THE BERNHEIMER FAMILY TEXTILE COLLECTIONS
In 1864, Lehmann Bernheimer established the firm L. Bernheimer and Company in Munich, which specialized in dress and decorating fabrics. In time, upholstery fabrics were added to the stock and soon thereafter, as Ludwig II's building craze flourished, Lehmann Bernheimer began receiving commissions from the court, supplying fabrics to the royal Bavarian palaces and furnishing the interiors of first and second class railway cars. After Ludwig II's death in 1886, Princeregent Luitpold's ensuing reign proved to be of great prosperity until the beginning of the first World War. Bernheimer's grew as rapidly as the country's economy and in the late 1870's, interiors, antiques, objets d'art, carpets and antique textiles were added to the stock. It was during this time that Lehmann Bernheimer began to acquire his first carpets and textiles in Constantinople and discovered his passion for the Italian Renaissance and Chinese works of art. The world's largest Kunsthandelspalast of the time was then built in the Italian Renaissance style on Lenbachplatz in Munich in 1889, and was later considerably expanded in 1910. Europe's high aristocracy frequented the royal Bavarian Kommerzienrat's Kunsthandelspalast and as such, Bernheimer became renowned for specializing in the decoration of palaces in their entirety.
In the more than 125 years from the founding of the firm, successive generations of the Bernheimer family have formed an impressive personal collection of carpets, tapestries and textiles which often matched or surpassed the quality of objects for sale by the company. The collection, while distinguished by its overall quality, is also remarkable for its diversity and the fact that it represents four generations of collectors and is not the vision of just one individual. For years the family collections were stored in the top floor of a special depot, accessed through a papered door in the impressive Gobelinsaal designed to store the family's carpet collection. Several years ago, when the family firm was dissolved and the Kunsthandelspalast on Lenbachplatz sold, Konrad O. Bernheimer took on the family carpet and textile collection, in the belief that if he were to carry on the firm's tradition, he would have to have these famous collections as a "background". Today Bernheimer believes that a collector should live with his collections. When he recognized that he was actually no longer living with the pieces but merely storing them as their keeper, he realized that he was not doing justice to the collections' importance. As such, Konrad O. Bernheimer has decided to give a new generation of collectors the unique opportunity to acquire textiles, tapestries and carpets which were treasured by his family for so many years. Christie's is proud to have been entrusted to handle the dispersal of this famed collection.
PROPERTY FROM THE BERNHEIMER FAMILY TEXTILE COLLECTIONS
(Lots 144-189)
FIVE ROLLS OF PARCEL-GILT AND POLYCHROME-EMBOSSED LEATHER PANELLING
Details
FIVE ROLLS OF PARCEL-GILT AND POLYCHROME-EMBOSSED LEATHER PANELLING
SPANISH, 19TH CENTURY
Embossed overall with trellis-work enclosing stags and lions flanking floral sprays
Of various sizes, two cut to shape of irregular size, the longest 15ft. 11in. (4m. 85cm.) (5)
SPANISH, 19TH CENTURY
Embossed overall with trellis-work enclosing stags and lions flanking floral sprays
Of various sizes, two cut to shape of irregular size, the longest 15ft. 11in. (4m. 85cm.) (5)