KOLLER View 1/22

14 Preview of the Wehrli Collection, furniture for Wildenstein Castle, 31 March 2022 Swiss craftsmanship The entrepreneur Samuel Wehrli from the Swiss can- ton of Aargau spent nearly four decades assembling 1 An attractive trumeau mirror with mythological painting. Johann Samuel Diwy. Estimate: CHF 20 000/30 000 2 A Louis XVI secrétaire à abattant by Johannes Äber- sold. Bern circa 1780. Estimate: CHF 5 000/8 000 3 A Louis XVI museum-quality organ clock. Neuchâtel, the movement dated 1783. Signed Pierre Jaquet-Droz. Estimate: CHF 70 000/100 000 Johannes Äbersold (1737–1812, ill. 2) and Christoph Hopfengärtner (1758–1843). The auction will also feature important furniture from the Hämmerli cabi- netmaking dynasty in Lenzburg, as well as various mir- rors and consoles from the workshops of Johann Frie- drich Funk I and his son Johann Friedrich Funk II, along with chests, dressers and tables from Zurich, Lucerne and rural central Switzerland. 1 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION DECORATIVE ARTS Stephan Koller skoller@kollerauctions.com ONLINE CATALOGUES www.kollerauctions.com a collection of regional Swiss furniture. In 2010, he acquired Wildenstein Castle in Veltheim, Aargau. First mentioned in the early 14 th century, the castle was refurbished as a Baroque manor by Swiss nobleman and diplomat Hans Thüring Effinger starting in 1640. Samuel Wehrli’s goal was to create a museum of fur- niture history in this historic location. Unfortunately, this dream was not realised, and Koller has now been entrusted with the sale of the Wehrli collection. A total of about 300 objects from this collection will be offered, over several auctions. The highlight of the collection is the Effinger organ clock (ill. 3), created in 1783 and named after Franz Victor Effinger von Wat- tenwyl, a Bernese political figure who received it as a gift in 1784. A masterpiece of Swiss clockmaking, it was made by Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721–1790), one of the most important Swiss clock makers of the 18 th century, especially known for his elaborate automa- tons and musical movements. Eight different melo- dies can be played on the organ pipes contained within this clock. In an earlier phase of his collecting, Wehrli was mainly interested in arts and crafts. Later, he collected fur- niture from western Switzerland, especially from the area of the former city and republic of Bern, which pos- sessed his homeland, the Lower Aargau, until 1798. There are many works by Bernese cabinetmakers of national renown such as Mathäus Funk (1697–1783), 2 Wildenstein castle in Veltheim, Switzerland