NEW YORK – Bloomsbury Auctions will turn the keys to its exclusive wine cellar for the first time on Friday, June 19, with a Fine & Rare Wines sale conducted in association with Sokolin LLC. The inaugural sale features The Signature Cellar From a Private European Collector, with presale estimates ranging from $75 to $36,000. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
The auction inventory includes a spectacular array of wines for both investment and consumption. The Signature Cellar From a Private European Collector features 778 interesting and unique lots, including a remarkable collection of small- and large-format bottles, with a total presale estimate of $1.5M-$2.1M.
Estimates for the late 1800s Chinese rosewood desk range from $15,000 to $20,000. Image courtesy Austin Auction Gallery.
AUSTIN, Texas – Profusely carved with a pierced crest and nine Foo lions, a monumental 19th-century Chinese rosewood desk worthy of any of the Eight Immortals is the star attraction of Austin Auction Gallery’s sale June 14. It will be one of more than 400 lots offered at the antiques and decorative arts auction, which will begin Sunday at 1 p.m. Central. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The cylinder roll desk is 70 inches wide, 82 inches high and 39 inches deep. The top opens to a magnificently fitted interior with a leather-lined pullout writing surface. The desk is adorned with large and elaborate carved Chinese figures, scenic panels in relief and auspicious symbols throughout. Each wooden pull is carved as the head of a figure. The desk carries a “conservative estimate” of $15,000-$20,000.
Among the other offerings of fine furniture is a selection of 18th- and 19th-century antiques from Spain, England and France. A late 17th-century Spanish Baroque hall table is estimated to fetch $2,000-$4,000. It is notch-carved in a floral motif.
A fine Spanish Baroque walnut library table from the 17th or 18th century and having a thick rectangular top fashioned from a single board, 65 inches long by 33 inches, deep boasts a $6,000-$8,000 estimate.
An 18th-century Spanish pine trestle bench having a carved apron will be offered along with several large Spanish Baroque style banquet tables and highly carved Spanish desk sets.
The decorative arts category is diverse and rich with a collection of Meissen porcelain figural groups purchased in Berlin by the consignor in the 1960s. This is the first time they have been offered on the U.S. market. Included is a large figural group, The Parcae, after J.J. Kandler, modeled in three parts as the winged Chronos assisting the three nude fates Atropos, Clotho and Lachesis as they spin, measure and cut the thread of Life. Accompanied by a putto on a stepped gilt base, the group has a $6,000-$8,000 estimate.
More than 100 pieces of art glass including Lalique, Baccarat, Gallé, and Tiffany will be offered, including a pair of Aurene vases purchased from glass expert and author Albert Christian Revi.
An unusual lot will be a full display suit of armor made in Toledo Spain, in the 1920s, which has a $1,000-$1,500 estimate.
Leading the silver category is an extensive and scarce French Odiot .950 silver flatware service for 12 plus extras. Each piece is finely ornamented in a shell and scroll motif with berry accented acanthus mounts. A portion of the service was designed and bears marks for star silversmith Emile Puiforcat, commissioned by Odiot in 1858. The 118-piece set has a $10,000-$12,000 estimate.
Several other flatware services including Lunt’s Eloquence and International’s Joan of Arc along with a fine sterling tea/coffee service will be sold.
Fine Estate Jewelry featuring a Jacques Marcus (New York, circa 1882-1892) 14-karat yellow gold bangle set with 12 oval garnets and 19 rose cut diamonds, a 14-karat white gold old European cut diamond pendant, and a selection of gold diamond rings will be offered with various estimates.
Detailed information about all of the lots to be offered on June 14 at Austin Auction Gallery is available at www.austinauction.com or by calling 512-258-5479.
Bidding at Austin Auction Gallery is available online through LiveAuctioneers.com as well as by phone, floor and absentee. Austin Auction Gallery is located at 8414 Anderson Mill Road in Austin.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
The Meissen figural group ‘Parcae’ has an estimate of $6,000-$8,000. Image courtesy Austin Auction Gallery.Eighteenth-century Spanish Baroque furniture will include this table that has a $2,000-$4,000 estimate. Image courtesy Austin Auction Gallery.A scarce 118-piece set of scarce Odiot .950 silver flatware service is estimated at $10,000 to $12,000. Image courtesy Austin Auction Gallery.An antique platinum and diamond ring with two European round cut center stones is expected to bring $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy Austin Auction Gallery.
Bauhaus Reloaded Los 42: Weissenhof’-Sessel MR-20, Kunstler Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Hersteller: Berliner Metallgewerbe Josef, Berlin, 1927. Schätzpreis 15.000 €. Foto von Quittenbaum.
Es passiert nicht oft, dass eine Verschmeltzung von Persönlichtkeiten und Talenten einen populären Stil komplett ändert. Doch Architekt Walter Gropius und seine kleine Gruppe von Künstlern/Lehrern und Schülern hinterlässt einen bleibenden Einfluss auf alles – von Möbeln bis Spielzeug, von Fenstern bis zu Gebäuden. Es war das Jahr 1919 und es passiert in Weimar, Deutschland, was selbst nicht einmal viele Deutsche wissen. Deshalb auch die Bezeichnung der aktuellen Multi-Standort Ausstellung „Das Bauhaus kommt aus Weimar”, zu besichtigen bis zum 5. Juli in dieser reizenden Stadt Goethes, Schillers und des Jungendstil. www.das-baushaus-kommt.de
„Am Anfang war es nicht einfach. Gropius wurde gebeten, diese zwei künstlerischen Ausbildungsstätten – die Kunstgewerbeschule und die Kunstschule – zu vereinigen.”, legt Arthur Floss von Quittenbaums, München, dar. „Aber er verbesserte die Unterrichtspläne und stellte die richtigen Dozenten ein.”
Norman Rockwell artwork for Coca-Cola. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers Archive.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) – Norman Rockwell’s first cover for The Saturday Evening Post was of a sour-faced adolescent strolling his infant sibling in a baby carriage as two boys in baseball uniforms make mocking gestures.
But the frivolous image from May 1916 soon gave way to weightier subjects.
He marked the financial turmoil of the Great Depression with a portrait of a crowd huddled around a “Stock Exchange Quotations” sign. Images in later years of a wounded World War II veteran, President John F. Kennedy and a young black girl integrating a school showed a growing artistic interest in politics, war, civil liberties and other issues of the time.
A new exhibit at the National Museum of American Illustration traces Rockwell’s career over six decades, showing how he evolved from an artist fond of painting dogs, children, seniors and other sentimental subjects into a social commentator keen on documenting the world around him. Continue reading
A handwritten document signed by George Washington at Mount Vernon records a small transaction of grain in March 1788. Framed with an engraving of the first U.S. president, the lot is estimated at $18,000-$25,000. Image courtesy Written Word Autographs.
TAMWORTH, N.H. (ACNI) – A virtual who’s who of great Americans will be represented in Written Word Autographs’ online auction June 27-28. From a signed document recording the purchase of a load of grain by George Washington to an official White House photo autographed by Ronald Reagan and his entire cabinet, the auction is loaded with letters, images and autographs of famous Americans. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
“It’s a particularly strong auction with good content across the board in what we cover,” said Dan Rowe, owner of Written Word Autographs. Rowe has been an autograph collector for about 50 years and a dealer since 1995. With more than 1,000 lots, this sale represents a major collection.
One of the outstanding lots in the sale is a small handwritten document recording George Washington’s purchase of an order of corn and wheat a year before he became the first president of the United States.
“It’s an absolutely pristine example of his handwriting,” said Rowe, noting it was written in March 1788 when Washington was a private citizen focusing on running a farm. “It was a kind of a window between the time he was a general and when he became president,” said Rowe. Framed with an engraving of Washington, the signed page is estimated to sell for $18,000-$25,000.
A letter written by Gen. Robert E. Lee commenting on the promotion of a fellow Confederate officer to the rank of major general in July 1862 has an estimate of $9,500-$18,000. “It’s an interesting letter because of the military content,” said Rowe. A second Lee letter in the sale is a thank-you “for your kind invitation to myself and family to partake of the hospitalities of the Exchange Hotel when we visit Richmond.” The general wrote the letter in November 1863, five months after his defeat at Gettysburg. The one-page letter is estimated at $7,000-$14,000.
An appointment document signed by President Abraham Lincoln and counter-signed by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton has an estimate of $9,500-$11,000. The partially printed vellum document measures 14 by 18 1/2 inches and appointed Charles Kingsbury as Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers. It has an estimate of $9,500-$11,000.
A letter written in December 1868 by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) to the Rev. Joseph Hopkins Twichell announces the writer’s engagement to Olivia “Livy” Langdon. “It has wonderful content and is written to his best friend,” said Rowe. Following a courtship conducted largely through correspondence, said Rowe, Clemens and Langdon married in 1870. Clemens’ letter carries a $15,000-$25,000 estimate.
The color photograph of President Ronald Reagan and his cabinet was taken on Feb. 4, 1981 at their first cabinet meting. Participants included Vice President George H.W. Bush, Attorney General William French Smith, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, Secretary of State Alexander Haig and William Casey, director of the CIA. The 11-by-14-inch photographs has a $5,000-$8,000 estimate.
The auction also includes a presidential appointment that recalls the most perilous time of the Cold War. Signed by President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk in November 1961, the appointment names John Alexander McCone as director of the CIA. “McCone was widely credited with being the first government official to foresee that the Soviet Union would place offensive weapons on Cuba, a move that set off the Cuban missile crisis in 1962,” wrote Rowe in the auction catalog. McCone replaced Allan Dulles, whom Kennedy privately blamed for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Archivally matted and framed, the document has a $6,000-$15,000 estimate. The lot contains two color photographs of JFK and McCone at his swearing-in ceremony.
From famous Americans the auction turns to the infamous in the form of a handwritten and autographed manuscript by William A. Shaw, recounting his actions as a member of the John Dillinger gang. He wrote the account in 1960 while in prison. Shaw was the leader of the White Cap Gang in Indianapolis during the early 1930s. He was 19 years old when he met John Dillinger on June 4, 1933 and they committed their first robbery together that evening, noted Rowe. Shaw was already in prison when FBI agents gunned down Dillinger as he walked out of the Biograph Theater in Chicago in July 1934. Included in this collection are two original photographs of Shaw being interviewed at the John Dillinger Historical Museum in Nashville, Ind. The lot has a $5,000-$8,000 estimate.
For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 603-323-7563. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to be absentee or live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Honus Wagner, the subject on the most valuable baseball card, is pictured as a coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 5-by-7 autographed photo has a $18,000-$26,000 estimate. Image courtesy Written Word Autographs.An official White House photo of President Ronald Reagan and his first cabinet is signed by all 20 members pictured. The 11-by-14-inch photo carries a $5,000-$8,000 estimate. Image courtesy Written Word Autographs.Heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, left, signed this photograph for a much bigger New York state trooper while in training in the Catskills. The 8-by-10 photo has a $1,200-$2,000 estimate. Image courtesy Written Word Autographs.
