December 14, 2009 - Auction Central News

Bronze Art Nouveau dancers turn $60,950 at Leland Little’s sale

A pair of gilt bronze figural dancers (one shown), by French artist Agathon Léonard brought $60,950.

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – A gorgeous pair of gilt bronze figural dancers, executed by the renowned French artist and sculptor Agathon Léonard (1841-1923) sold for a combined $60,950 at a Fine & Decorative Arts Cataloged Auction held Dec. 5 by Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.

Agathon Léonard was the pseudonym of Van Weydveldt. The artist gained fame in 1900 with the debut of his Jeu l’echarpe, originally created for Sevres in fine porcelain as a centerpiece and based on the fluid movements of Loïe Fuller in her famous scarf dances. The porcelain sets sold out, and Léonard created the figures in bronze in varying sizes. The two sold are 21 3/4 inches tall and epitomize the Art Nouveau movement.

The bronzes were the top lots in a sale that saw nearly 750 lots change hands. Approximately 250 people packed the building, while over 700 bidders registered online, through LiveAuctioneers.com prior to the sale. Also, absentee and phone bids numbered 1,300.

“This was a great sale to wrap up the first year in our new showroom,” Leland Little commented. “We look forward to continued success next year.”

All prices quoted include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.

The next top lot after the Leonard bronzes was a rare Edgefield District “Dave the Slave” 5-gallon ovoid form jug, with applied ear handles and an even medium brown alkaline glaze. The inscribed and dated (1857) piece sold for $26,450. Also, a Jugtown (North Carolina) Chinese blue Tang vase, Oriental translation form, with applied extruded handles and wine glaze fetched $1,495.

Fine art commanded strong prices. A still life on canvas by Paul Lacroix (New Jersey/New York, 1827-1869), housed in the likely original gilt wood frame and signed lower left, brought $21,850. An oil on canvas by Aldro T. Hibbard (Massachusetts/Vermont, 1886-1972), titled Snow Scene in Moonlight, signed and framed, sold for $17,250. A bronze creation by Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973), titled Bear, realized $4,600.

American period furniture was well received. An early 19th-century Southern chest on frame from Rowan County, N.C., walnut with yellow pine secondary, rose to $17,250. A Southern Chippendale step-back cupboard, western North Carolina, circa 1800-1820, one-piece form, climbed to $13,800. A fine Southern Hepplewhite mahogany inlaid cellaret, probably Virginia, circa 1800, topped out at $6,900.

Also, a mid-19th century Southern Sheraton server, Guilford County, N.C., cherry with poplar secondary, earned $2,760, about double the high estimate. Tops among Continental furniture pieces were a Louis XV-style Belle Epoque French escritoire, mahogany with ormolu mounts, $8,338; and a pair of Bagues-style wall sconces of molded glass and gilt metal, each with a bird on an urn, $2,070.

In the folk art category, a large late-19th-century carved American eagle, made in New England of white pine with a dark red-brown tone, breezed to $14,950. An untitled mixed media on paper work of angels and winged animals by Minnie Evans, North Carolina, 1892-1987, circa 1970s, garnered $5,520. A 19th-century Virginia leather key basket, oblong form, hand-stitched of brown tinted leather, made $4,830.

Asian pieces wowed the crowd. A 19th-century six-panel coromandel dressing screen, with each panel relief carved at the top and bottom, 73 inches by 90 inches, achieved $14,375. A matched pair of 19th- century antique carved wooden doors with a landscape scene on one side and a carved dragon on the other went for $12,650. An unsigned Sino-Tibetan style painting depicting Buddha hit $6,612.

A pair of late 18th- or early 19th-century Chinese porcelain vases, baluster form and hand-painted in polychrome overglaze enamels, coasted to $3,910. An ancient Chinese bronze sword with provenance, circa 700-400 B.C., in a silk-lined presentation box, sold for $2,990. An 18th-century Chinese Huanghuali document box with dovetail joints and later Chinese hardware commanded $2,760.

In art glass and lighting, a Tiffany Studios bronze and Favrile lamp in a four-arm electrified candelabra form, with five glass shades, all signed, and attractive patina attained $14,375; a signed Tiffany Favrile decanter and six cordials of gold iridescent glass, all etched “L.C.T.,” $2,990; and a late-19th- or early 20th-century Peking glass bottle vase, red cut to frosted, realized $2,300.

Among porcelains, a late-19th-century Meissen nodder with underglaze blue crossed swords mark to the bottom and depicting a male figure seated cross-legged sold for $4,370, a Meissen figural of an elephant and blackamoor, finely molded and painted, hit $3,220; a late-19th-century Viennese enameled jewelry casket made $1,955, and an early 20th-century Pickard signed jardinière topped out at $1,610.

A 19th-century French gilt brass cartel clock with two sconces, time and strike, brass movement and porcelain dial chimes on time, sold for $1,840. A French gilt bronze mantel clock in the form of a black enameled globe clock with Roman numeral markers brought $1,610. Also, an early 20th-century authentic stock exchange ticker machine in original condition fetched $9,200.

Musical instruments were crowd-pleasers. A beautiful Gibson Master Model F-5 mandolin by Derrington, 2001, serial #V70314, signed by Derringer and with a spirit varnish finish over a bound spruce top, $9,890. A Gretsch electric guitar, circa 1960s-’70s, serial #50848, brought $1,725. A 1976 Les Paul custom Gibson guitar with gold-plated hardware reached $2,415.

A circa 1955 14kt white gold diamond brooch in floral spray design changed hands for $3,910; a 14kt marquise diamond ring with one 1.29-carat diamond and 24 round brilliant cut diamonds, $3,200; and a David Yurman sterling silver and diamond bracelet with twisted and braided links, $2,760.

Gold coins sailed past their high estimates, probably a reflection of market conditions. A 1926 $2.50 Indian gold quarter eagle coin graded NGC MS65 rolled to $2,760; a 1928 $20 Saint-Gaudens gold double eagle coin with minimal marks and graded NGC MS 65, $2,530; and an 1879 Indian Princess $3 gold coin, one of only 3,030 struck, graded NGC AU58, $2,300.

Rounding out the top lots, an important Southern coin silver cup by Leinbach, a footed cup with applied handle and beaded border to the foot and mouth, sold for $4,830; an early 19th-century Mexican Soldado de Cuera shield with bull-hide construction and decorated with an Aztec eagle soared to $4,140; and a Northampton County, Pa., needlework sampler by Susanna Lerch, Oct. 7, 1832, rose to $2,530.

To learn more about Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. and their calendar of upcoming auctions, please log on to www.LLAuctions.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Tiffany Studios bronze and Favrile lamp in a four-arm electrified “candelabra” form ($14,375).

This stunning circa 1955 14kt white gold diamond brooch in a floral spray design realized $3,910.

This 19th-century six-panel coromandel Asian dressing screen, 73 inches by 90 inches, hit $14,375.

Early 19th century Southern chest on frame (Rowan County, N.C.), walnut and yellow pine ($17,250).

Detroit museum now home to recently discovered 1930s Sloan painting

DETROIT (AP) – Hundreds of miles separate New York and Detroit, and in one unique case: decades.

A painting created by American artist John Sloan 75 years ago and missing for 65 of them now hangs on a wall inside the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Sloan painted Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue in 1934 for the Public Works of Art Project, which was created to employ artists during the Great Depression.

Four years later, it vanished.

Here is the story of how a well-regarded piece of art went missing and was found, according to the DIA.

Works created by artists on salary with the Public Works project were property of the federal government and meant to be displayed in public buildings.

Sloan created two paintings during his time with the project. One was “The Wigwam, Old Tammany Hall,” which also is from 1934. That piece is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

The other, Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue, hung in the office of U.S. Sen. Royal Copeland until the New York Democrat’s death in 1938. When Democratic Sen. James Byrnes of South Carolina took over Copeland’s office, the painting no longer was there.

In the early 1980s, congressional staffer Charles Terrill found the unframed painting in a pile of trash. Terrill was taken with it, but didn’t know of its importance.

He took it home and hung it on a wall. And there it stayed until Terrill’s death in 1987.

The painting then was given to his sister, who lives in Traverse City.

It wasn’t until another of Terrill’s relatives, a nephew, upon a visit to the DIA in the late 1990s, saw paintings by Sloan and made the connection that his uncle might have saved a special work of art.

The sister had the painting appraised a few years later and only then learned of its value.

The U.S. General Services Administration recovered the painting in 2003 and agreed to a long-term loan of the work to a museum designated by Terrill’s sister.

Cathie Terrill chose the DIA, which is showing it outside the exhibition titled “Government Support for the Arts: WPA Prints from the 1930s.” It runs through March 21.

“We are delighted to have this wonderful Sloan painting at the DIA,” museum director Graham W.J. Beal said in a statement. “The timing is especially fortunate in that it complements our current exhibition of WPA prints.”

___

On the Net:

Detroit Institute of Arts: http://www.dia.org

# # 3

Italian police recover hoard of looted artifacts

ROME (AP) – Italian police have broken up a ring of looters who raided tombs for ancient artifacts and exported them illegally to countries including the United States, officials said Friday.

During more than a year of investigations, authorities recovered nearly 1,700 statues, vases and other artifacts dating from pre-Roman times to the heyday of the empire. Police flagged 19 people for possible investigation by prosecutors.

The artifacts were mainly dug out from tombs in the areas around Naples and Venice and included a bronze bust of the emperor Augustus, customs police in Rome said.

Part of the loot had been smuggled to the United States to be sold to collectors, they said.

The Italians said they worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New Haven, Connecticut, to recover 47 ceramic and bronze statutes that had been looted from a tomb in southern Italy dating between the 6th and 5th centuries B.C.

Over the past decades, thousands of artifacts have been secretly dug out and smuggled out of Italy to be sold to museums and collectors worldwide.

In recent years the country launched an international search for its lost treasures, cracking down on the illegal antiquities market and seeking deals with museums for the return of looted artifacts.

AP-ES-12-11-09 1346EST

France to return ancient treasures to Egypt

PARIS (AP) – France plans to return five fragments of an ancient wall painting to Egypt next week, ending a feud over their ownership.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office says the pieces will be returned to Egypt on Monday, the same day the French leader hosts his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak for lunch. The announcement came Friday.

France’s culture minister agreed in October to return the treasures after Egypt cut ties with Paris’ Louvre Museum over the issue. The painted wall fragments come from a 3,200-year-old tomb near the ancient temple city of Luxor.

Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s chief archaeologist, is leading aggressive efforts to reclaim what he says are antiquities stolen from the country and purchased by leading world museums.

AP-CS-12-11-09 0717EST

Lawyer: NY man facing weapons charge is collector

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) – The attorney for a Long Island man arrested on weapons charges says his client is a collector and not a threat to the community.

Anthony Piromalli was released on $1,000 bail after pleading not guilty Friday to three misdemeanor weapons charges and one felony weapons count. Police arrested him Thursday after obtaining a search warrant for his Babylon, N.Y., home.

Suffolk County police say they seized 33 switchblades, eight handguns, three rifles, a shotgun and ammunition.

Lawyer Mitchell Hirsch says his client has been a collector of watches, antique knives and other items.

He estimated the value of the seized weapons, some of which he said were in their original packaging, at $20,000.

“He doesn’t use them,” the lawyer says. “He creates displays.”

AP-ES-12-11-09 1635EST

Court saga continues; Craigslist founder says eBay reneged on promises

GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) – Internet auctioneer eBay Inc. began reneging on its promises to Craigslist shortly after taking a minority interest in the online classifieds site, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark testified Thursday.

Newmark said he began having concerns about eBay within months of inking a deal in August 2004 that gave eBay a 28 percent stake in Craigslist. He testified in a lawsuit in which eBay claims he and Craigslist CEO James Buckmaster improperly acted to dilute eBay’s minority interest after a falling out in 2007.

EBay executives, including then-CEO Meg Whitman, indicated that they would be happy with holding a minority stake for several years, and that Craigslist would be eBay’s exclusive play in the online classifieds market, Newmark said.

Instead, eBay soon began pressing for a bigger stake in Craigslist and acquiring other online classified sites overseas.

“EBay, specifically Meg Whitman, made commitments and broke them,” Newmark said.

Newmark said he considered eBay’s insistence on acquiring more than 28 percent to be a deal breaker for Craigslist, which also had received overtures from Google Inc. and private equity firm Warburg Pincus. He said talks with eBay had “cratered” before he and Buckmaster were called to a meeting with Whitman in July 2004.

Whitman, who is seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination in California, assured Craigslist that she was happy with a 28 percent share while the two companies went through a three-year “courtship,” Newmark testified. Whitman said the relationship would end amicably if it didn’t work, and reiterated that Craigslist was “the” play in classifieds for eBay, according to Newmark.

“We decided that eBay could be trusted, and we proceeded with the deal,” he said, adding that eBay executives assured him that they shared Craigslist’s community-oriented values.

But Newmark said no one at eBay, which is based in San Jose, California, informed him that the company was working to acquire online classified sites in Europe and was developing its own classifieds project, named Kijiji, at the same time it was talking to Craigslist.

He also said no one told him that eBay employees working on other classifieds projects were sharing confidential Craigslist information.

“What would your reaction have been?” defense attorney Anne Foster asked Newmark.

“Deal breaker,” Newmark responded.

Newmark defended the poison pill and other corporate measures adopted by San Francisco-based Craigslist in January 2008 in response to eBay’s domestic launch of Kijiji in the United States.

“I was certain that they treat all shareholders fairly,” he said.

But eBay contends that the measures improperly diluted its stake in Craigslist and resulted in the loss of its Craigslist board seat.

“We feared that people might be nominated to the board who might not have the interest of the (Craigslist) community and the company at heart, so we wanted to make it harder for them to be on the board,” Newmark said.

Under cross-examination from eBay attorney Michael Rhodes, Newmark said he did not personally contact any eBay officials in late 2007 to let them know the corporate governance measures were being considered.

Rhodes also noted that while Newmark accused eBay officials of dishonesty, he misled members of Craigslist who asked if he had received any money from the August 2004 deal, or whether Craigslist had sold stock to eBay. In fact, Newmark received $9.5 million, and the deal was structured in a way in which Craigslist sold new stock to eBay, Rhodes said.

“You misled them time and again,” he told Newmark.

Newmark replied that he was acting in accordance with an agreement not to disclose details of the transaction.

Testimony resumed on Friday.

AP-CS-12-10-09 2051EST

Kovels – Antiques & Collecting: Week of Dec. 14, 2009

This unusual enameled silver dreidel was made in Israel. It was offered for sale online recently by Mir-el Antiques of Ramat Gan, Israel, for $175.

Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25 each year, but the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah falls on dates determined by the lunar, not the solar, calendar — so the dates are different every year. Holidays have special objects connected with their celebrations. One object used during Hanukkah is the dreidel, a top about 2 inches tall used in a game. Spin the dreidel (rhymes with “ladle”) and it soon lands on one of its four sides. There is a Hebrew letter on each side that tells a player to pay into the pot or to take all, nothing or half of the pot. Recent examples of dreidels have become more elaborate, with spinning figures or flashing lights or sounds. Some designers have ignored the four-sided idea and have created dreidels in unusual shapes using metal, ceramics, plastic or wood. Although dreidels date back more than 2,000 years, a collector today is lucky to find an example more than 100 years old. Prices range from over $200 for old rarities to $75 for unusual examples made after 1948, the year Israel was founded.

Q: I inherited three sets of porcelain dishes that were hand-painted by my grandmother around the turn of the 20th century. My grandmother emigrated from Germany (Prussia) to the United States in 1895 and settled in Abingdon, Ill., about 1906. The dishes were painted on blanks (“whiteware”) that have the marks of Haviland, Limoges or Bavaria. I am not interested in the value of the dishes, but I am curious about how my grandmother might have accomplished the multistep process of painting and firing this many dishes.

A: From the late 1870s until World War I, thousands of American amateur artists were painting decorations on porcelain tableware, dresser sets, vases and other household items for pleasure rather than for profit. Instructions were regularly included in art magazines. Most people did not have their own kilns and had to ship their items to a studio for firing.

Q: We own a carved wooden armchair that has been in our family for years. The top third of the chair back is decorated with a carving of a gargoyle face. The paper label on the bottom says, “August Hausske & Co., Weed Street, Chicago, Ill.”

A: You have a “North Wind chair,” a style that was popular during the late Victorian era (1880-1900) into the early 20th century. The face, from folklore, was supposed to blow evil spirits away. August Hausske was involved with the Northwestern Parlor Suite Manufacturing Co. before he opened his own firm in 1880. In 1891, Hausske’s parlor furniture was displayed at the Chicago Furniture Exposition. August Hausske & Co. was still in business in Chicago in the 1920s, but moved to Peru, Ind., in the 1930s or ’40s. Depending on the condition of your chair, it could sell for up to $500.

Q: I have an old Popeye pop-up book titled The Pop-Up Popeye in ‘Among the White Savages.’ It’s in great condition, with all the pop-ups intact. I’m wondering what it’s worth and how I can sell it.

A: Your book was written by Elzie Crisler (“E.C.”) Segar, the cartoonist who created Popeye. It was published in 1934 by Blue Ribbon Press of New York City. Copies show up regularly at auctions and antiquarian book Web sites. If you want to sell, consider using a dealer that regularly handles children’s books. Prices for your book range widely, depending on condition. But if yours is excellent, with all the pop-ups, it could sell for more than $500.

Q: I have a big old cream-colored tin that once held 10 pounds of Dixie Mammoth Brand Salted Nuts. The label on the front pictures a wooly mammoth and also says “The Kelly Co.” I haven’t been able to find any information about the company. Can you help?

A: Kelly Co. was founded in Cleveland in 1884 and was in business until at least the 1940s. It made Dixie and Jackie Coogan brand nuts and also wholesaled seeds. A 10-pound can like yours auctioned for $600 a few years ago. Collectors of old advertising like the wooly mammoth graphics on the tins.

Q: When we were remodeling our bedroom, we found an old roll of wallpaper under the carpet. Our house was built in 1890. The back of the roll, which lists self-help instructions, is labeled “Fleming Wallrite.” Is the wallpaper worth anything?

A: The wallpaper is not as old as your house. Fleming & Sons, the paper’s manufacturer, was in business in Dallas between about 1933 and the mid-1960s. Hang-it-yourself wallpaper became popular in the United States after World War II, and Fleming’s Wallrite brand was widely advertised in the 1950s and ’60s. Some people like to use vintage wallpaper. If your roll is in usable condition, it might sell online for about $20.

Tip: Check the picture hooks holding your paintings and photographs every few years. Eventually, heavy pictures will loosen nails and hooks and paintings can crash to the floor. Also check the wires holding your pictures.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or email addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly Kovels Komments. It includes the latest news, tips and questions and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers extra collector’s information and lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can subscribe to Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles, our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com adds to the information in our newspaper column and helps you find useful sources needed by collectors.

CURRENT PRICES

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

Silver-plated pickle fork, Old Colony pattern, floral embossed handle, tines with decorative wings, engraved “1847 Rogers Bros.,” 6 inches, $25.
“Charlie McCarthy’s Radio Party” game, Chase & Sanborn Coffee premium, 21 figures include Edgar Bergen, Don Ameche and Dorothy Lamour, Standard Brands, 1938, $40.
Horse show poster, little girl carrying spotted pull-toy horse under arm, “We’re Going to the Delaware State Fair Horse Show,” Sept. 4-8, 1922, 16 x 10 inches, $95.
Pittsburgh Pirates mascot bank, eye patch, beard, earring, ball and glove in hand, black hair, ceramic, 1940s, 3 x 3 x 7 inches, $160.
Frank Sinatra “Your Hit Parade” cardboard fan, ad for Lucky Strike cigarettes, leaf shape, image of Frank and pack of cigarettes, 1943, 10 inches, $225.
Scottie dog hooked rug, wool on burlap, pink bow around dog’s neck, pink rose in each corner, green leaves on border, gray ground, circa 1920, 36 x 23 inches, $350.
Majolica pitcher, blue water lilies and green fiddle ferns, caramel brown lily pads, unmarked, circa 1880, 5 1/2 inches, $400.
Durand art glass candlestick, Spanish Yellow, green rim, circa 1926, 6 inches, $475.
Lone Ranger doll, composition, removable hat, mask, neckerchief, chaps, Dollcraft, copyright 1938, 10 1/2 inches, $690.
Victorian wine cabinet, oak, one double-panel door with linen-fold carving, pomegranate fruit and flowers backsplash, circa 1870, 57 1/2 inches, $2,495.

Just published. The new full-color Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2010, 42nd edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and 47,000 up-to-date prices for more than 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You’ll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks and a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available at your bookstore; online at Kovels.com; by phone at 800-571-1555; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

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