Three unique Louis XIII cases are to be sold at Sotheby’s to benefit The Film Foundation led by director Martin Scorsese. The “L’odyssée D’un Roi” packages — featuring work by Hermès, Puiforcat, and Saint-Louis artisans — will be offered at three auctions in New York, Hong Kong, and London this fall.According to Jamie Ritchie, Worldwide Head of Wine at Sotheby’s, the three decanters’ special blend of Louis XIII was created by Cellar Master Baptiste Loiseau using the house’s oldest eaux-de-vie from Grande Champagne. More than 50 craftsmen devoted more than 1,000 hours to the creations, housed in bespoke leather trunks that are hand-stitched by Hermès. Inside is a white gold pipette forged by the Art Deco silversmith Puiforcat. Each crystal decanter, etched with a 19th-century map of the continent where it is bound, comes with four glasses that were mouth-blown, cut, and wheel-engraved by hand at the royal cristallerie Saint-Louis. The trunks also contain an art book chronicling Louis XIII’s journeys. The collaboration was inspired by the first shipments of the cognac.Louis XIII’s global executive director Ludovic du Plessis said in an emailed release that the project celebrating its history naturally fitted with The Film Foundation: “It is a cultural legacy that one generation leaves to another.” Scorsese said that the sale would help and highlight the foundation’s work restoring, saving, and showing classic movies.The New York bottle being sold on September 10 has an estimate in excess of US$100,000; the Hong Kong bottle for sale on October 1 may fetch up to HK$800,000 (about $103,150), and the London lot on November 16 has an estimate in excess of £70,000 (about $91,660).
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