Lot 85

PROPERTY OF HUGO AND RUTH KLOTZ Upon their marriage a few years after World War II, Hugo Klotz and his wife, actress Ruth Baroness von Riedel, left Munich for New York and settled at Bonnie Brook Farm. They filled this old farmhouse at the foot of the Catskill region with artwork collected by Hugo's parents and his own collection of silver, bronzes and first editions. Prominent in the collection was The Abduction of Europa by Rembrandt, loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and later sold to the Getty Museum and Lucas Cranach the Elder's St. Barbara in a Wooded Landscape, which, with Ruth's dogged determination, was found among other confiscated art works in a salt mine that had served once as Hitler's bunker. Hugo and Ruth Klotz were generous and skillful hosts, and the house was always open to their many friends including actors and singers from the City Opera which the Klotzes sponsored. After Hugo Klotz's death, Ruth kept Bonnie Brook Farm open to all her friends, pets, and needy animals. The Klotz's collection of silver and objects of vertu includes lots 34, 35, 82-83, 85-92.

A RUSSIAN IMPERIAL SILVER WINE COOLER

MARK OF J. F. KOPPING, ST. PETERSBURG, 1770

Details

A RUSSIAN IMPERIAL SILVER WINE COOLER
MARK OF J. F. KOPPING, ST. PETERSBURG, 1770
Cylindrical, on molded circular foot, the sides applied with two raised scroll handles with rocaille joins, with molded rim, the side engraved with Cyrillic monogram and crown of Catherine the Great, marked under base, also with inventory number 352 engraved and stamped, and prick engraved 'Ken'
7½ in. (19 cm.) high; 59 oz. (1835 gr.)

Lot Essay

PHOTO CAPTION: Catherine the Great (1729-1796) after Alexander Roslin, Christie's Images

J.F. Kopping was a court goldsmith under Catherine the Great and made numerous pieces for the various Imperial and Gubernatorial services commissioned during her reign. See Baron A. de Foelkersam, Inventaire de l'argenterie des Palais Impériaux, St. Petersburg, 1907.

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