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Poet and Entrepreneur Even in these hectic, transient times, old collections, carefully assembled and preserved not just over two or three decades but for several generations, do still appear at auction. A fact demonstrated so movingly by the collection offered here from a venerable old Swiss family of entrepreneurs and physicians. Collected over a period of 75 years since the 1920s, these works of art have survived in the family's beautiful home on the shore of Lake Zurich for many years beyond the last collector's death fifteen years ago. The first generation were drawn to collecting art as a way to complement their professional life and to broaden their own horizons. The second generation collector - twice awarded the Price of the Swiss Schiller Foundation for his lyric poetry and prose works - strove to create a congenial environment in his own home, a haven of tranquillity as well as intellectual and artistic stimulation. Cordial personal contacts were maintained with the directors of prominent museums, in particular the Bavarian National Museum and its director, Dr Walter Müller, and distinguished dealers during the pre and post war periods, as well as with experts and collectors. All of them contributed appreciably toward giving the collection offered here its own unique character as a veritable Kunstkammer of Northern European art. As demonstrated by the proceeding map the focus of the collection was on the finest sculpture, silverwork and paintings emanating from north of the Alps, east of the Channel, south of the Baltic and west of Bohemia, between the Gothic and the Baroque ages. In an essay in the year 1968, our collector wrote: 'Collecting presupposes living, as Hölderlin has written, "man lives poetically". By making my home a place for collecting and poetry, I have endeavoured to bring spiritual forces into equilibrium, to harmonise spirit and senses and thereby to fulfil a conviction of the inwardly centred person that is rather neglected in this period of extreme specialisation. This was not a stunt, but rather, I would suggest, an act of therapy for living, inspired by art. It can be expected, moreover, that where my poetry is concerned, no more than a few scattered lines or words will remain intact in my grandchildren's memory, while the art collection will survive only as a sparsely illustrated summary in the form of a slender auction catalogue.' Fortunately his poems are still read with pleasure today and likely to be remembered, while, thanks to the outstanding commitment of all participants at Christie's, a splendid catalogue has taken shape which brings together for the last time the objects that are now offered for sale, before, following a long rest, they embark again on distant journeys. Zurich, June 2015 Thomas Boller

TWO GREEK TERRACOTTA FEMALE FIGURES

CIRCA 4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.

Details

TWO GREEK TERRACOTTA FEMALE FIGURES
CIRCA 4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
One depicted seated, wearing chiton and himation, high headdress and earrings, holding two phialae on her lap; the other dancing, with right arm upraised and head bent down, on later circular base, both with traces of pigment remaining
7 in. (18 cm.) and 8 ½ in. (21.5 cm.) high respectively

Provenance

with Galerie Arete, Zurich, from whom acquired by the present owner in 1988.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Milo Dickinson

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