April 7, 2009 - Auction Central News

Italian monuments, architectural treasures crumble in quake

Location of L'Aquila, Italy. Map by NordNordWest, courtesy Wikipedia.

L’AQUILA, Italy (AP) – Built as a mountain stronghold during the Middle Ages, this cultural gem in central Italy has withstood sieges and battles – but its architectural treasures suffered severe damage in Monday’s quake.

The city’s historic center boasts buildings that represent some of the great stages of Western architecture – Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque: and much of it was turned to rubble by the pre-dawn jolt.

Harm to ancient monuments was recorded as far away as Rome, where the famed thermal baths built by the Emperor Caracalla suffered slight damage.

Though not a major tourist destination like Florence or Venice, the scenic city of some 70,000, nestled in a valley and ringed by snowcapped Apennine mountains, has ancient fortifications, castles, churches, and tombs of saints.

“The damage is more serious than we can imagine,” said Giuseppe Proietti, a top Culture Ministry official in Rome. “The historic center of L’Aquila has been devastated.”

The 5.8-magnitude quake struck as residents slept, killing at least 91 people in the country’s deadliest quake in nearly three decades. Tens of thousands were left homeless and 1,500 were injured, government officials said.

Vintage fishing tackle on deck for Dudley’s April 10 sale

Vintage reels are a star attraction in Dudley Auction's April 10th fishing sale. Image courtesy Dudley Auction.

INVERNESS, Fla. – Antique and vintage fishing tackle take the spotlight at the next specialty fishing and outdoor sporting auction held by Dudley’s Auction on April 10. Live Internet bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

Collectors and sportsmen the world over will compete for more than 360 lots of antique and vintage fishing reels, lures, rods, tackle boxes, hooks, bobbers and more. The auction promises literally something for every collecting interest, akin to viewing an old sportsman’s catalog from Orvis or Eddie Bauer.

Skinner to auction high-style European antiques April 11

Georg Jensen designed this sterling compote that stands 10 inches tall. Image courtesy Skinner Inc.

BOSTON – Fine silver will be the highlight of Skinner’s sale of European Furniture and Decorative Arts on Saturday, April 11. A major force in the sale of high-style European pieces, Skinner will again offer an impressively varied selection of English and Continental decorative works of art, ceramics and furniture with this sale.

The sale features more than 350 lots of fine silver from the early 18th to 20th centuries of British, Continental, Russian and American origin. Highlighted is a group of Georg Jensen silver including a pair of two-light candelabra, design no. 324, (lot 711, est. $4,000-$6,000); an Acanthus pattern flatware service (lot 713, est. $2,000-$4,000); a tall compote decorated with grapes, design no. 264A (lot 719, est. $6,000-$8,000); and a four-piece tea and coffee service, design no. 80 (lot 724, est. $2,000-$4,000).

Furniture Specific: Elegant (?) Eastlake

Charles Locke Eastlake's book 'Hints on Household Taste' is must reading.

Eastlake. Yuck! Those two words are often found together in many discussions of 19th-century American furniture. Other terms that may be lurking close by in those same conversations include ugly, clunky, gaudy and cheap. And in most cases the terms are aptly used since what is commonly called Eastlake furniture often fits nicely with those disparaging words. But the problem is with the application of the terms since most of what we refer to as Eastlake has absolutely nothing to do with the original ideals and concepts of one our favorite Englishmen whom we love to hate – right up there with George III. But Eastlake, unlike George, is undeserving of our enmity. In the long run he actually provided a valuable service to the American furniture industry and its consumers.

Charles Locke Eastlake was born in England in 1836 with the proverbial silver spoon firmly in place. Trained as an architect, he traveled Europe as a young man and became an art and architecture critic. At the age of 19 he was appointed secretary of the Royal Institute of British Architects. From this lofty vantage point he began to notice the ground swell of activity in the field of design reform. What had begun as a vague discontent with the stagnation of original English thinking on the subject crystallized into openly expressed distaste at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition.

Elliott tall case clock stands tall in Jenack’s April 19 auction

This Elliott, London mahogany tall case clock stands 8 feet 8 inches tall. Image courtesy William Jenack Auctioneers.

CHESTER, N.Y. – William Jenack Auctioneers will offer for sale on Sunday, April 19, an outstanding Elliott, London carved mahogany nine-tube tall case clock from a Sullivan County estate, measuring 8 feet 8 inches tall (estimate: $8,000-$12,000). The fine carved mahogany case is likely by New York cabinetmaker R.J. Horner & Co. and the nine tubes are each signed Harris & Harrington, 1901.

Also from this collection is a 58-inch French mahogany-case pinwheel regulator wall clock (estimate: $2,000-$3,000) and a vintage Ansonia “Florida” gilt metal eight-day clock with open escapement (estimate: $1,800-$2,500). The sale will feature more than 20 clocks from this Monticello, N.Y., (Sullivan County) estate.

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