2014 Great results, positive trend

Great results in 2014 for Cambi Auction House, which confirmed the positive trend of the previous year and confirmed Cambi as one of the top auction houses in Italy, establishing its leadership in some sectors – Oriental Art and Design –, consolidating the growth of some departments, such as those of Silvers and Jewels, and by fixing the total turnover to more than 17,500,000 euros.Sales in the second half were opened in late October by a large Fine Art auction which proposed several lots of antique furnishings and art objects.

The stable trend in the sector, especially for furniture, is confirmed; among the top lots it is worth mentioning a pair of mosaic panels of the 20th century, depicting Justinian and Theodora, sold for 25,000 euros, and the great interest shown by a series of ancient and 19th and 20th-century sculptures and a collection of furniture by Mario Ceroli, including the table La rosa dei Venti sold for 7,440 euros.

In the same days the catalogues of Old Master Paintings and of the 19th and 20th century Paintings were put on sale.Among ancient paintings, a San Giovanni Evangelista by Bernardo Strozzi was sold for 47,000 euros; a pair of landscapes with figures by Giuseppe Zocchi found a new owner for 23,000 euros, while a still life by Elisabetta Marchionni was sold for 16,700 euros.

Great surprises came from two works ascribed to Théodore Géricault: an ink portrait of child, estimated 300-350 euros and sold for 6,800 euros, and a small canvas with mythological scene that, from an estimate of 400-500 euros, reached 16,000 euros.

Per quanto riguarda i Dipinti del XIX e XX secolo, segnaliamo un dipinto di Stefano Novo venduto per 23.500 euro; un paesaggio di Umberto dell’Orto che, partendo da una stima di 8.000-10.000 euro, ha raggiunto i 21.000 euro; un piccolo olio su cartone di Mario Puccini, Barconi in darsena, venduto per 18.000 euro, e una coppia di interni di Gaetano Chierici, passata di mano per oltre 22.000 euro.

La tornata di vendite di ottobre si è conclusa con l’asta di Tappeti Antichi, dove un bel tappeto Pechino a fondo blu ha superato i 16.700 euro.

As for the 19th and 20th-century Paintings it is worth mentioning a painting by Stefano Novo sold for 23,500 euros; a landscape by Umberto dell’Orto which, starting from an estimate of 8,000-10,000 euros, reached 21,000 euros; a small oil on cardboard by Mario Puccini, Barconi in darsena, sold for 18,000 euros, and a pair of interior paintings by Gaetano Chierici, sold for over 22,000 euros.October sales were closed by the Ancient Carpets auction, where a  beautiful blue Beijing carpet exceeded 16,000 euros.

In November, the Milan auctions were held: Modern and Contemporary Art, Silvers, Fine Jewels, Fine Art Selection and Sculptures of the Neapolitan and Genoese crib. The success in terms of sales and clients was remarkable, with excellent awards for the top lots of jewelry and the extremely high sale percentages for the Silvers Auction, which nearly doubled the figures compared to the previous session.As for Modern and Contemporary Art, great interest was aroused by the ceramics by Lucio Fontana, including a Concetto spaziale sold for 80,000 euros, while a large painting by Rodolfo Aricò – Ob’jectus, exhibited at the Biennale in San Marino in 1967 – set the record for the artist reaching 33,500 euros. In the Fine Selection catalogue – besides the top lots analyzed in-depth in an essay published in this issue – good surprises came also from a small painting on lapis lazuli by the Florentine Sebastiano Mazzoni that, from an estimate of 8,000-12,000 euros, was sold for 26,000 euros, and from a beautiful Faenza majolica bowl of the 16th century, which doubled its estimate to 16,000 euros.

The season ended in December at the Genoese headquarters in Mackenzie Castle with auctions of China and Design.Once again, these were two of the most important appointments for the Auction House, which reaffirmed its leadership in these areas with major awards. It is worth mentioning the imperial bronze censer, Qianlong period, sold for 335,000 euros, or the two Fontana Arte chandeliers, cover lots of the monographic catalogue dedicated to this production, among the most popular in the world, sold for 118,000 euros.