“It’s a really beautiful designer piece by Hugo Leven, who designed the object around 1903,” explained expert Werner – and not only Lichter was amazed in disbelief: “Wow!” The moderator already regretted his comparison with the handicraft work. In Art Nouveau, jardinières were often placed in conservatories or on window sills, Werner continues.
The brand name also stood for exceptional quality: Kayserzinn from Krefeld was a well-known pewter foundry that produced a wide variety of art nouveau objects and hired Hugo Leven as “art director, as one would say today” in 1895. As a result, the company became even better known and more famous, according to the expert.
The jardinière was also unusual and worked with natural forms. Even the handle is reminiscent of a branch, flowers with three buds are entwined on the wall and the concise rhinoceros towers on the head. “Well, I think that thing is jeck!”, Lichter quickly corrected his opinion and immediately asked for the desired price.
The seller was modest and only wanted 50 euros for her tin object with a well-known artist’s name. But the price seemed too low even for Lichter. And so he quickly advised Haydi to increase it to 100 euros. But how did the expert assess the Jardinière?
The expert Werner found it difficult to find the price, because “this type of flower container is very much out of fashion”. Nevertheless, she estimated the value at 150 to 250 euros. “All the same!”, acknowledged Lichter and happily handed over his dealer card, because the initial desired price was “four to fivefold!”
Julian Schmitz-Avila missed the glass insert at first, but found the piece very “decorative.” And his colleague Christian Vechtel even recognized the either from the back row: “I think that’s Hugo Leven!” Schmitz-Avila shook his head in irritation: “Please what?” Obviously he had completely misunderstood Vechtel.
After Vechtel repeated the name of the German sculptor, not only Schmitz-Avila laughed, but the whole group. Because the dealer had “This is for olives!” Roger that. No, Hugo Leven! “He’s a very famous man!” Vechtel emphasized again and started with a bid of 100 euros.
But Sarah Schreiber and Schmitz-Avila were also interested in the special Art Nouveau object. And so the three climbed up to 230 euros from Vechtel. However, Schreiber got serious – and negotiated alone with the seller until they agreed on 300 euros.
“Anyone else bidding against me?” Scriber asked sternly. Vechtel shook his head intimidated: “No, I just got scared.” So Schreiber was awarded the contract and already dreamed of the Jardinière in the entrance area for “keys and everything” – or “for olives”, joked Elisabeth Nüdling.
Another item on the show was a Cigarette case in niello technique estimated at 250 to 300 euros by expert Heide Rezepa-Zabel. The seller asked for 80 euros for the 800 silver box from 1910. Dealer Christian Vechtel paid 200 euros.
On Table with six chairs was probably made in Italy from Formica panels in the 1950s to 1960s. The desired price of the sellers was 200 to 250 euros. Kümmel estimated the value at 300 euros. And retailer Sarah Schreiber ended up paying 250 euros for the “super stylish” furniture.
A 1.04 carat diamond ring in 750 white gold from the 1960s estimated ZDF expert Heide Rezepa-Zabel at 4,500 to 5,000 euros. However, the seller wanted 8,000 euros for her family jewelry and therefore decided against the retailer card.
for one Aviator cap (Peek&Cloppenburg, around 1910) and driver’s cap from the 1920s to 1930s the sellers wished for 220 euros. Detlev Kümmel estimated the pieces at only 100 to 160 euros, because “you get these caps in abundance”. In the end, Roman Runkel paid 220 euros.
That Still Life by Hugo Charlemont was probably painted in the 1920s or 1930s, according to Friederike Werner. 500 euros were desired, Werner estimated at 500 to 700 euros – and dealer Julian Schmitz-Avila was awarded 1,300 euros.
