In the mid-18th century French novel “The Sofa: A Moral Tale,” the soul of a courtier is magically transferred from his body to a sofa: As a piece of furniture in a room, he witnesses the goings-on of the human inhabitants and later recounts his observations to the court’s ruler. If furnishings and fine and decorative arts could really talk, the narratives of the over 600 lots in the October “Rothschild Masterpieces” four-part sale at Christie’s New York would provide an earful.
Short of this, one can fortunately rely on comprehensive auction house cataloguing to provide a tangible connection to the artistic and social value of these works, as well as the role they played in history.
These sales mark the first time that items from the private collection of the European Rothschild family will be auctioned in North America. The esteemed lots on offer date back to the French branch of the family, led by their 19th-century patriarch Baron James de Rothschild, who wrote, “No price is too high for the acquisition of true masterpieces,” and his wife Betty. Their son, Baron Alphonse, was also an important collector who acquired art treasures to add to his inheritance. Many of the sales’ lots descend through his line.
In-depth collections include French furniture, Renaissance tin-glazed pottery, hardstone boxes, enamels, Old Master paintings, jewelry, exotic silver-mounted nautilus shell cups, porcelain, and 11 gilded leather panels portraying the triumph of David, which are attributed to a follower of Rembrandt. These works of art were displayed in Rothschild Parisian homes, including Château de Ferrières, built from 1855 to 1859 along the lines of an English country house, but even grander.
Auction Highlights
The Italian city has long specialized in the marquetry of hardstones, known as “pietre dure,” and its historic output remains synonymous with connoisseurship. The featured ebony-veneered architectural cabinet with hardstone panels showcases the artisans’ great technical ability. It has beautiful trompe l’oeil (optical illusions), a rich palette, and naturalistic motifs, such as floral sprays, that are all characteristic of the Florentine workshop and Medici patronage. The enigmatic military figure standing at the top and the four female allegorical forms on the cabinet’s corners and front drawer, believed to represent the cardinal virtues Fortitude, Justice, Prudence, and Temperance, are masterfully sculpted and enhance the “pietre dure.”
Confiscated Art
A number of works in the sales are not just representative of humanity’s artistic achievements but are poignant reminders of the darker side of history. During World War II, when the Nazis occupied a majority of France, they looted artworks by coercion or theft. According to the current French Ministry of Culture, an estimated 100,000 artworks were confiscated. Many were transported out of the country and put in storage: Deposit sites included the Austrian Altaussee salt mines and Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps. Many Rothschild possessions were looted, brought to these locations, and recovered in 1946 by the Allied Monuments Fine Arts and Archives unit, colloquially known as “Monuments Men.”Examples of seized property include jewelry, ornamental dishes, and other exotic objects that were collected based on the model of a “kuntskammer” (cabinets of curiosities). This fashion for cabinets, or even entire rooms displaying precious items, began in the 16th century among European princely families and was embraced by the Rothschilds, particularly Baron Alphonse. A star lot estimated at $200,000–300,000 is the large “A Roman Sardonyx Cameo Portrait of the Emperor Claudius” circa A.D. 41–54.
A cameo is a carving technique where a design is raised against a background, often in a contrasting color. This example’s three layers are: orange-brown, used to depict the emperor’s aegis and oak wreath; a white tone for the three-quarter profile and ribbon; and a darker orange-brown background. This ancient Roman cameo was later set in a 16th-century mount of an enameled gold setting with openwork florals and scrolls attributed to a German goldsmith. The jewel’s previous ownership includes the two most famous English collectors of the glyptic arts, or engraved gems: the 2nd Earl of Arundel and the 4th Duke of Marlborough. With the additional Rothschild provenance, this lot, recovered from the Altaussee salt mines, is expected to spark spirited auction bidding.
Another Rothschild jewel recovered from the Austrian mines is “A French Renaissance Diamond-Set and Enameled Gold Badge of Saint Michael and the Dragon” with an estimate of $80,000-$120,000. Badges showing the Order of Saint Michael, the oldest French order of chivalry, are extremely rare. This exceptional lot is one of only six surviving examples. St. Michael is depicted with a raised sword standing above the slain dragon. The chased gold work on the saint’s wings gives the illusion of feathers. The diamonds set on St. Michael’s figure and sword suggests that the badge, which could have been worn on a hat, has royal provenance.
Collected Ceramics
Dishes dating back even further were collected by the Rothschilds and later restituted. Dominic Simpson, Christie’s Senior International Consultant, European Ceramics says, “In 15th-century Europe, the preeminent ceramic art was Hispano-Moresque pottery from Spain, and this was followed by Italian maiolica in the 16th century. The Rothschild collection has important representative pieces from both of these periods.”
Estimated at $25,000–$35,000, “A Large Hispano-Moresque Earthenware Blue and Lustred Charger” is a decorated ceramic from the area of Valencia, Spain. Its dynamic foliate pattern is centered around a crowned eagle, an emblem of the Holy Roman Emperor. An application of a copper oxide mixture to the charger’s surface is what gives it a lustrous sheen. From the 1560s, “A Monumental Italian Maiolica Armorial Istoriato Oval Dish” has a $70,000–$100,000 estimate and was made for a prominent cardinal by one of the most important maiolica workshop owners. The front of the dish shows five episodes from the campaigns of Julius Caesar, augmented with decorative masks, grotesques, escutcheons, medallions, and egg and dart motifs. The back is equally elaborate.
Rare Louveciennes Chairs
Retrieved from Neuschwanstein Castle, “A Pair of Late Louis XV GiltWalnut and White-Painted Fauteuils” are beautiful chairs from circa 1770–1771 that were owned by Madame du Barry, mistress of Louis XV; she was later guillotined during the French Revolution. These fauteuils resided in her Château de Louveciennes, a gift from the king. They have an accordingly royal estimate of $600,000–$1,000,000. They were commissioned, amongst other pieces, from Louis Delanois, one of the most famous “menuisiers” (carpenters) of his time who specialized in seat furniture. These Rothschild-owned chairs are rare surviving examples from the Louveciennes set. They still have their original pale silk upholstery embroidered with blue, pink, green, and yellow flowers and leaves. The wood is richly carved with neoclassical designs featuring images of roses, sunflowers, oleanders, pinecones, and acanthus leaves. The pair of fauteuils were probably used by Baron Alphonse in a salon of his Parisian home that was fitted with wall panels also from du Barry’s time in residence at Louveciennes.
The multigenerational Rothschild residences filled with these treasured pieces were a triumphant “gesamtkunstwerk,” or “total work of art.” The “Rothschild Masterpieces” auctions will allow new families to become custodians of the sales’ lots. There are a range of price points, but whether one is bidding or not, everyone can marvel at the collection’s breadth of artistic achievements and ponder the moving narratives of individual objects.
