Beit sculptures to go under hammer

Some 62 Italian bronze sculptures from the Beit collection are to go on sale in London next month. The 16th-century bronzes were assembled by art collector Alfred Beit and his brother, Sir Otto Beit, in the late 19th and early 20th century, and will be on sale at Christie's of London on December 7th.

The collection is expected to sell for £1.5 million and includes a figure of a gladiator by one of the leading sculptors of the Renaissance, Andrea del Briosco, called Riccio (1470-1532). It is expected to fetch up to £1 million.

A late 15th-century figure of David from the workshop of Bartolomeo Bellano (circa 1440-1496), could sell for up to £10,000, the auction house has said, and a bronze figure of Neptune attributed to Tiziano Minio (died 1552) is expected to realise £50,000.

The auction will also offer other items including salt cellars, inkwells, a writing casket, bells, quill-holders and oil lamps. A bronze wine-cooler dating to the first half of the 16th century is expected to fetch up to £50,000. A late 16th-century Venetian door knocker, is estimated at up to £35,000.

The collection was passed on to Sir Alfred Lein Beit, son of Sir Otto Beit, when he died in 1930.