The first out of five Sotheby's auctions for the art and furniture collection of Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, the late heir to the founder of the world-renowned luxury brand Hermès, started strong last Wednesday, Dec. 13, with a collective sale that racked over $25 million, or €22.9 million, almost three-fold the initial valuation of €6.1 million to €8.9 million.
The inaugural auction, "Collection Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, Vente du Soir," ended up being a widely successful "white glove" sale, an honor reserved for fairs that successfully sold each one of its lots.
One of the highlights within the sold-out catalog of the event was the sale of a regilded Louis XVI chair believed to have been made to furnish a personal room belonging to Marie-Antoinette, the famed 18th-century Queen of France. The item fetched a record-breaking price for a singular piece of "Old Kingdom" furniture, selling for a staggering €2.5 million, or just around $2.8 million.
Another one of the high-ticket items sold was a heavily sought-after artwork by the French painter Pierre Soulages called "Peinture" dated 1970, fetching a ridiculous price short of €3 million, or more than $3.2 million.
A set of two bronze statues depicting twin monkeys dubbed "Singe SI and Singe SII," made by French sculptor François-Xavier Lalanne, was also graced by the fall of the hammer with a final price of €2.71 million, or just shy of $3 million.
According to Sotheby's website, the pair of luxury figurines once decorated Guerrand-Hermès' toilet from the 1800s located within his Parisian estate named the "Hôtel de Lannion," which the late heir purchased in 1997. Guerrand-Hermès also employed the expertise of the interior designer François-Joseph Graf for the restoration of the mansion.
