London – When Emperor Napoleon III of France was deposed in 1871 and went into exile in England, he sought temporary refuge with the banker Sir Walter Rockcliffe Farquhar of Eaton Place, London and Polesden Lacey, Surrey. Sir Walter was a partner at Herries Farquhar and Company, a leading private bank that lent money to the aristocracy, including to Napoleon III. According to family tradition, the former Emperor struggled to repay his debts, so instead paid in kind with valuables from French Royal Palaces, which had been brought to England by bullock carts. Whatever the source, Sir Walter assembled a splendid historic collection of Sèvres – and Meissen – highlights of which are offered in Bonhams 500 Years of European Ceramics sale in London on Tuesday 6 July. Among Sir Walter's collection is a magnificent and rare Sèvres blue-ground vase and a cover from around 1775, estimated at £20,000-30,000, and a pair of Sèvres blue-ground vases, circa 1772, estimated at £15,000-20,000.
Bonhams Head of Continental Ceramics, Nette Megens, said: "The historic collection of Sir Walter Farquhar is just one of six exceptional but very different private collections in a sale which features ceramics from as early as 1540 right up to the late 20th century. All the best-known manufactories are well-represented, but the sale is particularly strong in Meissen and Sèvres with some very rare pieces which are already attracting attention from collectors."
Among the other collections are:
• The Rosa Alba collection of 18th Century Meissen Porcelain Part I which includes a very rare set of 21 Cris de Paris figures made in around 1755 (estimate £60,000-00,000); a rare Meissen Augustus Rex vase and cover circa 1730 (£40,000-60,000) from the same period, a Meissen lilac-ground Augustus Rex vase and cover (£30,000-50,000 and a Meissen circular plate circa 1726 once owned by William IV of England. (£20,000-30,000).
• Rare Meissen Porcelain from the Sulkowski Service, the first large privately commissioned armorial service not intended for imperial use. It was ordered in 1735 by Graf von Sulkowski, a Polish aristocrat who held many important and powerful positions in the Court of the Elector Fredrick Augustus. The service was, however, to be his downfall. Accused by the Elector of using the Meissen factory for private use without permission and of overreaching himself by the magnificence of his commission, Sulkowski fell from grace in February 1738 and work on the service ceased. Highlights include a very rare pair of Meissen candlesticks estimated at £8,000-12,000.
• Property from the Dr Johannes Lafrenz Collection of Sèvres Porcelain. The late Dr Lafrenz, a psychiatrist by profession, was an avid and well-regarded collector of Vincennes and Sèvres Porcelain. Among the highlights are a Sèvres tea service decorated en briques d'or from around 1770 (£4,000-6,000); a Sèvres covered ewer and basin (£3,000-5,000) and a Sèvres plate from the service given by Louis XVI to his brother-in-law Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in 1786 (£1,500-2,000).
• Sèvres Porcelain from an International Private Collection includes a set of 20 Sèvres hard-paste dessert plates from the Service fond bleu figures en brun from around 1808 (£40,000-50,000); a Sèvres double-handled blue-ground tray (£10,000-12,000) and a Sèvres pomade pot and cover (£12,000-18,000).
• A Private Swiss Collection of 19th and 20th century Meissen Porcelain offers a pair of Meissen large groups of Amphitrite's triumphal procession and Neptune and Thetis, late 19th century (£10,000-15,000) and a pair of late 19th century Meissen flower-encrusted pot-pourri vases and covers (£6,000-8,000).
The sale also features:
• 12 Sèvres plates from the Service du Dessert Marly Rouge' made for the Emperor Napoleon in 1809 and delivered to the Palace of Fontainebleau. These plates were a gift from Napoleon to the Italian diplomat Ferdinando Marescalchi. Estimate: £100,000-150,000.
• A Meissen plate from the Japanisches Tafelservice for Frederick the Great of Prussia made in around 1763. The emperor gave very detailed instructions about the design of the service making drawings in his own hand to illustrate his points. Estimate: £10,000-15,000.
28 June 2021