The week kicked off with the Maîtres Anciens auction, where paintings, sculptures and drawings captivated collectors in the auction rooms on 15 November and online from 2 to 17 November. Total sales amounted to €2.4 M. Among the highlights of the auction was a previously unseen painting by Charles Antoine Coypel, Renaud abandonnant Armide, formerly owned by the Rothschild family, which achieved €352,800. This piece was presented alongside an oil painting by Jacob Levecq, which sold for €151,200. Sculpture was also popular at the auction, with the bronze The Basuto Witness (L’Accusé) by the celebrated South African sculptor Anton van Wouw fetching €30,240.

The highlight of this Classic Week was the Derniers Souvenirs de Ferrières collection from the Rothschilds’ eponymous château, presented on 16 November and online from 7 to 21 November under the title Les Greniers de Ferrières. These sales totalled €4 M, doubling their high estimate. A miniature by Jean Decourt, depicting Catherine de Médicis and her family, was acquired by the Musée Condé in Chantilly for €22,680. The auction’s top lot was a gouache with gold highlights on vellum by Noël Bellemare and Jean Clouet François Ier, entouré de sa cour, reçoit un ouvrage de son auteur, which achieved €453,600, ten times its initial estimate.

The Exceptional Sale, Including masterpieces from the Rothschild Collections on 21 November sold an important pair of Louis XVI period marble pedestals with sumptuous bronzes by Pierre Gouthière from the Rothschild collection for €1.5 million (estimate: €300,000 - €500,000). A royal guitar from the Louis XIV period exceeded its initial estimate tenfold, achieving €302,400. The sale concluded with the sale of a Chanel Haute Couture wedding dress by Karl Lagerfeld, presented at the Autumn-Winter 2014-2015 fashion show, which fetched €94,500. The sale totalled €5.3 M.

Christie’s also presented the online sale of the Collection Bayreuth : Gold Boxes. The first sale of its kind in Paris, it included such remarkable pieces as a Louis XV-period bonbonnière in gold and lacquer by Daniel Gouers and a Swiss snuffbox in gold, enamel and micromosaic by Jean-François Bautte, both sold for €81,900. The sale totalled €1.2 M.

Classic Week ended on 22 November with the Livres rares et manuscrits, incluant une sélection de la bibliothèque de la famille Rothschild sale. The sale was a great success, realising €3.8m, with 91% of lots sold, 68% above their high estimate. Two lots were pre-empted by the Bibliothèque Universitaire de la Sorbonne: La Muse limonadière by Charlotte Reynier Bourette at €2,394 and the manuscript Abrégé d’Histoire universelle by Comte Henri de Boulainvilliers at €2,520.