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French & Continental Furniture

Magnificent Works from Important Collections

Launch Slideshow

The 2020 instalment of Royal & Noble will provide another exciting opportunity to acquire works from important aristocratic collections sourced throughout Europe. Highlights include property from two notable Irish houses - Killadoon and Luggala - and property from the Estate of Jhr. Ir. G.C. (Gijs) Six van Wimmenum (1892-1975), a descendant of Rembrandt’s great patron Jan Six.

Past Auction
Royal and Noble
21 January 2020 | 1:00 PM GMT | London

Magnificent Works from Important Collections

  • An Anglo-Indian ivory inlaid rosewood writing or dressing table, Vizagapatam, mid-18th century
    Estimate £120,000–180,000
    This Anglo-Indian kneehole desk was made in the town of Vizagapatam, a port on the northern stretch of the Coromandel Coast, famed for its ivory inlay on western forms of furniture. Although it is not known exactly how this technique was born, it is thought that textile designs produced locally for export and examples of European marquetry on writing slopes, rifles and gun boxes may have been influences.
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  • A Louis XVI carved giltwood lit à la romaine, attributed to Georges Jacob (1739-1814), circa 1780
    Estimate £80,000-120,000
    The rich and refined carvings of this bed point to the skilled menuiserie work of Georges Jacob, one of the best-known craftsmen of Louis XVI’s reign. The cleverly proportioned decorative elements and original design also suggests its illustrious owner, the ballerina Mademoiselle Guimard, who embodied the peak of the dance scene in the second half of the 18th century.
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  • A German etched glass pier mirror, attributed to Spiegelmanufaktur Lohr am Main, circa 1721
    Estimate £80,000–120,000
    This lot possesses all the hallmarks of the celebrated Bavarian glass manufacture specialized in the production of engraved and etched glass mirrors. The impressive scale of this mirror, incorporating meticulously etched scenes, testifies to the skills of the manufacture’s craftsmen at Lohr am Main, whose know-how dominated the field of glassmaking in Europe at the time.
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  • A Sèvres 'fond bleu agate' composite part dessert service, various dates, 19th century
    Estimate £80,000–120,000
    The well-known and extensive services were commissioned by the French King, Louis Philippe (1830 to 1848), for the Châteaux de Compiègne and de Saint Cloud. The fond bleu agate (agate blue ground) appeared on hard paste porcelain at Sèvres in the late 18th century. In January 1832, a ‘fond bleu agate’ service was delivered to the Château de Saint-Cloud, then Compiègne from January 1833. It was described as a service “fond bleu agate, frise de palmettes imprimées en or rosaces au milieu des pièces qui en sont susceptibles.”
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  • An Important Irish Regency rosewood banded mahogany seven pedestal dining table, circa 1815, attributed to Mack, Williams and Gibton
    Estimate £80,000-120,000
    This magnificent dining table is arguably the most important Irish dining table of the period, having been commissioned for the celebrated Regency dining-room created around 1815 by the architect Richard Morrison at Carton House where it has remained until recently. Although it is not stamped, the table displays the finest quality mahogany, exotic cross-bandings and peerless workmanship, all hallmarks of the pre-eminent Irish Regency cabinet-makers, Mack, Williams and Gibton.
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  • An Italian pietre dure and marble table top, Rome, early 17th century
    Estimate £40,000–60,000
    This table top showcases the natural beauty of stones and embodies the triumph of Rome from the early 16th century as a centre for pietre dure. The archaeological discoveries of the time, as well the lasting passion for marbles and rare stones, provides a connection with Antiquity and the splendour of the Eternal city, where the tradition of skilled marble-working had survived.
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  • A monumental Austrian rococo carved giltwood bracket clock, mid-18th century, dial and movement associated
    Estimate £35,000–45,000
    The carving of this clock case is unusual and, although probably by a different hand, it is rather temping to compare this clock with a musical table clock by the Bamberg clockmaker Leopold Hoys from circa 1745, which Sotheby’s sold in the ‘Treasures, Princely Taste’ sale, 6 July 2011 in London, lot 9 for £421,250.
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  • The Road to Calvary, A rare Flemish New Testament Biblical tapestry fragment, Netherlands, possibly Tournai, from the series of the Life of Christ and the Virgin, designer unknown, early 16th century, circa 1505-1516
    Estimate £30,000–50,000
    This panel is the missing section from a wider series depicting narrative scenes from The Life of Christ and the Virgin. The series is probably identified with the choir tapestries recorded at Clermont Cathedral in 1883. The unusual feature of this finely woven series is the attention paid to realism and perspective, with accomplished foreshortening. The series is recognised for its importance in Italian design inspired by Andrea Mantegna and introduced into tapestry design by Raphael, with the Acts of the Apostles, in 1515.
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  • A Southern Netherlandish pair of wood reliefs with Battle scenes by Melotte, Liege, 1757
    Estimate £30,000-50,000
    These magnificent scenes are a testament to the tradition of Baroque wood carving in the Flemish city of Liège in the 18th century. They are signed by one of the last great Flemish Baroque wood carvers, Antoine-Marie Melotte, who trained under the important sculptor Simon Cognoulle (1687-1744).
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  • A fine Italian Baroque silver plaque, Carel Bolcool, Genoa or Rome, circa 1677
    Estimate £10,000–15,000
    This silver plaque is an exciting addition to the oeuvre of the Flemish silversmith and chaser Carel Bolcool, active in Genoa circa 1674. Little is known about this maker and his signature is so far only recorded on a dish embossed and chased with Europa and Bull in the Nationalmuseum Stockholm and on a plaquette formerly in the J.M Morpurgo collection, Amsterdam. Interestingly, the scene of Europa and the Bull is present on the largest Italian baroque dishes known, made for the Marquesses of Tavora around 1670 by the celebrated Roman goldsmith Francesco Travani, and therefore suggests that Bolcool worked for Travani as a specialist chaser.
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