EFTA00597787.pdf

SALE STRATEGY: THE EXCEPTIONAL SALE SALE PLAN: THE EXCEPTIONAL SALE, DECEMBER 2014 We propose offering your Louis XIV Bureau Plat by Andre-Charles Boulle in our highly successful Exceptional Sale platform in December 2014. A unique platform for the very best of the decorative arts, The Exceptional Sale is a highly selective offering of the finest furniture, silver, ceramics, clocks and sculpture made from the 16th century to the modern age. Each work of art in The Exceptional Sale exemplifies excellence in design, craftsmanship, materials, condition and provenance. The extraordinary display of quality in The Exceptional Sale presents a singular opportunity to engage today's top global collectors. Christie's most elite clients have endorsed The Exceptional Sale since its inception in 2008, driving its unmatched success and far outstripping the rival sale by our closest competitor. Christie's inaugural New York Exceptional Sale in will be held on December 10, 2014, capping the all-important fall auction season. A special preview of The Exceptional Sale will take place in our Rockefeller Center galleries in November, when the world's top collectors gather at Christie's. In November 2013, Christie's New York sold over $1 billion of art. Registered bidders hailed from 42 countries and 16 new world auction records were set. Promoted alongside the season's top Contemporary, Modern, Post-War and Impressionist pictures, the decorative arts of The Exceptional Sale will be integral to Christie's 2014 roll call of great art. A SEVRES PORCELAIN ORMOLU- MOUNTED BLUE-GROUND VASE- CLOCK AND COVER Estimate: E120.000-180.000 Price realized: E433,875 ChnstieY London, The Exceptional Sale, July 2013 PURCHASED BY THE CHATEAU DE VERSAILLES CHRISTIE'S EXCEPTIONAL SALE VS. SOTHEBY'S TREASURES SALE £30,000,000 £25,000,000 £20,000,000 £15,000,000 £10,000,000 £5,000,000 I I • CHRISTIE'S 2011 2012 2013 EFTA00597787 SALE STRATEGY THE POWER OF PROVENANCE Our research has found that your bureau plat can be traced to two of the most influential collectors and connoisseurs of their era: the designer Georges Hoentschel (1855-1915), the subject of a 2013 joint exhibition with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Bard Graduate Center that reintroduced him to today's collectors, and the financier Morgan (1837-1913). In 1906, Morgan purchased Hoentschel's collection in its entirety and donated it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it formed the nucleus of the Decorative Arts collection. This bureau plat, along with a vast array of other works, was displayed in a custom built wing at the Museum. Such a clear, close link with both legendary private and public collections is incredibly rare, particularly as the bureau plat has remained in your collection since it's deaccession by the Metropolitan Museum in 1986. With that in mind, we would market your bureau plat as THER MORGAN - HOENTSCHEL BOULLE BUREAU PLAT. ESTIMATES Buyers are becoming increasingly discerning about the correct level of pricing for lots at auction. The best results will be achieved when estimates are set conservatively and attract a large number of interested collectors. If lots are estimated too aggressively, buyers today will not bid on a lot, in the knowledge they may be able to buy at a lower price after the sale. Our pre-sale estimate takes these factors into careful consideration to strike a balance on the estimate. Our goal is to achieve a sale price that returns or exceeds your purchase price. Further, it is our aim to maximize the saleability of the pieces with estimates that entice bidding and represent a fair value with reference to the market. After careful consideration, we would recommend a pre-sale estimate for your bureau plat of 5400,000-600,000. The three main factors we used to determine this estimate are: • The bureau plat can now be firmly attributed to Andre-Charles Boulle. • The newly discovered Hoentschel and JP Morgan provenance. • An initial examination of the desk has indicated the lion's mask mounts are replaced and that a good portion of the drawer border mounts are probably replaced. Christie's employs an outside expert in ormolu mounts to vet all the significant pieces. We will research the mounts further in consultation with him. Right: The bureau plat in the Hoentschel collection EFTA00597788