Portrait of Philip the Good did great at Bonhams, claiming $253K

Portrait of Philip the Good after Rogier van der Weyden, which sold for £203,200 ($253,000) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams.

LONDON – Although the original oil on wood panel is now lost, the portrait of Philip the Good (1396-1467), Duke of Burgundy, by the 15th-century Dutch painter Rogier van der Weyden, is known through workshop copies.

The circumstances of the commission are uncertain, but, as Philip III is portrayed as middle-aged, it may have been one half of a matrimonial diptych, meant to be hung alongside a portrait of his third wife, Isabella of Portugal. By this time, heavy drinking had taken its toll on Philip’s features, but van der Weyden elongated his face and dressed him in a magnificent gown and a jeweled collar with the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

The recorded workshop copies include pictures in Lille, France; Antwerp, Belgium; and Paris, with the best-known version in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon. The example in the British royal collection was first recorded in that of Henry VIII at Whitehall in 1542.

As Philip’s court was later regarded as the most splendid in medieval Europe, his portrait was also popular in later eras. A version dated to the late 17th century surfaced at Bonhams in Bond Street as part of the London sale of Old Master paintings on April 10. Consigned from a UK private collection with an estimate of just £4,000-£6,000 ($4,980-$7,470), it had enough quality to hammer for £160,000 ($199,300) and sell for £203,200 ($253,000) with buyer’s premium.

Portrait of Philip the Good after Rogier van der Weyden, which sold for £203,200 ($253,000) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams.

Portrait of Philip the Good after Rogier van der Weyden, which sold for £203,200 ($253,000) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

Tony Bennett charts yet another hit with a 4X estimate sale at Julien’s

Tony Bennett's Sinatra Family Crest Signet Ring, which sold for $50,000 ($65,000 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

NEW YORK — Julien’s Auctions‘ dispersal of the late Tony Bennett’s personal collection made four-times its presale estimate in an enduring testimony of the music legend’s popularity more than a year after his passing. Complete results for the sale, which was held on April 18-19, are available at LiveAuctioneers.

The sale realized more than $2.1 million. Collectors from the US, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Spain, Singapore, Switzerland, Australia generated more than 14,000 bids.

Items reflecting Bennett’s legacy as a global icon and civil rights activist brought top dollar. Tony Bennett’s signed Martin Luther King, Jr. letter hammered for $60,000 ($78,000 with buyer’s premium), blowing out its presale estimate of $20,000-$30,000.

Frank Sinatra commissioned 12 copies of his own gold pinky ring featuring the Sinatra family crest to give to close friends and family members.  The Sinatra Family gave one of these commissioned copies to Tony Bennett as a gift of thanks on the occasion of the establishment of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, a New York City public high school founded by Bennett and his wife Susan Benedetto in Astoria, Queens. Estimated at $3,000-$5,000, it hammered for an amazing $50,000 ($65,000 with buyer’s premium).

David Hockney (b. 1937) and Tony Bennett were good friends. This still life was gifted to Tony by David, and features a black and white image printed on 24 panels of poster board mounted to backing material. The scene features a table top with a teapot, an edition of the Los Angeles Times featuring an image of Tony Bennett and Hockney’s signature dachshund in the background. Bennett had this piece prominently displayed in his living room. Estimated at $10,000-$15,000, it hammered for $22,500 ($29,250 with buyer’s premium).

Yet another gift from Sinatra to Bennett — this time, a Pasha De Cartier wristwatch — exceeded expectations. Engraved To Tony Thanks Frank A. Sinatra, the watch was anticipated at $3,000-$5,000, but hammered for an astounding $40,000 ($52,000 with buyer’s premium).

Tony Bennett letter from Martin Luther King, Jr., sold for $60,000 ($78,000 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

Tony Bennett letter from Martin Luther King, Jr., which sold for $60,000 ($78,000 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

Tony Bennett's Sinatra Family-Gifted Family Crest Signet Ring, sold for $50,000 ($65,000 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

Tony Bennett's Sinatra Family Crest Signet Ring, which sold for $50,000 ($65,000 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

Tony Bennett's David Hockney 24-panel print, sold for $22,500 ($29,250 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

Tony Bennett's David Hockney 24-panel print, which sold for $22,500 ($29,250 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

Tony Bennett's Pasha De Cartier watch gifted by Frank Sinatra, $40,000 ($52,000 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

Tony Bennett's Pasha De Cartier watch, a gift from Frank Sinatra, which sold for $40,000 ($52,000 with buyer’s premium) at Julien's.

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte has worked in editorial, design and the toy and auction industries for more than 30 years. He co-founded Auction Central News in 2007.

Two Russian icons sell for a combined sum of almost $1M at Hargesheimer

Late 19th- or early 20th-century Mandylion icon and silver and cloisonné enamel okled or riza by Orest Kurlyukov, which sold for €558,600 ($597,500) with buyer’s premium at Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen.

DUSSELDORF, Germany – The sale at Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen on April 18 included an outstanding Russian icon and okled by Orest Kurlyukov. Made less than two decades before the Revolution forced the Moscow jewelers to close, it was in the 1890s that the firm founded by Kurlyukov Orest Fedorovich (1845-1916) in 1884 was at its peak, often supplying cloisonné enamel work to both Ruckert and the Fabergé workshops. Sale results can be seen at LiveAuctioneers.

The tempera on wood panel icon it houses is a copy of the Mandylion of Edessa, the legendary relic that was said to bear the miraculous imprint of the face of Jesus Christ. However, of equal importance to its commercial fortunes was the large 13 by 12in (33 by 29cm) silver-gilt frame worked in the elaborate ‘old’ or ‘original’ Russian style. It is marked ‘O Kurlyukov’ in Cyrillic alongside the Moscow assay mark for the period of 1896 to 1908.

Kurlyukov made a specialty of these icons and sold them in a number of different sizes, of which this was the largest and most complex. Another was offered by Sotheby’s in London in 2010 with an estimate of £200,000-£300,000 ($249,000-$373,685).

The market for the best Russian works of art has not been too negatively affected by sanctions: those who can afford them have multiple residences in different jurisdictions. This piece, with some minor restoration, was estimated at €80,000-€160,000 ($85,570-$171,135) but hammered for €420,000 ($447,000) and sold for €558,600 ($597,500) with buyer’s premium.

The following day, the auction house offered another important icon and riza – this one with a much earlier date. The tempera on wood panel depicted the famous Lady of Kazan, the holy icon of the highest stature within the Russian Orthodox Church, representing the Virgin Mary as the protector of Russia. It is thought to date from the last quarter of the 17th century as it is a gold riza engraved with local saints. The silver-gilt triptych in which it is housed was made in Moscow circa 1800. Estimated at €50,000-€100,000 ($53,480-$106,960), it hammered for €270,000 ($288,785) and sold for €359,100 ($384,100) with buyer’s premium.

Late 19th- or early 20th-century Mandylion icon and silver and cloisonné enamel okled or riza by Orest Kurlyukov, which sold for €558,600 ($597,500) with buyer’s premium at Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen.

Late 19th- or early 20th-century Mandylion icon and silver and cloisonné enamel okled or riza by Orest Kurlyukov, which sold for €558,600 ($597,500) with buyer’s premium at Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen.

Circa-1800 tempera on wood panel icon of the Lady of Kazan in a silver gilt triptych, which sold for €359,100 ($384,100) with buyer’s premium at Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen.

Circa-1800 tempera on wood panel icon of the Lady of Kazan in a silver gilt triptych, which sold for €359,100 ($384,100) with buyer’s premium at Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

Gio Ponti Triennale Armchairs lead our five auction highlights

Gio Ponti lacquered wood, upholstery, and brass Triennale armchairs by ISA Bergamo, which hammered for $90,000 and sold for $117,900 with buyer’s premium at Wright on March 28.

Gio Ponti Triennale Armchairs, $117,900

CHICAGO – Among the starring lots at the Wright Design sale on March 28 was this pair of Gio Ponti lacquered wood, upholstery, and brass Triennale armchairs dating to 1951.

The design is one produced for ISA (Industria Salotti e Arredamenti), the luxury furniture firm. To achieve the effect of ‘weightlessness’ in a wing-back chair, Ponti deconstructed the traditional form and inserted a metal frame within the wooden structure of the upholstered backrest to reinforce it. This pair, with manufacturer’s labels to the back stretchers, have a provenance to Count Luigi Baldini of Ravenna, whose family owned several important Ponti designs. The Triennale chairs were estimated at $70,000-$90,000 and hammered at the high end of their estimate, ultimately selling for $117,900 with buyer’s premium.

18th-century Tiger Maple Highboy, $55,250

Circa-1760 Philadelphia Queen Anne tiger maple highboy in the manner of William Savery, which hammered for $42,500 and sold for $55,250 with buyer’s premium at William Bunch on March 26.
Circa-1760 Philadelphia Queen Anne tiger maple highboy in the manner of William Savery, which hammered for $42,500 and sold for $55,250 with buyer’s premium at William Bunch on March 26.

CHADDS FORD, PA – The majority of 18th-century New England tiger maple highboys bring relatively modest numbers today. However, there are exceptions to the rule. Estimated at $2,000-$4,000, this Philadelphia Queen Anne chest raced to $42,500 and sold for $55,250 with buyer’s premium at William Bunch on March 26 as bidders made the connection with a well-known furniture shop.

This particular design – notably a scalloped frieze and cabriole legs with shell carving over Queen Anne feet – is associated with the celebrated Second Street shop of William Savery (1721-1787). He first earned the attention of scholars and collectors in 1918, when his label was found on a dressing table in the collection at Manor House at Van Cortlandt Park, New York.

While enjoying the patronage of colonial Philadelphia’s elite (Benjamin Franklin owned several pieces), Savery also made more affordable furniture for the middle classes and relatively plain pieces catering to the conservative taste of Quaker clients. This tiger maple highboy will require some restoration, including work to correct the discoloration around the handles caused by overzealous cleaning with an abrasive.

19th-century German Book on the Danube River, $20,635

Plate from Adolf Friedreich Kunike’s ‘Two hundred and sixty-four Danube views following the course of the Danube’, which hammered for £13,000 ($16,380) and sold for £16,380 ($20,635) with buyer’s premium at Forum Auctions on March 27.
Plate from Adolf Friedreich Kunike’s ‘Two hundred and sixty-four Danube views following the course of the Danube’, which hammered for £13,000 ($16,380) and sold for £16,380 ($20,635) with buyer’s premium at Forum Auctions on March 27.

LONDON – Leading Forum Auctions’ March 27 sale of more books from the remarkable library of Norman Bobins was a complete copy of a German work following the course of the Danube from its source to the Black Sea. This sequence of 264 lithographs was issued in three editions (1820, 1824, and 1826) by Austrian lithographer, illustrator, and publisher Adolf Friedreich Kunike (1777-1838).

The commission to produce the drawings for Kunike’s prints was initially undertaken by Rudolf Alt, but he resigned the post halfway through the journey, fearful of the dangers inherent in the later reaches of the Danube as it entered the Ottoman Empire. Instead, the intrepid Ludwig Erminy completed the sketches. Forum could not find another complete hand-colored set that had appeared at auction, and this was reflected in the price. Estimated at £3,000-£5,000 ($3,775-$6,300), it hammered for £13,000 ($16,380) and sold for £16,380 ($20,635) with buyer’s premium.

This was the fourth tranche of Norman Bobins’ splendid library of color plate books offered at auction since Christie’s New York held the first sale in June 2023. 

Doulton Stoneware Pâte-sur-pâte Vases by Hannah Barlow, $7,812

Doulton stoneware vases decorated in pâte-sur-pâte by Hannah Barlow, which hammered for $6,250 and sold for $7,812 with buyer’s premium at Lion and Unicorn on March 26.
Doulton stoneware vases decorated in pâte-sur-pâte by Hannah Barlow, which hammered for $6,250 and sold for $7,812 with buyer’s premium at Lion and Unicorn on March 26.

HOLLYWOOD, FL – Sisters Hannah and Florence Barlow, both graduates of the Lambeth School of Art and leading artists at the nearby Doulton art pottery studio, came to an arrangement in the early 1870s. Hannah would focus on sgraffito decoration – carving animal designs into soft clay – while Florence would work predominantly in the pâte-sur-pâte technique, painting her studies of birds in raised slip. They largely stuck to the agreement, although occasionally Hannah Barlow did do some designs in pâte-sur-pâte.

This pair of 14in-high vases, offered by Lion and Unicorn on March 26 on Day One of its Impressive Decorative Arts auction, are decorated with a frieze of hounds chasing a fox picked out in high relief. Estimated at a modest $200-$800, the pair hammered at $6,250 ($7,812 with buyer’s premium).

1969 Grateful Dead and Bonzo Dog Band Concert Handbill, $2,405

1969 Grateful Dead and Bonzo Dog Band concert handbill, which hammered for £1,400 ($1,765) and sold for £1,905 ($2,405) with buyer’s premium at Dawsons Auctioneers March 28.
1969 Grateful Dead and Bonzo Dog Band concert handbill, which hammered for £1,400 ($1,765) and sold for £1,905 ($2,405) with buyer’s premium at Dawsons Auctioneers March 28.

MAIDENHEAD, UK – Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band was an experimental performance art group created by British art-school students in the 1960s. They combined music hall, jazz, and psychedelia with comedy and avant-garde art in what can only be described as an unmatchable performance.

Today, the band is best remembered for being asked by the Beatles’ Paul McCartney to appear in their contractual commitment to United Artists, the incoherent, drug-fueled, and commercially unsuccessful 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour. In it, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band performed Death Cab For Cutie, a single that would later provide name inspiration to a successful American rock band.

Vivian Stanshall (1943-1995) was a founding member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which was invited to play with the Grateful Dead on October 2-4, 1969 at The Boston Tea Party, a concert venue located at 15 Lansdowne Street. On a handbill for the show, the group was touted as ‘Bonzo Dog Band.’

Stanshall’s son Rupert received that concert handbill as part of his father’s legacy. He sent it to auction March 28 at Dawsons Auctioneers in its Vivian Stanshall Collection: Part Two sale, which showcased Stanshall’s lifetime collection of artifacts and memorabilia from his career. The handbill hammered for £1,400 ($1,765) and sold for £1,905 ($2,405) with buyer’s premium.

Meiping vase from 13th-14th century earns $677K at Subastas Darley

Blue and white meiping vase, which sold for €500,000 ($533,165 or $677,120 with buyer's premium) at Subastas Darley.

VALENCIA, Spain — A blue and white meiping vase, a classic of Yuan (1271-1368) dynasty porcelain, hammered for a cool €500,000 ($533,165, or $677,120 with buyer’s premium) at the Spanish auction house Subastas Darley on April 10. The 17in (43cm) vase, made in the kilns of Jingdezhen during the earliest years of porcelain production, was consigned by a member of the Karabeyoglu family.

The Yuan dynasty was characterized by the development of new styles and techniques that were used and refined in later periods. Among the most iconic of the large blue-and-white forms of the period is the tall meiping, used at the time as a wine container. The intricate designs were painted in sapphire-blue tones, using cobalt imported via the Silk Road from Persia. The decoration on this example is characteristically divided into sections, with the Eight Treasures to the shoulders, panels of ruyi to the base, and a central band of four peonies in full bloom and lotuses in various stages of blossom.

According to the auction house, it had been in the collection of the Karabeyoglu family for generations. The vendor was Meltem Karabeyoglu, chairman of the oil and mining conglomerate Karabeyoglu Enterprises, and custodian of an impressive collection of ceramics dating from the family’s heyday during the Ottoman Empire. The vase had been subject to a thermoluminescence test, with the results indicating it was made sometime in the 13th or 14th centuries.

The price was many times the top estimate of €80,000 ($85,000), but the auction house did reference three other exceptional examples in its catalog. They included the meiping — retaining the original cover that is lost in almost all surviving examples — that was offered by Christie’s Hong Kong in November 2023 as part of a selection from the celebrated Tianminlou collection. That piece, last sold by Sotheby’s in London in 1985 for what was then a massive £286,000 ($352,105), took a mighty HK$67,775,000 ($8,648,770).

Blue and white meiping vase, which sold for €500,000 ($533,165 or $677,120 with buyer's premium) at Subastas Darley.

Blue and white meiping vase, which sold for €500,000 ($533,165 or $677,120 with buyer's premium) at Subastas Darley.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

Meissen 18th-century porcelain figure collection exceeds $1M at Bonhams

Circa-1745 Meissen group of lovers with a birdcage by Kaendler, which sold for €171,450 ($183,470) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

PARIS — The first part of one of the finest assemblages of 18th-century Meissen porcelain figures still in private hands generated a premium-inclusive €948,450 ($1,010,480) at Bonhams on April 17. A total of 44 of the 55 lots from the collection formed by German businessman Hadrian Maria Oskar Merkle (1942-2018) were sold. The auction results can be seen at LiveAuctioneers.

Porcelain figures and groups were an essential part of table culture at European courts in the 18th century. The discovery of the secret of hard-paste porcelain at Meissen around 1710 led to the replacement of sugar sculpture on the table with the finer and more durable material that could also be painted and gilded. These table sculptures were made both as an expression of court grandeur and as amusing tableau to stimulate conversation among the dinner guests.

Merkle’s goal as a collector was to show the incredible ambition of the Meissen factory as well as the genius of its master modeler, Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706-1775). A student of the Dresden court sculptor Benjamin Thomae, Kaendler joined the royal porcelain factory in 1731. He perfectly understood the possibilities of the new material, and, during the course of more than 40 years, created a magnificent and unique body of sculptural work in the late-Baroque and Rococo styles.

The Merkle collection includes some exceptional examples. Considered one of the most beautiful of Kaendler’s early figures is the crinoline figure of a lady with a fan circa 1737. Based on an engraving published in 1736, the model is first mentioned in Kaendler’s work records in December 1736. This example was previously part of two exceptional US collections of Meissen: that of Charles E. Dunlap (sold by Sotheby Parke Bernet in 1975) and the Christner collection (sold by Christie’s New York in 1979). Estimated at €20,000-€30,000 ($21,385-$32,080), it hammered for €100,000 ($106,925) and sold for €127,000 ($135,795) with buyer’s premium.

A coveted model of lovers with a birdcage dating from 1745 shared the sale’s top estimate of €40,000-€60,000 ($42,770-$64,180) and returned the top price of €135,000 ($144,460), or €171,450 ($183,470) with buyer’s premium. The piece is mentioned in Kaendler’s work records in March 1741: “A group, consisting of a man with a birdcage in which there is a parrot, beside him a woman giving the parrot cherries to eat and putting feathers on the man’s head, whereas he presents her with a titmouse.” Another example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Subject to bidding in the room, on the telephones, and online was the 10in (25cm) figure of the Dresden court jester Joseph Fröhlich (1694-1757) with an owl perched on his left shoulder. Estimated at €20,000-€30,000 ($21,385-$32,080), it hammered at €62,000 ($66,325) and sold for €78,740 ($84,225) with buyer’s premium.

The earliest record of the figure is in Kaendler’s work reports in September 1736, however in April 1737, following a visit to Joseph Fröhlich in Dresden, he reworked the head of the figure to make it more lifelike. He added an owl to the jester’s shoulder in May 1738 when completing an apparently urgent order for six figures.

Another example of this variation is in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Budapest, Hungary. Merkle’s figure, inscribed with the gilt date 1739 and initials JF, was previously in the Meissen collections of both EA Treherne (sold at Sotheby’s in 1958) and Sir Henry Tate (sold at Christie’s in March 1995).

Fröhlich, who began his career as a juggler and jester in 1725, rose to become the Electoral and Royal Court juggler, Adviser Kurzweiliger Rat, and the Royal Polish Mühlenkommisar. Some of these titles may have been bestowed in jest, but his proximity to the ruler gave him status and power that only few at the court could hope for.

Additional auctions of the Merkle collection will take place in Paris later in 2024 and in spring 2025.

Circa-1745 Meissen group of lovers with a birdcage by Kaendler, which sold for €171,450 ($183,470) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

Circa-1745 Meissen group of lovers with a birdcage by Kaendler, which sold for €171,450 ($183,470) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

Circa-1737 Meissen crinoline figure of a woman with a fan by Kaendler, which sold for €127,000 ($135,795) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

Circa-1737 Meissen crinoline figure of a woman with a fan by Kaendler, which sold for €127,000 ($135,795) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

Circa-1745 Meissen masonic crinoline group of lovers by Kaendler, which sold for €74,930 ($80,170) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

Circa-1745 Meissen masonic crinoline group of lovers by Kaendler, which sold for €74,930 ($80,170) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

Meissen figure of the Court Jester (Hofnarr) Josef Fröhlich by Kaendler, which sold for €78,740 ($84,225) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

Meissen figure of the Court Jester (Hofnarr) Josef Fröhlich by Kaendler, which sold for €78,740 ($84,225) with buyer’s premium at Bonhams Paris.

Circa-1738 Meissen Pantalone and Columbine group by Kaendler, which sold for €82,550 ($88,335) with buyer's premium at Bonhams Paris.

Circa-1738 Meissen Pantalone and Columbine group by Kaendler, which sold for €82,550 ($88,335) with buyer's premium at Bonhams Paris.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

17th-century William and Mary bureau secures $23K at Chiswick

William and Mary marquetry-inlaid walnut bureau in the manner of Gerrit Jensen, which hammered for £15,000 ($18,690) and sold for £19,200 ($23,920) at Chiswick Auctions on April 7.

LONDON – When online bidding closed for Chiswick Auctions’ April 7 sale titled Interiors, Homes & Antiques, the contest for this 3ft 2in (96cm) wide William and Mary marquetry-inlaid walnut bureau had reached £15,000 ($18,690). The estimate had been just £400-£500 ($500-$625), but with buyer’s premium, it ultimately sold for £19,200 ($23,920). Sale results can be viewed at LiveAuctioneers.

Although not cataloged as such, the highly intricate arabesque marquetry on this piece bears a close resemblance to the work of several leading London cabinet makers of the late 17th century. So-called ‘Seaweed’ marquetry of this type is illustrated and discussed in Adam Bowett’s 2002 book English Furniture 1660-1714, From Charles II to Queen Anne.

Potential candidates for its manufacture include Thomas Pistor (d. 1711) of The Cabinet, Ludgate Hill, England, or Gerrit Jensen (d. 1715), the Flemish or Dutch maker. Both became main exponents of French court style in England during the late 17th century. Jensen enjoyed royal patronage from the reign of Charles II to Queen Anne, during which time he supplied furnishings for St James’s Palace, Hampton Court, and Kensington Palace.

Chiswick’s desk, with later brass handles and replacement bracket feet (they would originally have been bun feet), was part of a consignment of furniture and antiques that had been left the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) in 1939 by Evelyn Stannus of Kensington, England. Many objects from the collection have been on loan to the British National Trust, and this item had been displayed at Montacute House in Somerset, England.

William and Mary marquetry-inlaid walnut bureau in the manner of Gerrit Jensen, which hammered for £15,000 ($18,690) and sold for £19,200 ($23,920) at Chiswick Auctions on April 7.

William and Mary marquetry-inlaid walnut bureau in the manner of Gerrit Jensen, which hammered for £15,000 ($18,690) and sold for £19,200 ($23,920) at Chiswick Auctions on April 7.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

19th Century Arctic map annotated by Scottish explorer John Rae sold way beyond estimate at Cheffins

Malby & Sons Chart of the North Polar Sea annotated by Scottish explorer John Rae, which sold for £8,000 ($10,100, or $12,625 with buyer's premium) at Cheffins on April 4.

CAMBRIDGE, UK – The commercial fortunes of a 19th-century map of the Arctic offered by Cheffins on March 4 were boosted greatly by its annotations. Notes in red and black ink to this Malby & Sons Chart of the North Polar Sea were made by the Scottish explorer and surgeon John Rae (1813-1893), the man who discovered the fate of the lost Franklin expedition. Full results for the sale can be seen at LiveAuctioneers.

The map came by descent from the family of the Victorian Member of Parliament Albert Pell (1820-1907). While family records do not tell of a meeting between Pell and Rae, both worked with the Hudson Bay Company’s Office in the 1870s.

Rae completed four Arctic exploration voyages, mapping much of the Arctic coastlines on foot or by boat. The Rae Strait at King William Land – the final piece of the jigsaw in discovering a Northwest Passage – is named after him. Second in command of Sir John Richardson’s party sent to search for Franklin, he returned with artifacts including a small silver plate engraved ‘Sir John Franklin, KCH’ and the information that close to 30 corpses had been found. Rae made two reports on his findings: one for the public, which omitted any mention of cannibalism, and another for the Admiralty, which included it. However, the latter was leaked to the press, and caused great outcry in Victorian society, not least with Franklin’s widow, Lady Franklin, who refused to accept the news and campaigned against Rae.

Cheffins’ lithographic map was originally found inserted into an 1848 copy of A. Keith Johnson’s The Physical Atlas illustrating the Geographical Distribution of Natural Phaenomena. Rae marked his personal discoveries in black ink with other ‘track on coast or previously explored’ routes indicated in red. He added a marginal note stating: ‘Here the hydrographer of the Admiralty took 10 or 15 miles from my discoveries so as to make Collinson’s appear the farthest. I was at this place a year (in 1851) before Collinson. J Rae’.

In Cambridge on April 4, the annotated map was estimated at £400-£800 ($505-$1,010) but took £8,000 ($10,100, or $12,625 with buyer’s premium) from a bidder using the LiveAuctioneers platform. The Victorian atlas in which it was stored was offered separately, selling for £150 ($190, or $235 with buyer’s premium).

Malby & Sons Chart of the North Polar Sea annotated by Scottish explorer John Rae, which sold for £8,000 ($10,100, or $12,625 with buyer's premium) at Cheffins on April 4.

Malby & Sons Chart of the North Polar Sea annotated by Scottish explorer John Rae, which sold for £8,000 ($10,100, or $12,625 with buyer's premium) at Cheffins on April 4.

Detail of the Chart of the North Polar Sea annotated by Scottish explorer John Rae, which sold for £8,000 ($10,100, or $12,625 with buyer's premium) at Cheffins on April 4.

Detail of the Chart of the North Polar Sea annotated by Scottish explorer John Rae, which sold for £8,000 ($10,100, or $12,625 with buyer's premium) at Cheffins on April 4.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

Jean Paul Riopelle’s ‘Untitled (Abstract)’ leads our five auction highlights

‘Untitled (Abstract)’ by Jean Paul Riopelle, which hammered for $18,000 and sold for $23,040 at Rachel Davis Fine Arts on March 23.

Jean Paul Riopelle, ‘Untitled (Abstract)’, $23,040

CLEVELAND, OH – The March 23 sale at Rachel Davis Fine Arts included a small but prime-period mixed media work on paper by Canadian artist Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002). Untitled (Abstract), measuring slightly more than 6 by 11in, was signed and dated 1955 – the moment when Riopelle embraced abstraction and developed his ‘mosaic’ technique. This particular work, which has been authenticated by Yseult Riopelle and included in the artist’s catalogue raisonné, was also included in the solo exhibition Riopelle held at the Gimpel Fils Gallery in London in 1956. Entered for sale from a private collection in Cleveland, Ohio with a modest estimate of $800-$1,200, it hammered at $18,000 and sold for $23,040 with buyer’s premium to a LiveAuctioneers bidder. 

Amegalethoscope by Carlo Ponti, $11,520

Amegalethoscope by Carlo Ponti, which hammered for $9,000 and sold for $11,520 at Bonhams Skinner on March 20.
Amegalethoscope by Carlo Ponti, which hammered for $9,000 and sold for $11,520 at Bonhams Skinner on March 20.

MARLBOROUGH, MA – The invention of the megalethoscope by the Swiss-Italian optician and photographer Carlo Ponti greatly enhanced the experience of viewing photographs. Unveiled at the International Exhibition in 1862, the device created the illusion of both perspective and day and night. To view a photograph in daylight, doors with attached mirrors were opened to reflect sunlight onto the photograph. By closing the door and placing an oil lamp behind the image, the scenes appeared as nocturnes. 

This deluxe megalethoscope in a Renaissance revival walnut and ebonized case previously belonged to the New England industrialist Lucius Bowles Darling, owner of the Pawtucket, Rhode Island Music Hall. Darling and his and wife embarked on a Grand Tour circa 1878, when this piece was purchased. It was sold by Bonhams Skinner in an online sale that closed on March 20 together with the original itemized invoice from Carlo Ponti of Venice, dated July 30, 1878 for 764 lire. The auctioneer thought it might bring $10,000-$15,000, but it sold at $9,000 ($11,520 with buyer’s premium).

Spanish Colonial School Set of Allegories of the Four Continents, $36,250

Set of 18th-century Spanish Colonial School allegories of the four continents, which hammered for $29,000 and sold for $36,250 with buyer’s premium at South Bay Auctions on March 20.
Set of 18th-century Spanish Colonial School allegories of the four continents, which hammered for $29,000 and sold for $36,250 with buyer’s premium at South Bay Auctions on March 20.

EAST MORICHES, NY – Leading South Bay Auctions’ March 20 sale was this set of 18th-century Spanish Colonial School canvases. Allegories of ‘the Four Continents’ – Africa, Asia, Europe, and America – became a visual staple of Western art in the 18th century. Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci’s revelation that the Americas were a unique continent was a key development in the European view of the world.

Pictures such as this are very much a product of colonialism. Condensing the vast scope of global cultures within a single glance makes their iconography anachronistic at best. But this was a very decorative set that gained something from its relatively naïve execution and untouched condition. Together estimated at $600-$800, they hammered for $29,000 ($36,250 with buyer’s premium).

‘The Rapid’ Wheat Shock Loader Salesman’s Sample, $17,700

‘The Rapid’ wheat shock loader salesman sample, which hammered for $14,750 and sold for $17,700 with buyer’s premium at Chupp Auctions March 22.
‘The Rapid’ wheat shock loader salesman sample, which hammered for $14,750 and sold for $17,700 with buyer’s premium at Chupp Auctions March 22.

SHIPSHEWANA, IN – In 1904, William B. Penrose was granted a United States patent (no. 792,549A) for a shock or grain loader, a first-of-its-kind mechanical device designed to pick up cut ‘hay or like field crops with conveyor belts or conveyor chains, with or without pick-up means.’ As hay and wheat harvesting was still accomplished with horse-drawn equipment, Penrose’s innovation was on the cusp of the mechanized agricultural revolution in the United States, and would lead to huge harvesting productivity gains.

On March 22, Chupp Auctions featured a collection of salesman’s samples – miniaturized versions of large-scale equipment for on-site demonstration purposes to prospective clients. In most cases fully operational, these miniatures were easily transported by sales professionals and are highly sought after by collectors today.

This ‘The Rapid’ wheat shock loader salesman’s sample topped the category at Chupp’s 4-Day Auction. Starting at $100, the lot underwent 84 progressively higher bids until it hammered for an astounding $14,750 ($17,700 with buyer’s premium).

Light-Up C3PO Costume Head Worn by Anthony Daniels in ‘Return of the Jedi,’ $877,500

Anthony Daniels Collection C3PO costume head from ‘Return of the Jedi,’ which hammered for $675,000 and sold for $877,500 with buyer’s premium at Propstore March 12.
Anthony Daniels Collection C3PO costume head from ‘Return of the Jedi,’ which hammered for $675,000 and sold for $877,500 with buyer’s premium at Propstore March 12.

VALENCIA, CA – The screen-worn and -matched light-up C3PO costume head worn by English actor Anthony Daniels (b. 1946-) in 1983’s Return of the Jedi hammered for $675,000 ($877,500 with buyer’s premium) at Propstore’s March 12 sale. The weathered head was estimated at $500,000-$1 million, came directly from Daniels’ personal collection, and had been widely photographed and displayed by Daniels at conventions worldwide.

Beyond the Daniels provenance, Propstore officials painstakingly went frame by frame through the film and matched it to several scenes in the Endor sequence, including when Luke Skywalker reunites with the group after his speeder bike chase, and as the rebels scout out and approach the shield reactor. It matches through distinct markings on the right side of C3PO’s outer perimeter ring.

Loosely based on the robot from Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction masterpiece Metropolis, the final C3PO head design was executed by Liz Moore for Lucasfilm, producer of the Star Wars franchise at the time. Daniels has owned the prop since then, and decided to send it to market, where it performed admirably.

Gustav Klimt’s copy of a Rubens masterpiece secured $30K at A.B. Levy

Gustav Klimt’s 1880 watercolor copy of Rubens’ ‘The Triumph of Truth’, which sold for $24,000 ($30,000 with buyer’s premium) at A.B. Levy on March 28.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Like all artists born in the 19th century, Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) underwent a traditional academic training, studying at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule (now the University of Applied Arts, Vienna) from 1876 to 1883. In the years before the birth of Vienna Secessionism in 1897, he revered Vienna’s foremost history painter, Hans Makart, and enjoyed a successful decade as a painter of architectural decorations in a conventional manner.

The 2ft 11in by 13in watercolor on paper offered by A. B. Levy in its March 28 sale is a copy of Peter Paul Rubens’ The Triumph of Truth. The original work, from a series of the Life of Maria de Medici, is now in the Louvre. Klimt signed and dated it 1880, meaning he was 18 or 19 at the time.

In commercial terms, the works he produced in this period garner a mere shadow of the sums commanded by works in his best-known style. This work, with a provenance including the Hungarian-American film industry executive William Fox (1876-1952), was last sold in Florida in April 2018 at Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches when it attained $18,000. This time out, estimated at $7,000-$9,000, it hammered for $24,000 ($30,000 with buyer’s premium).

Gustav Klimt’s 1880 watercolor copy of Rubens’ ‘The Triumph of Truth’, which sold for $24,000 ($30,000 with buyer’s premium) at A.B. Levy on March 28.

Gustav Klimt’s 1880 watercolor copy of Rubens’ ‘The Triumph of Truth’, which sold for $24,000 ($30,000 with buyer’s premium) at A.B. Levy on March 28.

Detail of Gustav Klimt’s 1880 watercolor copy of Rubens’ ‘The Triumph of Truth’, which sold for $24,000 ($30,000 with buyer’s premium) at A.B. Levy on March 28.

Detail of Gustav Klimt’s 1880 watercolor copy of Rubens’ ‘The Triumph of Truth’, which sold for $24,000 ($30,000 with buyer’s premium) at A.B. Levy on March 28.

Detail of the signature on Gustav Klimt’s 1880 watercolor copy of Rubens’ ‘The Triumph of Truth’, which sold for $24,000 ($30,000 with buyer’s premium) at A.B. Levy on March 28.

Detail of the signature on Gustav Klimt’s 1880 watercolor copy of Rubens’ ‘The Triumph of Truth’, which sold for $24,000 ($30,000 with buyer’s premium) at A.B. Levy on March 28.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.