This July, Classic Week returns to Christie’s featuring art spanning from antiquity to the 20th Century. From paintings and drawings by the most celebrated Old Masters to texts and correspondence written by luminaries including Charles Darwin and Winston Churchill, Classic Week brings extraordinary treasures to the sale room.
Highlights include:
A rare medallion commissioned by Queen Charlotte (1744-1818) as a gift to close friends who had remained loyal during King George III’s illness, to celebrate the King’s recovery in 1789 (estimate £3,000-5,000). This medallion is incorporated in a pendant which features a a glazed compartment containing a lock of hair of Queen Charlotte and another lock of hair of King George III (1738-1820). In Bayreuth: A Connoisseur’s Collection of English Silver and Gold Boxes.
Portrait of Jan Willemsz. van der Pluym and Jaapgen Carels by Rembrandt (estimate £5,000,000-£8,000,000). The last known pair of portraits by Rembrandt to remain in private hands, the paintings are rare and intimate portrayals of relatives of the artist. Lost for 200 years between their last sale in 1824 and their rediscovery earlier this year, the paintings had remained in the collection of the same UK family during that time. In Old Masters Part 1.
A full 226-page score of Beethoven’s ‘Sinfonie mit Schluss-Chor über Schillers Ode ‘An die Freude’, fur grosses Orchester, 4 Solo-und 4 Chor-Stimmen’ (Estimate £10,000 – £20,000). From the collection of celebrated Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and his violinist wife Alice Harnoncourt, this score is one of a host of extraordinary lots which shed light on the lives and passions of this artistic couple. In Alice & Nikolaus Harnoncourt: Artists Collecting Art,
The Meltonian: or, the pleasures of the chase developed by T.J Rawlins (estimate £30,000 – £50,000). The watercolour drawings feature in the Schwerdt-Gloucester copy of an elaborate album of hunting watercolours made for Sir Edward Smythe and attributed to Rawlins. In The Magnificent Library of Norman Bobins: Part Two, The Colourful World.
Classic Week begins on the 30 June and runs until the 14 July. For more information visit: christies.com
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Image: Lot 86 A GEORGE III JEWELLED AND ENAMEL GOLD ‘RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS’ MEDALLION CONVERTED INTO A LOCKET PENDANT. THE MEDALLION ENGLAND, DATED 1789, THE MOUNTS CIRCA 1820 © Christie’s Images Limited 2023