La collection Ribes
Day 1: the Treasures

On 11 December, Sotheby's Paris will offer for sale a selection of masterpieces from the collection of the Count and Countess de Ribes, covering three centuries of French history. This first day of auction will include "treasures" of royal and princely provenances, formerly owned by Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Count of Artois and Duke of Orleans.

Highlights will include: two rare bronzes by Antonio Susini from the collection of Louis XIV offered at auction for the very first time (estimate: €1-2 million and €2,5-5 million); Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun's rediscovered Juno borrowing the belt of Venus which had been believed lost since 1803 (estimate: €1-1,5 million); and a rare pairing acquired by Jean de Ribes from the Stroganov collection at the Soviet sales in Berlin in 1931: a Louis XVI bureau à cylindre by Claude-Charles Saunier with a highly sculptural Louis XIV-era mantel clock attributed to André-Charles Boulle (estimate: €250,000-€500,000).