NEW YORK – Christie’s is proud to present Important Classic & Decorative Art, a select group of furniture, silver, sculpture, porcelain and other items with important provenance, impeccable craftsmanship or rarity. The sale begins with a large, 66-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex tooth, the supreme symbol of ferocity (estimate: $100,000-150,000).

Other highlights of the sale include: a rare bust of Benjamin Franklin by John Michael Rysbrack (estimate: $200,000-300,000); a 1st – 2nd century AD Roman bust of Odysseus previously in the collection of the 4th Earl of Bristol (1730–1803) (estimate: $10,000-15,000); a fabulous Fabergé hardstone model of a Bearberry plant owned by the daughter of Tsar Alexander II, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (estimate: $200,000-300,000); a rediscovered marble allegorical study made by ‘the divine’ Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), who was one of the most important actresses of late 19^th and early 20^th century France; a pair of English mahogany serpentine commodes attributed to William Gomm and almost certainly commissioned for Stoneleigh Abbey, the seat of the Barons Leigh (estimate: $100,000-200,000); a Chinese export ‘Tobacco leaf’ pattern dinner service from the Astor family. (estimate: $50,000-70,000).

(Press Release)