The Habsburg court still arouses great fascination. Thus, after weeks of touring around the world, Vienna 1900: An Imperial and Royal Collection has arrived at auction at Sotheby’s Geneva. Result: 100% of lots sold, with over 82% above the high estimate. The collection brought in over 9.6 million Swiss francs, exceeding its estimate by more than three times.
The extraordinary collection included 207 lots of jewels spanning two centuries of European and noble history, which appeared at auction for the first time. Sotheby’s collaborated with Philipp Württemberg Art Advisory GmbH to bring this collection to auction.
Rediscovered earlier this year in a German bank safe, the most important and largest collection of Viennese imperial and royal jewels ever put up for auction boasted provenance from all the most important European royal houses linked to the Austrian dynasty of Habsburg, offering an extraordinary journey through the jewels of the lives of Central Europe’s most influential ruling families during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The top lot was Biedermann’s Devant-de-Corsage with the spectacular natural pearl and diamond, which reached 1 million francs (against a high estimate of 450,000). The unsigned mid-19th century garnet parure comprising a tiara, necklace and three stud earrings, after a flurry of bidding, sold for 88,900 crabs (over 25 times its high estimate).
The auction was also a celebration of the two best Austrian jewelers of the 19th century, Emil Biedermann and Köchert, who produced jewelery mainly for the court. Köchert still trades today. With the reemergence of the collection after decades safely hidden, the magnificence of their exquisitely crafted creations was on display during this sale, capturing the interest of dozens of bidders and winning many lots.
