Garden Furniture & Statuary

In addition to works of art history from the Baroque to classical modernism, decorative sculptures and groups from more recent times enrich the offerings of Ahlden Castle. The offering is supplemented by park vases, Victorian garden benches, garden furniture sets, park furniture based on Schinkel designs, Belle Epoque fountains and Pietra Dura table tops, which fit into various elegant, representative or idyllic garden and park designs in the English and Italian style.

Four larger-than-life sculptures with allegories of chastity, frivolity, gluttony and anger, which the Baroque sculptor Matthias Bernhard Braun created for Kuks Castle in Bohemia between 1717 and 1720 (sales price: EUR 155,000), were once part of a 24-piece ensemble depicting virtues and vices. Four sculptures from the park of the Salzdahlum pleasure palace, which Duke Anton Ulrich of Braunschweig had built as a Versailles-like palace complex and which were created around 1700-1720, can be attributed to a student of the Saxon court sculptor Balthasar Permoser (sales price: EUR 59,000).

In 1888, the large alabaster sculpture "The Messenger of Love" by the sculptor Emil Cauer was created, depicting a girl releasing a dove with a love letter. This early, important, imposing masterpiece fascinated with the girl's charm and the masterfully finely executed details (sold for 39,000 EUR).

Several large bronze sculptures came from the Lauchhammer art foundry. These included the statue of "Antinous" based on the antique favorite sculpture of King Frederick II of Prussia, who had it erected on the vineyard terrace of Sanssouci Palace in memory of his childhood friend Hans Hermann von Katte (proceeds: EUR 35,000). The Berlin sculptor Ferdinand Lepcke modeled a "Bow-Striker" in 1897 (proceeds: EUR 50,000), followed by his "Phryne" in 1907/08 (proceeds: EUR 45,000).

One of the most important figurative sculptors from Bremen in the 20th century was Professor Ernst Gorsemann, whose terracotta sculpture “Berlin Bear” (sold for 28,000 EUR) was just as sought after as his large bronze of an ibex (sold for 30,000 EUR).

Exceptional prices were also achieved for posthumous bronze castings, including Aristide Maillol's famous nude sculpture "La Méditerranée" created in 1905 (proceeds: 55,000 euros) and a 170 cm high version of the "Thinker" after Auguste Rodin (proceeds: 41,000 euros).

Italian marble sculptures are regularly auctioned as individual sculptures and as ensembles that reflect Mediterranean lightness in the tradition of baroque figures. As highly decorative elements, they enrich and enliven gardens and parks, such as the allegories of the four seasons made of different colored marble offered here (proceeds: EUR 58,000).