120th Auction

Post-Auction Report for the 120th Auction on May 2 and 3, 2014 at Historia Auction House Berlin

The catalog offered an interesting selection of nearly 3,000 objects. Both art enthusiasts and collectors took advantage of the offerings, resulting in exciting bidding wars throughout the auction.

A small-format painting depicting Tsar Alexander I kneeling in a church impressed with its detailed interior depiction. The unknown Russian painter skillfully captured not only the mood and light in his painting but also the splendor of the church. The painting was sold for €15,000.

The portrait of Comtesse de la Motte, attributed to Antoine Pesne or his circle, can undoubtedly be described as an expressive en face portrait. The subject is a lady-in-waiting to Queen Sophie Dorothea. In an exciting bidding war, the painting was raised from €8,000 to €11,000.

A ceramic vase with incised decoration and polychrome painting in the shape of an owl, created by Pablo Picasso in 1968, numbered 139 out of 500, was sold for €8,000 against a reserve price of €2,500.

The small Chinese sculpture carved from white jade and only 4.5 cm high from the 19th century, sold for €6,500, and a 19th-century Chinese Buddha flanked by flowers sitting on a double lotus base (sold for €7,500), are just two examples of sales from the Asian art department.

From the Wilkens & Söhne manufactory in Bremen-Hemelingen came a decorative champagne cooler in 800 silver adorned with applied leaf and bud motifs. The 32 cm piece from around 1900 was raised from a reserve price of €650 to €3,600.

There were consistently good results among the collector's items as well. For example, a Käthe Kruse doll, probably from the first half of the 20th century, with a fabric body and painted head, received numerous bids and was ultimately sold for €1,900 (reserve price €150).