Louis Sauvageau, Nymph holding a bird's nest (details), white marble, 110 cm. Photo: Sotheby's.

Hong Kong - This autumn, Sotheby’s is delighted to announce its fifth annual Age of Elegance – European Paintings, Sculpture, Silver and Fabergé in Hong Kong. This year’s edition of the unique selling exhibition brings together paintings spanning the 17th- through to the mid-20th centuries, exquisite sculptures, and exceptional objects in silver. The highly curated exhibition will also include, for the first time, an important group of objects by Carl Fabergé, the world-renowned jeweller of the Russian Tsars; highlighting this section are two exquisite enamel clocks, and a silver and jewelled casket presented by Emperor Nicholas II to Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (1856-1921), Chancellor of the German Empire, in 1913. The exhibition will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 30 September to 5 October during Sotheby’s Hong Kong Autumn 2016 Sale Series. The collection is available for immediate purchase at the exhibition.

EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS:

Raoul Dufy (1877 – 1953),  Feuillages et Perroquets, Circa 1929, Gouache on paper, image: 62 x 67 cm. Photo: Sotheby's.

Feuillages et Perroquets recalls Dufy’s celebrated mural designs in its unusual perspective and abundant motifs; the current work features a combination of luscious tropical leaves and beautiful parrots. Raoul Dufy was a celebrated French painter – alongside his brother, Jean, he created a joyfully coloured and light-filled body of work imbued with a sense of joie de vivre. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and originally worked in a primarily Fauvist style alongside Henri Matisse, André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck. Dufy invested in a studio in Vence in the South of France, drawn to the area by the strength of the sun and the particular bright quality of the light. From 1920, he began increasingly to depict scenes of social and sporting life in France and England, in particular regattas and equestrian events. He became famous for his tapestry, mural and ceramic designs as well as for his painting and is represented in all the major museums around the world. 

Antonio Ponce (1608 – after 28 May 1662 unknown), Still Life of Hollyhocks and Marigolds in a Glass Vase upon a Stone Base; Still Life of Marigolds, Jasmin and Morning Glory in a Glass Vase upon a Stone Base, Circa 1650, Oil on canvas, a pair, each 42.3 x 25.3 cm. Photo: Sotheby's.

 This pair of highly refined and detailed still lifes was painted in Madrid in around 1650 by Antonio Ponce, one of the leading Spanish still life painters of his day. The 17th century witnessed the Golden Age of Spanish Painting, led by the work of artists such as Velasquez, Ribera, Murillo and Zurbaran, as well as the development of the highly specialised art of still life painting, which also saw its greatest flourishing during this time.

 Louis Sauvageau (b. 1822), Nymph holding a bird's nest, White marble, 110 cm. Photo: Sotheby's.

The Nymph holding a bird’s nest is a rare and exceptional marble by French sculptor Louis Sauvageau. It is exquisitely carved, and leaves a lasting impression of pure innocence and ethereal beauty.

A pair of George IV silver ‘grapevine’ wine coolers, John Bridge for Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, London, 1829, 25.5 cm high. Photo: Sotheby's.

This pair of wine coolers was part of the extensive collection of silver owned by Harriet, Duchess of St. Albans (1777- 1837). An actress celebrated for her beauty, she married the banker Thomas Coutts who bequeathed her his estate including the bank itself, which made her the richest widow in the United Kingdom. In 1827, She married William Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St. Albans, who was more than 20 years her junior, and famously wrote to her friend Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish novelist and playwright: ’What a strange eventful life has mine been, from a poor little player child, (…) - first the wife of the best, the most perfect being that ever breathed ...and now the wife of a Duke! You must write my life...’

A Fabergé gold, silver-gilt, enamel seed-pearl and hardstone timepiece, Workmaster Michael Perchin, St Petersburg Width 10.3 cm. Photo: Sotheby's.

The House of Fabergé remains world-renowned for their luxurious creations and the craftsmanship unsurpassed in the century since its end. This clock, made in the workshop of Michael Perchin, Fabergé’s most famous and highly-regarded goldsmith, is a fine example of the firm’s creative combination of materials, with rich Russian hardstone mounted in enamelled gold set with seed pearls.