Art Of The Day Weekly
#451 - from 1 December 2016 to 7 December 2016
Lot 75: The Rothschild Nef, attributed to Georg Pfründt (circa 1603-1663), Southern German, 17th century, ivory, 38.2x31.7cm.
They sculpt rhinoceros, don't they?
LONDON – The origin of this exceptional object takes us back to the XVIIth century and its passion for cabinets de curiosités. Everyone raved about the masterpieces of Nature or of human virtuosity. This one combines both: an exotic basic material (ivory) and the work of a worthy sculptor from Franconia, Georg Pfründt (1603-1663), who for a time worked in Paris. This chiseled cup also reminds us of a very different period and another place: the mundane jet set of the post WWII period. It actually decorated one of the most beautiful residences in Paris, the hôtel Lambert on the île Saint-Louis. At that time lavish parties were thrown, such as the bal des Têtes (ball of Heads) in 1956, where Zizi Jeanmaire rubbed elbows with young Yves Saint Laurent a novice decorator, or the Oriental ball in 1969. The master of ceremonies of the venue was baron Alexis de Redé (1922-2004), a polymorphic character who had been set up there by his lover, Chilean billionaire Arturo López-Willshaw. When the Rothschild (Guy and Marie-Hélène) bought up the ‘townhouse’ they continued to house their friend there. They even sold a part of their collections together, in May 1975 in Monaco: it was then that the object was bought by an unexpected collector, the pension fund of the British railways. While the memories of costume balls and Surrealist evenings at hôtel Lambert (now owned by the Qatar Emirates) disappear into smoke, the cup stills carries the perfume of a time of glamorous niceties.
• Old Master Sculpture and Works of Art at Sotheby’s London, 6 December 2016.