The seal has been called a national heirloom, national regalia, and the antiquity of the decade. The auction room was full to bursting in the afternoon when it was time for Karl Döve’s Seal. Karl Döve was brother to Birger Brosa and uncle to Birger Jarl (the founder of Stockholm) and his seal is Sweden’s oldest preserved mediaeval princely seal that belonged to an individual. The bidding started at SEK 400,000. There were three bidders in the room and one on the phone. After a brief but intense round of bidding, the hammer fell at SEK 800,000 and the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities had successfully added the seal to its collections.

"I am pleased and moved that so many donors and financial guarantors from all over the country showed such tremendous confidence in the museum and made it possible for us to buy this unique object," said Kristian Berg, curator of the Museum of National Antiquities. The museum is celebrating the coup by offering free admission to all visitors to the museum this Saturday, when the seal will be exhibited.

The second day of Fine Art & Antiques started with antique furniture. The category was extensive. Interest was eager and prices were generally above estimate. All told, furniture sold for 25 percent above estimate. The grandest piece in the category, the Haupt bureau, sold above estimate for SEK 1,025,000. The magnificent little ladies desk, probably made by Anders Lundelius in the manner of Haupt, also sold above estimate for SEK 465,000. Erik Holm’s masterpiece cabinet of the finest rococo quality sold for more than twice the estimate, SEK 315,000. The hammer fell at SEK 660,000 for Gottlieb Iwerson’s high Gustavian bureau. The bureau, in the master class, was estimated at SEK 400-600,000. Stone tables from the Swedish province of Skåne are highly sought after, a nd one sold at this auction for SEK 285,000. The estimate was SEK 75-100,000. A beautiful and austere late Gustavian desk attracted avid interest and the hammer finally fell at SEK 200,000, four times the estimate. A hanging cupboard from Lima parish in Dalarna, dated 1852, sold for SEK 80,000. The cupboard was repatriated to its Dalecarlian origins when Dalarnas Museum bought it.

A pair of lovely and comfortable bergere chairs by Melkior Lundberg sold for the record price of SEK 350,000 and four late Gustavian tub chairs, probably by Melkior Lundberg the Elder, reached SEK 140,000, also above estimate.

Mirrors included a pair of gilded Gustavian mirror sconces that sold for SEK 110,000 (estimate SEK 50-60,000). To become the new owner of a gilded bronze nine-light Empire hanging lamp, the successful bidder had to pay an impressive SEK 185,000. The estimate was SEK 20-30,000.

For more information, please contact marketing manager Alexandra Frick, tel. +46 8 453 67 84. For ordering images please contact Annika Christensen, tel. +46  8 453 67 66.

Commode by Georg Haupt