The Badminton Cabinet, a magnificently ornate piece of furniture standing four metres high, made in Florence in the early 18th century, sold for a stunning £19,045,250 ($35.8 million) in London on 9 December2004.It was bought by Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein, for the Museum of Liechtenstein in Vienna, where it will go on public show in Spring next year.The Badminton Cabinet is named after the Dukes of Beauforts’ seat, Badminton House in Gloucestershire. It was commissioned by the Third Duke at the age of just 19 when he was making the Grand Tour, and it was produced in the Grand Ducal workshops of Florence between 1695 and 1732. Over 30 craftsmen in the Grand Ducal Galeria dei Lavori worked on the ebony, inlaid hardwood and ormolu cabinet, which represents a culmination of their skills. Topped with a richly gilded Beaufort coat-of-arms, the cabinet has 10 cedar-lined drawers inlaid with birds, foliage and flowers; it has rare panels of amethyst quartz, bold strips of lapis lazuli and red jasper, ormolu swags of flowers and chalcedony lion masks.
The Liechtenstein Museum was opened in the newly restored Liechtenstein Garden Palace in Vienna in March this year, following an agreement between Prince Hans-Adam II and the Austrian government. They had been in dispute since World War II when the princely collection was smuggled out of Nazi Germany to the family castle in Vaduz. The prince’s group of Old Master paintings is the world’s greatest royal collection after that of the British royal family, and the collection also comprises magnificent sculpture. Thanks to the prince’s main source of revenue, the Liechtenstein Global Trust Bank, he is also a regular buyer on the international art market.
January 2005
