AMSTERDAM.-There was certainly no lack of interest today, when the collection of the late Angèle Maggi-Spaulding was sold at auction at Sotheby’s Amsterdam. The paintings, prints, furniture, silver, jewellery, works of art and Americana reflect the intriguing life of Swiss/Italian Angèle Maggi, granddaughter of the founder of the famous Maggi company, and her American husband William ‘Stu’ Spaulding, member of a prominent Boston family. No wonder there was an enormous international interest, especially from the United States.

The total result of the sale was € 2,277,767, far more than double the estimate of € 900.000. It started with a big bang, the performance of lot number 1, ‘An exact view of the late battle of Charlestown, June 17th, 1775’ and 5 other prints. The hand coloured engravings by Bernard Romans sold for € 120.000, one-hundred-times the estimate. It seemed that the tone was set. Another surprising result was lot number 4, an aquatint ‘A view of Boston’ circa 1775 estimated at €1.300-1.800. This was largely surpassed by a, again, American buyer who bought if for € 24.000.

Highlight of the sale was a 19th century portrait of President George Washington by an unknown American artist. The oil on canvas (lot 43) was estimated € 6.000-8.000, but went for € 168.000 to an American buyer after a fierce battle. Another 19th century painting, a Flower Still life by the German artist Adelheid Dietrich was sold for € 40.800 to the English trade (lot 46, estimate € 2.000-3.000).

The signed typescript of Albert Einstein's "Broadcast to Britain!", 1940, was bought by an American for € 22.800. This typescript with manuscript markings and annotations in an unidentified hand to help Einstein with the pronunciation of the English words had caught quite some attention in the media.

The collection of books, among which several first editions, were also popular. The History of American Tribes by Thomas McKenney and James Hall, with hand-coloured lithographed plates of Indian Chiefs after portraits from the Indian Gallery, Department of War, Washington, was sold to a European private for € 96.000 (lot 123, estimate € 30.000-40.000). The original portraits for this work, painted from life by Charles Bird King and James O. Lewis, were destroyed in the 1865 fire at the Smithsonian. McKenney was the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and provided the biographies; Hall wrote the general history of North American Indians.

A magnificent portfolio of 20 lithographed views of North American and more specific Oregon landscapes by Captain Henri James Warre, 1848, went to an American dealer for € 69.000 (lot 144, estimate € 35.000-50.000). Captain Warre was sent on a military reconnaissance mission to Oregon in May 1845, before the 49 parallel boundary was agreed between the US and Great Britain.

Of the works of art, a carved Jade table screen, Qianlong, performed really well, selling for € 45.600 to a Chinese buyer (lot 207, €4.000-6.000) and a large white pottery horse, Tang Dynasty, went for € 24.000 to a British buyer (lot 194, estimate € 4.000-6.000). An early Prisoner of War ship’s model, made from whale bone, changed hands for € 26.400 (lot 285, estimate € 6.000-9000), and a rare shaffron (a horse’s head armour), 1510/1515, from the armoury of Prince Radziwill of Niezwiez Castle in Poland fetched € 33.600 (lot 455, estimate € 15.000-20.000).

Mark Grol, auctioneer and co-ordinator of the Maggi Spaulding sale commented: ‘It was a memorable sale, which attracted many new international buyers to Sotheby’s Amsterdam. The provenance of the objects from two continents proved irresistible’.

The sale was can be regarded as highly successful, with 99% sold in value and 95.4% sold in lots. All results are including premium.