Page 9 - Christie's Important Chinese Art Nov 3 2020 London

IllustrIous Provenance:

archaIc Jades from the
collectIon of Baron and

Baroness von oertzen

lots 1-7

Baron and Baroness von Oertzen

Christie’s is delighted to bring to the market this in Batavia (modern day Jakarta) of the Dutch East Indies.
exquisite group of archaic jades from the Baron and In May 1940 Hitler invaded Holland, and the Baron and
Baroness von Oertzen Collection, all of which were Baroness were interned separately in prison camps
acquired by current owner from the Fine Chinese by the Dutch authorities. He was later transferred to
Ceramics and Works of Art auction in London, 4 India as the Japanese approached Singapore, while she
November 2008. was transferred to China. The Baroness managed to
get a job working for the Canadian Consulate General
The late Baroness Irene von Oertzen (1908-2007) and in China, and during her years in China she began her
her husband Baron Klaus-Detlof von Oertzen (1894 - studies in Chinese culture and language. It was during
1991), were passionate collectors of Chinese art, and this period that her passion for Chinese art developed.
together they amassed a remarkable collection of great The Baroness had a special fondness for jade carvings,
scope and quality, particularly with regards to Chinese and the von Oertzen collection includes a distinguished
jade carvings. The Baroness could not only speak group of archaic jade pieces.
and write Chinese fluently, she also had a profound
understanding of the Chinese culture, having lived and The Baroness through her contacts in the consulate
worked there for seven years. The Baron is descended managed to transfer her husband to China, and was
from one of the oldest families of North Germany and finally reunited with him after six years of separation.
was a world-renowned industrialist involved in the motor Just as the Baron established himself in Shanghai as a
industry for most of his long life. The couple settled in second-hand car dealer, the civil war broke out between
South Africa after the Second World War, and he is the Communists and the Nationalists and the couple
sometimes referred to as the "Father of Volkswagen of found themselves once again embroiled in war. They
South Africa". eventually had to leave and returned to South Africa in
1948. In 1951 Volkswagen in Germany appointed Baron
In 1932 Baron von Oertzen, who had been in charge von Oertzen as their representative in South Africa. He
of sales at the motor manufacturer Wanderer, became was instrumental in the early stages of negotiations to
sales director and chairman of the board of directors of bring Volkswagen to South Africa, and was present at
Auto Union - the amalgamation of Wanderer and three the historic signing in 1951 of the agreement between
other German manufacturers, namely Audi, DKW and SAMAD and Volkswagenwerk to assemble Volkswagens
Horch, under the pressures of the depressed German in Uitenhage. When Volkswagenwerk took over a
economy. The new company's four-ringed emblem, controlling interest in SAMAD in 1956, he became the
which von Oertzen suggested, can still be seen in the chairman of the company, which eventually changed its
modern Audi logo. name to Volkeswagen of South Afirca.
The Baron and Baroness travelled in 1938 via India to The Baroness in her later years divided her time between
Australia, where they stayed for two years, setting up Johannesburg and Switzerland. She was a guest of
a factory to manufacture the DKW saloon. Before the honour at the opening of the AutoPavilion in 2004,
outbreak of war the car was selling at the rate of 2000 where a Jagdwagen Kombi, the second Kombi ever to
a year in Australia and New Zealand. As the war clouds arrive in South Africa, belonging to Baron von Oertzen,
gathered business was declining, and the couple arrived is on display.
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