April 5, 2012 - Auction Central News

Rago Discovery Auction: 1,100 lots in 3 days, Apr. 20-22

Pierre Paulin for Artfort Ribbon Chair and Ottoman. Estimate: $1,500-$2,500. Image courtesy Rago Arts & Auction Center.

LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – The Rago Arts and Auction Center will hold a no reserve Discovery Auction on Friday, April 20, to kick-off a three-day auction marathon that weekend. The 1,100-lot Friday sale is followed by a 750-lot Estate Auction on Saturday, April 21, and a 450-lot no reserve Jewelry, Silver and Couture Auction on Sunday, April 22.

LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding all three days.

“The Discovery Auction’s popularity has resulted in a huge sale for Friday and an extra day dedicated to good jewelry, silver, couture and coins on Sunday. Saturday’s Estate Auction includes everything a really good Estate sale should: furnishings, decorative and fine art, rugs, silver, coins and currency, estate goods, fresh-to-the market collections priced to sell,” said Miriam Tucker, the Rago partner in charge of these sales. “There are bound to be some sleepers all three days.”

The Discovery Auction will begin April 20 at 9 a.m. Eastern. The Estate Auction will begin April 21 at 10 a.m. The no reserve Jewelry, Silver and Couture Auction will begin April 22 at noon. The exhibition/preview will be Saturday, April 14, through Tuesday, April 17, from noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday, April 18, and Thursday, April 19, noon to 7 p.m., and by appointment. Doors open Friday at 7:30 a.m. and on Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m.

Rago Arts and Auction Center will host an open house Wednesday, April 18 at 6 p.m., which will feature a talk Philip Zimmerman, a museum and decorative arts consultant and former director of the Museum Collections Division at Winterthur, executive director of the Historical Society of York County, and curator of the Currier Gallery of Art. RSVP to raac@ragoarts.com or 609-397-9374 ext. 119. All are welcome.

All of the lots in the Discovery Auction are unreserved—the high bid wins the lot no matter the amount. The wide variety of chic and useful property from traditional through the 21st century, includes furnishings, decorative arts, lighting, fine art, Asian, art pottery, art glass, folk art, toys, country and traditional furnishings, Native American, rugs and more.

Many from famous makers and designers are represented. Modern design by makers including Arne Jacobsen, Fritz Hansen, Arne Vodder, Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson for Herman Miller, Charles Pollack for Knoll Associates, Dakota Jackson, Donald Deskey, Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Eero Aarino, Eero Saarinen for Knoll Associates, Florence Knoll, Frank Lloyd Wright, Fritz Hansen, George Nakashima, Hans Webner, Harry Bertoia, Harvey Probber, Heywood Wakefield, Isamu Noguchi for Herman Miller, Jacques Adnet, James Mont, Jens Risom, Le Corbusier for Cassina, Maitland Smith, Milo Baugman for Thayer Coggin, Mira Nakashima, Paul Frankl, Paul McCobb, Pierre Paulin, Richard Schultz, Roger Sprunger, T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb, Thayer Coggin, Thonet, Tommi Parzinger, Verner Panton, Vladimir Kagan, Warren McArthur and more.

Fine Art in the Discovery Auction includes mixed media, oils, watercolors, prints, photography, drawings, sculpture and works on paper by artists such as: Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Jasper Johns, Keith Haring, Marc Chagall, Roy Lichtenstein, Shepard Fairey, Sol LeWitt, Alice Sotter, Arthur Wesley Dow, Elaine DeKooning, Frederick James Brown, George Petty, Irving B. Haynes, Victor Vasarely, William Douglas McGee, Marcel Breuer, Wolfgang Roth, Eugene Laurent, Dorothy Alden Morang, Kenneth Nunamaker, Alice Kent Soddard, and two prints by Pierre-Auguste Renior.

Arts & Crafts design includes ceramicists such as Rookwood, Clewell, Fulper, Ohr, Weller, Legras, Loetz, North Dakota School of Mines, Roseville, Marblehead, Moorcroft, Royal Doulton, Van Briggle and Zsolnay.

The Estates Auction features over 750 lots of traditional furnishings, Asian artifacts, fine art, porcelains and pottery, glass, coins and currency, noteworthy collectibles including autographs, Native American items, and much more. Americana includes U.S. flags, powder horns, carousel horses, textiles, quilts and needlework. Famous names in glass in the auction are Lalique, Tiffany, Loetz, Steuben and Galle. There are silver and hollowware from makers such as Grosjean & Woodward, Tiffany & Co., Gorham, Mauser Manuf & Co.; Reed & Barton and Wallace. Other items include pottery and porcelain, bronzes, Chinese and Japanese artifacts, textiles, Native American tribal items, cigar store statues, posters, rugs, rifles, Lionel trains, medals and folk art. There are Georgian, Edwardian, Federal, English and French traditional/Continental furnishings, including several lots of custom mahogany pieces by Henkel Harris for Virginia Galleries. There is also a Philadelphia Chippendale card table. There are several lots of ephemera from the family of Franklin Murphy, Civil War veteran and 31st governor of New Jersey, who was related to Archbishop Doane, William Burnet Kinney and other prominent New Jersey families.

Kicking-off the Estate Auction will be more than 45 lots of coins/currency, in an array of values and genre, featuring several exceptional and highly sought after examples. From a local collector, this group represents some of the most beautiful and rarest examples known. They are of extremely high grade with population reports from major grading services, cumulatively under 20. Also featured are gold coins, Buffalo nickels, commemorative sets, Carson City silver dollars, Lambertville, N.J., national currency, U.S. half dollars, silver dollars, Franklin half dollars, gold bullion, Morgan Dollars and Peace Dollars.

This 450-lot unreserved sale contains fine jewelry, silver and couture, and coins and currency. Jewelry from antique to contemporary, precious and semiprecious gems, gold, silver and platinum, and select costume pieces, many by famous makers such as David Andersen, Georg Jensen, David Webb, Tiffany & Co., David Yurman, Judith Ripka, Limoges, Paul Von Ringelheim, Marci Zelmanoff and Mikimoto. Silver and silver-plate tea sets, compotes, candlestands, flatware, and other useful and decorative items by makers such as Gorham, Tiffany & Co., Wallace, Towle, International, S. Kirk & Sons, Reed and Barton, Georg Jensen and other Danish, American Arts & Crafts, Cartier, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, novelties and smoking accessories, Continental, hollowware, flatware and ladies vanity items. Couture includes handbags, belts and clothing from Chanel, Hermes, Judith Leiber, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Picasso, Dior and Armani. The sale contains men’s watches and accessories, mineral specimens, modernist jewelry, Art Deco and Art Nouveau jewelry, Native American jewelry (Mexican, Navajo, Zuni, Asian, Hopi, Indo-Persian tribal), Victorian, Victorian style and rococo revival jewelry pieces include ornate and delicate works in gold and platinum, with diamonds, sapphires and other gems, carved coral pieces, lockets, cameos and a mourning brooch, Asian jewelry including jade, ivory, coral, Buddhist motifs, etc. The sale concludes with approximately 40 lots of foreign and American coins, currency, proof sets, mint sets, tokens and metals.

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

Eero Saarinen for Knoll Associates Grasshopper Chair. Estimate: $800-1,200. Rago Arts & Auction Center.

Gustav Stickley drop-front desk. Estimate: $1,000-$1,500. Rago Arts & Auction Center.

Jacques Sicard for Weller tall vase with nasturtium. Estimate: $1,000-$1,500. Rago Arts & Auction Center.

Philadelphia Chippendale card table. Estimate: $4,000-$6,000. Rago Arts & Auction Center.

John Hagny (American, 1833-1876), oil on canvas, ‘Twin Lights with Shrewsbury River from Sandy Hook-Highland Beach,’ 1873. Estimate: $15,000-$20,000. Rago Arts & Auction Center.

Mary Smith Perkins Taylor (American, 1875-1931), hooked rug of equestrian scene. Estimate: $3,000-5,000. Rago Arts & Auction Center.

Schuler-McTeigue jeweled gold and platinum hummingbird ornament. Estimate: $800-$1,200. Rago Arts & Auction Center.

Detroit bronze works to cast RoboCop statue

Peter Weller's costume worn in 'RoboCop 2.' Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Profiles in History.

DETROIT (AP) – Plans are moving forward for a Detroit statue of the fictional crime-fighting cyborg RoboCop.

The Detroit News reported Wednesday that a RoboCop model is being scanned at a studio in Canada. When the scanning process is completed, artists will create foam pieces that will be shipped to Detroit’s Venus Bronze Works, where the parts of the statue will be cast.

Jerry Paffendorf, who is involved in the effort, says the statue “will have a physical, as well as conceptual, origin in Detroit.” Location and a completion date are uncertain.

The 1987 science fiction movie directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Peter Weller was set in a futuristic and crime-ridden Detroit.

The movement for a RoboCop statue started last year after a social networking campaign exploded in support of the project, quickly raising $50,000 to make it happen.

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Information from: The Detroit News, http://detnews.com/

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Conn. art dealer charged with selling fake Picassos

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) – An art dealer was arrested Tuesday on federal charges that he defrauded his customers by falsely claiming the artworks he sold them were original pieces by Pablo Picasso.

David Crespo of Guilford, Conn., was charged with mail and wire fraud. Authorities say the 57-year-old Crespo also created documents that falsely supported the provenance of the art, which he then provided to customers.

Crespo appeared in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport and was released on $50,000 bond. His attorney and wife declined to comment.

Crespo owned Brandon Gallery, which was raided in November 2010 by FBI agents who seized several pieces of art.

In 2005, Crespo bought what were purported to be original pieces of artwork by Picasso, according to an arrest affidavit. He paid less than $50,000 for about 21 pieces, authorities said.

The affidavit cites emails in which Crespo said he was later told by Sotheby’s that the Picassos were not original pieces of art, but reproductions printed on paper.

In 2008, Crespo sold two of the pieces, Opium Smoker and La Tauromaqura, for $33,750 to buyers in Massachusetts, authorities said. In 2009, he sold another piece, Spirit of the Bullfight, for $10,750.

In connection with the sales, Crespo provided the buyers with certificates stating the artwork was original and had been hand-signed by Picasso, according to authorities. But an art expert who is a consultant to the Picasso family determined they were not genuine Picasso artwork and are of nominal or frame value, authorities said.

Another buyer bought The Studio at La Califonie from Crespo in 2009 for $35,000 and traded Crespo another piece of art valued at $48,000, investigators said.

And another buyer paid Crespo $78,000 in 2005 to own a one-third interest in the collection, but Crespo never disclosed that the collection did not contain genuine Picasso art, according to the affidavit.

An FBI agent said Crespo told him he never told the investor the pieces were not genuine.

“Crespo also advised me that he ‘knew it was fake, I am sorry. I knew it was wrong,’” the affidavit states.

The next court hearing for Crespo was scheduled for July 13. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge.

Crespo was allowed to continue working at his wife’s store, which sells artwork and collectibles. Noting those items, prosecutor Anthony Kaplan said “he needs to be particularly careful in that regard.”

Crespo has been accused previously of dishonest dealings in the art world in a civil case.

Philip Coffaro, a Long Island art gallery owner who once did business with Crespo, said he was interviewed by FBI agents who showed him fraudulent certificates that Crespo had apparently used to overstate the value of signed Marc Chagall prints. Crespo would buy items from him for around $200 and mark them up as much as $10,000 for sale as far afield as Korea, Coffaro said.

“The certificates were disgusting,” Coffaro said.

Coffaro had a falling-out with Crespo in 2008 when he accused his former associate of selling off a piece of art that did not belong to him.

A lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York alleged that Coffaro loaned Crespo a Salvador Dali painting, Folle Folle Folle Minerva. Coffaro said Crespo later refused his demands to return it, giving it instead to another man to pay off a debt.

Coffaro spent $40,000 to reclaim the painting and sold it for about $220,000, but Crespo continued to claim ownership of the painting, according to a complaint.

A judge ruled in 2010 that Coffaro is the rightful owner. That ruling is under appeal.

“David is his own worst enemy,” said Coffaro, who owns Gallery 25 in Mineola, N.Y. “He took advantage of the system. He took advantage of people. He’s very smooth.”

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Associated Press writer Michael Melia contributed to this story.

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Wrestler turned relic hunter stars in ‘American Digger’

Frank Hugulet, aka Ric Savage, in his pro wrestling persona. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Until time travel is possible, the most direct connection to the past may be buried just out of sight. Whether it takes the brute strength of a former professional wrestler or research skills inherited from college professor parents, Mechanicsville, Va., relic hunter Ric Savage is determined to dig it up.

He’s taking America along on the journey in a new television series, American Digger, which premiered recently on Spike TV.

“I want to educate people that it’s out there so they’ll appreciate the history of it,” he said at Sgt. Riker’s Trading Post near Ashland, Va., an antiques shop that figures into one of the first-season episodes.

“You can’t get any closer than finding an item dropped by someone in that time period and the next person who picks it up is you,” Savage said.

Through his company called American Savage, he specializes in digs on private property with permission of the owner, who gets a share of the profit. In the series’ first episode, he goes to Alaska gold-rush territory to see what the miners left behind.

“A lot of places are hunted out,” he said. “They’ve been beat to death for 50 years. The bigger, more valuable items are gone. If you can get to a place where no one is allowed to dig—now you can get into the good stuff.”

Once they reach a site, metal detectors are the first step for the four-man crew, which includes Bob Buttafuso of Manassas, Va., who has written a book on relic hunting.

Rita Savage, Ric’s wife, researches potential sites and handles the logistics, while son Giuseppe Savage is the chief handyman. Rue Shumate, who owns automotive repair shops in Colonial Heights, Va., is unafraid of wells and tunnels.

Ric Savage grew up near Asheville, N.C., where his father was an English professor and his mother a librarian. His interest in the Civil War started at about age 8 when he read a book on Robert E. Lee. From then on, he wanted to take vacations at battlefields instead of beaches.

“They bought me a Civil War bullet at Appomattox, my first relic. It’s still in my collection.”

His professional wrestling career was “totally by accident,” he said. In the Army at Fort Bragg, he won a competition for a spot on the base wrestling squad. After an injury to his left knee resulted in a medical discharge and a year in a knee brace, he hired a personal trainer to help him get back into shape. The trainer happened to be preparing for a pro wrestling career, and Savage was intrigued.

“I got to do something I liked to do, which is entertainment,” he said. When his seven-year wrestling career ended in 1997, he started working for an auto parts distributor in New Jersey. In 2008, he moved to Mechanicsville, where it was much easier to indulge in his passion for Civil War relics.

Savage, 42, has become an expert in spotting fakes, which he details in a column for American Digger magazine. Looking through a tray of Civil War buckles at Sgt. Rikers, he said the Confederate relics are more valuable because they are more rare.

A Confederate tongue-and-wreath style buckle could go for $2,500 if both parts are in good condition. A US Army box plate might be worth $200.

“US stuff was mass produced,” he said. A box plate held down the front flap on a cartridge box, but it wasn’t essential. “Soldiers discarded it quickly. It was a little bit of extra weight and it was an extra shiny target for sharpshooters.”

He never knows what he’ll find on a dig, he said. Episodes of the show will feature Brooklyn, N.Y.; Detroit; Chicago; St. Augustine, Fla.; Louisiana; and Mechanicsville.

“We don’t hit gold every time,” he said. “You can accurately say something happened here. You can’t accurately say stuff is still in the ground.”

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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com

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