ZURICH.- The week of old masters and antiques auctions at Koller yielded numerous excellent results for works by artists such as Caspar David Freidrich and Osias Beert, and the nearly half a million Swiss francs realized by a portrait by Michaelina Wautier set a new world record price at auction for the artist.

Old Master Paintings
A mid-17th century portrait by Michaelina Wautier was one of the highlights of the Old Masters auction at Koller (lot 3057). Paintings by this Flemish artist are rare: only approximately 25 are known to exist. The last time Koller offered a painting by Wautier was in 2003, and it realized a then-record price of CHF 54 000. That record was left far behind when the portrait in this sale, depicting Jesuit missionary and mapmaker Martino Martini in Asian dress, surpassed all expectations and sold for CHF 480 500. A floral still life by another 17th-century Flemish artist and pioneer of the genre, Osias Beert, shared the leading position in this sale, also realizing CHF 480 500 (lot 3031).

19th Century Paintings
A series of works by Bavarian artist Eduard Grützner of figures in wine or beer cellars fetched prices significantly above their pre-sale estimates, such as the depiction of a brewmaster fully enjoying a quiet moment with a cigar and a beer (lot 3209, sold for CHF 67 700). A late landscape by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot which was formerly in the collection of the 19th-century Scottish railway engineer James Staats Forbes changed hands for CHF 84 500 (lot 3214), and a magnificent view of the Port of Marseille by Félix François Ziem (lot 3205) sold for CHF 59 300.

Drawings
Another “portrait”, this time of a bare-limbed oak tree by Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich (lot 3457), more than doubled its estimate at CHF 65 300. Formerly in the collection of the Kunsthalle in Mannheim, this work illustrates the intense attention that Friedrich gave to natural subjects. A wonderful depiction of Greek prime minister Alexandros Mavrokordatos (lot 3468) by Suzanne Eynard-Chatelain realized CHF 30 500, triple the pre-sale estimate. Mavrokordatos, a friend of Lord Byron and champion of Greek independence, is dressed as a freedom fighter in this lively portrait.

Porcelain & Silver
The top lot of the Max Fahrländer collection was the very rare “Flaming Tortoise” Kakiemon-style plate with an inscribed Augustus Rex mark (lot 1737, sold for CHF 36 500), indicating that it was not only in Augustus III’s personal collection, but was among the wares produced during the Hoym-Lemaire scandal of the 1730s. Among the other highlights of the auction, also from the Meissen manufactory, are a plate from the Sulkowski service, made for a Polish count who was a childhood friend of Augustus III (lot 1778, sold for CHF 30 500), and an unusually shaped Chinoiserie terrine (lot 1775) which realized CHF 22 100.

Books & Autographs
The Books and Autographs auction featured a number of beautifully illustrated volumes on natural history from private collections, including an early 18th century work by Louis Renard which was one of the earliest books published with illustrations of exotic fish, made on the spot by seafarers with the Dutch East India Company (lot 353). It sold for CHF 90 500, more than double its estimate. François Levaillant’s work on parrots from 1801-05 was also hotly contested in the saleroom, selling for CHF 102 500 (lot 356). A complete first edition of Diderot and D’Alembert’s Encyclopaedia, including the volumes which were banned by the Vatican, fetched CHF 90 500 (lot 328). Correspondence by artists was highly prized in the Autographs auction, including a large collection of letters between Oskar Kokoschka and the long-time director of the Zurich Kunsthaus, Wilhelm Wartmann (lot 420, sold for CHF 10 000), as well as a series of letters and postcards from Edvard Munch from the 1920s and 30s (lot 421, sold for CHF 23 300.

Photographs
A portrait of Marilyn Monroe from Bert Stern’s famous “last sitting”, hand-coloured by the photographer, more than quadrupled its estimate to sell for CHF 23 300 (lot 561. An album of vintage photos of Rio de Janeiro from circa 1880 by Marc Ferrez fetched CHF 7 500 (lot 525), and a beautiful and mysterious nude by Swiss photographer René Groebli realized CHF 6 875 (lot 557).

Jewellery
The top lot in the jewellery auction was a 13.70 ct Burma sapphire and diamond ring, realizing CHF 192 500 against a pre-sale estimate of CHF 160 000 (lot 2033). Signed pieces by makers such as Cartier, Chaumet and Bulgari continued to garner high prices, such as the cover lot, a pearl and diamond floral brooch by Chaumet (lot 2032, CHF 17 300), and a sapphire and diamond platinum ring signed Bulgari which realized CHF 48 500 (lot 2182).

Furniture
Prices for furniture of the highest quality were strong in Koller’s 23 March auction, such as the CHF 192 500 paid by a Swiss private collector for an exquisitely inlaid bureau de dame attributed to J.-P. Latz, bearing the “c couronné”-stamped ormolu mounts which indicate a date of fabrication from the mid-late 1750s (lot 1107). A sumptuous Italian Rococo giltwood console (lot 1037) will travel to Russia to be welcomed into a private collection there (CHF 79 700), and a mid-18th century mechanical games table by Genovese craftsman Andrea Torazza will finally return home, acquired by a Genovese collector for CHF CHF 72 500 (lot 1051).