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Robert de Balkany, Rue de Varenne, Paris
Evening sale

Sotheby’s, in association with the Leclère-mdv, is honoured to announce the sale of the Robert Zellinger de Balkany collection in Paris, in September 2016 during the Biennale des Antiquaires. This exceptional collection, assembled over more than fifty years by Robert Zellinger de Balkany, comes from the Hôtel de Feuquières at Rue de Varenne, Paris.

A passionate and exacting collector, Robert Zellinger de Balkany lived in a setting that was both welcoming and luxurious, illustrating the refined way in which this prominent businessman chose to live. His collection which he built-up over several decades is harmoniously integrated within the magnificent interiors of the Hôtel de Feuquières. The house is divided between reception rooms and more intimism private apartments decorated by Henri Samuel. This beautiful ensemble is a subtle mix of paintings by great English and Italian masters, exceptional European furniture and timepieces, works of art, books, silver, fabrics and pietre dure.

One of the top lots of this evening sale is this spectacular pietre dure mounted inlaid ebony cabinet, Roman in c. 1620, which once belonged to Pope Paul V Borghese acquired by George IV for Windsor castle in 1827, then displayed circa 1840 in the Drawing Room at Buckingham palace and sold with Queen Mary’s collections in 1959. This unique piece was bought in 1959 by Robert’s father, Aladar Zellinger de Balkany, on his son’s advice. Major Old Master paintings will be offered for sale such as Anthony van Dyck’s enigmatic Portrait of the Countess of Carnarvon, demonstrating the artist’s influence on English painting or a superb painting of Viscount Gormanston’s White Dog by George Stubbs. Exceptional timepieces by the greatest clockmakers of the late 17th century as well as spectacular silver works. The Duc de Penthièvre’s tureen by Antoine Sébastien Durand, converted to current taste at the request of his grandson, King Louis-Philippe, by Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot and Charles Nicolas Odiot, is part of the only surviving French royal dinner service.