Neal Auction Company’s Winter Estates Auction Achieves $3.3 Million

Mar. 10, 2008

NEW ORLEANS—The highlight of Neal Auction Company’s Winter Estates Auction Feb. 23-24 was lot 68, a newly discovered Jan Lievens the Elder (Dutch, 1607-1674) unsigned oil portrait of A Military Commander, perhaps Friedrich Wilhelm, the Great Elector of Brandenburg. The painting, dated to circa 1654/1664, made its way to Neal Auction simply as a portrait by an anonymous artist. After diligent study, research, and expert affirmation, Douglas Lewis, Ph.D., F.A.A.R, Neal Auction Company’s Director of Research, was able to attribute the portrait to Lievens. The heretofore unknown portrait sold for an unprecedented $152,000—a record price for an undocumented, newly attributed Lievens work. Auction catalog preview and Internet bidding for all Neal Auction Company’s sales is provided by www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

The Winter Estates Auction saw a sizable offering of Vietnamese modern and contemporary art, including paintings, drawings and watercolors, by artists never before offered at auction in the United States. The highlight of the single owner sequence was lot 203, a Nguyên Gia Tri (Vietnamese, 1908-1993) lacquer triptych titled Spring Garden, which garnered considerable interest from the Asian art collecting community, both in this country and abroad. The painting reached $51,000.

Also performing remarkably well was lot 416, a Pair of Unsigned Roman or Neapolitan School Architectural Fantasies, dated to the mid- to late-17th century. The pair of oils, including “A Triumph of David” and “An Antique Procession” achieved $48,000 against considerable interest.

Neal Auction Company’s American Paintings highlight was lot 383, an oil by Alfred de Gault (American/New Orleans, mid-19th century) depicting one of the most celebrated landscape wonders of Cuba, the Yumuri Valley. Against considerable interest, the painting achieved a world record price for the artist, selling for $41,125.

Neal Auction’s furniture highlight was lot 295, an Antique Monumental Régence Carved and Giltwood Salon Table from the Wyndham Canal Place Collection, which sold impressively at $39,500.00. Also from the Wyndham Collection was lot 289, an Antique Louis XVI-Style Gilt Bronze-Mounted Mahogany Commode à Vantaux, after Guillaume Benneman, which more than doubled its presale estimate, selling for $38,775.00. Lot 987, The Wyndham Collection’s Antique Regency-Style Lacquered and Chinoiserie-Decorated, Bronze-Mounted Pedestal Sideboard also greatly exceeded estimate by almost eight-fold, achieving $38,775.00 amid competition.

Lot 957, A Steinway & Sons Model ‘A’ Carved Tiger Oak Grand Piano from 1903, performed notably, selling for $37,600—more than doubling its presale low estimate.

Lot 305, a mid-19th century Eugene Cornu (French, d. 1875) Napoleon III Marble Urn and Bronze-Mounted Pedestal with Wyndham provenance, realized $35,250—the highest recorded price ever achieved at auction for a work by the famous maître de pierre.

Realizing more than six times its presale low estimate was lot 858, a Pair of mid 19th century American Rococo Carved and Laminated Rosewood Armchairs, attributed to J. & J.W. Meeks, New York., which reached $32,900.00, a record price for a pair of chairs by the famous firm.

Generating considerable regional interest was lot 728, a circa 1840 Important New Orleans Carved Mahogany Armoire, bearing a stenciled label “From Dutreuil Barjon” on the interior backboard. In the 1834 Michel’s City Directory, the Barjon shop advertised “a large assortment of furniture made in this city, and in the newest and most fashionable style.” Dutreuil Barjon and his son Dutreuil Barjon, Jr., both free men of color, were two of the most noted cabinet makers in the Crescent City during the mid-19th century. With an estimate of $7,000 to $10,000, the Barjon armoire sold for $30,550.00

To view the fully illustrated catalog, with prices realized, visit www.LiveAuctioneers.com.