Choice Cabinet

LONDON—On December 4, Sotheby’s London sold what the house’s European deputy chairman, Mario Tavella, called “the most important and expensive piece of Roman Baroque furniture ever offered at auction.” The 17th-century ebony and lapis lazuli cabinet, by Giacomo Herman, fetched £1.08 million ($2.24 million), just above its high estimate of £1 million ($2 million), accounting for almost one-fourth of the £4.4 million ($9.2 million) realized by the sale. Also among the 122 lots of Italian and other Continental furniture offered were two 18th-century gilt-bronze and wood pieces that both sold well above their high estimates: A 1740–42 bureau cabinet made of elm, rosewood and parquetry, attributed to Johann Christoph Hesse, went for £748,500 ($1.54 million), and a 1720–30 kingwood and parquetry bureau plat, thought to be by Noel Gerard, brought £602,900 ($1.24 million). The Hesse had been estimated at £300,000 to £500,000 ($612,000–1 million) and the Gerard at £200,000 to £400,000 ($408–816,000).

Still, the ebony and lapis cabinet was by far the star of the sale. Herman asked several specialists to contribute elements to his piece, which features a virginal by Giovanni Battista Maberiani, a nocturnal clock by Giovanni Wendelino Hessler and a carved giltwood console table. In addition, the façade houses 14 miniature paintings depicting St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Sotheby’s had stored the top of the cabinet—which at some point in its history became separated from the console—on behalf of a client for more than 20 years. Last year the pieces were fortuitously reunited.

"Choice Cabinet" originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's February 2008 Table of Contents.