Christie’s will hold Madame Simone Steinitz, The Legacy of Taste in Paris on 19 June, a sale dedicated to Simone Steinitz, wife of the antiquaire Bernard Steinitz and a figure long associated with the eponymous gallery. The sale gives Benjamin Steinitz, now at the head of the gallery, an opportunity to pay tribute to his mother, who was valued by art historians, collectors, and decorators including François-Joseph Graf, Jacques Grange, Peter Marino, Daniel Alcouffe, and Juan Pablo Molyneux.
The 130 pieces of furniture and works of art, carefully chosen for the auction, reflect the tradition of the great 18th-century Parisian marchands-merciers with which Simone and Bernard Steinitz worked. The Steinitz gallery, now on the Rue Royale, has since 1968 earned a reputation among major art collectors and museums for the quality and rarity of its pieces. The total pre-sale estimate is 3.3 million to 5.2 million euros.
The sale celebrates the decorative arts from the 17th to the late 19th century, with a focus on the 18th century. It reflects a fascination with highly architectural pieces and a sense of balance and harmony, illustrated by the work of French makers such as Jean-Henri Riesener, Pierre-Philippe Thomire, Jean-François Leleu, and Georges Jacob. Superb examples of seat-furniture are also represented.
Numerous royal and other prestigious provenances feature, including three vases made by King Louis XV and his relatives, after a model by his intendant Pierre-Elisabeth de Fontanieu, and a group of porcelain objects mounted with gilt bronze, reunited by the marchand-mercier Claude-François Julliot for King Louis XVI. Also offered is a vase mounted by the bronzier Pajot, from the Rothschild collections.
The sale takes place at the hôtel on the Rue Royale, arranged specially for the occasion. Reflecting on the Steinitz legacy, Olivier Gabet, Director of the Objets d’ Art Department at the Musée du Louvre, noted that Simone’s name is inextricably linked to Bernard’s in the galleries of the Department of Decorative Arts, “this is the privilege of passionate donors.”
(Press Release)
