PHILADELPHIA, PA.- On May 22 and 23, Freeman’s will present its spring auction of British & European Furniture & Decorative Arts. The nearly 640 lot sale will be spread across two days, featuring a wide array of English, French, Russian and European objects, artwork and furnishings sure to attract seasoned collectors.

Divided into two parts, the sale begins with Private Collections on Tuesday, May 22 (lots 1-409). The next day, Freeman’s will present Gentlemen Collectors: The Lucas Family of Baltimore, (lots 410-639), a sale of an intact 19th century collection of Chinese porcelain, Dutch Delft, American silver, Meissen and Continental porcelain, French clocks and furniture, European bronzes and fine art from a famous Maryland collecting family.

Early in the sale are 99 lots from the collection of renowned chef Georges Perrier. Born in Lyon, France in 1943, Perrier began his culinary career at 14, ultimately opening the famed Le Bec-Fin in Philadelphia in 1970, which was considered America’s finest French restaurant for decades. The objects from his private collection are of the quality and rarity expected of an international arbiter of taste and luxury, including signed examples of 18th century furniture by Roger Vandercruse dit Lacroix, René Dubois, Jean-François Leleu, Jean René Nadal dit l’Aîné, Guillaume Kemp, Jean-Baptiste Lebas, Pierre Nogaret and Jean-Baptiste Tuart père among others. In addition, important decorative arts by the Manufacture de Sèvres are highlighted, as well as fine examples of ormolu from the Régence through Louis XVI periods and French portraiture of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Furniture highlights from the collection include an unusual Louis XVI ormolu-mounted mahogany mechanical coiffeuse by Leleu (Lot 71, estimate $2,000-3,000), a fine ormolu-mounted mahogany table en cabaret by Lacroix (Lot 72, estimate $3,000-5,000), a fine Louis XV floral marquetry bureau dos d’âne by Tuart, circa 1760 (Lot 50, estimate $4,000-6,000) and a Louis XV/XVI transitional marquetry and parquetry commode by René Dubois, circa 1770 (Lot 63, estimate $5,000-7,000).

Other important objects include two exceptional bracket clocks by Etienne Roquelon, circa 1730-40, and François Goyer, circa 1750 (Lot 40, estimate $3,000-5,000, and Lot 55, estimate $5,000-7,000, respectively) and a Louis XV ormolu-mounted barometer by Lange de Bourbon, circa 1760 (Lot 54, estimate $4,000-6,000). A rare Louis XV Vincennes hand-painted porcelain rouet de salon, circa 1740-50 (Lot 56, estimate $3,000-5,000), leads a tightly curated group of 18th century Sèvres and Chantilly porcelain.

The sale features three other Philadelphia-area private collections alongside property from various owners. The Collection of Joseph and Geraldine Ostrov of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, offers a refined selection of Georgian and Regency furniture and decorative arts with excellent dealer provenance. The collection is punctuated by a palatial early 20th century Kerman carpet (Lot 276, estimate $7,000-10,000) and a very fine Lyon & Healy ‘Special No. 3’ concert harp (Lot 271, estimate $5,000-7,000) belonging to Geraldine, a noted musician and performer.

The collection of a Main Line lady fills the sale with impressive late 19th and early 20th century French furniture and decorative arts, highlighted by works after designs by Jean-Henri Riesener and a Louis XV/XVI transitional style coiffeuse by François Linke dating to the first quarter of the 20th century (Lot 165, estimate $6,000-8,000). A private collection from Rittenhouse Square boasts a charming group of English miniature furniture and boxes in specimen woods, tortoiseshell and silver. Full-scale examples of fine George III and Regency furniture also abound, including a George III mahogany breakfront bookcase after the model by Thomas Sheraton (Lot 351, estimate $3,000-5,000) and a Regency Chinoiserie style penwork decorated satinwood teapoy (Lot 356, estimate $1,500-2,500), both dating to the early 19th century.

Notable lots outside of these single-owner groups include a Russian Imperial Porcelain military plate (Lot 5, estimate $20,000-30,000), a special commission from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg depicting the Superior Officer and Subalternate of the Regt. of Grenadiers of the Guard, with green underglaze cypher of Alexander III dated for 1889, and signed M. Shmakov and dated 1891. Also of note is a silk ‘Mohtashem’ Kashan rug from Central Persia, circa 1880 (Lot 286, estimate $10,000-15,000); a Louis XVI white-painted five-piece salon suite upholstered in chocolate silk velvet (Lot 385, estimate $10,000-15,000); a Charles II walnut calendar clock by John Knibb, Oxford, circa 1690 (Lot 232, estimate $8,000-12,000); and a set of six Art Deco dining chairs from the S.S. Normandie (Lot 406, estimate $25,000-50,000). Designed by Pierre Patout for Neuveu-Nelson circa 1932, this set of chairs set comes from the legendary ocean liner’s First Class Dining Salon.

Part II of the sale on May 23, lots 410-639, is dedicated to ‘Gentleman Collectors: The Lucas Family of Baltimore.’ From descendants of Baltimore publisher Fielding Lucas, Jr. (1781-1854) and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Carrell (1788-1863), the material was acquired and stewarded by George Aloysius Lucas (1829-1909), an important art agent in Paris, and his nephews and niece, William Fielding Lucas, Jr. (1854-1928), John Carrell Lucas (1854-1928) and Bertha Eliza Lucas (d. 1943). George Lucas lived in Paris from 1857 until his death in 1909, serving as an exclusive buyer and guide for American collectors, including William Walters, Henry Clay Frick, and the Vanderbilts. His close personal relationships with artists, dealers, foundries, and manufactories enabled him to amass a remarkable snapshot of 19th century visual culture and collecting habits.

This section features animalier and figural bronzes after Jean-Antoine Houdon, Isidore and Rosa Bonheur, Emmanuel Frémiet, Pierre-Jules Mêne, and Victor David Brenner; and paintings by Hughes Merle, Guillaume Seignac, and others, many acquired directly from the artists. Foremost among these is “Saint-Michel et le Dragon” after Emmanuel Frémiet (Lot 594, estimate $3,000-5,000) and a reduced version of “The Scarlet Letter,” by Hugues Merle (Lot 608, estimate $1,500-2,500). George Lucas served as liaison between Merle and William Walters for the commission of “The Scarlet Letter,” now at the Walters Art Museum. Lucas acquired this version directly from the artist, and it was included in the 1979 exhibition, “A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, Art Agent 1860-1909,” at the Walters.

In addition to extensive groups of Chinese porcelain, Delft, Wedgwood, and Continental ceramics, ‘Gentlemen Collectors’ also features twelve lots of large-scale porcelain figures from Meissen all acquired during the 19th century, including one of Meissen’s largest works, “The Triumph of Amphitrite,” with marks for 1815-1860 (Lot 484, estimate $10,000-15,000). An impressive group of almost 30 clocks from the 18th and 19th centuries terminates in two examples of highly technical pendules squelettes, including a Belgian skeleton table regulator by Sarton à Liege, circa 1820 (Lot 517, estimate $3,000-5,000).

A public exhibition will precede the sales, to be held at Freeman’s Philadelphia headquarters at 1808 Chestnut Street.