Sarah Bernhardt
Autoportrait en chimère, encrier (Self-portrait as a Chimera, inkwell)
Found at
Christies,
London
Classic Art Evening Sale: Antiquity to 20th Century, Lot 34
29.Jul - 29.Jul.2020
Classic Art Evening Sale: Antiquity to 20th Century, Lot 34
29.Jul - 29.Jul.2020
Estimate: 20.000 - 30.000 GBP
Price realised: 200.000 GBP
Price realised: 200.000 GBP
Description
Modelled as a recumbent winged sphinx with a spiny reptilian tail and the clawed limbs of a mythical beast, clutching an open bowl with massive ram's horns and set with a devil's head, the inkwell concealed beneath a removable cover in the form of a pile of books, a quill pen rest cast into her hair, signed 'SARAH BERNHARDT'
bronze, dark-brown patina
12 in. (30.5 cm.) high; 14 1/8 in. (36 cm.) wide; 12 ¼ in. (31 cm.) deep
Circa 1879.
Sarah Bernhardt (1845-1923), who gave it to | Sir Algernon Borthwick Bt. (1830-1908), later Lord Glenesk (cr. 1895), whose daughter and sole heiress, | Lilian Margaret Frances Borthwick married Seymour Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst in November 1893, and by descent.
bronze, dark-brown patina
12 in. (30.5 cm.) high; 14 1/8 in. (36 cm.) wide; 12 ¼ in. (31 cm.) deep
Circa 1879.
Sarah Bernhardt (1845-1923), who gave it to | Sir Algernon Borthwick Bt. (1830-1908), later Lord Glenesk (cr. 1895), whose daughter and sole heiress, | Lilian Margaret Frances Borthwick married Seymour Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst in November 1893, and by descent.
Artwork auctioned at six times the upper estimate price
The work Autoportrait en chimère, encrier (Self-portrait as a Chimera, inkwell) by Sarah Bernhardt was worth GBP 200,000.00 (€ 223,084.76) to a buyer in July 2020. This price was achieved in the auction Classic Art Evening Sale: Antiquity to 20th Century at Christies in London and exceeded the previously set upper estimate of GBP 30,000.00 many times over. Despite this good result, it is not the highest hammer price for an artwork by Sarah Bernhardt; that achieved among the auctions we observed the lot Ophelia sold at auction in February 2017 with the realized price of GBP 308,750.00 (€ 361,352.07).
Kunstwerk zum Sechsfachen des oberen Schätzpreises versteigert
Die Arbeit Autoportrait en chimère, encrier (Self-portrait as a Chimera, inkwell) von Sarah Bernhardt war einem Käufer im Juli 2020 GBP 200.000,00 (€ 223.084,76) wert. Dieser Preise wurde in der Auktion Classic Art Evening Sale: Antiquity to 20th Century bei Christies in London erzielt und übertraf den zuvor angesetzten oberen Schätzpreis von GBP 30.000,00 um ein Vielfaches. Trotz des guten Ergebnisses ist dies nicht der höchste Zuschlag für ein Kunstwerk von Sarah Bernhardt; den erzielte unter den von uns beobachteten Auktionen die Arbeit Ophelia im Februar 2017 mit dem Hammerpreis von GBP 308.750,00 (€ 361.352,07).
Sarah Bernhardt - Auction history
Other artists in this auction
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