ITEM SPOTLIGHT: LOT 250

AN IMPRESSIVE ROYAL WORCESTER EXHIBITION VASE

1887, design 1266, Registration number 02204, manufactured 1892, puce backstamps to lid and underside; special Chicago Exhibition 1893 mark (faint).

This astonishing vase with its masterful gilding and sculptural ornament immediately suggested it worthy of an exhibition.  The vase posed many questions when it arrived but during its brief tenure at Philips Auctions its history has slowly unfolded.  

Exquisite craftsmanship, aesthetics, and the practicalities of life combine in tiny little boxes we call vinaigrettes. These boxes, some designed as novelties, all open to reveal a perforated grille which held a perfumed medium within.

Usually of sterling silver and gilded to the interiors, they served quite practical purposes.  Worn around the neck, put in a pocket or hung from a chatelaine, their size and portability allowed perfumes to be carried with ease when travelling. 

When we think of exquisite bronze figures of the 1920s and 1930s, the great names of Chiparus, Preiss, Lorenzl, come to mind.  But who was 'Gerdago'? 

'Gerdago' was the pseudonym of Viennese born Gerda Gottstein.  She received art training in both Berlin and Paris in the late 1920s and in the ensuing years designed costumes for theatre and revue performances where her work attracted the attention of Austrian film maker Willi Forst.

Petronella Ourtmann's intricately decorated doll's house in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam inspired the book and subsequent compelling television series, 'The Miniaturist'.

Costing as much as an actual house, a dollshouse, such as Petronella's, was a luxury only available to the extremely wealthy in 17th and 18th century Holland and Germany. It was not a childish plaything, it was the woman of the household's domain, a domestic curiosity cabinet over which she was mistress just as she was with her household. Tiny objects of exquisite manufacture reflecting her life, her wealth, aspirations and above all, status, inhabited such dollshouses.

What a wonderful year 2018 has been at Philips with so many exciting and successful auctions, plus several special and unique sales events including a triple auction in August and the magnificent offering in February of 160 lots of porcelain from a single estate.

The Philips December auction continued the trend and wrapped up the year in great style with fantastic results in all departments. Strong sales were achieved in furniture, silver and copper, and a wonderful range of decorative arts including figurines, tea services and vases.

As anticipated, a wonderful range of car mascots proved very popular with determined bidding driving sales well beyond estimate and delivering outstanding results. Two French examples performed particularly strongly due to their exotic design and the reputation of designers Rene Lalique and Henri Payen.