RESULTS: Christie’s Classic Week Evening Sales Realise £48,314,125 / $60, 730,855 / €53,773,621

Bringing the Combined Total of Classic Week Sales to Date to £56,508,750 / $71,043,549 / €62,899,541

Led by

Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection

&

An Egyptian Brown Quartzite Head of The God Amen

~ Welcoming Registered Bidders from 40 Countries across 5 Continents

London – The wealth of works offered across Christie’s three Classic Week Evening sales - Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection, The Exceptional Sale and the Old Masters Evening Sale - have realised a combined total of £48,314,125 / $60,730,855 / €53,773,621. Welcoming registered bidders from 40 countries across 5 continents, the top lots of the evening were An Egyptian Brown Quartzite Head of The God Amen and David Teniers’ The Ham Dinner which set a new world record price for the artist at auction, each work sold for £4,746,250. Bringing the running total for Classic Week sales to date to £56,508,750 / $71,043,549 / €62,899,541, the auctions continue until 11 July, with estimates from £800 to £4 million, the sales present rare opportunities for new and established collectors across price levels.

Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection

Telling the remarkable story of objects collected across centuries and treasured for generations, Christie’s landmark collection sale Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection realised £23,823,375/ $29,945,982/ €26,515,416 selling 98% by lot and 94% by value. The top lot of the sale was David Teniers’ lively and brilliantly observed The Ham Dinner, painted in 1648, when the artist was at the height of his powers sold for £4,746,250 / $5,966,037 / €5,282,576 setting a new world record price for the artist (estimate: £800,000-1.2 million). The internationally anticipated sale captured the spirit of le goût Rothschild – the celebrated aesthetic that has influenced many European and American interiors since the 19^th century – which follows the tradition of collecting at European Royal courts during the Renaissance, Baroque and Enlightenment periods. For the full results please click here and the top ten at the end of the document.

Charles Cator, Deputy Chairman, Christie’s International: “Twenty years after the acclaimed 1999 Viennese Rothschild sale, it has been a huge privilege to have been entrusted with these superb works of art collected by Baron Gustave de Rothschild and his descendants over a hundred and fifty years. The success of this auction highlights that Christie’s remains the house of choice for the greatest collections. It is notable that the sale saw five furniture lots each sell for over £1 million, including a world record price for a pair of console tables; the sale was led by an artist’s record for Teniers, also setting a world record price at auction for a scientific instrument. Our West Room Gallery has never looked more magnificent with the splendid accumulation of Renaissance Limoges enamels and German silver-gilt, Savonnerie carpets, sumptuous French furniture by the greatest cabinet-makers, ormolu-mounted porcelain, and pictures including Fragonard. Now these precious works of art will join that illustrious galaxy of objects with a Rothschild provenance as make their journey into new collections.”

The Exceptional Sale 2019

Christie’s Exceptional Sale realised £9,557,500 / $12,013,778 / €10,637,497, selling 73% by lot and 78% by value. The top lot of the sale was An Egyptian Brown Quartzite Head of The God Amen with the features of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen, which achieved £4,746,250. For the full results please click here and the top ten at the end of the document.

Laetitia Delaloye, Head of Antiquities commented: “The result achieved for the Egyptian brown quartzite head of the God Amen which realised £4,746,250, is testimony to the rarity, beauty and importance of the work. We recognise that historic objects can raise complex discussions about the past; yet our role today is to work to continue to provide a transparent, legitimate marketplace upholding the highest standards for the transfer of objects.  There is an honourable market for ancient art and we believe it is in the public interest that works come out into the open with the opportunity for them to be researched, as well as seen and enjoyed by global audiences. Robert Copley, International Head of Furniture and Head of The Exceptional sale noted: “The breadth and depth of bidding across periods and categories in this sale is notable. In addition to the top lot, we are also very pleased with the result for the carved mahogany wine-cooler circa 1772-74 after a design by Robert Adam and attributed to Sefferin Nelson, and the Meissen King of Sardinia Service which was bought by the Palazzo Madama in Turin – we are so delighted that this portion of the service will remian together and return to Turin.”Christie’s Exceptional Sale realised £9,557,500 / $12,013,778 / €10,637,497, selling 73% by lot and 78% by value. The top lot of the sale was An Egyptian Brown Quartzite Head of The God Amen with the features of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen, which achieved £4,746,250. For the full results please click here and the top ten at the end of the document.

Old Masters Evening Sale

The Old Masters Evening Sale realised £14,933,250 / $18,771,095 / €16,620,707, selling 66% by lot and 71% by value. The top lot of the sale was Bernardo Bellotto’s Venice, the Molo, with the Doge’s Palace, the Piazzetta and the Libreria, looking west, which achieved £2,771,250. For the full results please click here and the top ten at the end of the document.

Clementine Sinclair, Head of Old Masters Evening Sale:“The new record set for Teniers and the strong price for Fragonard, both included in the Rothschild Collection sale, were undoubtedly standout highlights for Old Masters this evening. In the Old Masters Evening Sale, strong prices were achieved for works across all schools, with the Bellotto view of Venice more than doubling the low estimate and the Northbrook van de Cappelle tripling its high estimate. A new record price was also set by Claude de Jongh’s Old London Bridge, reflecting the demand for rare works that have not been on the market for generations. With works attracting international interest during the New York, Hong Kong and London previews, the sale welcomed registered bidders from 27 countries across 3 continents.”

About Christie’s

Christie’s, the world’s leading art business, had auction sales in the first half of 2019 that totalled £2.2 billion / $2.8 billion. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and international expertise. Christie’s offers around 350 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with emphasis on Post-War & Contemporary, Impressionist & Modern, Old Masters and Jewellery.

Alongside regular sales online, Christie’s has a global presence in 46 countries, with 10 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Zürich, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

*Please note when quoting estimates above that other fees will apply in addition to the hammer price - see Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of the sale catalogue.

*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and are reported net of applicable fees.