SOTHEBY’S LONDON TO OFFER EXCEPTIONAL PROPERTY

IMPORTANT FRENCH FURNITURE AND SÈVRES PORCELAIN FROM THE CHESTER SQUARE

RESIDENCE, LONDON

-- RARE LOUIS XV BLACK VASE PROBABLY MADE FOR THE EASTERN MARKET AND FORMERLY IN THE PALACE OF ISMAEL PASHA, RULER OF EGYPT—

-- OUTSTANDING PIECES BY J.H. RIESENER, FAVOURED CABINET-MAKER TO MARIE ANTOINETTE –

On Tuesday, 8th July 2008, Sotheby’s London will be offering exceptional property from the London residence of distinguished European collector and financier Dimitri Mavrommatis. The Sotheby’s sale entitled The Dimitri Mavrommatis Collection of Important French Furniture and Sèvres Porcelain

From the Chester Square residence, London has a pre-sale estimate of £5.5 - 8 million. Highlights in the sale include an Important and Rare Large Gilt-Bronze-Mounted Chinese Black and Gold Porcelain Pot-Pourri Vase and Cover (the Gilt-Bronze Louis XV, circa 1745, the Porcelain Qianlong, 1736-1795) and A Highly Important Gilt-Bronze-Mounted Kingwood, Amaranth, Marquetry and Parquetry Writing Table stamped J.H. Riesener Louis XVI, circa 1780. The sale also offers further pieces by Riesener, other important furniture, a sensational Louis XIV tapestry and numerous lots of magnificent Sèvres porcelain.

Dimitri Mavrommatis, pictured here in his current Paris residence, started collecting in 1982. At that time, he was living in New York and would often visit the Metropolitan Museum which, he says today, inspired his deep interest in art. His lifelong interest and years of collecting recently culminated in him being rewarded for his contribution to the arts when in 2006 the French government made him a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

The collector’s home in Chester Square, the recent sale of which has prompted this auction, housed an exciting mix of Old Master, Modern & Contemporary Art with French 18th century Furniture and Decorative Arts. Many of the Old Master Paintings sold to great acclaim at Sotheby’s London last December and a further group will appear at auction this July in addition to the present sale which offers exquisite examples of the furniture-makers art. Speaking of the collection he is offering this summer, Mr Mavrommatis said: “It will give me great pleasure to know that someone else is enjoying the furniture and Sèvres Porcelain that I have treasured.”

Mario Tavella, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe, describes Dimitri Mavrommatis as: “A rare example of a collector who can be successful in a variety of different collecting categories.” He continues: “At his Chester Square residence, Mr Mavrommatis skillfully placed together pieces from different periods in a way that complimented each object exquisitely. The highest quality neo-classical French furniture was set alongside pieces by Contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst and Gilbert & George. The result was an exceptionally stylish and stunning interior.” The sale will offer an Important and Rare Large Gilt-Bronze-Mounted Chinese Black and Gold Porcelain Pot-

Pourri Vase and Cover (the Gilt-Bronze Louis XV, circa 1745, the Porcelain Qianlong, 1736-1795). The vase has a pre-sale estimate in excess of £1 million and is almost certainly a pair to the vase now in the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin. It is decorated with circular panels of flowers and leaves with chrysanthemumscroll borders and features a scrolling knob cast with foliage and similarly cast handles. Mr Tavella continues: “Because of its colour, this is arguably the most magical Ormolu-mounted vase in existence.”

The present type of pot-pourri vase, where a piece of Chinese porcelain is mounted in contemporary 18th century style, was invented by Parisian dealers in luxury items known as marchands-merciers. It was a craft that met with great popularity at the time. This example was probably made for the Turkish market. It was at the palace of Ismael Pasha (1830-95), a former ruler of Egypt who was permitted by the Sultan of Turkey to retire at his palace on the Bosphorous in what is now Istanbul. At the end of the 19th century the vase was purchased by Sir J.C.Robinson, the celebrated first curator of the South Kensington Museum, London (now the Victoria & Albert Museum). Later it was acquired privately by the 1st Baron Masham of Swinton (1815-1906). Dimitri Mavrommatis has owned it since 2000 when it was bought from the iconic Riahi Collection.

Today, this unusually large vase and cover with its luminous black and gold decoration and exquisite gilt bronze mounts represents the apogee of the taste for exoticism in the 18th century. Its sumptuous decoration is characteristic of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of China, who reigned from 1736 to 1795 when the technique known as wulin or noir was developed. The luminous, deep black glaze is also sometimes referred to as ‘mirror black’ and its virtually unscathed condition in the case of the present vase adds to its phenomenal rarity.

The highly important gilt-bronze-mounted Kingwood, Amaranth, Marquetry and Parquetry Writing Table stamped J.H. Riesener Louis XVI, circa 1780 is estimated at £1-2 million. The table is pictured here in the interior of Mr Mavrommatis’ Chester Square residence with other works of art which will

be offered in the sale. In the neo-classical style, the table is part of a small group of similar tables made by Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) exclusively for the French Royal Family between 1775 and 1785. The group of tables reached its apogee with the writing table made for Marie-Antoinette now at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire.

The example offered in this sale shows the unsurpassed finish of veneer and mounts

on Riesener’s pieces.

The table is almost certainly the very same piece shown in the portrait of Riesener by Antoine Vestier (1740-1824). This portrait is at the Musée de Versailles and is not offered for sale (see image). The German-born Riesener was probably the most important furniture maker of the Louis XVI period. After becoming maître ébéniste in 1768, Riesener was appointed ébéniste du roi in 1774. For the next ten years he supplied sumptuous furniture to King Louis XVI and his household. He became a favourite furniture maker of Marie-Antoinette and almost completely furnished her rooms at Fontainebleau.

An impressive Gilt-Bronze and Brass Mounted Mahogany Console-Desserte, Stamped J.H. Riesener is another highlight of the sale and is estimated at £150,000-250,000. This piece is typical of Riesener’s late 1780s output and shows the maker’s transition from the elaborate pictorial marquetry of his early career to the sober plain veneers of his later years. It is pictured here in the interior of Mr Mavrommatis’ Chester Square residence with a Pair of Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Chinese Celadon Porcelain Cache-Pots (also offered in the July sale) and a painting by Christopher Wool (which is not offered for sale).

The Pair of Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Chinese Celadon Porcelain Cache-Pots is estimated at £250,000-400,000. They feature a waved acanthus rim and handles above a bulbous body incised with chrysanthemums and foliate-scrolls. Related waved and foliate-cast rims appear on a pair of Louis XV vases in the J. Paul Getty Museum, California. The present vases were acquired by the famous art collector Sir Julius Wernher, Bt. and were more recently in the collection at Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire.

A tapestry in the most sensational colours was strikingly displayed on the wall of the residence at Chester Square and will be offered in the sale with an estimate of £150,000-250,000.

The Louis XIV Tapestry `Portière des Renommées’, circa 1690, Gobelins, workshop of Jean Le Souet, after Charles le Brun, is woven with the Royal coat-of-arms of France and Navarre. Charles le Brun’s design for the portière exists in a chalk and ink drawing in the Hermitage Collection. In

France, tapestries of this type were often gifts from the King to high status officials, a tradition which continued through to the late 18th century. Another example of the same design is exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The sale also includes several pieces from Dimitri Mavrommatis’ famous collection of Sèvres  porcelain. The vase pictured below, for example, is a Sèvres Blue-Ground Vase and Cover, circa 1769, estimated at £30,000-40,000. Indeed, it was for his important collection of porcelain that Mr Mavrommatis was awarded by the French government. Talking of his award, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Mr Mavrommatis said: “it was a privilege to have my collection acknowledged in such a way. I learned a lot about Sèvres through looking at the wonderful examples in the Wallace Collection but also by buying pieces and acquiring knowledge as I went.” Indeed, a vast knowledge of the arts has governed many of Mr Mavrommatis’ acquisitions, but this great collector also underlines the importance that instinct plays when making judgments about collecting: “I spend hours in different museums around the world, to cultivate the eye. If I like something I buy it immediately, and then I find a space to accommodate it in my collection.” Mr Mavrommatis is known for employing a continual process of change and development in his collecting. Often he sells one piece to buy another example by the same artist or maker.

A pre-sale exhibition will take place at Sotheby’s, New Bond Street, London:

Friday 4th July, 12.00-4.30pm

Saturday 5th July, 12.00-4.00pm

Sunday 6th July, 10.00am-4.00pm

Monday 7th July, 9.00am-4.30pm.