Treasure chest of Rothschild family valuables head to auction

Rothschild family treasures head to auction and could fetch eye-watering $30MILLION

• Art, furniture, jewelry, ceramics and silver owned by Rothschild family banking dynasty will be sold by Christie’s in New York over several auctions in October 
• The Rothschild Masterpieces sale includes 600 items which belonged to Baron James de Rothschild, his wife Betty, and sons Baron Alphonse and Baron Gustav
• A 17th century oil on panel piece titled ‘A young woman holding a hare with a boy at a window’ is estimated will sell for between $3million and $5million

A large collection of treasures from the Rothschild family’s private collection is set to go up for auction in North America for the first time and could fetch an eye-watering $30million. 

Art, furniture, jewelry, ceramics and silver owned by the banking dynasty will be sold by Christie’s in New York over several auctions from October 11. 

The sale titled Rothschild Masterpieces includes more than 600 items which once belonged to Baron James de Rothschild, his wife Betty, and their sons Baron Alphonse and Baron Gustav.

A 17th century oil on panel piece titled ‘A young woman holding a hare with a boy at a window’ is among the most the coveted and is estimated will sell for between $3million and $5million.

Other Rothschild items include a series of gilded leather panels ‘unseen in public for 150 years’ and made by a Rembrandt follower, expected to sell for $1.5million, and a pair of late Louis XV giltwood and white-painted fauteuils, worth up to $1million. 

A large collection of treasures from the Rothschild family’s private collection is set to go up for auction in North America for the first time and could fetch an eye-watering $30million. Pictured- Mounted hardstone cabinet with five figures worth up to $1million 

Art, furniture, jewelry, ceramics and silver owned by the banking dynasty will be sold by Christie’s in New York over several auctions from October 11 

A 17th century oil on panel piece titled ‘A young woman holding a hare with a boy at a window’ is among the most the coveted and is estimated will sell for between $3million and $5million

Green porcelain dinner and desert crockery set expected to sell for up to $150,000

The trove of treasures come from Baron James’ homes in Paris and the Château de Ferrières which were so impressive they had the goût Rothschild style named after them.

The items have remained in the hands of their descendants for decades. 

‘This week of auctions will make history,’ Christie’s Deputy Chairman Jonathan Rendell told The New York Post.

‘For the first time, one of the great collecting families of Europe is offering its important and intimate heirlooms at auction in the United States. The quality of the 600-plus objects in these sales is as extraordinary as the range.

‘Throughout the 19th century, the Rothschild family’s collecting was the stuff of legend.’ 

He added: ‘The Rothschild masterpieces are already causing a stir in the market.’

Other items on sale include a first century Roman Sardonyx cameo portrait of the Roman emperor Claudius which is expected to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000.

Two bronze marble busts of Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus which could sell for $400,000

Rare suite of King Louis XV Savonnerie panels predicted to sell for $150,000

The trove of treasures come from Baron James’ homes in Paris and the Château de Ferrières which were so impressive they had the goût Rothschild style named after them

Painting of the triumph of David which is worth up to $2million 

The last time this item was auctioned at Christie’s in 1899, it sold for around $4,500, which is worth around $496,000 today, before it was purchased by the Rothschilds. 

‘These are things that have been kept away since the end of the 19th century. And unless you knew this particular branch of the family, you wouldn’t have seen them,’ Rendell told CNN.

‘It’s not the type of thing that, in New York, we normally get to play with. You’re more likely to see a sale like this in Europe.’

The Rothschild family’s set of porcelain tureens, covers and stands will also be auctioned and is expected to sell for up to $50,000.

Furniture, ceramics, silver, tapestries and jewelry which demonstrate their unique taste, described by Rendell as ‘an extraordinary combination of sumptuousness and domesticity’, are also up for auction.

‘This is the sort of thing that, 100 years ago, 150 years ago, the market would have gone crazy for. We don’t get a bulk of this type of material coming up for sale anymore,’ he added.  

Those who are strapped for cash are able to bid on items online from $100. 

Italian ormolu-mounted cabinet on a stand which could fetch up to $500,000 

Piece painted by Francesco Xanto Avelli in a workshop from 1541

Portuguese silver-gilt ewer worth an estimated $300,000 

King Louis XV patinated bronze and ormolu mantel clock with an elephant- expected to sell for up to $90,000

Most of the items are currently on a world tour but will hit auction at Christie’s Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in the evening on October 11.

The sale will then continue on the mornings of October 12 and October 13 with an online sale taking place between October 3 until the 17th.

Members of the French branch of the Rothschild family are said to have specifically wanted the sale to take place in New York. Part of the family lived in the US during World War Two. 

Rendell pointed to a ‘rationalization’ and a ‘generational shift’ to be possible reasons the collection is being sold now. 

‘Not everybody lives like a 19th-century Rothschild, even the Rothschilds,’ he said. 

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