Lot 148

Sotheby's, Sammlung Thurn & Taxis sale, 12-15 October 1993, Regensburg, lot 33
John Hobbs, 107A Pimlico Road, London, 2006
Bonhams, The Owston Collection, Day 2, 26 June 2010, lot 1226
acquired from the above

Originally part of the contents of Schloss St Emmeram in Regensburg, Germany, (an opulent palace that was one of the seats of the Princely Thurn und Taxis family), these commodes were sold in the massive Sotheby's auction of the collection in 1993. Between the sale date and their re-appearance on the market in London in the early 2000s they underwent an " extreme makeover" that transformed them from a polite pair of Viennese cabinets to a knockout pair of "Russian" commodes a vantaux, that is with doors hiding the three long drawers within. Richly mounted with ormolu stars and mouldings in the manner of the celebrated maker Heinrich Gambs they were sold to a noted Australian collector for a purported six figure pounds sterling amount. Resurfacing in the Owston Collection auction in Sydney in 2010 where they were acquired by the current vendor, the Thurn und Taxis collection stamp was discovered and the mystery was unravelled.