December 22, 2011 - Auction Central News

Stephenson’s brings out the good silver for its Jan. 1 auction

From a Georg Jensen sterling silver flatware set in the Acorn pattern, eight emerald-enameled salts with spoons, and [center] a pair of tongs. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. – An array of 18th-century Britannia standard silver and one of the most extensive Georg Jensen flatware services to see the auction block in many years will headline Stephenson’s New Year’s Day Antiques & Decorative Arts sale.

The suburban Philadelphia auctioneers specialize in estate antiques and art. Often, they are called upon to assess and auction the contents of grand residences on Philadelphia’s “Main Line.” That’s where the New Year’s silver trove was sourced – from the home of a prosperous family that owned a yarn goods company during the early to mid 20th century.

The Jensen sterling flatware set consists of more than 200 pieces in the coveted Acorn pattern and includes numerous serving and accessory pieces, most notably an octet of emerald-enameled salts with individual spoons. The service has remained in the same family since 1941.

“An estimate of $20,000 for a service of this quality and size would not be the least bit unreasonable, especially when factoring in the considerable cachet of the Georg Jensen name,” said Stephenson’s owner, Cindy Stephenson.

The Philadelphia estate also produced a sizable selection of antique English silver, including tea caddies by Anthony Nelme (circa 1720) and Edward Gibbons (circa 1726). Two matching Thomas Ash Britannia standard Queen Anne tea caddies date to 1711 and were purchased by a member of the Philadelphia family in 1944 from New York’s Parke-Bernet Galleries. A third Queen Anne caddy in the collection was crafted by Ash around 1708.

Other English sterling highlights from the estate include a 1780 William Cafe dish cross with pierced center for a spirit lamp, an 1821 dish cross by William Plummer and a pair of Britannia standard silver casters made by Thomas Bamford around 1720.

“This collection of silver was obviously a family treasure. Over the years the pieces were appraised multiple times. We have documents for several appraisals conducted by Freeman’s in the 1970s,” said Stephenson.

The New Year’s Day silver offering continues with fine sterling from additional consignors. Key pieces include a J. Lewis American coin silver clamshell serving spoon, a vegetable bowl, and a Wallace Grand Baroque flatware service for 12 that is expected to realize at least $2,500 at auction.

Several prized furniture designs by Japanese-American architect and master craftsman George Nakashima came to Stephenson’s from a Philadelphia-area estate. All had been purchased new in 1954. A walnut living room suite of quintessential Nakashima style will be apportioned into three auction lots: an armless sofa, armchair with footstool, and sidechair.

A special highlight of the sale is a collection of 16 beautiful duck decoys carved and signed by D.W. “Davey” Nichol (1890-1977) of Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada. Inspired by members of his family who were accomplished carvers, Nichol began creating decoys in the 1950s, purely for his personal collection. After his talent was discovered by other collectors, Nichol could barely keep up with the demand for his elegant, hand-carved and painted waterfowl. During the second half of the 20th century, Nichol’s decoys won many prizes and were displayed in prestigious exhibitions, including at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.

“We feel privileged that we were chosen to sell this collection, which came from a Montgomery County (metro Philadelphia) estate,” said Stephenson. “It very easily could have gone to an auction house that specializes in decoys.”

The Jan. 1 auction is brimming with a variety of antiques, art and jewelry from upscale estates. Selected highlights from the sale’s many different categories include a Steinway & Sons walnut Model B grand piano, a McClellan saddle, a chic pearl and diamond bracelet, and an exquisite sterling powder jar with guilloche lavender enameling and a hand-painted courting scene on its lid.

Stephenson’s Jan. 1 auction will commence at 11 a.m. Eastern time and will be held at the company’s gallery located at 1005 Industrial Blvd., Southampton, PA 18966. Inspection is on Thursday, Dec. 29 from 3-6 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 30 from 12 noon to 2 p.m.; and on auction day, Sunday, Jan. 1 from 10 a.m. till the start of the sale.

On Tuesday, Dec. 27, commencing at 5 p.m., Stephenson’s will host an open house preview and lecture by Janet Drucker, America’s foremost authority on the subject of Georg Jensen silver and author of the book Georg Jensen: A Tradition of Splendid Silver. Drucker’s PowerPoint presentation will focus on Jensen flatware and the classic Acorn pattern.

All forms of bidding will be available, including live in the gallery, absentee, by phone or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.com. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Cindy Stephenson at 215-322-6182 or e-mail info@stephensonsauction.com.

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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

A formidable array of early 18th-century English sterling silver tea caddies. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

A selection of forks and knives from a Georg Jensen sterling silver flatware service, Acorn pattern, numbering more than 200 pieces, including serving and accessory pieces. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

From a Philadelphia-area estate, a quadruple-strand pearl and diamond bracelet. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

(Left) 1821 dish cross by William Plummer and (right) 1780 William Cafe dish cross with pierced center for spirit lamp. Both were purchased from James Robinson Inc., New York, in 1945. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

Nakashima 1954 walnut sofa from a living room suite to be auctioned in three lots. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

Collection of 16 hand-carved and painted duck decoys by D.W. “Davey” Nichol (1890-1977) of Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

Steinway & Sons walnut Model B grand piano. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

A beautifully proportioned mid-20th-century Mexican silver coffee pot stamped P Lopez G on the bottom, weighs 45.5 ozt. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.

Fresh cast to star in Universal Live animation art sale Dec. 27

Original cel used in the production of a Dr. Seuss cartoon, believed to be produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, 10 1/2 inches x 12 1/2 inches. Estimate: $100-$160. Image courtesy of Universal Live.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Animation art—the second half of a dealer’s large collection—will comprise Universal Live’s entire auction Tuesday, Dec. 27, which will begin at 6 p.m. Central. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

Universal Live President Martin Shape said that of the 338 lots to be sold, “at least 50 percent of them are new characters” since the suburban Chicago auction company sold the first half of the collection on Dec. 11.

Many of the lots are original production animation cels, some dating as early as the 1940s. Others are serigraph cels produced as limited editions. There are also original paintings of comic characters by Dick Duerrstein, who was creative director of Disney’s Consumer Product Division before devoting his career totally to creating artwork.

“This sale is unusual because it is focused totally on animation art,” said Shape. “They’re some of the rarest cels available—not common at all.”

Beloved Hanna-Barbara characters making appearances in the auction include The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Quickdraw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound and Scooby Doo.

Shape said the oldest cel in the auction is from a 1944 Bugs Bunny cartoon. Other famous comic characters represented range from Batman to Tarzan.

Nearly all of the artworks in the sale come with certificates of authenticity. Conditions are described in the catalog as being very good to excellent.

For details about the Universal Live animation art auction call 847-412-1802 or e-mail sales@universallive.com. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.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

‘Rosie the Robot’ original production animation model cel from the Hanna Barbara television series ‘The Jetsons,’ signed by Bob Singer, dated June 20, 1962, 10 1/2 inches x 12 1/2 inches. Estimate: $500-$770. Image courtesy of Universal Live

Original animation cel used in the production of the 1990s television series ‘Taz-Mania,’ image 11 1/2 inches x 8 1/2 inches. Estimate: $100-$160. Image courtesy of Universal Live.

Yogi Bear & Boo Boo limited edition animation serigraph cel, ‘The Jellystone Open,’ image 13 inches x 9 inches. Estimate: $150-$230. Image courtesy of Universal Live.

Pink Panther original animation cel used in the production of ‘The Pink Panther Show,’ 1970s, image 11 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches. Estimate: $250-$380. Image courtesy of Universal Live.

Original painting by Dick Duerrstein, ‘Doctor Bugs Nose Best,’ acrylic paint on stretched canvas, signed by the artist, lower left, and on the verso, direct from the artist. Estimate: $750-$1,160. Image courtesy of Universal Live.

Reading the Streets: ‘When Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’

Highly detailed work shows off C215’s painting. Painting by C215, photo courtesy of the Shooting Gallery.

SAN FRANCISCO – Through Jan. 17, the San Francisco art gallery Shooting Gallery is hosting the Parisian artist Christian Guémy, also known as C215. The show, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” focuses on the iconography of smoking ads and images.

The exhibiton includes portraits of painters George Braque and David Hockney, street artist Indigo, and photographers Jeremy Gibbs and Jon Cartwright – all painted on recycled objects including cardboard, vintage advertising papers and antique burned canvases. The pieces explore the way smoking advertising has manipulated the public.

An artist that just started painting six years ago, C215’s stencil technique is beyond compare. He doesn’t use the stencil for speed or to reproduce an image again and again, but rather manipulates it to create finely detailed work. This show displays that highly developed sense of intricacy.

“Christian Guemy makes work because he’s compelled to make it, and that is a quality I most love to see in artists,” commented Jennifer Goff, Press & Media Relations at the Shooting Gallery, in an email.

Inside, and out, C215 specializes in portraits. The faces C215 creates on the streets, peppering the world from Barcelona to San Francisco, will eventually degrade, as all street art does, and as humans do. But his legacy, taking the stencil art form to new heights is certainly not so erasable.

The Shooting Gallery is located at 839 Larkin St. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, noon-7 p.m.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

C215 manipulates vintage cigarette advertising. Painting by C215, photo courtesy of the Shooting Gallery.

A Lucky Strike lady. Painting by C215, photo courtesy of the Shooting Gallery.

C215’s stencils are beyond compare. Painting by C215, photo courtesy of the Shooting Gallery.

Russian enamels bequeathed to Walters Art Museum

Firm of Pavel Ovchinnikov, Russian (Moscow), Beaker, 1908–17, silver gilt, plique-à-jour enamel, Bequest of Mrs. Jean M. Riddell, 2010, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

BALTIMORE (AP) – Hundreds of Russian enamels collected over decades by a Washington arts patron have been given to the Walters Art Museum, which said Tuesday that the gift reaffirms its position as a leading center for the study of Russian art.

More than 260 enamels from the 17th through the early 20th centuries are in the collection amassed by Jean M. Riddell, who died last year at the age of 100. The private collection was internationally recognized as the finest of its kind in the United States and also includes important additions to the museum’s holdings of Faberge works, the museum said.

William Johnston, senior curator emeritus at the Walters, said the Baltimore museum is now a major repository of Russian enamels.

“I think you could say it’s one of the major collections,” said Johnston.

The two collections complement each other because the Walters’ existing collection is primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries, while the Riddell collection focuses on the 19th century, particularly more than 40 works by highly regarded enamelist Fedor Ruckert, Johnston said.

Enamels, made by fusing powdered glass onto metal in a kiln, are one of Russia’s most well-known art forms. Enamels can be created in a variety of colors and works can take many forms. Producers included Faberge, which was known for its elaborate egg-shaped artworks incorporating enamel as well as jewels.

Riddell became interested in Russian enamels in 1966 when she inherited several from her husband. She began seriously collecting about 1970, buying through dealers in New York, and through agents at auctions as well as traveling to Europe, Johnston said.

“Even as an old lady, she would put them in her shopping bag and go on to the next place,” Johnston said.

Many of the pieces sold for under $10,000 during the 1970s, but the market for enamels soared in the 1990s as Russia became wealthy, discouraging many collectors, the curator said.

Walters Director Gary Vikan said the late arts patron believed that due to the museum’s existing holdings of Russian art and its commitment to past exhibitions in the field the Walters “would make a great home for her collection.”

Highlights include a filigree enamel tankard inspired by a 17th-century Turkish prototype from the Kremlin Armory and a beaker with a design outlined in metal and filled with colored enamels without a backing, creating a stained glass effect. Twelve pieces are currently on display and the museum said it is developing an exhibition that will open in the spring of 2015 and later go on tour.

Johnston said the Riddell works are mainly from Moscow, which was undergoing a revival of tradition Russian enamel making in the 19th century. The most distinctive method used filigree in which twisted wires rather than flat strips of metal were attached to a silver base to separate the various colored enamels.

“It was characteristic of Moscow enamels in the 17th century, so that’s why they revived it,” Johnston said. “The wire protrudes above the surface and it has a decorative effect.”

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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

Firm of Pavel Ovchinnikov, Russian (Moscow), tankard, 1888–96, silver gilt, filigree and plique-á-jour enamel, Bequest of Mrs. Jean M. Riddell, 2010, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

Missouri man gives back $4,000 found in chair at auction

WASHINGTON, Mo. (AP) – An eastern Missouri man says he simply did the right thing when he found nearly $4,000 inside a chair at an auction—and gave it back.

The Washington Missourian reports that Ted Beede attended a living estate auction on Dec. 13 in search of items for his consignment shop in Dutzow, Mo., about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis.

He lifted a cushion and found, as he called it, “all the dead presidents.”

Beede scooped up the bills and pulled aside the auctioneer. The money was given to the Franklin County public administrator, who is taking care of the property owner’s estate.

Beede eventually paid $5 for the chair. When he went to get his receipt, he was given a $200 reward for his honesty.

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Navajo Nation seeks return of exhumed remains

Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Doug Dolde image. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Archaeologists curious about American Indian cultures dug up human remains and associated funerary objects at Canyon de Chelly decades ago, while some remains were taken for protection from erosion in the canyon with towering red, sandstone walls.

Whatever the reason, the Navajo Nation wants hundreds of sets of human remains that were exhumed from the national monument on their reservation to be returned for proper burial, contending the tribe is the rightful owner of them. The Navajo Nation, whose members live on the country’s largest American Indian reservation, contend in a lawsuit filed last week that despite their demands for the remains, the National Park Service has unrightfully held them in a collection in Tucson.

Since 1931, the federal agency has been charged with preserving the thousands of artifacts and ruins within the national monument near Chinle. But the land revered by Navajos as sacred remains tribally owned.

Canyon de Chelly Superintendent Tom Clark said the Park Service’s goal is to repatriate the items, but it first must determine whether any other tribes have cultural affiliation to them under a 1990 federal law known as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Clark said that law appears to conflict with the property rights of the Navajo Nation.

“Until we see how this plays out, we would not proceed to aggravate the situation,” he said Tuesday. “But we’ll see how it actually plays out and determine from there. Obviously other tribes are interested in it, too.”

Canyon de Chelly has been inhabited for thousands of years, with artifacts and cliff dwellings lining the canyon walls dating from the 4th to 14th centuries. Clark said Zuni Pueblo, the Hopi Tribe, Apaches, Utes or other tribes could have rightful claims to the remains.

The Navajo Nation–which calls the canyon “tsegi” or “within the rock”—believe that digging up human remains causes illness to the living, including arthritis and depression, and damages the environment. The tribe said it never agreed to let the Park Service or any other entity carry off remains or cultural objects located on the monument because that would have contradicted traditional Navajo laws and violated the rights of tribal members.

“Since at least 1868, this has been the heart of Navajo country, and nothing in the act that created the national monument changed that,” said Alan Downer, director of the tribe’s Historic Preservation Department. “So for the Park Service to say, ‘we dug it up, put it in our collection and, therefore, it’s ours’ is wrong.”

The tribe further argues that the remains were taken before Congress outlined a process for museums and federal agencies to inventory their collections, consult with tribes regarding cultural affiliation and return remains to the appropriate tribe. Congress has allowed the Park Service to hold the objects and remains only temporarily to preserve and protect them at most, the tribe said.

The most recent excavation in Canyon de Chelly took place in 1988 when the tribe agreed to let the Park Service remove remains from an eroding arroyo under the condition that they be reburied soon after, Downer said. Instead, they ended up in the Park Service’s collection, he said. Other excavation work was done as early as the 1890s.

The Park Service met with tribes in June and showed them its collection. Downer said some of the pottery clearly is Navajo as are remains recovered from Massacre Cave, where 115 Navajos were killed in a bloody encounter with the Spanish in 1805.

“When you get to precontact times, it’s very difficult to say ‘this is unquestionably ancestral to this contemporary tribe,’” Downer said.

Clark said the Park Service doesn’t claim ultimate ownership of the remains or objects but must follow the mandate of Congress.

“We all want to have the remains repatriated, that’s what all the tribes and the Park Service have all stated,” he said. “That is our goal. I guess the disagreement is in the process to get there.”

The Navajo Nation is asking a judge to declare that the remains are the property of the tribe and order the Park Service to immediately return them. Should the court determine that federal laws transferred the title of human remains and cultural objects from the tribe to the Park Service, the Navajo Nation wants those laws declared void.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Making cane syrup evokes sweet memories of old Fla.

Massachusetts artist May Spear Clinedinst (1887-1960) depicted a Florida sugar cane processing plant in this large oil painting on canvas. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Myers Fine Art.

PASCO, Fla. (AP) – The cane grinding began when a mule named Molly, all 15 hands of her, commenced ambling in a circle to pull a belt that powered a machine that spat out brown juice. “Here is what you need to understand,” Steve Melton said, as Molly trudged along. “This is how we used to do it in Florida.”

Melton, 62, holds a cane grinding every December at his Pasco County ranch as a reminder of a time when Floridians couldn’t buy sugar in a bag at the grocery. From the Panhandle to the Keys, folks of every race and creed grew sugar cane, harvested the stalks in the fall, squeezed the stalks into juice and then boiled the juice into sweet syrup they poured into coffee or over pancakes or even meat. In the age before mass communication, a cane grinding was also a social gathering where Floridians might exchange news and gossip, tell jokes and share their dreams.

Now it’s ancient history, a demonstration at the state fair, perhaps, or a picture in the history books. Melton and a few other stubborn folks scattered across the state hold out. They invite friends, neighbors and interested historians to watch. By making cane syrup they keep in touch with their past. They think about loved ones long dead, grandmothers who made from-scratch biscuits swimming in cane syrup.

“It’s our heritage,” Steve Melton was saying from beneath his cowboy hat.

At the cane grinding, boys swung on a rope under a moss-draped oak while a toddler lurched through the grass licking an ear of corn dripping butter. From a nearby porch a guitarist, a mandolin player and a fellow plucking a washtub bass performed a timeless bluegrass tune.

Little girls skipped rope. Old men in overalls studied an old tractor with critical eyes. Steve Melton collects old tractors. He also collects antique machines that in another era dug holes and planted seed and harvested corn. The ghosts of the men who sweated and bled over those machines were invisible except in Melton’s memory.

He grew up on the farm and graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in food production. He has a scientist’s sensibilities. At the same time he lives in the past. He has a working gristmill and likes to grind his own wheat. As he walked from the gristmill to where the cane juice was starting to boil, he carried the next generation of his family, his baby grandson, Josiah Flowers.

Cane grinding requires expertise, hard work and long hours for a small payoff. A 10th of an acre of cane produces about 60 gallons of juice. Sixty gallons of juice might boil down to six gallons of thick amber syrup.

Melvin Brenson and Daryl Hildreth watched the iron kettle closely, taking turns to skim off the bubbles of scum. Next to them, Paul Meeker added pine and oak to the fire already sputtering under the kettle.

“They know what they’re doing,” said Millard Sanders, 77. In Alabama he grew up watching his daddy cook cane juice. Sanders met his wife of 58 years, Lois, at a cane grinding. They still like cane syrup with their biscuits.

After about three hours, the cane juice stopped boiling and started bubbling like molten lava, which meant it was getting thick. Steve Melton dipped a thermometer that indicated 212 degrees. Almost ready. Another instrument, a hydrometer, helped him judge the density of the syrup.

“The old timers didn’t need an instrument,” Melton said through the sweet-smelling steam. “They’d stick in a spoon and watch how the syrup was dripping.”

Musicians put down their instruments. Old men abandoned the study of tractors and walked toward the kettle. It was almost time.

As a crowd gathered, Melton began taking the temperature every two minutes. Then every minute. Temperature was now 221 degrees. Almost perfect. Wait too long and syrup becomes too thick or even burns.

He tossed aside his thermometer.

“Pull the fire! Pull the fire!” he yelled.

His fireman, Paul Meeker, yanked a pallet, which supported the burning wood, from under the kettle. Ashes spilled onto the concrete floor.

“When the syrup is ready you have to get rid of the heat immediately,” Melton explained.

He and a helper began ladling syrup out of the kettle and into a 6-gallon vat.

Watching, Bob Waldron looked forward to obtaining a bottle of syrup. He’s 70, an Alabama native, who lives in Dade City now. He grew up poor, attended cane grindings as a boy, watched his mama bake biscuits and ate them with cane syrup.

His wife died in September after a long illness. “She baked the meanest biscuit you ever ate,” he said. This will be his first Christmas in 48 years without Sandra by his side.

He plans to eat a biscuit, with cane syrup, in her memory.

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Information from: St. Petersburg Times, http://tampabay.com

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Former head of Venice Biennale festival reappointed

ROME (AFP) – The Venice Biennale art festival will again be headed by Paolo Baratta, capping months of uproar after a friend of Italy’s ex-leader was nominated for the prestigious post, officials said Wednesday.

Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi riled many in the close-knit arts world when his friend Giulio Malgara, a 73-year-old advertising executive with no cultural sector experience, was in October nominated by then culture minister Giancarlo Galan to head the biannual festival.

Berlusconi resigned in November amid scandals and worsening financial conditions in Italy. Galan resigned shortly after.

Baratta’s reappointment was expected in many quarters after Malgara withdrew his nomination on Nov. 10.

The new culture minister, Ornaghi Lorenzo, drew a line under the issue Wednesday by reaffirming Baratta’s position as festival head.

Baratta, 72, was previously named Biennale head in 2008 having already held in the post in 1998-2000. He is credited with boosting attendance numbers.

The Biennale first opened in 1895 and this year had a record 88 countries taking part in the festival that ran from June until November.

Yoko Ono to be awarded Austrian art prize

Yoko Ono at the Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo, Brazil, in March 2010. Photo by Marcela Cataldi Cipolla. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

VIENNA, Dec 21, 2011 (AFP) – Japanese avant-garde artist and peace activist Yoko Ono has been awarded the 20,000-euro ($26,100) Oskar-Kokoschka-Prize in Austria, organizers said Wednesday.

Ono, 78, Beatle John Lennon’s widow, is an “outstanding artistic personality,” jury president Gerald Bast said.

She is due to pick up the prize, named after Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), in March.

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