London – Christie’s partners with Benjamin Steinitz, the internationally renowned dealer of 18^th and 19^th century furniture and sculpture, and announces a first for Classic Art: all 58 lots offered in the live auction Provenance Revealed: Galerie Steinitz on 21 September in London will be registered and secured on the Blockchain through Artory, a world leader in art tech and the blockchain-secured registration of physical artworks and collectibles.

Provenance Revealed: Galerie Steinitz presents a remarkable opportunity for collectors to acquire a wide variety of objects celebrating exceptional provenances – from the collections of 18^th-century French royalty and aristocracy, to the treasures of 19^th-century industrial and financial titans, to pieces that were part of the private worlds of 20^th-century fashion designers, including Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy and Karl Lagerfeld. Estimated to realise in the region of £3.5 million, works from these historic collections will be on public view at Christie’s headquarters in London from 12 to 20 September.

Each of the lots will include secure, encrypted certification of the sale for the successful bidder, providing a permanent digital record of the information about the artwork.

This pioneering initiative advances the trade of decorative arts to a sophisticated new realm.  Synergizing Steinitz’s passion for uncovering and recording the provenances of works of art with the technology of blockchain, the project recognises the importance of sharing the history of a work of art as a way to celebrate its story – a legacy that Benjamin inherited and continues from his parents.

This initiative also epitomises Christie’s involvement in Web3, and it is a new step in its collaboration with Artory after Christie’s became the first auction house to utilise blockchain technology to document the provenance and artwork data from the sale of the Barney A. Ebsworth Collection of 20^th Century American Art in 2018.

Benjamin Steinitz commented: “After the initial visual and emotional impact of discovering a work of art, revealing its history through its successive ownerships is just as important, and a fundamental part of the work of art itself. We are very proud to see examples of our recent discoveries exhibited in some of the most prestigious museums, including the Louvre, Paris, and the Museum of Legion of Honor, San Francisco. Together with Christie’s, our shared expertise and ‘savoir-faire’ has enabled us to present a superb selection of rare and important works of art, where their discovered provenance makes for fascinating reading and learning. We are very pleased to add this valuable data to the ‘Blockchain’ – a first in the history of Decorative Arts – through Christie’s collaboration with Artory; to create an everlasting link between the work of art, its authenticity and its provenance. I hope people will enjoy discovering these works and their extraordinary history as much as I have.”

Guillaume Cerutti, Christie’s CEO, commented: “We are delighted to embark with Benjamin Steinitz, an antique dealer we respect and admire, on this innovative auction journey, celebrating our shared passion for the Decorative Arts as well as securing tantalising early provenances, including some recent discoveries, on the blockchain.”

Nanne Dekking, CEO of Artory, commented: “Artory is proud to continue our collaboration with Christie’s – a first for Classic Art. As long-standing participants and business leaders within the global art market, Artory was created to meet the needs of today’s art collectors and satisfy the broader desire within the industry to embrace new technologies that will enable the marketplace to grow and evolve. This marks the start of a blockchain digital journey for each work in this auction, and it will show the art world how digital encryption technology can benefit buyers and collectors in the future. Undisputable reliability of the data recorded about any piece of artwork and the expertise of the specialists recording that information is the pre-requisite for transacting in the art market and represents the core of our mission.”   

Highlights within this highly evocative portion of the sale include from left to right: Narcissus contemplating his image in the water, Paris School, recorded in the celebrated collection of Louis-Antoine Crozat (1699-1770), Baron de Thiers – son of the financier Antoine Crozat who was considered the ‘richest man in France.’ It is an exceptional 18^th-century marble sculpture of the subject with beautiful patina (estimate £100,000-150,000). An Imperial Vienna porcelain breakfast-service –  which would have been used for coffee and hot chocolate – brought by Marie-Antoinette from Vienna and given to her Lady in Waiting Louise-Henriette-Charlotte-Philippine, Duchess de Duras, née de Noailles (1745-1832), who served as ‘dame du palais’ until the Revolution; it remained in the Noailles family until acquired by Galerie Steinitz (estimate: £40,000-60,000). Decorated with an "Atlasdekor" scheme, it has been kept in its original leather case. As well as a masterpiece of 18^th-century menuiserie (chair making) by the celebrated maker Jean Boucault. It was delivered in 1783 to Baron de Breteuil (1730-1807) for his appartement in the château de Versailles (estimate: £100,000-150,000). 

Recorded in the celebrated collections of two financiers – that of Pierre-Paul-Louis Randon de Boisset (1708-1776) and subsequently in the Rothschild family until Baron Edouard de Rothschild (1868-1949): a superb pair of Louis XVI ormolu-mounted jasper, bloodstone, green porphyry and red marble cups attributed to the Italian silversmith and bronze maker Luigi Valadier, circa  1770 (estimate: £120,000-180,000, illustrated left). Also, a pair of striking blue and white Ming porcelain vases mounted with finely chased Louis XV gilt-bronze mounts, (estimate: £40,000-60,000, illustrated right), originally in the collection of Jules Porgès (1839-1921) who played a central role in the rise of the diamond and gold mining industries in South Africa.

Enabling buyers to step into the private worlds of fashion icons, highlights include from left to right: a set of eighteen giltwood chairs from Karl Lagerfeld’s dining room in Paris (estimate: £25,000-40,000); an exuberant giltwood chandelier from Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s Paris home, which was acquired by Yves Saint-Laurent from the collection of Bernard Steinitz (1933-2012), Benjamin’s father (estimate: £60,000-80,000); and two charming late 17^th century Dutch polychrome-painted ‘dummy boards’ from Hubert de Givenchy’s country house the Manoir du Jonchet (estimate: £8,000-12,000).

PRESS IMAGES: All images in the press release are available here: DropBox 

Notes to Editors:

About Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology immutably secures the data that are registered—capturing in perpetuity the significant events that take place in the lifecycle of an artwork, such as a public exhibition or sale at auction. For the Christie’s collaboration with Artory, the Artory blockchain registry will securely record all public information regarding the sale of each lot in Provenance Revealed: Galerie Steinitz, including description, provenance, final price, and date, and produce a digital certificate of the transaction for Christie’s. After the auction, Christie’s will offer each buyer online access to a secure encrypted record of information about their purchased work of art on the Artory Registry.

About Artory

Artory is a world leader in physical artwork tokenization and the blockchain-secured registration of verified provenance information about artworks and collectibles.  

The company was founded in 2016 by Nanne Dekking to accumulate and secure trusted data within the art market.  

The company’s first product, the Artory Registry, is a blockchain registry of verified information about artworks, collectibles, and their history, giving confidence and peace of mind to buyers and collectors that the information they are transacting upon is the most accurate information available.  

In 2018, The Artory Registry was the first platform to immutably record artwork information on the blockchain when Artory partnered with Christie’s to exclusively register each piece of art sold from the $323M Barney A. Ebsworth Collection, one of the largest sales of American art at auction. Through the partnership, Christie’s became the first auction house to record artwork transactions on the blockchain.

To this day, the company has built the most comprehensive digital database that includes over $1B worth of verified and registered physical and digital artworks globally. Starting in 2021, Artory began leveraging the trusted artwork information to tokenize physical artworks to prepare them for safe and efficient trade in the financial and crypto markets.  

Press Contact for Artory: Katarina Matic | +1 917.853.1105 | kmatic@montiethco.com
www.artory.com/our-story/