Sotheby’s will offer some 1,300 lots from the collection assembled at the Hôtel Lambert, one of Paris’ most historic private residences, in a series of auctions beginning in Paris in October 2022. The material, described as one of the finest private collections of classical works of art, is being unveiled for the first time since a landmark restoration of the building.
The Hôtel Lambert sits on the Île Saint-Louis and was built and decorated in the early 1640s by Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun and Eustache Le Sueur, figures also associated with Versailles. Listed as a historical monument in 1862, it counted Voltaire and the Rothschilds among its residents and hosted Chopin and Delacroix. Following its recent restoration, its interiors housed the collection now coming to sale.
At the core of the offering is French furniture, including works by André-Charles Boulle and Adam Weisweiler, alongside French gilt-bronze mounted porcelain vases and a group of porphyry vases. The collection also spans rock crystal, silver and vermeil, Limoges enamels, antique jewels and objects of vertu, with pieces dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
The works carry provenance linked to figures including Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry and Queen Marie-Antoinette, and later to collectors such as Hubert de Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Baron de Redé, Count Stroganoff, Richard Wallace, Misia Sert and Antenor Patiño. Ahead of the sales, audiences in Paris, London, Hong Kong and New York will be able to experience the interiors through specially created immersive digital spaces in Sotheby’s galleries.
The house passed through a long line of owners. In the 1740s the Marquise du Châtelet and Voltaire used it as their Paris residence, and it was later bought by the Polish Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, drawing figures such as George Sand, Honoré de Balzac and Eugène Delacroix. Chopin was a frequent guest, and his La Polonaise was composed for the annual Polish ball held there. In 1975 Guy and Marie-Hélène Rothschild took residence.
The building was acquired in 2007 and restored under the supervision of Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Thani and his family, with Alain-Charles Perrot as chief architect. The interiors were furnished in collaboration with the designer Alberto Pinto, following in places the style of Renzo Mongiardino. As ownership transfers once more, proceeds from the sale will support The Al Thani Collection Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing art and culture through public initiatives.
(Press Release)
