The Badminton Cabinet sold at Christie’s on December 9 for $36,662,106, breaking its own record price of $15 million established at Christie’s on July 5, 1990, and becoming the most expensive nonpictorial work of art ever sold at auction.
It was purchased in the room by Dr Johan Kraeftner, director of the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna on behalf of Prinz Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein for the museum.
“We are delighted to have been the successful buyers,” said Dr Kraeftner. “The Badminton Cabinet will form the centerpiece of our strong collection of over 15 important pietra dure works. We plan to arrange a Kunstkammer around the cabinet in a new gallery, which will also display our Seventeenth Century collection of still life and flower paintings.
“I tried to bid as fast as I could to secure this magnificent object for our collection,” Kraeftner continued. “We look forward to welcoming the international public to view the Badminton Cabinet in Vienna, where it will be on permanent display from spring 2005.”
“Yet again the Badminton Cabinet has pushed the boundaries of the art market,” said Charles Cator, chairman of Christie’s UK and international head of the furniture department. “The cabinet transcends the boundaries of furniture, combining architecture, sculpture and painting in pietre dure, resulting in a unique masterpiece. It was an honor to be entrusted again with its sale and the price achieved today reflects the magnificence of this famous, much loved and admired work of art.”
There were three other bidders competing for the Badminton Cabinet in the auction. Dermot Chichester, co-chairman of Christie’s UK, brought the hammer down and the price realized marks the most expensive lot he has ever sold.
Executed in ebony, gilt-bronze and pietra dura, the Badminton Cabinet was made for Henry Somerset, third duke of Beaufort, by the Grand Ducal workshops (Opificio delle pietre dure) in Florence, Italy, from 1720 to 1732 under the supervision of the Foggini family. Unsurpassed in its richness and splendor, the Badminton Cabinet is bold testimony to the young Duke of Beaufort’s genius. The duke was only 19 at the time of the commission, so he made one of the grandest acts of patronage of the Eighteenth Century before he had even come of age.
Standing 1511/2 inches high by 911/4 inches wide, this monumental cabinet is undoubtedly the greatest Florentine work of art of its time. It is also perhaps the most important work of the decorative arts to have been commissioned by a British patron in 300 years. It is a triumph of the very best craftsmanship, a unique object that utilizes a broad combination of materials and forms. The cabinet also incorporates an amazing wealth of materials, from lapis lazuli, agate and Sicilian red and green jasper, to chalcedony (calcedonio di Volterra) and amethyst quartz, as well as other superb hardstones.
The cabinet remained at Badminton until 1990 when it was sold at Christie’s on July 5 that year by the trustees of the Beaufort family to the Barbara Piasecka Johnson collection for $15,178,020.
Prices reported include buyer’s premium.
