is adorned with delicate paintings in red and gilt lacquer: poetic landscapes populated by figures, architecture, birds, bamboo and reeds. The fall-front, lined with gilt leather, opens to a refined interior fitted with drawers and secret compartments, veneered in finely tinted and engraved rosewood and amaranth. Finely chased and gilt bronzes, of remarkable virtuosity, complete this precious piece. Despite small cracks and restorations, it remains a characterful testimony to the refined art of French Rococo and the taste for exoticism in the 18^th century.

PAIR OF
SILVER-GILT CANDELABRA

This model of a bull in motion, probably cast in the 17^th century, refers to one of the most celebrated sculptors of the Renaissance: Giovanni da Bologna, known as Giambologna. The motif unites the vigour of Antiquity with Baroque elegance. Two versions are known: one powerfully naturalistic, with a massive body and broad head; the other more stylised, with slender forms and an elongated head, which enjoyed wider diffusion and today appears in major museum collections. Numerous examples come from the workshop of Antonio Susini, the most gifted of Giambologna’s collaborators, who from the early 17^th century specialised in small animal bronzes. Precision, elegance and a keen sense of movement characterise Susini’s casts, admired across Europe. His bronzes were presented diplomatically by the Medici and still embody the technical virtuosity and prestige of an era in which art, power and representation were inseparable.

Older by a century, the rearing horse presented in this sale belongs to a type amply documented in collections. The head turned to the right, open mouth, finely modelled mane and tail, and the tension of the limbs evoke both antique equestrian representations and the Renaissance bronzes of Bertoldo di Giovanni or Bartolomeo Bellano. Our example, however, is distinguished by a more naturalistic approach: the detailing of visible veins on the animal’s belly and legs recalls the works of Andrea Riccio or Severo da Ravenna. Parallels exist with a horse in the Ca’ d’Oro in Venice and another in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence. These bronzes illustrate not only the extraordinary expertise of Renaissance founders, but also their fascination with movement, dynamism and the legacy of Antiquity.

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