Katalog aukcyjny Sotheby's

The Rudolf Just Collection: Coins

London 2001

Stron 48, format: 16,5x21 cm, papier kredowy

89 przykładów monet

Katalog jest nowy, ma jednak zagięty prawy dolny rożek okładki.

Rudolf Just (1[zasłonięte]895-19), the passionate Prague collector, connoisseur and scholar who inspired Bruce Chatwin's character Utz, was in real life more complex than his fictional counterpart. A detailed biography, including a listing of Just's published work, can be found in the catalogue for the Ceramics, Glass and Kunstkammer sale which precedes this associated offering of Gold Coins and Medals.
Whilst the main Collection was carefully catalogued, researched and documented by Just (and was also, in 1946, valued on the orders of the State), his numismatic activities represented a contrastingly private pursuit. No records or details of the sources of his coins seem to have been preserved, although a Swiss safe deposit key was found during the appraisal of the Ceramics Collection. Its potential significance was - fortunately - recognised and, together with some anecdotal evidence, it led eventually to the rediscovery of the outstanding group of material presented here. It is believed that most of the coins were acquired during the earlier phase of Just's collecting activity in the 1920s and 30s, although the point will no doubt become clearer following research into individual provenances. In any event it can now be stated that Just, like von Lanna and others before him, regarded numismatics as an integral element of his collecting interests and that he must have committed considerable resources to his coins.
In essence the pieces represent a specialised collection of multiple ducats of the Holy Roman Empire struck during the 17th Century. The emphasis, not unexpectedly, is upon issues of the Prague Mint, while Vienna, Breslau and Brunn are all represented by major rarities. The sale opens with a majestic example of a 10 ducats of Rudolph II, noted for his interest in alchemy, and continues with no less than seven pieces from the ill-starred reign of his brother Mathias, including the celebrated Drei-Kaiser 10 ducats depicting Maximilian I, Charles V and Ferdinand I. The advent of the disastrous Thirty Years War is recalled not only by two commemorative issues and a Prague 10 ducats of the "Winter King" Frederick V, but also by the distinctive National Assembly 10 ducats of 1620 struck from thaler dies at Olmutz, which is excessively rare as a gold coin.
Although there are a few impaired or mounted pieces, Just's celebrated eye for quality is evident in his choice of several superb, virtually "mint" coins from the reigns of Ferdinand II, III and Leopold I, some of which are of dates or varieties believed to be hitherto unrecorded. The Princely and Ecclesiastical States are represented by Dietrichstein, Olmutz and (particularly) Wallenstein, with two excellent examples of the 1631 10 ducats struck for the powerful Albrecht. The collection culminates with a specimen of the imposing 100-ducat medal by Brunner and Nürnberger, circa 1690 (lot 350), featuring a fine portrait of the young Joseph I, uncompromising Biblical quotations and a detailed Habsburg "family tree'.' Bearing cameos of Emperors from Rudolph I onwards (as well as that of Ferdinand IV, who predeceased his father Ferdinand III in 1654), it also proclaims Leopold's triumph in defeating the Turks outside Vienna in 1683.
The sale concludes with a small group of pieces which, broadly speaking, are related to the Holy Roman Empire, and finally there are several unrelated coins which were presumably acquired casually by Just during his travels and on his visits to Switzerland.