A pair of vases Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, period of Nicholas I (£2,000,000-2,500,000). UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR £2,210,500
A magnificent pair of Imperial vases is a highlight at Sotheby’s Russian sales in London next week. On November 25 and 26 Russian paintings, sculpture and decorative arts estimated at more than £16 million will come under the hammer over a series of four auctions. It will include the first ever sale dedicated to contemporary art from Russia and Eastern Europe held by an international auction house.
ILYA KABAKOV, Holidays No. 6 (1987) (£800,000-£1,200,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE £962,500
The vases, made at the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, date from 1833 in the reign of Nicholas I. The three decades of his reign are regarded as the peak of porcelain production in Russia. He was an enthusiastic patron of the Imperial Manufactory and was, apart from Catherine the Great, the Russian monarch most interested in the arts.
Ilya Kabakov Holidays No. 6 dates from 1987. The beautiful sunlit scene conceals a subversive message. The surface is littered with sweet wrappers, the only abundantly available consumer product in Soviet Russia. This work represents fabricated joy masking the dull reality of daily life.