The Exceptional Sale
Only at Christie’s

London · New York · Paris

The Exceptional Sale is the leading global auction platform for the decorative and applied arts. Selling in London, Paris and New York, it brings together the finest works of arts: from English and European furniture, sculpture and clocks to porcelain and silver. Focusing on provenance, rarity, design and craftsmanship, The Exceptional Sale offers the best of the best, with an emphasis on the European decorative arts but also encompassing masterpieces from categories as diverse as musical instruments, ephemera and motor cars. It’s a rare opportunity for international collectors to consign and purchase works of outstanding creativity, skill and rarity.

Over ten years of global leadership

In the past two years alone, Christie’s Exceptional Sales have totaled in excess of £67 million, achieving 114% of their pre-sale low estimate with a sell-through rate of 73% — outselling our nearest competitor on both accounts.

Museum artworks

Christie’s The Exceptional Sales attract buying from an international audience of private collectors and major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musée du Louvre, Château de Versailles, the Palacio Reale Madrid, and the Rijksmuseum.

Acquired for the Clark Art Institute
Sarah Bernhardt (1845–1923)
Self-portrait as a Chimera, patinated bronze inkwell

Estimate: £20,000–30,000
Sold for: £200,000
London, July 2020

Acquired for the Palacio Reale Madrid
A Royal Spanish brass-inlaid and ormolu-mounted tulipwood, ebony, padouk, kingwood and marquetry commode
Attributed to Jose Canops, after designs by Matteo Gasparini, the bronzes possibly by Juan Bautista Ferroni, c.1765–75 

Estimate: US$100,000–150,000
Sold for: US$447,000
New York, October 2019

Acquired for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
An exceptional Dutch silver ewer
By Adam van Vianen, Utrecht, 1619

Estimate: US$4,500,000–6,000,000
Sold for: US$5,375,000
New York, April 2018

Acquired for the Musée d'Orsay
A fine French silver, enamel and macassar ebony jewel cabinet
By Jules Auguste Habert-Dys, mark of Fernand Poisson, Paris, dated 1902

Estimate: US$150,000–250,000
Sold for: US$271,500
New York, April 2017

Acquired for the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
A Wedgwood black ‘Basaltes’ encaustic-decorated ‘First Day’s Vase’, 1769

Estimate: £120,000–180,000
Sold for: £482,500
London, July 2016

Acquired for the Rijksmuseum
A bronze Bacchic figure supporting the globe
By Adriaen De Vries (d. 1626), 1626

Estimate: US$15,000,000–25,000,000
Sold for: US$27,885,000
New York, December 2014

Iconic provenance

The Marquis de Beringhen and Rothschild console tables
A pair of late Louis XV steel and ormolu consoles
Attributed to Pierre Deumier, after a design by Victor Louis, c.1765

Estimate: £400,000–600,000
Sold for: £2,831,250
London, July 2019

The Aga Khan cabinet
A Louis XIV ormolu-mounted copper, pewter, ivory, tortoiseshell and tinted-wood Boulle marquetry and ebony cabinet
By Andre-Charles Boulle, c.1670–75

Estimate: €500,000–1,000,000
Sold for: €716,000
Paris, November 2020

The Wrightsman phoenix
A massive pair of Chinese export phoenix
Qianlong Period (1736–1795)

Estimate: US$80,000–120,000
Sold for: US$206,250
New York, October 2020

The Rothschild necessaire from the Collection of J.E. Safra
A George III jewelled gold and hardstone necessaire and watch
London, c.1760, made for the Chinese market, the watch signed on the movement ‘Robert Allam, London, no. 396’

Estimate: US$1,200,000–2,400,000
Sold for: US$1,572,500
New York, December 2017

A Mughal parrot from the Al Thani Collection
An enamelled and gem set model of a parrot
Hyderabad, Deccan, c.1775–1825

Estimate: US$350,000–500,000
Sold for: US$1,035,000
New York, June 2019

The Baron de Redé console table
A Baroque gilt-oak table console
Early 18th century

Estimate: €70,000–100,000
Sold for: €190,000
Paris, November 2020

A chef d'œuvre by Canova from the collection of the Prince of Murat
A carved marble bust of Joachim Murat (1767–1815), by Antonio Canova (1757–1822), 1813

Estimate: €400,000–600,000
Sold for: €4,320,000
Paris, November 2017

The 'Marly Rouge' service: A Sèvres porcelain iron-red and sky-blue ground part dessert service made for Napoleon I
c.1807–09, iron-red stenciled M. Imple de Sèvres mark

Estimate: US$150,000–250,000
Sold for: US$1,812,500
New York, May 2018

Touched by genius

Shakespeare’s First Folio
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies
Published according to the True Originall Copies. Edited by John Heminges (d. 1630) and Henry Condell (d. 1627)

Estimate: US$4,000,000–6,000,000
Sold for: US$9,978,000
New York, October 2020

The 1948 Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong trumpet
A Selmer model 19 balanced action medium bore trumpet
Henri Selmer, Paris, 1948

Estimate: US$60,000–80,000
Sold for: US$275,000
New York, October 2020

David Gilmore’s Black Strat
A solid-body electric guitar, Stratocaster, known as ‘The Black Strat’
Fender Electric Instrument Company, Fullerton, 1969 and 1983

Estimate: US$100,000-150,000
Sold for: US$3,975,000
New York, June 2019

The Alfonso Garcia Robles Nobel Peace Prize
A Nobel Peace Prize medal
Awarded in 1982 to Alfonso Garcia Robles (1911–1991) for his achievements in nuclear disarmament

Estimate: U$400,000–600,000
Sold for: US$487,500
New York, April 2017

Napoleon’s bicorn hat, worn during the campaign of 1807
An Imperial black felt bicorne campaign hat
c.1806, attributed to Poupart & Co.

Estimate: £300,000–500,000
Sold for: £386,500
London, July 2015

An Yves Saint Laurent ‘Tournesols’ jacket
'Sunflower' jacket embroidered by Lesage and a green crepe skirt
Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture Spring-Summer 1988

Estimate: €80,000–120,000
Sold for: €382,000
Paris, November 2019

Epoque defining

A Supermarine Spitfire: the last of its kind
A Vickers Supermarine Spitfire MK
Vickers Armstrong Woolston, first flight 23 February 1940

Estimate: £1,500,000–2,500,000
Sold for: £3,106,500
London, July 2015

Daniel Craig’s personal Aston Martin, sold to benefit charity
A 2014 ‘Centenary Edition’ Vanquish, numbered 007

Estimate: US$400,000–-600,000 USD
Sold for: US$468,500
New York, April 2018

A Luba female figure for a bowstand
Democratic Republic of Congo, c.1880
Attributed to the Warua Master

Estimate: £1,500,000–2,500,000
Sold for: £6,130,500
London, July 2015

A Zitan 'dragon' throne
A magnificent Imperial carved Zitan 'dragon' throne
Late Qing Dynasty

Estimate: US$300,000–500,000
Sold for: US$1,650,000
New York, October 2020

The Age of Bronze
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917)
L'Âge d'airain, patinated bronze

Estimate: €1,000,000–1,500,000
Sold for: €3,577,500
Paris, November 2019

Modern classics

An Ancient Greek helmet
A Greek bronze Chalcidian helmet
Classical period, c.450–400 B.C.

Estimate: US$350,000–550,000
Sold for: US$1,039,500
New York, April 2017

The Cobham Hall Hadrian
A Roman marble statue of the emperor Hadrian

Estimate: US$6,000,000–9,000,000
Sold for: US$5,950,000
New York, October 2019

A traditionally modern desk by Louis Cane
Louis Cane (b. 1943)
Bureau Est/Est, 2014

Estimate: €50,000–80,000
Sold for: €60,000
Paris, November 2020

Hubert de Givenchy’s ‘Table aux caryatides et atlantes’
A large patinated bronze octagonal centre table by Diego Giacometti, c.1983

Estimate: €800,000–1,200,000
Sold for: €3,770,500
Paris, March 2017

Global marketing

Christie’s employs the full force of its international marketing resources to ensure your masterpieces are promoted to the broadest possible global audience.

We have developed innovative marketing initiatives over the last year — focused on our digital capabilities — that will maximise the exposure for your masterpiece, leading to increased interest from potential buyers. Christie’s experience with museum-quality exhibitions, unique position on the global stage as well as investment in the digital space give us an unparalleled advantage in this area. We are committed to remaining nimble and adapting our campaign to best serve the needs.

Exhibition

Our in-house designers have decades of experience in staging museum-standard exhibitions. Working in collaboration with specialists, the designers take inspiration not only from the artworks, but also from leading institutions such as Tate and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Our team takes a modern and bespoke approach to every pre-sale view, finding unexpected ways to showcase works of art that deliver immediate and lasting visual impact. To ensure our exhibitions reach the largest audience possible, we produce 360-degree virtual tours for online viewing.

Storytelling

Storytelling plays a key role in promotion. From online features to film trailers, Christie’s content team ensures that the unique stories behind our most exceptional pieces are heard.

Leading by example

The Badminton Cabinet: the world record price for furniture
The magnificent Florentine pietra dura, ebony and ormolu cabinet made for the 3rd Duke of Beaufort
By the Grand Ducal workshops, the bronze figures of the four seasons by Girolamo Ticciati, c.1720–32

Estimate not published
Sold for: £19,045,250
London, December 2004

The Eileen Gray ‘Dragons’ armchair
A French sculpted wood and brown leather fauteuil, c.1917–19

Estimate: €2,000,000–3,000,000
Sold for: €21,905,000
Paris, February 2009

The Givenchy Royal Hannover chandelier
A German silver eight-light chandelier
By Balthasar Friedrich Behrens, Hanover, delivered 1736, designed by the king's architect William Kent

Estimate: £2,600,000–3,600,000
Sold for: £5,753,250
London, July 2011

Jean-Henri Riesener’s commode for Louis XVI: a world record price for French furniture
A royal Louis XVI ormolu-mounted amaranth, sycamore, mahogany, parquetry and marquetry commode by Jean-Henri Riesener

Estimate: £1,500,000–2,500,000
Sold for: £7,041,500
London, July 1999

Unparalleled expertise

Our Exceptional teams in London, New York and Paris boast unparalleled expertise. We source consignments worldwide, travelling the globe in pursuit of pieces of the highest calibre for auction or private sale.

Orlando Rock
Chairman, Christie’s UK and Co-Chairman Decorative Arts, London

Jody Wilkie
International Head of Ceramics, Co-Chairman Decorative Arts, New York

Amjad Rauf
International Head of Masterpiece and Private Sales, London

Donald Johnston
International Head of Sculpture, London

Harry Williams-Bulkeley
International Head of Silver, London

Giles Forster
Head of Exceptional, London

Casey Rogers and Elizabeth Siegel
Co-Heads of Exceptional, New York

Simon de Monicault
Head of Exceptional, Paris

The Exceptional Sale

London, 8 July
Consign by May

New York, 13 October
Consign by August

Paris, late November
Consign by September

Consign now