LONDON, ENGLAND.- Distinguished by their quality and illustrious provenance, two works by Jan van Huysum shattered existing records when they sold for a combined total of £7,963,200 in Sotheby’s sale of Old Master Paintings in London on Thursday, December 11th, 2003. Overall, the sale realised a total of £17,324,400 and four new auction records were established, but it was the top lot, Van Huysum’s Still Life of Fruit which excited applause from a packed saleroom when it sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for £4,933,600, well above the pre-sale top estimate of £1,500,000. It also outstripped the exceptional result achieved only minutes before when the previous lot, Van Huysum’s Still Life of Flowers, realised £3,029,600 against a pre-sale estimate of £1,200,000 - £1,800,000. Both works easily exceeded the previous auction record of £2,002,845 (US$3,520,000) established at Sotheby’s, New York, in January 1992.

Alexander Bell, co-chairman, Old Master Paintings, Sotheby’s worldwide, said: "We are delighted with these results. In his day, the works of Van Huysum commanded higher prices than those of any other living painter. Throughout the 18th century, paintings by the artist were more highly valued than those of virtually any other artist - alive or dead - and regularly changed hands for sums in excess of 1000 guilders - a small fortune in 18th-century Holland (over three times the price of an Amsterdam town house). Given the results of today’s sale, the great esteem in which Van Huysum was then held is clearly shared by collectors in our own time."

The two Still Lifes sold today rank among the finest examples of the Van Huysum’s work to have come to the market in recent years. Ever since they were painted in the 1730s, these two works have always been considered exceptionally fine examples of Van Huysum’s work, as is clear from the extraordinary provenance of both paintings. In the 18th century, the Still Life of Flowers was owned by two of the leading Dutch connoisseur-collectors of the time, and in the 19th century the picture passed into the collection of King Willem II of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the Still Life of Fruit entered the celebrated collection of the Duc de Berry. In the mid-19th century, the two works separately entered the Rothschild collection, and in 1942 they were purchased by Enrico Fattorini - the owner of Grattan warehouses, the famous mail order business - whose collection of Dutch pictures is considered to be one of the finest to have been assembled in Britain in the middle of the last century.

Also with a distinguished provenance, two works by Giuseppe Zocchi (1716-1767), "the Canaletto of Florence", performed well. In particular, Zocchi’s view of the Piazza della Signoria handsomely exceeded its pre-sale estimate of £300,000-£400,000 selling for £1,293,600 to London dealer Colnaghi. The price was also well in excess of the existing record for the artist’s work - Eur 888,250.00 established in Paris earlier this month for a pair of paintings by Zocchi. Another work by the artist, A View of the Piazza della Signoria looking East realised £509,600 against a pre-sale estimate of £300,000-£400,000. The two paintings were once owned by George, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham (1760-1830) and were probably acquired by him in Italy in the 1780s. The paintings remained in the family collection at Ashburnham House, Dover Street, and later at Ashburnham Place, Sussex, until they were sold in 1953, shortly after the death of Lady Catherine Ashburnham, the last in the family line.

Other records were also established today for works by Baldassare Franceschini, called il Volterrano, and Pietro Paolini.