1. Little Venetian gem
Estimate €8,000 – £12,000 Sold €26,670
Earlier this year, Sotheby's in Paris sold the sumptuous contents of the Palazzo D'Anna Viaro Martinengo Volpi di Misurata, a Venetian located in a prime position on the Grand Canal. Built in the early 1500s for the Talenti family, it's one of the city's most admired homes, remaining undivided and true to its original scale for more than 500 years. The was bought in 1917 by Giuseppe Volpi, founder of the Venice Film Festival, and later became, where these balls were held. Among the 200 lots was a late 18th-century Italian carved giltwood console table that made €584,200, a 1720 Régence gilt-bronze ebony clock that sold for €330,200, and a late 17th-century Italian mother-of-pearl inlaid mirror that sold for €215,900. No surprise, then, that a 1742 carved giltwood stool by the Bologna furniture-maker Francesco Passarini rocketed way beyond its estimate. ‘It is a perfect example of the originality and craftsmanship of 18th-century Italian furniture, which at the time was influenced by the Roman style,’ says head of Sotheby's Paris furniture department, Louis-Xavier Philippe. The opulent stool was bought by a private collector.
