Prints, furniture rank high at Neal Auction Co.’s sale Sept. 11-12

American Rococo carved and laminated Rosewood armchair, mid-19th century, attributed to John Henry Belter, New York, Fountain Elms pattern, tall padded back with floral crest, reticulated carving of oak leaves, ‘C’ and ‘S’ scrolls and flowers, shaped arms, serpentine seat rail and floral-carved cabriole legs, est. $12,000-$18,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.
American Rococo carved and laminated Rosewood armchair, mid-19th century, attributed to John Henry Belter, New York, Fountain Elms pattern, tall padded back with floral crest, reticulated carving of oak leaves, ‘C’ and ‘S’ scrolls and flowers, shaped arms, serpentine seat rail and floral-carved cabriole legs, est. $12,000-$18,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.
American Rococo carved and laminated Rosewood armchair, mid-19th century, attributed to John Henry Belter, New York, Fountain Elms pattern, tall padded back with floral crest, reticulated carving of oak leaves, ‘C’ and ‘S’ scrolls and flowers, shaped arms, serpentine seat rail and floral-carved cabriole legs, est. $12,000-$18,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.

NEW ORLEANS – More than 1,000 lots of 18th- and 19th-century American, French and English antiques, Southern paintings, historical material and decorative arts will be offered by Neal Auction Co. at its Sept. 11-12 auction. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

Consignments include the circa 1886 contents of 946 President St. in Brooklyn, N.Y.; property from the collection of Dr. and Mrs. John William Boor of Philadelphia; an important collection of natural history, botanical and historical prints and maps; property from the historic Capt. T.P. Leathers House, 2027 Carondelet St, New Orleans and property sold for the benefit of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Saturday’s auction, which begins at 10 a.m. Central, will be conducted at Neal’s gallery at 4038 Magazine St.

Heading an extensive list of Audubon prints is the Louisiana Heron plate from his Birds of America, Havell edition. The hand-colored aquatint engraving is expected to sell for $80,000-$120,000.

A two-volume set of The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands by Mark Catesby (1683-1749), bound in modern calf with gilt and modern red cloth cases, contains 220 hand-colored engraved plates of “Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects and Plants.” Published in 1771 by Benjamin White, London, this third edition carries a $200,000-$300,000.

Furniture highlights include an important Rococo carved and laminated rosewood armchair attributed to John Henry Belter of New York. In the pattern known as Fountain Elms, the high-back upholstered chair has a $12,000-$15,000 estimate. A Renaissance carved and ebonized walnut bedroom suite attributed to Allen & Bro., Philadelphia, consists of two mirror-backed dressing chests and a monumental bedstead. The three-piece set dates to the 1860s and is estimated at $25,000-$35,000.

Sunday’s auction, which begins at 11 a.m. Central, will be conducted at Neal’s location at 3923 Carondelet St.

A highlight that day will be a good George III mahogany breakfront bookcase, circa 1780, which carries a $20,000-$30,000 estimate. A carved mahogany four-piece bedroom suite, late 19th century, is labeled “R.J. Horner & Co. Furniture Makers.” Consisting of a large bed, tall chest with mirror, large dresser with mirror, and a dressing table with a three-part mirror, the set in its original finish has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate.

For details call Neal Auction Co. at 800-467-5329. For an artist index visit Neal Auction’s Web site at www.nealauction.com .

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

George III mahogany breakfront bookcase, circa 1780, height 107 inches, width 96 inches, depth 23 1/2 inches, est. $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.
George III mahogany breakfront bookcase, circa 1780, height 107 inches, width 96 inches, depth 23 1/2 inches, est. $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.

John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851), ‘Louisiana Heron,’ Plate CCXVII, #217, from ‘Birds of America,’ hand-colored aquatint engraving, Havell edition, elephant folio paper watermarked ‘J. Whatman / Turkey Mill / 1834,’ sheet size 26 1/2 inches by 38 1/2 inches, est. $80,000-$120,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.
John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851), ‘Louisiana Heron,’ Plate CCXVII, #217, from ‘Birds of America,’ hand-colored aquatint engraving, Havell edition, elephant folio paper watermarked ‘J. Whatman / Turkey Mill / 1834,’ sheet size 26 1/2 inches by 38 1/2 inches, est. $80,000-$120,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.

American Renaissance carved and ebonized walnut bedroom suite, late 19th century, attributed to Allen & Bro., Philadelphia, composed of two mirror-backed dressing chests and a monumental bedstead, est. $25,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.
American Renaissance carved and ebonized walnut bedroom suite, late 19th century, attributed to Allen & Bro., Philadelphia, composed of two mirror-backed dressing chests and a monumental bedstead, est. $25,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.

George Rodrigue (American/Louisiana, b. 1944), ‘Roses for You,’ oil on canvas, signed lower left, signed, titled, and with ‘George Rodrigue Gallery’ stamp en verso, 24 inches by 18 1/8 inches, in a giltwood frame, est. $15,000- $25,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.
George Rodrigue (American/Louisiana, b. 1944), ‘Roses for You,’ oil on canvas, signed lower left, signed, titled, and with ‘George Rodrigue Gallery’ stamp en verso, 24 inches by 18 1/8 inches, in a giltwood frame, est. $15,000- $25,000. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Co.

Boston museum has a hand in Ancient Resource LLC sale Sept. 18

The face of a woman is on either side of this Attic red-figure pelike, fourth century B.C. With some minor repair and small area of restoration, the 7 1/2-inch-tall jar has a $5,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.
The face of a woman is on either side of this Attic red-figure pelike, fourth century B.C. With some minor repair and small area of restoration, the 7 1/2-inch-tall jar has a $5,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.
The face of a woman is on either side of this Attic red-figure pelike, fourth century B.C. With some minor repair and small area of restoration, the 7 1/2-inch-tall jar has a $5,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.

GLENDALE, Calif. – Ancient Resource LLC will hold its fifth Ancient and Pre-Columbian Antiquities sale on Saturday, Sept 18. LiveAuctioneers will provide the exclusive bidding service for this Internet only auction.

The auction will feature goods from ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece as well as other Classical Ancient and Pre-Columbian cultures. Highlights include a collection of ancient Roman glass deaccessioned from the Boston Museum of Art; a wonderfully preserved Egyptian mummy hand; and a rare collection of Hellenistic and later terracotta and limestone molds. While these remarkable pieces are rare, they are expected to sell for reasonable prices.

Classical items are consigned from the collection of Cecil Best, a collector from the UK, who sought out many fine works of art in the 1920s through the 1950s. Fine bronzes, faience and wooden artifacts were all represented in his collection.

Rounding out the classical lots is a fine assortment of jewelry from the Egyptian through the Roman periods. All necklaces and rings retain their beauty and are wearable to this day.

A lovely collection of polychrome, stone and pottery Pre-Columbian artifacts, figures and jewelry will also be presented.

Live Internet bidding will commence at 11 a.m. Pacific. More information can be found at the Web site, www.AncientResourceAuctions.com, and bids can be placed through its LiveAuctioneers catalog at https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/22469 .

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

For collectors of the odd and curious is this ancient Egyptian mummified human hand, dating from the New Kingdom to the early Ptolemaic Period. From an old English collection, the well-preserved hand has an $8,000-$10,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.
For collectors of the odd and curious is this ancient Egyptian mummified human hand, dating from the New Kingdom to the early Ptolemaic Period. From an old English collection, the well-preserved hand has an $8,000-$10,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.

This Hellenistic figure of a seated woman dates to the second or third centuries B.C. Repaired at the neck, this ancient beauty, 6 5/8 inches tall, has an $8,000-$10,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.
This Hellenistic figure of a seated woman dates to the second or third centuries B.C. Repaired at the neck, this ancient beauty, 6 5/8 inches tall, has an $8,000-$10,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.

A bearded dragon or war serpent is pictured in the center of this Maya plate from the Peten area of Guatemala, circa A.D. 600-900. The restored 12 1/4-inch plate has a $2,000-$3,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.
A bearded dragon or war serpent is pictured in the center of this Maya plate from the Peten area of Guatemala, circa A.D. 600-900. The restored 12 1/4-inch plate has a $2,000-$3,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.

Both the top and bottom of this rare limestone lamp mold from North Africa is present. It is Roman, fourth or fifth century A.D. and has a $4,000-$5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.
Both the top and bottom of this rare limestone lamp mold from North Africa is present. It is Roman, fourth or fifth century A.D. and has a $4,000-$5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Ancient Resource LLC.

Georgia exhibit tells architecture history

View of Cotton Avenue in downtown Macon, Ga., that includes buildings from the early 1900s. Date of public domain photograph is not known.
View of Cotton Avenue in downtown Macon, Ga., that includes buildings from the early 1900s. Date of public domain photograph is not known.
View of Cotton Avenue in downtown Macon, Ga., that includes buildings from the early 1900s. Date of public domain photograph is not known.

MACON, Ga. (AP) – Tucked away in a small corner of an architecture exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Sciences is the story of “lost Macon.”

There was a Lanier Hotel once on Mulberry Street, gone now, razed to the ground in 1975, but it was an example of 19th century architecture and Macon history that looked like an MGM movie set.

So, too, went the Exchange Bank building on the corner of Third and Cherry streets to the wrecking ball. The Victorian Era bank sported decorated chimneys and a corner cupola when it was built in 1891.

For architect and Macon history buffs, the most recently and notably famous is the story of the Goodall-Collins house on Orange Street, built in 1859 and demolished in 1975. This historic home spurred locals to take a long look at Middle Georgia architecture.

This trio of photographs was enough to motivate 17-year-old Ashley Parker to think about her future Saturday as she pondered the exhibit.

“I guess it would be interesting to be an architect,” Parker said. “I’d like to be outdoors though. Do they work outside?”

When told yes, Parker’s face brightened. “I could do that. It would be better than accounting or some boring job,” she said.

Museum science curator Jim Greenhouse hopes Ashley isn’t the only one moved by the exhibit, on display until January.

“This is something we have been planning for years, and the intent was to capture not only the history of architecture but also Macon’s uniqueness as a city,” Greenhouse said. “There are some historically interesting pieces of architecture from many time periods right here in Middle Georgia that people can see during an afternoon drive.”

Some examples range in style and periods from the iconic Hay House on Georgia Avenue on Coleman Hill, which was built over four years starting in 1854, to the Fickling and Walker Building – originally built by Georgia Power in 1969 – an example of a more modern office building.

“You go by these places all the time, but who knows why they look (the) way they do?” Parker said.

The exhibit isn’t confined to Macon, and has examples of architecture periods from across history and the world.

A particularly absorbing video shows the Tacoma, Wash., Narrows suspension bridge begin a “wave” of twisting, swaying movement through the roadway portion of the bridge and shake itself apart, flinging a car into the Pugent Sound.

It’s an example of when physics meets bad engineering work, and it also makes a viewer leery of traveling over long bridges.

“When a wave like that gets started, there’s really no way to stop it. It’ll keep going back and forth, whipping through a structure like a suspension bridge or a wire until it snaps … that’s what happened with the (Tacoma) bridge,” Greenhouse said.

Greenhouse hopes the exhibit will help boost the museum’s attendance, which tops about 80,000 a year presently.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-ES-09-08-10 2035EDT

 

Museum celebrates African-American photographer Ernest Withers

Pictures Tell the Story: Ernest C. Withers Reflections in History is a 191-page book published in 2000 by the Chrysler Museum of Art. It surveys the more than 50-year career of a revered African-American photojournalist from Memphis, Tennessee. Image courtesy Amazon.com.
Pictures Tell the Story: Ernest C. Withers Reflections in History is a 191-page book published in 2000 by the Chrysler Museum of Art. It surveys the more than 50-year career of a revered African-American photojournalist from Memphis, Tennessee. Image courtesy Amazon.com.
Pictures Tell the Story: Ernest C. Withers Reflections in History is a 191-page book published in 2000 by the Chrysler Museum of Art. It surveys the more than 50-year career of a revered African-American photojournalist from Memphis, Tennessee. Image courtesy Amazon.com.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Ernest Withers became a rookie photographer in the Army during World War II. When his namesake museum opens on Beale Street next month, it will celebrate the legend he became.

Withers died in 2007 at age 85, but his work will return to the street he captured on film with the opening of the Ernest Withers Museum, scheduled Oct. 15 in the studio he occupied at 333 Beale.

The opening on the third anniversary of Withers’ death will take place while the Withers family negotiates with the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress about possible acquisition of the bulk of a collection of more than a million photographs shot during Withers’ 60-year career.

Any acquisition would be structured to allow the Withers family to retain commercial rights to the collection, said Withers’ daughter, Rosalind Withers, trustee of the collection.

Workmen were spray painting track lighting Wednesday, preparing it for installation today as part of the last phase of construction. Fifty-nine black-and-white photographs were mounted on the walls, focusing on Ernest Withers’ role as a photographer and documentarian of life in segregated Memphis. He also documented the blues music of Beale, including an iconic photo of B.B. King with Elvis Presley, and shot important photographs of the Negro Baseball League.

One of the photographer’s granddaughters, Nzinga Withers, a dispatcher for the Memphis Police Department and secretary of the board of the Withers estate, pointed out one of her favorites. It is a candid photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shot in the doorway of his room at the Lorraine Motel. Beside it is a photo of King relaxing in his room during one visit to Memphis in behalf of striking sanitation workers.

“He (Withers) was a very strong man to see and take the pictures he did and to actually get beaten up doing it,” she said.

Withers traveled with King and his entourage during the civil rights movement, and with James Meredith on his “March Against Fear” in 1966. Meredith, who had integrated the University of Mississippi in 1962, organized the march to prove “that a black man could walk through Mississippi” without being harassed. Ten miles into the 225-mile march from Memphis to Jackson, Miss., Meredith was shot.

Withers photographed black people smiling as they registered to vote for the first time. He photographed them attending the Memphis Zoo on the one day of the week they were allowed to visit. He photographed Army tanks stationed on a boarded-up Beale Street after the murder of King. He photographed young white men carrying a poster that said, “Segregation or War.”

In one panel about a collection of the photographs, Massachusetts College of Art curator Michele Furst acknowledges “Ernest Withers’ obsession to document.”

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-09-08-10 2057EDT

 

Click here to purchase the book through Amazon.com.