On 11 December 2014 Christie’s will hold its inaugural Exceptional Sale in New York. Since its inception at Christie’s London in 2008, The Exceptional Sale is a highly selective offering of the finest furniture, silver, ceramics, clocks and sculpture from classic periods – as well as for cultural icons of the modern age. This year’s sale will be led by a 17th century masterpiece by the Dutch master of Mannerist sculpture Adriaen de Vries (1550-1626): the bronze Bacchic Figure Supporting the Globe, which is estimated to realise between $15 million – $25 million. Dating to 1626, this is possibly the last fully autographed work executed by the artist, presenting the pinnacle of his sophisticated skill. Bacchic Figure Supporting The Globe was discovered in 2010 on a Christie’s routine valuation at a castle in Upper Austria.
Among a significant works at auction will be a pair of George II giltwood mirrors from 1755, coined Marion Davies’s ‘Beach House’ Mirrors, encapsulates the height of Hollywood Glamour (estimate: $300,000-500,000); an icon of mid-century modern design, an “Eel Dish” Silver Centerpiece Tureen designed by Henning Koppel for Georg Jensen, executed in 2000 (estimate: $150,000-250,000); A Roman Marble Torso of Hercules, circa 1st-2nd centuries A.D (estimate: $1-1.5million); A Rare Imperial Double-Dragon Carpet from the Wanli Period (1573-1619) (estimate: $600,000-800,000); German Silver And Silver-Gilt Torah Ark by Johann Christoph Müller, Breslau, 1746-1758, which was passed down through three generations of the Rothschild family (estimate: $700,000-1,000,000);
An Imperial Pietre Dure Panel Of The ‘Game Of Billiards’, a magnificent example of the art of Florentine pietre dure, created after the design by Giuseppe Zocchi in Florence, circa 1752-1755 ($800,000-1,200,000); A Monumental Pair of Ormolu-Mounted Berlin Porcelain Vases, which were executed in the second largest size ever produced by the Köningen Porzellan Manufacture, Berlin at 52 inches high ($400,000-600,000) and four remarkable examples of British decorative arts from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
