A portrait of Charles X in coronation robes catalogued as workshop of Baron Gérard from the collection of the Comtes de Marcellus, €29,000 (£24,785).
Image copyright: Artcurial
The headline entry of the Paris auction featuring the collection and library of the Comtes de Marcellus from the eponymous Château Marcellus was the plaster cast of the statue of Venus de Milo pre-empted by the Louvre at €44,000 (£37,605), as reported in ATG No 2628.
That figure was within the estimate of €40,000-60,000 on January 24 in the sale titled Souvenirs Historiques held by Artcurial (26/20/14.5% buyer’s premium), but making much more than the €2000-3000 predicted was another of the souvenirs of the property near Bordeaux.
A 19th century portrait of the French Restoration monarch Charles X (1757-1836) shown in his coronation costume was dated to c.1825 and catalogued as workshop of Baron Gérard, the pupil of David who was famous for his portraits of the rich and famous.
It was a large oval work in oil on the original canvas measuring 2ft 9in x 2ft 4in (85 x 71.5cm) and was in a period giltwood frame applied with the presentation inscription Donné par le Roi au Vicomte de Marcellus, Ministre Plénipotentiaire à Lucques, 1826.
The portrait was hammered down at €29,000 (£24,785).
Sèvres hard paste cabaret presented to Viscount Lodois de Marcellus in 1824, sold for €20,000 (£17,095) at Artcurial.
Image copyright: Artcurial
Another of the day’s top lots, selling for €20,000 (£17,095) against a guide of €4000-6000, was a Restoration period Sèvres hard paste porcelain cabaret service with a blue lapis ground decorated in gold with the crowned initials of Charles X.
It was presented by the royal household to Viscount Lodois de Marcellus when French embassy attaché in London, in 1824.
The service, comprising a bowl, teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl and a dozen cups and saucers was marked with the interlaced LLs, a fleur de lys, the dates (18)20 and (18)24 and marks for Durosay, Jean-Louis Moyez and Catherine Godin.
£1 = €1.17
