Auctions: Sotheby's leads Judaica sales

Sotheby's has carved a special niche for itself in New York as seen at this month's sale of Judaica, including property of the Jewish Community of Amsterdam, which brought a wonderful $5,662,880.

By MEIR RONNEN
rubin art 88 298 (photo credit: )
rubin art 88 298
(photo credit: )
Sotheby's has carved a special niche for itself in New York as seen at this month's sale of Judaica, including property of the Jewish Community of Amsterdam, which brought a wonderful $5,662,880. A record $772,000 was paid by an American collector for Isidor Kaufmann's oil The Antiquarian. Also doubling its estimate was the $251,200 paid by an American collector for a pair of Dutch Parcel Gilt Silver Torah Finials made by Willem Rosier of Amsterdam in 1767. A Dutch Silver Hanging Sabbath Lamp by Hendrik Nieuwenhuys, Amsterdam, 1780, brought $$204,000; and $180,000 was paid by a collector for Rashi's Commentary on the Pentateuch and on the Five Scrolls, Venice, 1522. A rare illustrated 18th-century Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) from Alsace was sold to a European collector for $132,000. The North Carolina Museum of Art paid $114,000 for a pair of Dutch Parcel Gilt Silver Torah Finials, attributed to Willem Rosier, circa 1765, while a European collector paid $114,000 for a Dutch Parcel Silver Gilt Torah Finial by Pieter van Hoven of Amsterdam, 1705. A South American collector paid a record $108,000 for Lazar Krestin's Portrait of the Brandstatter Family and an American collector paid a similar sum for a German Silver Torah Shield dated 1837. Another bidder paid $102,000 for Isidor Kaufmann's oil study Portrait of a Man. TIROCHE OF Herzliya and Matsa of Ramat Gan are girding up for their January sales. The Tiroche sale is in two parts, the evenings of January 20 and January 27. The Matsa sale on January 28 is led by a 1925 fantasy of Jerusalem by Reuven Rubin (begins at $220,000) and a freehand oil self-portrait of the artist as a young man, 1957 ($150,000). A lovely Kisling of a pot of flowers, one of his best, starts at just $70,000. A second Rubin of trees in Galilee, 1940, has a similar minimum. More about these sales when we get the catalogs.