NEW YORK – Tavern on the Green is now closed. But for two days – this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29 and 30, 2010 – its doors will open for a massive, one-time-only tag sale in which thousands of items from the legendary restaurant will be sold.
Souvenirs and toys from the gift shop, china, glassware and beautiful tablecloths, fabulous holiday decorations, floral displays, collectible books and many more items will be available to purchase at a fixed price.
The Tavern on the Green tag sale will operate on Friday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tavern on the Green is located at 67th Street and Central Park West.
All items are available on a cash-and-carry basis only.
Additional information is available at www.guernseys.com.
An Internet bidder from China claimed this jade figure of a Buddha, which is modeled in a seated position on a double lotus base. The sale price of $4,250 was just shy of the high estimate. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Substantial Internet live bidding bolstered the results at Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches’ sale Jan. 11. Among the top items was a 7 3/4-inch white jade figure of Buddha, which sold to an Internet bidder from China for $4,250. Prices do not include the buyer’s premium.
“The January auction was the beginning of our winter antiquing season in South Florida. The auction was well attended with about 100 gallery bidders, 75 telephone bidders and heavy Internet action,” said Brian Kogan of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches. He noted that approximately 50 Internet bidders won one or more lots.
LiveAuctioneers provided Internet live bidding.
Topping the jade items was large white mountain that sold to a local bidder for the midpoint estimate of $16,000. This deeply carved 9-inch figure was raised on a carved giltwood base made by Edward I. Farmer. A New York City art dealer in the 1920s, Farmer specialized in Chinese works and was known for mounting jades into his decorative accessories, rendering each piece unique.
A local bidder staved off Internet and phone competitors to purchase an intricately carved white jade vase and cover for $5,000, which equaled the low estimate. The Chinese vase with its cover and pierced knob finial stood 6 1/4 inches high.
The much anticipated signed Orville Bulman painting titled Charivari sold within estimate for $22,500. The 18- by 24-inch oil on canvas depicts the traditional American country custom of banging on pots and beeping horns in a raucous serenade to disturb a newly married couple on their honeymoon. The scene is also known as a “Shivaree” but the term “charivari” is used regionally, and is derived from an archaic French word meaning headache.” The well-documented painting had been in the collection of the Coastal Oil Co., Newark, N.J.
A William IV sterling silver salver by Paul Storr, London, 1834, sold for $14,000, falling short of the low estimate by $1,000. The circular tray, 20 1/4 inches in diameter, was stamped “Storr & Mortimer 213.” It weighed 110 troy ounces.
Selling at the low estimate of $4,000 was a fine George III sterling silver wine ewer by Charles Wright of London, 1778. The urn-form ewer stood 13 1/4 inches high and weighed 28 ounces.
A Baroque walnut sideboard, possibly Italian, from the early 18th century sold more than doubled the high estimate when it sold for $6,500. It stood 45 inches tall by 64 inches wide by 20 1/4 inches deep.
A floor bidder paid $4,250, more than double the high estimate, for a fine 19th-century Venetian mirror, 54 3/4 inches by 35 inches.
Another floor bidder paid $4,250, nearly the high estimate, to top an Internet bidder for a pair of large Lalique frosted crystal swans.
An Internet bidder also came up short on a large Japanese iron charger from the late Meiji Period, which went to a collector from Miami for $2,500.
Another Miami buyer won two abstract paintings by Byron Browne (American. 1907-1961). His signed and dated 1955 painting titled Provincetown, 20 inches by 26 inches, topped its high estimate, selling for $3,500. Aegean Myth, signed and dated 1954, 20 inches by 26 inches, sold within estimate for $2,200.
A Dale Chihuly glass blow, Seaform in Pink, 17 1/4 inches long by 8 3/4 inches wide by 6 3/4 inches high, sold within estimate for $3,400 to a phone bidder from Seattle. A 1980 signed Chihuly Threaded Cylindrical Vase, 12 1/4 inches high, reached $3,200.
The Goddess Isis, a 20 7/8-inch-high gilt bronze after Edouard Henri Delasalle (French, 1823-1851), signed “Delasalle, Paris,” more than doubled the high estimate, selling for $1,800. Again the backup bidder competed on the Internet.
Made in London in 1834, this William IV sterling silver salver by Paul Storr sold for $14,000. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc. Carved during the 18th century, this large white jade mountain group on a 20th-century giltwood base sold for $16,000. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc. Orville Bulman’s ‘Charivari’ depicts an old-fashioned shivaree, a noisy mock serenade to a newly married couple. The oil painting is sold for $22,500 plus premium to a Southern phone bidder. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc. Sea life in relief covers this 26 1/4-inch Japanese iron charger of the late Meiji Period. It sold for $2,500. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc.
Cyprus is home to many ancient archaeological treasures. Shown here is the Temple to Apollon, outside the city of Limassol.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – Authorities have busted a smuggling ring in Cyprus and recovered dozens of ancient artifacts it planned to sell for euro11 million (15.5 million), including a miniature gold coffin, silver coins and terra-cotta urns, police said Monday.
In what is believed to be the largest antiquities theft case of its kind in the Mediterranean island’s history, police seized the artifacts dating back thousands of years from homes, storage sheds and vehicles where they were being hidden.
The artifacts include copper and silver coins, terra-cotta urns and clay and limestone figurines believed to date from the Copper Age to around 400 B.C., Cyprus Antiquities Curator Maria Hadjicosti told The Associated Press.
Ten Cypriots were arrested during the raids over the weekend, and authorities were searching for another five suspects, including a Syrian man, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said. The suspects face charges of illegally possessing and trading in antiquities.
Police said the smugglers had planned to sell the artifacts in Cyprus, but would not identify the buyer. Authorities also said they were investigating where the artifacts had been obtained.
Katsounotos said this was Cyprus’ largest antiquities smuggling case in terms of the amount of recovered artifacts, their archaeological value and the number of arrests.
Most of the artifacts are urns primarily found around the southern coastal towns of Limassol and Paphos, Hadjicosti said. Some of the coins could date to Hellenistic and Roman times.
The curator said some of the recovered artifacts, including the gold coffin and other gold objects, don’t appear to be Cypriot, and more study was needed to determine their precise origins.
Communications Minister Nikos Nikolaides said the bust was conducted with the help of Greek authorities, but he wouldn’t provide details. He also said some of the antiquities may have been dug up from archaeological sites in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of the island.
Excavations on Cyprus have uncovered settlements dating back to around 9000 B.C. Cyprus then saw successive waves of colonization, including Phoenicians, Mycenaean Greeks, Romans and, in the Middle Ages, Franks and Venetians. The island was conquered by Ottoman Turks in 1571 and became part of the British Empire in 1878 before winning independence in 1960.
Violence between Cyprus’ majority Greek community and the Turkish community broke out shortly after, and the island has been divided along ethnic lines since a Turkish invasion in 1974, prompted by a failed coup aimed at union with Greece.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Davenport’s old Carnegie library fell to the wrecking ball long ago, but a cherished piece of that building has returned home.
A 105-year-old frieze, cast from an original sculpture of cherubs by the Italian artist Donatello, has been cleaned up and reinstalled at the downtown Davenport Public Library’s special collections area.
The reproduction of Donatello’s “singing angels” was presented to the old library in 1905 by W.C. Putnam, a wealthy entrepreneur who was the godfather of the Putnam Museum. It was an expensive, imported piece for a wall of the children<s department in the library. But when the museum was razed in 1966, the plaster reproduction found a new home at the Blackhawk Hotel in downtown Davenport.
As restoration work began on the hotel this fall, developers Restoration St. Louis decided to donate the valuable piece of art back to the library.
“It takes us back to our roots as a Carnegie library,” said a grateful Amy Groskopf, the chief archivist for the library. “Since we don’t have our original building, it’s nice to have a significant piece of history we can put back in our facility to remind us of where we came from.”
Although it is a reproduction, it still is a legitimate and important work of art, said Nicole Grabow, a specialist with the Midwest Art Conservation Center in Minneapolis who traveled twice to Davenport to assist in the moving and reinstallation project.
The plaster reproduction was made in 1904 by a company called P.P. Caproni and Brother of Boston. In the early part of the 20th century, such companies were granted access to world-class pieces of art and allowed to make direct castings, a practice that is impossible today, Grabow said.
The Donatello piece was created in 1439. Today, it is preserved at the Museo del’Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy.
“The fact you can’t take those castings any more and the kind of workmanship that was required to do it in plaster makes it worthwhile,” Grabow said. “Part of the value is also in its history. It was given to the library by W.C. Putnam, who was a significant local historic figure. It’s become a part of the history of the library that’s pretty hard to put a price on.”
It also is one of the largest reproductions of its kind Grabow has ever seen. Companies like P.P. Caproni often made smaller sculpture reproductions for private collectors, but large pieces – in this case 24 feet long and 3 feet high – are rare.
“I’ve never come across one this large,” she said.
The cleanup and move was a delicate process, Grabow and Groskopf said.
It had to be moved in six sections, each about 4 feet wide and weighing about 100 pounds. After it was cleaned, it was reinstalled using the same mounting method used previously, consisting of 4-by-4 pieces of wood mounted to the wall and a metal shelf for support.
___
Information from: Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
MONSON, Maine (AP) – An eleventh-hour Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing allowed Maine’s Moosehead Furniture Co. to avoid an auction aimed at liquidating its assets.
The bankruptcy reorganization was announced minutes before Thursday’s auction, leaving about 200 bidders from across the country frustrated. Chuck Lapinski from Tennessee told the Bangor Daily News that he had planned to buy the sawmill equipment. Instead, he had nothing to show for his $5,000 in expenses.
The former Moosehead Manufacturing Co. went out of business because of competition from low-priced imported furniture.
It stayed alive as Moosehead Furniture under new owners, but it closed again while the owners went looking for investors to stave off liquidation.
___
Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – EBay hopes to lure more sellers by essentially doing away with “listing” fees for people who occasionally auction items on its site. Instead it will take a cut of the final selling price.
EBay has tinkered with its fee structure in recent years in hopes of improving the experience people have on its site and reinvigorating its growth. Changes like the one being announced Tuesday are meant to encourage more people to list items for sale.
EBay Inc. told sellers today that starting March 30 they will be able to post up to 100 items for auction every 30 days without paying fees to list them. The items must have a starting bid of less than $1, and when they sell eBay will take 9 percent of the final price or $50, whichever is less.
Currently, eBay lets occasional sellers — who make up the majority of the 28 million people who sell on its main site — auction up to five items for free every 30 days. It charges them 8.75 percent of the final price or $20, whichever is less.
For sellers that only auction the occasional vintage PEZ dispenser or designer handbag, Tuesday’s change could mean they pay eBay more. But Lorrie Norrington, the president of eBay Marketplaces, thinks the change will be easier overall for people who want to auction off items that are sitting around the house.
“Our customers have consistently told us, ‘We love free and we love simple,’ and that’s what we think these changes are about,” she said.
EBay made a similar change in fees in some European markets in 2008.
Once sellers exhaust the number of items they can list for free, they are subject to listing fees and commissions that vary, depending on the starting price of the item and the price at which it sells. Those listing fees are also changing for most auctions — to a range of 15 cents to $2, depending on the item’s starting price. Right now, they generally range from 15 cents to $4.
EBay also is trying to draw more attention to a buyer protection service on the site. That gives buyers and sellers access to customer service representatives to resolve disputes. This service, which excludes some categories like vehicles and real estate, will also be able to refund a buyer’s money, if necessary.
Previously, the only option for resolving problems between buyers and sellers was through eBay’s payment service, PayPal, and was available only on transactions that used PayPal.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
These rare American Modern Gothic carved and burl walnut pedestals, circa 1880, are attributed to Daniel Pabst of Philadelphia. The 27-inch-high pedestals are estimated at $6,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.
NEW ORLEANS – One of the best American Impressionist paintings that Neal Auction Co. has handled in some time will be sold on the first day of the company’s Winter Estates Auction, which will be conducted Jan. 30-31 at the Magazine Street Gallery.
“Lot 324, the Robert Grafton painting, is one of the most beautiful American Impressionist paintings from our region to have been offered here in many, many years,” said Neal Alford, president and co-founder of Neal Auction Co.
Saturday’s session, which will begin at 10 a.m. Central, has 560 lots. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
The Grafton painting, estimated at $20,000-$30,000, is titled Reflections of Luggar’s Landing, New Basin Canal, depicts boats tied up at a pier. It is an oil on canvas board, 16 inches by 20 inches and dated 1918.
Robert Grafton and his friend and fellow Indiana artist, Louis Oscar Griffith, often visited New Orleans in the early 20th century and were captivated by the historic buildings and waterways that made up the city and by the lively art community, which was largely centered in the French Quarter.
Just as Grafton found inspiration in New Orleans, French artist Felix Ziem (1821-1911) was continually drawn to the splendor and Venice. He visited the city many times and once stayed for more than three years. His painting titled A Richly Embellished Ship at the Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice, an oil on canvas measuring 25 1/4 inches by 36 1/4 inches is in an elaborate carved, gessoed and giltwood frame. From a Nashville, Tenn., estate, it has a $40,000-$60,000 estimate.
The artists and personalities of his day held Ziem in high regard. He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon, winning numerous awards and medals. In 1857 he was made a chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur, was named an officer in 1878, and made a commander in 1908.
Furniture will include a étagère attributed to John Henry Belter, a fine Renaissance Revival cabinet and an American Rococo table, but a most unusual lot is a pair of Modern Gothic carved and burl walnut pedestals, circa 1880, attributed to Daniel Pabst of Philadelphia. Each of the 27-inch-tall pedestals has a 21 1/2-inch-diameter circular top with a rotating mechanism. The pair has a $6,000-$8,000 estimate.
It’s worth noting that the geometric floral decoration on these pedestals, using lighter burled veneers cut through to a darker contrasting ground, is typical of Pabst’s later body of work, and shows the influence of English designer Christopher Dresser, who lectured in Philadelphia in conjunction with the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, an event clearly influential to this Philadelphia cabinetmaker.
A 19th-century Russian patinated bronze sculpture group of a bear attacking two men, after Nicolai Ivanovich Lieberich (Russian, 1828-1883), has a Cyrillic cast signature and a foundry mark “Fabr. C.F. Woerfrel/ St. Petersbourg.” The bronze stands 15 1/4 inches high on a 2 3/4-inch period ebonized walnut base. It has a $4,000-$6,000 estimate.
Two large 19th-century Meissen polychrome and gild-decorated porcelain “Elements” ewers will be sold separately. Both are after a model by J.J. Kändler. Air is modeled with birds in flight, winged putto and the figures of Juno and Zephyr. Water features a figure of Neptune, mermaid, stylized dolphins and ancient warships. Each ewer is about 26 inches high and has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate.
Sunday’s auction, which will begin at 11 a.m. Central, will have more than 400 lots.
For details phone 800-467-5329.
To view the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
“>Click here to view Neal Auction Company’s complete catalog.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Robert Wadsworth Grafton (American/Indiana, 1876-1936) used lush, thick brushwork to beautifully render the reflections of boats in the water in this Impressionistic painting of the New Orleans’ New Basin Canal. Signed and dated 1918, the 16- by 20-inch painting has a $20,000-$30,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co. French artist Felix Ziem’s vivacious and energetic views of Venice are among his most coveted works. This signed oil on canvas, 24 1/4 inches by 36 1/4 inches, is in an elaborate frame, and has a $40,000-$60,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co. Water is the theme of this 19th-century Meissen polychrome and gilt-decorated porcelain ‘Elements’ ewer, which stands 26-inches high. With some restoration noted it is estimated at $3,000-$5,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co. Maj. Gen. Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle of Philadelphia traveled abroad with this early 1900s Louis Vuitton steamer trunk. The trunk, which measures 30 inches high by 44 inches wide and 21 1/2 inches wide, has a $2,500-$3,500 estimate. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.
