Friday 30 May 1997 Spiritual
Masterpieces to go on Sale
by Dalya Alberge
A magnificent collection of medieval
enamels, arguably the world's finest in
private hands, is coming onto the market
and could fetch more than £16 million.
Exquisite caskets, crosses and
candlesticks from the 12th to 14th
centuries are among 160 treasures that
once adorned abbeys, churches and
cathedrals throughout Europe. Nothing
like this collection, amassed for a Swiss
foundation by Edmund de Unger, a
Hungarian barrister who came to Britain
in 1949, has appeared on the market for
more than 25 years.
Some dealers and curators believe that
the sheer number of outstanding pieces
even overshadows the Victoria and
Albert's Thomas à Becket casket, which
dates from the same period and which
fetched £4.18 million at auction last
year. Many of Mr de Unger's pieces bear
the same Limoges craftsmanship.
The Keir Collection, so-called because
he once lived in a Wimbledon house with
that name, will be sold by Sotheby's in
New York in November. The treasures
include a delicate 1220s Virgin and Child
statuette carried as an icon in battle
against the Moors; an 1180s plaque from a
metre-high cross that relates to two
pieces in the British Library and one in
the Vatican; and a 1200s gable-shaped
plaque representing two martyred saints
from a chasse which is linked to an
exhibit at the Fitzwilliam Museum in
Cambridge. Sotheby's said it must
originally have contained relics of the
Four Crowned Martyrs.
Looking at the 1180s plaque, which
depicts two angels, Mr de Unger said:
"One of the beauties of medieval art
is it's a spiritual art. Nothing sensual,
which appeals to me. It has a harmony, a
serenity, a silent dignity. It mirrors
the belief of the people of the Middle
Ages. We don't believe in anything. The
age of belief is gone."
He said the collection was being sold
because such pieces no longer appeared on
the market. "Unless you can continue
the collection and add to it, it becomes
a dead, static collection."
Collecting was a disease, he said, but
it was "the hunt" that most
excited him. The idea of owning objects
did not interest him, partly because his
family lost everything in Hungary. He
said that his treatment at the hands of
the Communists he was imprisoned
several times and his subsequent
escape was too painful to discuss.
He would not reveal anything about the
foundation, the Dominate in Zurich,
beyond that it was private and owned
properties. He said that it had
approached him after he discovered an
important 15th-century Italian drawing.
He began collecting at the age of 10; at
15, he bought a spectacular 14th-century
carpet for just £4: "It is one of
only nine in Turkey and two in
Europe."
He added: "I read a lot and go to
museums. You can develop an eye. But you
must be born with an eye."
He explained that he used to contact
the Foundation if he spotted something he
thought was worth buying. He dismissed
the suggestion that he was a dealer
"because a dealer has stock";
instead, his career was as a barrister
specialising in international law. He
added that the sale proceeds might go to
charity.
He was buying treasures when the rest
of the art world showed relatively little
interest. He sees himself as the saviour
of many of the pieces: "The objects
speak to you. They were crying out,
'Please rescue us.' I rescued many
things."
Elizabeth Wilson, of Sotheby's, said:
"This is an incredibly important
collection. There isn't another with that
number of objects. Such an amazing
variety. There are objects in every
category. Incense boats, chasses or
reliquaries, plaques, candlesticks,
crucifixes."
Part of the collection was lent to the
British Library from 1981 to 1982. Its
curator, Neil Stratford, described the
quality as remarkable: "It has some
really wonderful pieces in it. The great
strength of the collection is in the
Limoges, although there are some other
very good pieces."
The bulk of the collection was put
together in the 1950s and 1960s by Ernst
and Martha Kofler-Truniger, of Lucerne,
who had at one time also owned the Becket
casket. In 1971 Mr de Unger acquired
those holdings for a seven-figure sum in
a private sale and then continued adding
to it.
Charles Truman, a leading antiques
dealer, said: "Without doubt, it is
the most important collection of medieval
enamels to come on the market since the
Kofler-Truniger sale."
http://www.churchnet.org.uk/news/files/news433.htm
