September 2011 - Auction Central News

Boston Harbor Auctions to run up yachting history Oct. 16

Model of the America’s Cup Yacht Columbia. Image courtesy of Boston Harbor Auctions.

BOSTON – Boston Harbor Auctions is hosting another incredible auction showcasing the great history of yachting on Sunday, Oct. 16, beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

The auction will include a two-thirds size pewter recreation of the America’s Cup owned by Chandler Hovey. If we consider the prestige of the America’s Cup races, and the presentation of the highest award being the cup, the idea that a person subsequently commissioned a replica to bestow on the icon of yachting that Hovey was, puts the exclusivity of the piece in perspective.

Several lots of furniture including wood hall tables, desks, side tables, porthole tables and gentlemen’s antiques such as globes, binoculars, clocks and compasses are in the sale. The 400-lot sale will have almost 100 ship models, rare silver photography, marine paintings, china dinnerware, ship’s fittings etc.

The auction will contain a selection of several original press photos from the America’s Cup races and other trial races dating back to the 1930s when the great J Class yachts were introduced. There is press representation of T.O.M. Sopwith with his wife at the helm of Endeavour, as well as shots of Enterprise and later yachts like Courageous. Included in the press photo collection are some gems of financiers J.P. Morgan and J.P. Morgan Jr., illustrating their passion for travel and leisure by yacht. One of the photos is of a captured shark that was caught onboard Corsair IV in 1934 from a cruise to the Galapagos Islands. There is also a rare public shot of J.P. Morgan Sr. in Monaco dated Feb 17, 1913, taken six weeks before his death. Always shunning photographers, could this be the last public photo taken of Morgan before he passed?

The subjects of many America’s Cup yachts such as Defender, Rainbow, Yankee, Columbia and Chandler Hovey’s Easterner, among others, are represented in original photographs from noted photographers including Morris Rosenfeld (1884-1968), J.S. Johnston (circa 1839-1899), Edwin Hale Lincoln (1848-1938) and Albert Cook Church (1880-1965).

Other original photos include a set of three-color shots of President John F. Kennedy aboard a yacht with sailing companions that include a young John Kerry. The reverse of each photo is stamped “By R.L. Knudsen PHC, USN Office of the Naval Aide to the President.”

The sale will contain a vast collection of ship models detailing the America’s Cup and the steam yacht era. Endeavour and Rainbow of 1934, Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock V of 1930, America of 1851, Columbia of 1901 and others will be auctioned. A magnificent model of the Kaiser Cup winning schooner Meteor IV, owned by Kaiser Wilhelm, the last German Emperor is for sale in a grand mahogany display case.

The presidential steam yacht Mayflower of 1897, which was used to entertain and transport diplomats to Portsmouth, N.H., for the termination of the Russo-Japanese War resulting in the Treaty of Portsmouth is included in the sale. Jay Gould’s Niagara, J.P. Morgan’s Corsair, George Baker’s Harvard and other symbolic yachts of the gilded age of steam travel are included in the sale. Other models include a prisoner of war bone model from the Napoleonic era, a dockyard builder’s model of the Queen Christina, as well as classic schooners, tugs, trawlers, lightships, freighters, graceful clipper ships and stately frigates.

A showpiece of the auction will be the 1873 Tiffany & Co. burlwood humidor-decanter set from the Seawanhaka Yacht Club of New York. The gorgeous humidor was used as a trophy to commemorate the Livingston Cup on July 4, 1873 and presented to the Atlantic Yacht Club of Brooklyn, N.Y. The humidor has three cut glass decanters and five port glasses. The bottom drawer opens to a silver humidor with two compartments for cigars and a center trough for water. The box is of burlwood maple with brass accents. A gilt bronze plaque accompanies the decanter set containing a list of winning yachts and their owner’s names from the inception of the cup until 1899.

Several lots of linen napkins from J.P. Morgan’s yacht Corsair will be sold. Stitched onto each napkin is the Morgan House flag symbol of a crescent moon and single star. Various pieces of yachting china bearing the burgee of the New York Yacht Club and various owner’s flags such as inventor A. Atwater Kent, the Whitney family of Vanderbilt fame, J.P Morgan, Congressman Joseph Crocker Sibley of Pennsylvania, Alfred P. Sloan, president and founder of General Motors and others.

Another showpiece in the sale is a rare pair of silver goblets from Howard & Co., New York, dated 1898 that were presented to J.P. Morgan by Capt. J.C.R. Peabody and his wife Florence (Wheatland) Peabody onboard Corsair when she was flagship of the New York Yacht Club. The front of each goblet is engraved “Corsair 1898” in script. The bottoms of each goblet are engraved “From J.C.R. & F.P.” accompanied by the maker’s stamp and “sterling.” Jacob Crowninsheild Rogers Peabody is the grandson of Francis Peabody of Massachusetts, former president of the Essex Institute and the great-grandson of Joseph Peabody, successful merchant and competitor in the China trade, of Salem, Mass. He was the brother-in-law of Endicott Peabody, founder of the Groton School for Boys. He is the 10th-generation descendent of Gov. John Endicott and is the cousin of John Lowell Gardner, husband of Isabella Stewart. His wife, Florence Wheatland is the great niece of the founder of the Essex Institute. Both were very active in the social circles of Boston and New York. Jacob Peabody, noted in the Morgan papers contained in the Morgan Library that he is powers of attorney, was a close Harvard classmate and friend of J.P. Morgan Jr. and so named him godfather to his only son, Richard. Richard was a World War I war hero and social reformer who went on to marry Polly Phelps Jacobs who, with her second husband, poet Harry Crosby, nephew of J.P. Morgan Jr., founded the Black Sun Press. The goblets will be sold in two separate lots and stand 6 1/4 inches tall x 4 5/8 inches in diameter.

Other pieces in the auction will include marine paintings by noted artists such as Edouard Adam (1847-1929), Burnell Poole (1844-1933), Clement Drew (1806-889) and Randy Burke along with several oils of America’s Cup yachts, steam yachts and catboats. There is a unique race photo album of the 1931 transatlantic cruise of the Landfall by Uffa Fox. The album contains over 200 silver bromide photographs that are 2 1/4 inches by 3 1/4 inches. Pictures of the voyage from Bristol, Rhode Island to Plymouth England on to Cowes, then Dover and on to Bremen, Germany. Represented in the beginning of the album is Nathaniel Haereshoff of the Herreshoff yard with the yachts Enterprise and Yankee as well as Aloha.

The auction will be conducted at185 Purchase St. (corner of Congress Street) in the downtown Waterfront District of Boston.

Preview dates and times are Thursday, Oct. 13, noon to 5 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 14, noon to 8 p.m.; and Saturday, Oct. 15, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For details visit www.bostonharborauctions.com or call 617 451 2650 or 617 549 2881.

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

Chandler Hovey’s two-thirds size America’s Cup. Image courtesy of Boston Harbor Auctions.

Trophy from the Newport Yacht Race Association for Columbia of 1901. Image courtesy of Boston Harbor Auctions.

Photo of T.O.M. Sopwith and his wife at the helm of Endeavour. Image courtesy of Boston Harbor Auctions.

Prisoner of war bone model from the Napoleonic era. Image courtesy of Boston Harbor Auctions.

Michaan’s Auctions names De Doncker Fine Arts Director

ALAMEDA, Calif. – Michaan’s Auctions has announced the appointment of Thomas de Doncker as their new Fine Arts Director, effective Oct. 3.

In his position De Doncker will be responsible for directing the department in the marketing of American and European fine art from all periods and mediums as well as the appraisal and cataloging of art works.

De Doncker brings with him accreditation from New York University with a certificate in Appraisal Studies, a master of arts degree from the University of Kansas and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin. He has also been awarded a doctoral fellowship from the City University of New York Graduate Center and been a Murphy Recipient at the University of Kansas.

De Doncker has over 20 years of fine art experience, serving as a director of Fine Arts Midwest at Butterfields, Chicago; an American Paintings Specialist at Butterfields, San Francisco; director of American Paintings at Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe and Fine Arts Conservator at Thomas Yost Conservation, New York City. Most recently he was founder and president of the Chicago Art Auction and founded Thomas de Doncker Fine Arts Gallery in Chicago as well. De Doncker has also enjoyed recognition as a published art commentator, guest lecturer and television personality, appearing as a fine art expert on Appraise It!, At the Auction and The Appraisal Fair from the Home & Garden television series.

Scott Bradley, vice president and chief operating officer of Michaan’s, welcomed De Doncker, stating, “We are excited and thrilled about the knowledge, experience and expertise Thomas has to share with our staff and valued clientele.”

For a full listing of upcoming auctions or to view a complete catalog, please visit www.michaans.com .

Rare Babe Ruth rookie card at home in Baltimore

A Chicago Daily News photo shows Boston Red Sox rookie pitcher Babe Ruth warming up in 1914. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

BALTIMORE (AP) – Much like the icon it depicts, the 1914 Babe Ruth baseball card is renowned for a variety of reasons.

For a collector, it’s a unique treasure worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is the first Babe Ruth card, and fewer than a dozen are known to be in existence.

“It’s right up there with the holy grail of baseball cards,” said Brian Fleisher of Beckett Media, one of the nation’s foremost authorities of sports collectibles.

Collectors consider it to be the Babe Ruth rookie card, even though at the time he was a 19-year-old pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of the International League.

To Glenn Davis, the card represents a loving link with his grandfather and father. Arch Davis sold newspapers on the streets of Baltimore in 1914, and the Ruth card was among a series inserted in the old Baltimore News. Arch Davis kept a set of the cards and passed it along to his son, Richard, who loaned the set to the Babe Ruth Museum.

After Richard Davis died, his son, Glenn, determined it was best to keep the cards at the museum. That is where they are today, in a glass case just a few yards away from the room where Ruth slept as a child.

“I have always felt good about knowing that something that my grandfather and father considered worthy of saving is now available for others to enjoy,” Glenn said. “My sons go and see the cards, on occasion, and my wife, who taught for many years in Baltimore, would take her class to the museum and point out the cards to her students.”

For Mike Gibbons, the executive director of the Babe Ruth Museum, the card represents an early glimpse at a man whose popularity would transcend baseball, and a man who would forgo life as a star pitcher to become arguably the greatest slugger in baseball history.

“I think that this helps me to really get in touch with him,” Gibbons said. “Here he is in the card, depicted as a strapping young 190-pound, 6-foot-2 athlete on the verge of the biggest stardom this country—or even the world—has ever known.”

Ruth was known as a great baseball player. He also had a reputation of being a carousing, hard-drinking, cigar-smoking child of a man. Yet he often visited hospitalized kids, and his popularity had no bounds.

“This card reminds me of just how special an icon he was for our culture, and I’m not just talking sports culture,” Gibbons said.

The Babe Ruth museum is housed in the building where Ruth was born in 1895. On display are an old Ruth glove; a game-used bat from his 60-homer 1927 season with the New York Yankees; and the ball he signed while promising to hit a homer for ailing Johnny Sylvester before Game 4 of the 1926 World Series (Ruth hit three).

Those items have nothing on the Ruth card.

“It’s right up there,” Gibbons said.

The exact worth of the card is estimated to be between $200,000-$500,000. In 2008, the card in very good condition sold at auction for a whopping $517,000.

Only the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner card (valued at over $2 million) has drawn higher bids. But Fleisher says there are “around 50 or 60 Wagner cards out there,” far more than the Ruth card.

Of the Ruth card, Fleisher said, “If it’s not the most valuable card, then it’s the second-highest in our data base.”

For now, the 58-year-old Davis is content to leave the card in its current home.

“I’ve been approached several times about selling the card, and the truth is, one day the card will be sold,” Davis said. “There are only nine other Babe Ruth cards known to exist and they are sitting in private collections, out of sight from everyone but their owners.”

Gibbons is eager for more people to see it. He’s seeking a sponsor so he can take the card on tour to ballparks and shopping malls.

Until that happens, the card will remain in the place Ruth called home.

“It belongs to our community, and I think the Davis family understands that,” Gibbons said. “I don’t put a price tag on it. It’s like a gem, an heirloom that gets passed on through the family. Our mission is that this card is preserved, maintained and cared for so that 100 years from now, your great-great-great grandchildren can see it and understand who Babe Ruth was.”

AP-WF-09-28-11 1833GMT

Leland Little chalks up second straight million-dollar sale

Important French parcel gilt and gem-set jewel casket. Sold: $69,000. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. is proud to announce their second consecutive million-dollar sale. As with all LLAES Ltd. cataloged auctions, this sale garnered an international audience and a packed house. Over 1,200 absentee and phone bids were executed on sale day, with an additional 800 bidders registered through LiveAuctioneers.com More than 200 bidders energized the house with traditional floor bidding.

This auction was held at LLAES, Ltd’s auction gallery, which is currently being expanded by 5,500 square feet, bringing their overall space to 15,500 square feet. This expansion will offer 2,000 square feet of additional gallery space, a state-of-the-art walk-in wine cooler, and ample storage space for consignors. Construction is expected to be complete by December.

This landmark auction was led by the catalog cover lot, a 19th century French parcel gilt and gem-set jewel casket, which brought top honors selling for $69,000 (prices include the 15 percent buyer’s premium). Despite strong international interest, this casket will remain in the United States. Another top lot was a bronze by Janet Scudder (American, 1869-1940) which breezed past its estimate to achieve $52,900.

The remainder of the 700-lot catalog auction saw strength and consistency from start to finish. An outstanding Confederate and militaria collection opened the bidding on sale day. A Confederate North Carolina contract forage cap more than doubled its estimate, hammering for $14,375. With fervent bidding between phone and floor bidders a rare Mendenhall, Jones & Gardner Confederate rifle rose to $17,250. Another top lot was a McElroy Confederate foot officer’s sword, which sold for $10,350.

This sale offered an impressive collection of North Carolina and Southern pottery, the quality of which was reflected by bidding activity on sale day. An Alamance County redware plate, circa 1880, North Carolina, which was a property deaccession from the Museum of Southern Decorative Arts to benefit their acquisitions fund, sailed past its estimate to achieve $13,225. Other top sellers include a North Carolina slip-decorated redware plate, which sold for $5,750, and a North Carolina slip-decorated redware pitcher, which hammered for $4,370.

American Furniture brought solid and strong bidding throughout the sale. Top lots include a Southern Federal inlaid serpentine sideboard, which achieved $21,850, and an outstanding American Classical secretary bookcase, which rose to $7,475.

Estate jewelry was led by an Edwardian platinum and aquamarine pendant, which blew past its estimate with heated bidding between phone bidders and brought $13,800. Other lots of note include a 44-carat amethyst, turquoise, diamond and pearl choker, which brought $6,900, and a platinum and three-stone diamond ring, which hammered for $6,612.50.

Asian lots elicited much excitement from both floor and telephone bidders. Two exciting lots to watch were a carved soapstone Buddha, which exploded to $17,825, and a large Chinese porcelain jardinière, which rallied to $17,250 and left with a floor bidder.

Fine arts offerings were diverse and of top quality. Lots of note include an oil on canvas by Lendall Pitts (1875-1938) titled Source of Romanche. which sold for $4,600; a woodcut on wove paper by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), The Annunciation, which hammered for $3,910; an etching by Adriaen van Ostade (Dutch, 1610-1685), The Gossips, which brought $2,300; a pencil signed screen print on paper by Andy Warhol (American 1928-1987) which brought $3,910; and an untitled Alexander Calder (American 1898-1976) which sold for $2,185.

The decorative category was led by the sale of an outstanding ormolu and cut glass chandelier, 19th century, which between phone and floor bidding rose to $8,050, and a Northwest Coast polychrome bentwood box, which soared past its estimate and brought $20,700. Another lot of note was a Swedish gilt bronze garniture set, 19th century, which hammered for $4,600.

The fine wine session, which was held Sept. 16 was energized by a magnum bottle of La Tache, vintage 2005, which hammered for $8,912.50. Other top achievers include: four bottles of Chateau Margaux, vintage 1985, which sold for $1,380 and two lots of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, vintage 1981 and 1985, which both sailed past their $300-$400 estimates to achieve $977.50 and $920 respectively.

The next fine wine auction is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 2, at 5:30 p.m. To discuss buying or selling fine wines contact Mark Solomon, Fine Wine director, at mark@llauctions.com.

Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.’s two-day Winter Cataloged Auction will be held Dec. 2-3.

For details email the gallery at info@LLAuctions.com or phone 919-644-1243. To learn more about Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. visit their website at www.LLAUCTIONS.com.

Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Janet Scudder (American, 1869-1940) “Bird Fountain,” Sold $52,900. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.

Carved soapstone Buddha. Sold $17,825. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.

Amethyst, turquoise, diamond, and pearl choker. Sold: $6,900. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.

Confederate North Carolina contract forage cap. Sold: $14,375. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.

Southern Federal inlaid serpentine sideboard. Sold: $21,850. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.

Souvenirs exhibit recalls a Florida before Mickey Mouse

Florida scenes were once sold by the artists along highways. One of these artists was Harold Newton (American 1932-1994), who painted this oil-on-board beach scene. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers Archive and Burchard Galleries Inc.

VENICE, Fla. (AP) – Nancy Eaton is a retro tour director with her collection of alligator ashtrays, hand-painted palm-tree jewelry and water-skiing girlie postcards that generations of Florida visitors sent to people back home to say “Wish You Were Here.”

“It’s everyman’s art,” said Eaton, 57, a New York native and Nokomis, Fla., resident whose exhibit of vintage Florida souvenirs from the 1900s to the 1960s opened this week at the Venice Archives. “It’s the world of tropical cool drinks, the land before air-conditioning and smoked mullet for dinner.”

And with souvenirs, taste was sometimes beside the point.

The souvenirs were a fun way of saying “ha-ha, we are here and you aren’t,” Eaton said. “And a lot of it was created for children.”

Amid the shell and gator-themed salt and peppershakers and tchotchkes, Eaton displays a rare table-height 1920s-era iron flamingo ashtray and cigar holder; in another corner, a foot-wide conch table lamp decorated with three-inch pink flamingos and shells.

Then there are museum quality linen tablecloths from the 1930s and flamingos on everything, including a more contemporary toilet plunger that is not included in the collection.

“Early Florida tourism was nature before they injected Mickey Mouse,” Eaton said. “It was exotic to see an alligator.”

Early postcards of beaches and landscapes were produced on linen paper and hand colored, giving them a painted quality, she said.

Palettes give clues about the era. In the late 1940s and ’50s, artists used a chartreuse, rose, maroon and forest green.

An airbrushed painting of a heron in those colors turned Eaton into a collector in the 1970s. “I bought it for $5 in a Land O’ Lakes thrift shop,” Eaton said. “It reminded me of childhood.”

She has since picked up items at garage sales, antique shops and on EBay.

The painting that started her collecting is on display with the rest of the collection until late November, but typically hangs above Eaton’s bed, in an Old Florida house loaded with period pieces.

Her collection is so vast that she decorated three nearby vacation rental bungalows with the items to give tourists a feel of what Florida used to be like.

After living on the West Coast and working in marketing, Eaton returned to the area in 1998 to live full time.

The vintage souvenirs remind Eaton of childhood treks to Sarasota from New York in the ’50s and ’60s in the back of her grandmother’s “Pepto- Bismol pink Studebaker Lark,” which did not have air-conditioning.

“It would take us 2.5 days to drive and we’d sometimes get stuck for 20 minutes or more waiting for a train,” Eaton said.

She remembers the bands and the nightclub at the Lido Casino until it closed in the late 1960s, and standing in the middle of U.S. Route 41 and not seeing a car.

The archives’ director James Hagler was so impressed with Eaton’s collection when he visited her home recently that he decided to start an annual guest-curated exhibit beginning with a sampling of her collection.

“Wish You Were Here” will be on display through Nov. 23.

AP-WF-09-28-11 1650GMT

Gallery Report: October 2011

A 1946 sculpture by Alexander Calder, titled Shoe With Split Heel, sold for $148,125 at a sale of Fine Paintings held Sept. 9 by Skinner Inc. in Boston. Also, French artist Maurice Utrillo’s Impasse Trainee sous la Neige a Montmartre brought $101,910; Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s Jeune fille assise lisant, les cheveux sur les epaules realized $64,175; Frederick John Mulhaupt’s Gloucester Gill Netters rose to $65,175; and an untitled work by Zao Wou-Ki went for $53,325. Prices include an 18.5 percent buyer’s premium.

Jenack opens schedule Oct. 2 loaded with jewelry, fine art

French school (19th century), bronze, Winged Victory, signed ‘G. Nisini Roma,’ 22 inches high. Image courtesy of William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers.

CHESTER, N.Y. – William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers will open their early winter season with a sale Sunday, Oct. 2, commencing at 11 a.m. Eastern. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

The sale will include a fine collection of vintage and antique watches and pocket watches including Hamilton, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany and Le Coultre; antique and vintage fine jewelry; Chinese pottery, porcelain and artwork; fine art including works by Burliuk, George Innes Sr., Ernest Lawson, Piotr Petrovichev and others; Oriental rugs and carpets; furniture and accessories of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The sale will include a fine collection of vintage and antique jewelry. Lots of major interest in this section of the sale will include an Art Deco platinum and diamond ring with a total weight of nearly 3 carats; 4-carat diamond solitaire ring; pair of 1.5-carat diamond stud earrings; star-form brooch in white and yellow gold set with diamonds and rubies; 18K basket weave flex bracelet; pear shape emerald and diamond ring; Art Deco platinum and diamond bracelet with a total weight in diamond of 6.97 carats.

For the watch enthusiast Jenack will be selling several lots of vintage watches and pocket watches including an Ingersoll steel Mickey Mouse watch; Schwab & Brandt Masonic pocket watch; Jaeger Lecoultre Memovox wristwatch; Hamilton 14K 23-jewel pocket watch; Omega Constellation wristwatch; German World War ll military pocket watch with insignia verso; and a Van Cleef & Arpels platinum and sapphire set dress pocket watch.

As with all Jenack sales notable artwork will be offered including a painting of a woman with cow and chickens by David Burliuk; George Innes, Sr. pastoral landscape on artist board; Frank Henry Shapleigh oil on canvas, landscape with fishermen; Armand Frans Karel Maclot oil on canvas, village scene; Albert Webster Davies, oil on board, The Red Inn, New Hampshire; Piotr Ivanovich Petrovichev, oil on canvas, cows watering; and works by many other listed artists.

For the interior designer or the collector of furniture and decorative accessories, the sale will offer a fine (probably New York) Federal sideboard; French Provincial server; collection of Anglo-Indian furniture; French marble clock garniture; French School bronze of Winged Victory; and a collection of fine porcelains and faience.

Silver will be available as well with several lots of Tiffany & Co. including Japanese Audubon pattern flatware, bowls and other accessories; Gorham sterling silver coffee and tea service circa 1875; Gorham Grecian cheese scoop circa 1861 and many other lots from equally recognizable makers.

Again, Chinese works of art will be sold including several watercolor and ink scrolls, ceramics, jades and ivories.

Previews will be held at the William Jenack auction facility through Saturday, Oct. 1, noon to 5 p.m. and the day of the sale, 9-10:45 a.m. The auction will be conducted at 62 Kings Highway Bypass, Chester NY 10918. For further information email kevin@jenack.com. or call 845-469-9095.

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 Inness Sr. (American 1825-1894) oil on artist board, pastoral landscape, signed 6 1/4 x 9 inches. Estimate: $7,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers.

Piotr Ivanovich Petrovichev (Russian 1874-1947), oil on canvas, cows watering, signed, 14 x 20 1/4 inches, framed 20 1/2 X 26

French carved and marble clock garniture set, signed ‘L. Benaud,’ 19th century. Estimate: $1,000-$1,500. Image courtesy of William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers.

A sampling of the fine diamond jewelry available in the auction. Image courtesy of William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers.

Demand spurs Skinner to add 3rd Asian art sale, Oct. 1-2

Jade mountain, China, Ch'ien Lung mark (1735-1796) and period, 7 x 3 1/2 inches, ‘Yuti,’ Qianlong seal. Estimate $40,000-60,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.

BOSTON – Skinner Inc. will conduct a third auction of Asian Works of Art this year, on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 1-2. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

As a result of China’s ongoing economic boom, the Asian Art market continues to be extremely active, driven by demand from both buyers and consignors alike. According to Karen Keane, CEO of Skinner Inc., “We’re seeing demand for Asian material as never before. The demand from Asian collectors, many of who are seeking to reclaim their cultural history and heritage, has prompted Skinner to offer an additional auction of Asian Works this year. We’re responding with a terrific sale in the midst of our high auction season.”

The sale will offer more than 1,100 lots and features the private collection of Wolfgang Rath. Much of the material in the Rath collection comes from the Republican period (1911-1949), when imperial rule ended and China experienced a great deal of economic and political discord. Porcelain from this era is not readily available, and the vases, ewers, bowls and bottles of the Rath collection offer important, rare examples of works from this period.

A large group of jades will be offered, with a jade mountain from the Ch’ien Lung period as the crowning jewel. Carved as a mountain landscape with deer and pines, this piece, lot 600, has an estimated auction value of $40,000 to $60,000.

A good grouping of scholar items will be offered, as well as a number of fine Chinese paintings, highlighted by a modern work of Liu Guosong: Abstract Landscape, lot 784, estimated at $8,000 to $10,000. Other works of note include lot 349, a rosewood display cabinet with an estimated auction value of $3,000 to $5,000; a large lacquer box from late 19th century China, lot 385, estimated at $8,000 to $10,000; lot 946, a gilt-bronze Avalokiteshvara from the private collection of Annelise Freiheit has an estimated value of $6,000 to $8,000; and a tapestry weave robe from late 19th century China, lot 843, is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000.

Previews, Catalogue & Bidding: Previews will be held Friday, Sept. 30, from noon to 7 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 1, from 9 to 11 a.m., and Sunday, Oct., 2, from 9 to 11 a.m.

For details visit www.skinnerinc.com or call 508-970-3000.

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

Large lacquer box, China, late 19th century, lobated shape, red lacquer with engraved dragons and clouds, filled in with blue, black, and gold, Ch'ien Lung mark on the base, 15 inches diameter. Estimate $8,000-10,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc. — Large lacquer box, China, late 19th century, lobated shape, red lacquer with engraved dragons and clouds, filled in with blue, black, and gold, Ch’ien Lung mark on the base, 15 inches diameter. Estimate $8,000-10,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.

Painting, Liu Guosong (b. 1932), ink rubbing and light colors on paper, ‘Abstract Landscape,’ signed ‘Liu Guosong,’ dated 1968, mounted in hanging scroll format, framed and glazed, 17 3/4 x 35 1/2 inches. Estimate $8,000-10,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.

Tapestry weave robe, China, late 19th century, Ko'ssu dragon robe, mustard color with gold thread dragons. Estimate $10,000-15,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc. — Tapestry weave robe, China, late 19th century, Ko’ssu dragon robe, mustard color with gold thread dragons. Estimate $10,000-15,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.

Gilt-bronze Avalokiteshvara, Sino-Tibetan, 18th century, the 11-headed thousand-armed divinity, 22 3/4 inches high. Estimate $6,000-8,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.

Asian arts open New Orleans Auction Galleries’ sale, Sept. 30-Oct. 2

Bernard Buffet (French, 1928-1999) ‘Les Soucis,’ oil on canvas, signed, 29 inches x 21 1/4 inches. Included in the ‘Buffet Catalogue Raisonne’ prepared by Maurice Garnier. Estimate: $25,000-$40,000. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries Inc.

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Auction Galleries Inc. will conduct its three-day Major Estates Auction on Friday, Sept. 30 through Sunday, Oct. 2. The sale features 1,971 exquisite lots, with a special Friday afternoon session that includes 389 Asian lots, such as ivory, jade, cloisonné and artwork.

Bids may be submitted in person at the gallery, online and over the phone; live video/audio bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.

Pieces from this sale came from locations across the country, including one of America’s premiere antique shops, David Marshall’s The Antique Room, in Brooklyn, N.Y.; the collection of noted art dealer and connoisseur, the late Luba Glade; and the estate of Fernando Jimenez-Torres.

Notable pieces include:

Vintage couture from the succession of Elizabeth Turnbull (New Orleans,); a Denver collector and a New York fashion editor;
Important works of art by Diego Rivera, Ansell Adams, Albert Bierstadt, Bernard Buffett, Raoul Dufy, Kenneth Riley, Yves Brayer, Louise Nevelson, Constantin Brancusi, Benjamin Chambers Brown, Edmund William Gracen, and Carl Oscar Borg, among others;
A rare cabinet from the American Aesthetic Movement with inscription, likely a private commission from Pottier and Stymus or Herter Brothers (New York);
311 gold pesos weighing over 4,700 grams of pure gold;
Impressive musical Irish Regency gothic clock inspired by Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill;
Collections of Paris porcelain, porcelain clocks and Meissen figures;
Collection of Regency tea caddies and tortoiseshell boxes; and,
American furniture by John Henry Belter; J. and J.W. Meeks; Alexander Roux; Charles White and Cook & Parkin, to name a few.

For more information about this Major Estates Auction or the gallery or to view a complete catalog listing, please visit www.neworleansauction.com or call 504-566-1849.

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

Important American carved mahogany and cherry Aesthetic Movement cabinet, New York, circa 1875-1880. Estimate: $20,000-$40,000. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries Inc.

American Neo-Grec painted and gilt-incised rosewood parlor suite, attributed to Herter Brothers, New York, 1868-1872. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries Inc.

Darte Freres seven-piece Paris porcelain cobalt and gilt tea set, first quarter 19th century. Estimate: $2,500-$4,000. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries Inc.

Kenneth Riley (American, b. 1919) ‘Evening Light,’ oil on masonite. Estimate: $12,000-$18,000. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries Inc.

Raoul Dufy (French, 1877-1953) ‘Still Life,’ gouache on paper, signed lower left. Estimate: $6,000-$9,000. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries Inc.

Pa. statehouse restoration costs cause concern

‘Love & Labor; The Unbroken Law’ (1910), Capitol Building, Harrisburg, Pa. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Standing tall and naked, the marble statues just outside the state Capitol’s main entrance have been ogled and admired by passers-by for the last century.

Art enthusiasts see the statuary groups as a national treasure.

Preservationists see them as contributing to the grandiose decor that some say makes the most beautiful statehouse in the land.

Schoolchildren see the sculptures and giggle over the 27 figures’ nakedness, something that civic groups around the turn of the 20th century tried to squelch by ordering the artist to place covers over the male genitalia.

But the statuary that depicts sculptor George Grey Barnard’s representation of the spiritual burden carried by mankind has turned into a financial burden on taxpayers.

The art, known as Life of Humanity, has cost millions of dollars over the years in maintenance and upkeep since its dedication on Oct. 4, 1911.

It now costs about $120,000 a year to maintain the sculpture that Barnard, a native of Bellefonte, Centre County, was paid $180,000 to produce, which is about $4.3 million by today’s standards, according to Jason Wilson, research historian for the Capitol Preservation Committee.

That raises a question about whether in these tough economic times the upkeep of this piece of art that sits outside exposed to the elements has gotten too rich for taxpayers.

“In times of financial belt-tightening, everyone must make decisions whether to fund the necessities or the niceties. A hundred thousand dollars every year would fill many potholes across Pennsylvania,” said Matthew Brouillette, president of the conservative-leaning Commonwealth Foundation of Harrisburg.

“Instead of charging the taxpayers, the options include finding a private, nonprofit art supporter to maintain these statues or replace them with less opulent and less costly Capitol decor. My guess is that taxpayers picking up the tab would be for the latter.”

But the Barnard sculptures are a rare example of Symbolist sculpture in America, making them a national treasure and deserving to be preserved, said Brian Hack, an adjunct professor of American Art at the City University of New York, Kingsborough, and Barnard scholar.

“He saw those two works as evoking what he saw as universal truth and he saw them as a way to heal humankind and make better humanity. There’s a whole lesson there he wanted people to understand from it, and it’s kind of sad it’s so expensive to maintain,” Hack said.

The statuary has undergone several major restorations over the past century, including one in the mid-1990s that cost $1.1 million.

Some of the maintenance work done in the early part of the last century did more harm than good when conservators applied treatments that removed the Italian Carrara marble’s natural skin, making the statues more susceptible to damage, said Christopher Ellis, the committee’s senior preservation project manager.

To avoid or delay another costly restoration, the preservation committee 15 years ago began a routine maintenance program to keep the complicated piece of artwork clean and intact. This year, it entered into a five-year contract with Conservation Solutions of Washington, D.C., totaling more than $600,000, to perform that work.

“Sometimes we find tips get knocked off by nature, erosion or with old repairs, the adhesive or grout has fallen off. In fact, we found a fingertip just laying on the statue this year,” he said.

The Barnard statuary is one of the costliest pieces of Capitol artwork for the committee to maintain. With the cutting of the preservation committee’s state appropriation from $4 million in 2008-09 to just below $2 million now, the cost of upkeep for this piece of artwork represents a significant share.

Still, Ellis and committee members think that is an investment worth making.

“We have had people who come to the Capitol, whether they are tourists from outside the United States or even people here in the United States, who recognize the great value of the sculpture. To me, they are just extraordinary sculptured pieces,” said Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, who chairs the preservation committee.

The only way art like the Barnard statuary would find its way into a state government building today is if it were donated because “there simply is no government money available,” said Tom Darr, the state courts’ deputy court administrator who also serves on the preservation committee.

Darr oversaw the construction of the Pennsylvania Judicial Center that opened in 2009 in the Capitol Complex. The project’s $116 million budget left a wide open plaza and atrium devoid of art that to this day, Darr is racking his brain to try to remedy.

As for the cost of maintaining the Barnard statuary, Darr said it’s the price that has to be paid to preserve a part of Pennsylvania’s heritage.

“While we are all focused on the needs for more jobs and having safety nets and all the terribly important things, it’s worth having a little bit of heritage and artistic culture that gives people a feeling about where we came from,” Darr said.

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Online:

http://bit.ly/ongdXk

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Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews

AP-WF-09-27-11 1526GMT

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