GENEVA.- All eyes were on Geneva’s Hôtel des Ventes this Wednesday 11th March for the furtniture and paintings sales, in particular for the sale of important pieces from a large manor house near Lake Geneva, namely Château Bonmont in Chéserex, originally from the Henri-Ferdinand Lavanchy collection, founder of ADECCO. At 14:00 bidders had to elbow their way into the saleroom at rue Prévost-Martin which remained over-crowded until late in the evening!

The highlight of the day had to be the sale of the two works by Brueghel from this private Swiss collection. In front of a packed saleroom, numerous Swiss and International bidders fought it out for the first painting signed Pieter II Brueghel nicknamed Hell Brueghel (c. 1564-1637). After a few minutes the saleroom fell silent and the bidding seemed to have ended only to start up again with two telephone bidders, one a European based in Switzerland, the other a Russian, live from Moscow. Finally, the winning bid was from the Swiss client and an outburst of applause ensued. Acquiring it for CHF 887,680, a new world record sale price was set at auction for a painting from the Allegories of Autumn series, which features 11 works in total (lot 1045 estimated at CHF 200,000-300,000). The same enthusiasm was shown for the painting by Jan I Brueghel nicknamed Velvet Brueghel (1568-1625). This small oil painting measuring 17 x 24 cm seduced a Swiss collector in to bidding CHF 425,000 before being able to take home this 17th century jewel (lot 1046 estimated at CHF 100,000-150,000).

Overall, the paintings sale saw a number of great results rivalling the best auctions on the international art market. A pastoral scene by Jean-Baptiste Huet (1745-1811) sold for CHF 85,000, setting the highest price for a work of this size by the artist (lot 1086 estimated at CHF 10,000-15,000), while the floral painting by Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636-1699) changed hands for CHF 55,000 (lot 1102 estimated at CHF 8,000-12,000). In contemporary art, the painting by Polish artist Jean Tarasin (1929-2009) returns to its homeland for CHF 30,000 (lot 1196 estimated at CHF 8’000-12'000).

For the past few months, Geneva’s Hôtel des Ventes has noticed the return of high quality 18th century furniture to the auction market. The furniture section of the March 2015 sale confirms this. The large and rare micro mosaic by Moglia, also from Henri-Ferdinand Lavanchy collection, found a buyer for the sum of CHF 195,000, a world record for this artist (lot 920 estimated at CHF 50,000-80,000). Many Swiss and international clients also bid on a marquetry desk which exemplified the splendour of French cabinet making under the reign of Louis XVI, stamped R.V.L.C. and sold for CHF 97,000 (lot 879 estimated at CHF 20,000-30,000). Other bidders saved themselves for the pair of Empire candelabras from Thomire’s workshop (1751-1843) which sold for the same amount (lot 912 estimated at CHF 50,000-80,000). A clock by Antide Janvier (1751-1835), clockmaker for Louis XVI, unleashed a certain amount of passion between Swiss and French collectors, who battled until reaching 12 times the estimate, CHF 48,000, (lot 904 estimated at CHF 4,000-6,000).

Bernard Piguet, Director and Principal Auctioneer at Geneva’s Hôtel des Ventes, underlines: « the auctions organised by Hôtel des Ventes show that Geneva is not only renowned for its jewellery sales, it can also rival the great international cities for antique furniture and paintings. »

Aside from these two auctions, Wednesday saw the Asian and Oriental art sale. Chinese collectors turned out in great numbers to bid on lots, driving prices up on many lots, one of which was a rare porcelain ewer which sold for almost CHF 110,000, making 100 times its estimate (lot 477 estimated at CHF 1’000-1'500). Tuesday evening’s Antiquities sale included a large number of pieces from the Olivier Reverdin collection and saw 100% of lots sold.

Once again, Geneva’s Hôtel des Ventes managed to open its doors to a forever increasing client base looking for a good deal: almost 900 lots were sold for less than CHF 300. Of note, a classic Cartier Trinity ring was sold for a mere CHF 150 (lot 4368), a 19th century compass sold for CHF 100 (lot 3316) as well as a set of skis signed by Sharon Stone which were bought for only CHF 100!