Towards the end of the month, Sotheby’s will auction off a private collection of one of a kind item that belongs to His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani – specifically his home in Doha. The sale will include 400 lots that amount to an estimated value of a cool €2-3 million.
An avid collector of fine arts and interiors, HH Sheikh Hamad’s interests were formed at a young age as he spent much of his childhood exploring European cities, and discovering culture and arts with his family in Rome, Paris and London. It was these trips that shaped his keen eye for interior design, and especially a passion for Parisian grandeur that influenced the way his homes were decorated.
The sale of the noteworthy items celebrates Sheikh Hamad’s creativity as his Doha home was one of the first that he had designed and decorated himself. The pieces are a tribute to nothing but the opulence and decadence of European interiors in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Some pieces within the collection include an insight to the former ruler’s fondness for French carpentry, and exclusive items he had hand selected from Asia, the Middle East, Russia, Italy and the UK. Speaking about the forthcoming auction, Edward Gibbs, Sotheby’s chairperson for the Middle East, said in a statement, “This is a story of love at first sight. Stepping into this palace in the heart of the Middle East, we find the influence of historic French, Italian, and English design, ranging from the styles pioneered by Louis XIV in the 17th century through to elements from Victorian England in the mid-19th century and the sense of royal ease and comfort inherited from a bygone age.”
With Sotheby’s presenting the contents of Qatari Emir HH Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani’s property in Doha, Gibbs also explains that the lots include some of the rarest and most valuable pieces of furniture, including works by infamous French cabinetmaker Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763), the refined Parisian ébéniste Roger Vandercruse Lacroix (1728-1799), and the master carpenter Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot (1706-1776), who were some of the most celebrated creators of their time.
“Among the highlights of the sale, I would have to point out a Louis XVI secrétaire à abattant by Dautriche (estimated at €60 000-100 000) and a late Louis XV mantel clock, with a night-and-day orb and moon phase, crafted in Paris circa 1765, which we think may have been made for the Count of Artois (estimated at €50 000-80 000),” says Edward Gibbs.
There are highly valuable paintings also going to auction, which each had a space in the coastal Doha royal palace, such as The Penitent Magdalene by the Circle of Leonardo da Vinci or Andrea Verrocchio (estimated at €20,000-30,000).
