COLOGNE.- Since the launch of its auctions on the German art market in September 2021, Sotheby's Germany has been expanding its sale offering from year to year. This fall, Sotheby's Cologne will held the inaugural Noble & Private Collections auction: From 11 to 18 October 2023, collectors have the opportunity to acquire works of art and objects with royal and aristocratic provenance as well as pieces from outstanding private collections.

The online auction captivates selected historical precious objects, arts and crafts, furniture and paintings, a large part of which comes to the market for the first time. Over generations, the finest pieces such as a significant royal pair of K.P.M. Berlin ice buckets, plates from a royal service or historic portraits were found in the private possession of high noble families. This exquisite selection has, for the most part, never been on public view before. The auction, hosted from the Palais Oppenheim in Cologne, contains a mixture of sculptures, silver, porcelain, old master paintings and drawings, furniture, jewelry, antique weapons and other highlights with royal and aristocratic provenance as well as from private collections, including the collection of Duchess Marie von Württemberg, née Princess zu Wied (b. 1973), and the Schminck Collection.

Auction offer

Among the top lots in the online offering is the Portrait of Emperor Matthias from the circle of Hans van Aachen, which is the only painting now known to show the emperor in full Roman-German regalia and insignia. Coming from a German private collection, the painting has been seen in many international exhibitions, and is now offered for an estimate of €60,000 to 90,000.

Also of first class quality and condition is the pair of German Renaissance wheellock holster puffer pistols by Peter Danner, which he made in Nuremberg around 1580. An outstanding rarity, this lot, estimated at €40,000-60,000, comes from a Dutch collection. While a few individual pistols by Danner have been sold recently, a pair of wheel lock pistols has not been offered at auction in about 30 years.

Of art historical importance is the Pair of garden sculptures of female Sphinxes with a putto riding atop by Ferdinand Dietz, one of the leading German sculptors of the Rococo period. Estimated at €40,000-60,000, they were made specifically for a commission in Trier. These and another pair of garden sculptures are from the estate of Haus Tobias-Cordes in Bünde.

Estimated at €40,000-60,000 is the important pair of Berlin (K.P.M.) Royal two-handled ice pails, covers, liners and stands, circa 1825, offered. Coming from noble possession of the Duchess Marie of Württemberg the pair has multiple royal provenance and has remained in one and the same family since circa 1825 until today.

In addition, the auction also offers lots at affordable prices, whether to add a category to an existing collection or to lay a foundation for a new collection:

•From the estate of Duchess Marie of Württemberg (b. 1973), Corpus Christi is estimated at €1,000-1,500.

• Orpheus playing for the animals also has a significant provenance and comes from the Schminck Collection - Centuries of Collecting Arts & Objects. Estimated at €1,500-2,000, the work belongs to the Flemish or German school of the 17th century.

• Also from the Schminck Collection - Centuries of Collecting Arts & Objects is a Nymphenburg oval tureen stand probably from the 'Hofservice', circa 1765 (estimate: €2.000-3.000).

A total of around 135 lots will be offered in the online auction, with a pre-sale-estimate of €1,000,000-1,500,000.

With the launch of the online auction on 11 October 2023, the auction's offerings can be viewed at Palais Oppenheim in Cologne:

11-17 October 2023, Monday-Friday 10.00 AM – 6.00 PM, Saturday 12.00 PM – 4.00 PM.