Auction Highlights
Four Seasons Antiques & Auction Gallery's June 26 Summer Extravaganza included the sweet sounds of a rare 1926 Steinway art case player grand piano with ivory keys and four original cartouches of oil paintings by listed artist S. Ostrowski (born 1885). The 73-inch long piano attracted 83 bids before hammering $43,700, near the top of its estimate range. It was claimed by a music-loving LiveAuctioneers bidder who obviously also has an appreciation for fine art.
A blue/green/caramel slag-glass ceiling lamp with a bronze frame and bronze ornamental hanging balls, believed to be a Tiffany Studios production, was purchased via LiveAuctioneers for $46,000 in John Coker’s May 21 sale of the Margaret and Alvis Cawood estate. Although unmarked and estimated at a modest $2,000-4,000, the lamp obviously looked like a Tiffany design to quite a few people. In all, it drew 44 bids before calling it a day.
A portfolio of 16 original hand-colored cels from the Beatles first-ever music video – a short film called She Said So – sold for $54,600, via LiveAuctioneers, in CooperOwen’s blockbuster July 28 rock music memorabilia sale. The event will go down in history because it also contained the first handwritten lyrics by a musician – in this case John Lennon – to break the million-dollar mark.
Estimated at $550-900, a quintessential Lalique opaque glass vase from the late 1930s achieved an amazing $5,860 via LiveAuctioneers in Ewbank Auctioneers’ July 7 sale. The 9in vase features 6 images of women, each in a bas relief, bead-trimmed cartouche, around the vessel’s exterior. Signed R. Lalique, France, it attracted 41 bids before selling online.
This Matchbox Regular Wheels no.62c Mercury Cougar, cream colored with a white interior and chrome hubs, is accompanied by a "New Model" box illustrating the car in its correct color. In overall excellent to excellent-plus condition, it drew 20 bids before selling online in Vectis Auctions' Sept. 6 sale for $8,465.38
A rare Girl Skipping Rope mechanical bank patented by J. & E. Stevens on May 20, 1890 was a major moneymaker in Morphy Auctions' Sept. 1-3 auction. In excellent condition and estimated at $15,000-20,000, it attracted 11 bids before skipping off to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $34,800
Marcel Mouly’s Bateaux Dans Le Matin (Boats In The Morning), a colorful Cubist seascape, sold for $26,620, and was the surprise of Sloans & Kenyon’s September 17-18 Estate Catalogue Auction, shattering the artist’s previous auction high by almost 400%. The painting’s new owner participated in the bidding live online through LiveAuctioneers.com
