My abiding memory of Dr Sommer was in Monaco for the Karl
Lagerfeld sale. We had talked about works of art on the telephone on
many occasions and with characteristic generosity, he suggested we
had dinner. As I sat in the sumptuous surroundings of Alain Ducasse's
restaurant Louis XV, with its rococo boiseries and chandeliers, a tall,
patrician figure with immaculately-cut suit and flowing hair swept
into the room. He insisted that we indulge extravagantly - and over
the next three hours we embarked on a gastronomic feast punctuated
with pithy comments on every conceivable topic - from Brussels and
macroeconomics to the relative merits of Savonnerie and Gobelins,
BVRB and Riesener, Gouthière and Boucher and Fragonard,
interspersed with opera, wine and considerable cynicism of the
machinations of markets! It was a conversational grand tour - but
it underlined Dr Sommer's extraordinary breadth of knowledge,
epicurean enthusiasms and wisdom, as well as his zest for life.
Thomas M. P. D. Sommer was born on 16 March 1965 in Berlin. The family
was of fairly humble origins and from a very young age he and his older
sister Rosie sold newspapers to help their mother make ends meet. This early experience of working life imbued the young Thomas Sommer with a strong work ethic and a sense of
ambition. He forged what was to become a very successful career in
finance from the age of 14 when he became an apprentice at a German
bank, later studying economics at evening classes and subsequently
gaining his doctorate. He worked in Berlin, Hamburg and other
German cities, until he bought a small financial company in Munich in
1989. Dr Sommer remodelled and expanded the company's operations
into public finance, specialising mainly in bonds, to great success. He
sold his majority stake in the company in 1997 and the following year
moved to Upper Grosvenor Street in London, with the intention
of travelling the world. A committed devotee of classical music
especially Beethoven and Mozart along with Schubert and Wagner
- his travels often embraced the Bayreuth Wagner Music Festival,
Salzburg and Glyndebourne, as well as the Vienna Opera Ball and the
Berlin Press Ball.
Dr Sommer's collecting was greatly inspired by Frederick the Great, whom he admired for his patronage of the arts as well as his
strength of character; indeed one of his earliest purchases was a portrait
of the German king (not included in the auction but on view on the
First Floor). Like his hero, Dr Sommer admired the great Old Masters
of mid-18th century France, such as Boucher, Watteau and Pater, and
favoured their fêtes galantes' and mythological figures (lots 50, 103 &
104). Epitomising the Fredrician 'rokoko' and undoubtedly drawn
by the link to the Prussian King, Dr Sommer purchased a pair of Potsdam' armchairs attributed to Frederick the Great's carver Johann-
August Nahl that closely recall those commissioned by the King for his
residences of Sanssouci, Charlottenburg and the Neue Palais.
These were placed in the First Floor study, where Dr Sommer sat daily
with the Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung, casting admiring glances at the
wonderful Goblins tapestry depicting the Ball of Barcelona from the
Don Quixote series. Amongst his most treasured possessions
were three exquisite tables en chiffonnière by Bernard II van Risen Burgh
- known as BVRB'
- whom he regarded as the greatest 'Ebéniste' of
the Louis XV period. The First Floor study also contained
glimmering silver-gilt dishes and lamps bouillotte by Odiot, a pair of
elegant commodes by Charles Cressent, early Louis XV giltwood chairs
covered in luxurious pomegranate-pattern Lelievre silk - selected by
Dr Sommer himself - and a garniture of ormolu candelabra formerly
in the Rosebery/Rothschild Collections at Mentmore. Amongst other
favourite possessions in his collection was the painting entitled 'Paysage
et tête de femme by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the set of six grand
Viennese giltwood armchairs with seats and backs of Beauvais tapestry
depicting La Fontaine's Fables, and the magnificent Louis
XV regulateur formerly in the collection of the Viennese Rothschilds.
Dr Sommer's enthusiasm for his collection was contagious - and his
pursuit of knowledge of all things 18th Century led him to develop
friendships with many of the leading figures in the decorative arts
Field, including, amongst others, Jacques Perrin, Maurice Segoura
and Chevalier in Paris, as well as Neuse, Gierhards and Bernheimer in
Germany. He monitored the art market closely - regularly reading the
Bulletins of the English and Continental salerooms late into the night
and scanning the auctions for new treasures - as well as those that related
to works of art in his own collection. Above all, Dr Sommer had a
deep appreciation of craftsmanship and quality, irrespective of period.
As a consequence, he delighted in patronising the finest ateliers and
boutiques - whether for gilding or passementerie, upholstery or jewellery
- commissioning monogrammed crocodile skin luggage from Hermès
and unique works by the Munich jeweller Hemmerle alongside specially
woven fabrics after 18th century patterns by Lelievre and specialist gilding by Goujon.
Dr Sommer was immensely proud of all that he had created in Upper
Grosvenor Street - and rightly so. It is very fitting, therefore, that the
viewing in November will allow connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike to
see this spectacular ensemble in sit in his house in Mayfair.

- The Rock 2014.