WORLD RECORD BROKEN BY 300-YEAR-OLD SILESIAN GOBLET WHICH WENT FOR £277,250 AT BONHAMS Previous world-record doubled at Bonhams’ best Glass sale in years
The Mühleib Collection, the finest single-owner collection of European glass from 1500 to 1850, shattered world records this morning when it made a total of £1.6m as part of the series of Glass sales over two days at Bonhams, with 95% of lots sold by value in today's sale alone. This makes it one of the most successful sessions of Glass sales ever to be held at Bonhams. The world record price for the top selling lot, a Silesian goblet cut by Friedrich Winter, was £277, 250. This secured a world record for any Baroque glass of this type, doubling its estimated price.
The 300 year old goblet is decorated with patterns of wildlife and swirls of acanthus flowers inhabited by birds, foxes and bears completed with an elegant spire. It's maker was the glass engraver, Friedrich Winter, who was the leading glass craftsman in Silesia and contributed to raising the profile of the region on the global arts scene during the period of the Enlightenment (1650 – 1800). He was granted special privilege by Count Christian von Schaffgotsch to set up water-powered cutting works in Silesia. The innovative technique was usually reserved for rock crystals and was later introduced to glass.
Buyers also bid strongly for the glass panel engraved by Caspar Lehmann which sold for £157,000 – more than doubling its estimated value. The glass panel was of particularly special provenance, coming from the collection of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, a famously decadent ruler whose passion for the arts allegedly led to the Thirty Years’ War.
It is believed that Rudolf’s devotion to the arts led to poor political judgement which ultimately resulted in the Thirty Years' War. Rudolf II was considered by contemporaries as “the greatest patron of the arts in the world” promoting some of the most distinguished artists and scientists of the Enlightenment. He furthermore had an unrivalled collection of artworks, boasting the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Corregio, Albert Durer and Breugel the Elder.
This exceptional collection of Venetian, German, Austrian and Dutch glass was assembled by Dr. Horst Mühleib over a period of forty years. Representing some of the finest examples of the period, the Mühleib Collection is one of the first of such a wide-range to be offered on the international market in recent times.
Other outstanding lots to lead the sale were a four-hundred year old Nuremberg goblet, which sold for ten times its pre-sale estimate at £133,250, engraved by Georg Schwanhardt the Elder, as well as a 1743 Dutch portrait goblet by Aart Schouman which doubled its estimate selling at £79,250.
Simon Cottle, Director of Glass at Bonhams comments: “These past two days have seen a number of fine glass objects sold at Bonhams, making a total of £2.2m, representing the strongest performance for post-medieval glass at Bonhams over the past few years. It has been a great privilege to handle the Muhleib and Meyer collections, and we are delighted with the results. The fact that these sales have produced four world records, with buyers from across the globe is a clear indication if the growing strength of the passion for collecting glass internationally”.
Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and a further three in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Connecticut in the USA; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments go to www.bonhams.com.
