LONDON.- Christie’s presents the first bi-annual Centuries of Style sale of 2015, offering the finest and most unique examples of European Ceramics, Gold Boxes, Portrait Miniatures and Silver from the 15th to the 20th century. From 2 to 3 June, Christie’s London will offer over 700 works of outstanding craftsmanship including treasures with important and royal provenance.

EUROPEAN CERAMICS
The sale will begin with the European Ceramics selection, led by three notable collections. Perhaps the most remarkable of these is the collection which has been stored in wooden packing crates since 1962. The dusty crates were opened for the first time in over 50 years in October 2014 and the stunning contents are now being offered for sale. The main collector was an important French industrialist who collected between 1890 and 1930. He had a taste for Meissen and other German porcelain and later expanded his collection to include Sèvres and other French pieces. The collection originally decorated the family’s impressive townhouse on the Avenue Montaigne in central Paris, a prominent fixture of the Parisian social scene, displayed behind delicate glass vitrines and ornamenting their well-attended dinner tables. The sale will offer magnificent 18th century Meissen groups such as The Mockery Of Age, circa 1740 (estimate: £20,000 - 40,000) and the 18th century Sèvres dinner and dessert-service (estimate: £25,000 - 40,000). The second part of this collection will be sold at Christie’s South Kensington on 30 June.

The Birkett collection brings together an extensive group of English Royalist delftware spanning from the Stuart to the Hanoverian monarchies. These boldly decorated pieces were often inspired by prints and engravings of the day, conveying military power and political strength against the backdrop of important historical events such as the Civil War, the Restoration of the Monarchy, the Glorious Revolution and the Act of Union. Rarity, condition and provenance have played a key part in the formation of this well curated and fascinating collection. Highlights include a Charles II blue-dash charger, dated 1670 (estimate: £40,000 - 60,000), a rare James II Brislington dish, formerly in the Sainsbury Collection (estimate: £30,000 - 50,000) and the only recorded London caudle-cup, decorated with a portrait of William III (estimate: £20,000 - 25,000). The collection consists of 15 lots with estimates ranging from £6,000 to 80,000.

The auction also includes a collection previously belonging to the esteemed antiques dealer Hermann Baer, whose depth of knowledge and connoisseurship enabled him to acquire beautiful and unusual works of art. With an eye for the distinctive and rare, he assembled a collection of medieval sculpture and works of art alongside renaissance Maiolica and objects of vertu including a Gubbio Maiolica Copper-Lustre Crespina, circa 1530-50 (estimate: £6,000 - 8,000).

GOLD BOXES
The selection of Gold Boxes showcases the skill and craftsmanship of the most celebrated European goldsmiths of the 18th and 19th centuries such as Georges Rémond, Jean-Joseph Isaac, Josef Wolffgang Schmidt and Emanuel Münberg.

The sale includes a number of Louis XV and XVI gold boxes with two important works by Pierre François Drais, including a coloured shell boîte-a-miniature from a private German collection, depicting scenes from classical mythology by Jacques-Joseph de Gault (estimate: £80,000 - 120,000). The second exquisite example, from another private German collection, is set with striking malachite perfectly framing six oval gold relief panels illustrating playful putti by the celebrated chaser Gérard Debèche (estimate: £40,000 - 60,000).

The section ends with a highly important gold box by Jean-Baptiste Bertin (estimate: £80,000 - 120,000), which was gifted to the present owner’s family by Louis XVI in 1782. This exceptional box, crafted in Paris in 1752, takes inspiration from the idyllic Rococo paintings of François Boucher and exemplifies the best examples of Parisian artistry, elegance and beauty of 18th century French decorative objects.

PORTRAIT MINIATURES
The sale continues on 3 June with Portrait Miniatures. Best representing the breadth and variety are the enamel miniatures by painters Henry Bone, R.A. and Henry Pierce Bone depicting royal sitters, members of British aristocratic families, as well as celebrated artists and writers. Examples by other important and prominent painters include Christian Friedrich Zincke, Charles Boit and Horace Hone, serving as interesting examples of this category whose origins lie in the decoration of watch cases.

Of particular note is a portrait by John Smart of Nathaniel Edward Kindersley, a protagonist of the British trade in India in the 18th century (estimate: £20,000 - 30,000), a charming portrait of Queen Marie-Antoinette by Pierre-Adolphe Hall (estimate: £20,000 - 30,000) and a superb three-quarter length portrait of a young female artist by François Dumont (estimate: £15,000 - 25,000).

SILVER
The auction will conclude with the silver selection, offering many examples from important provenance including George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (1675-1758). An important patron of the leading Huguenot silversmiths, Booth’s vast and impressive collection provides a fascinating example of silver in a great country house in the first half of the 18th century and is distinguished by its uniformly high quality, exceptionally heavy gauge and conservative taste. The Earl favoured the plain and heavy fashions and is perfectly exemplified in the George II Silver Caster, 1746 (estimate: £2,000 – 3,000) and a Queen Anne silver snuffer-tray and a pair of snuffers, circa 1708 (estimate: £10,000 - 15,000).

Further silver highlights include an impressive pair of George I silver beerjugs, 1718 (estimate: £40,000 - 60,000), a Charles I silver ewer from 1635, (estimate: £40,000 - 60,000) and a strikingly intricate Charles II parcel-gilt silver cup and cover dated 1674 (estimate: £80,000 - 120,000).