MESA, Ariz. – An outstanding collection of 40 hand-wrought, Navajo-made silver pill, jewelry and trinket boxes, many with turquoise stones and made between the 1930s and the 1980s, sold for $9,200 at Allard Auctions’ Big Spring Phoenix Auction, held March 8-9. LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.

The silver box collection was the top lot of the sale and contained 48 pieces overall. In addition to the boxes, the lot also featured two great canteens (one with coral), a small dish and five non-Indian pieces. The boxes came in various sizes and most boasted great patina. All had lids or covers. The largest two were signed by noted silversmiths “L. James” and “Suzie James.”

Over 800 lots of Native American art and artifacts came up for bid in an auction that grossed about $322,000. Between 100 and 125 people packed the house in person, while online bidding accounted for more than 500 registered bidders. Phone and absentee bids were also taken. In all there were about 300 successful bidders.

“There was a great deal of interest and excitement surrounding this sale way in advance of the actual event, and that told me it would be a huge success, which it was,” said Steve Allard of Allard Auctions. “It was one of our better auctions in the last two or three years. Just about all the major categories did well – jewelry, fine weave rugs, baskets, beadwork and unique items.”

Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.

Many items sailed past estimates to bring high dollars – the hallmark of a successful auction. The silver box collection was expected to fetch only $2,000-$5,000. Also, a spectacular graduated green turquoise heshi strand necklace with fetish birds, bears and tear-drop extensions of turquoise and spiny oyster (est. $275-$550) ended up bringing $2,875.

Other overachievers included a large polychrome Acoma pottery jar by L. Concho, with classic floral motif in excellent condition, made circa 1978 (est. $400-$800) gaveled for $2,588; and an oversize Navajo turquoise and silver squash blossom Yellow Bird necklace set with about 200 carats of Morenci turquoise, beautifully crafted circa 1970s (est. $800-$1,600) garnered $2,750.

An early 20th century fully beaded ceremonial drumstick (Assiniboine/Gros Ventre), with a triangular drop and American flags in the design, in very good condition, made $1,840 against an estimate of $300-$600. Also a fine Navajo new wave storm pot, made circa 1990s by the renowned McKelvey Sisters, estimated at $500-$1,000), went for $1,955.

Hopi pottery jars, in particular, did well. A late 20th century Hopi olla by Hisi Nampeyo, with a flared rim and opposed polychrome parrot figures reached $1,035; while another Hisi Nampeyo example – a fine polychrome seed jar with four-way avian symbols, in very good condition and probably made around 1972, rose to $748.

A fine black-on-buff egg-shape Hopi pottery jar with bug and floral motif by the legendary Featherwoman (Silvia Naha), crafted in the late 20th century and in very good condition, breezed to $863, and another Naha creation, a fine polychrome-on-buff seed jar with a lizard figure and cornstalk on the shoulder, also in very good condition and made in the late 1900s, made $748.

An exceptional San Ildefonso blackware pottery plate by Maria & Santana, made circa 1960s, with feather designs and in superb condition, 10 inches in diameter, sold for $2,588. Also, a signed original pen and ink on paper work by Charles F. Lovato (1937-1987), depicting pottery and a stylized animal, circa 1972, 17 inches by 22 inches framed, made $805.

Rounding out just some of the auction’s top lots, a vintage flat beaded pictorial belt for a woman with sheep, a cow, horses and goat figures, made circa 1920 and measuring 6 inches by 36 inches, in very good condition, achieved $1,840; and a Navajo Two Gray Hills rug or weaving by Sadie Begay, done in beautiful earth tones and measuring 31 inches by 54 inches, gaveled for $1,725.

Allard Auctions Inc., which maintains its home office location on the Flathead Indian Reservation in St. Ignatius, Mont., has been selling exclusively American Indian artifacts and art at auction since 1968. The firm is always accepting quality merchandise for future auctions. To inquire about consigning phone 406-745-0500 or toll-free: 888-314-0343; or, email them at info@allardauctions.com.

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

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.

From the collection of Moore’s master printer Michael Rand, the original work from the late 1970s and early 1980s included the watercolor and charcoal design that was the basis of the etching Highwire Walkers (1975).

Moore’s love of the circus is well documented in his notebooks, and resulted in a series of drawings of tightrope walkers and acrobats that are unlike the drawings relating to his sculpture. Likened to the work of Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, the work records his interest in the physical form required for these two lively activities, and are markedly different from his life drawings, where the human figure is more commonly represented in a reclining pose. This animated design, sold together with an impression from the third state, to a private collector of important 20th century works on paper for £14,880 [Lot 172].

“We are very pleased with the result achieved for Highwire Walkers,” said Alexander Hayter, international head of contemporary art at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions. “It was an absolute pleasure to handle this collection where every variant plate gave us a wonderful insight in to the level of preparatory work that made Moore such an expert printmaker.”

A second work by Moore, Head of a Girl Sectional, was sold together with the original acetate transfer, the “Bon a Tirer” impression, signed and inscribed by the artist before the plate was trimmed, and four progressive proofs of the plate, one inscribed “State 2” in pencil, and an impression from an abandoned plate previously unrecorded by Patrick Cramer in his catalog of Henry Moore’s graphic work. The lot sold for an impressive £8,060 [Lot 147].

Elsewhere in the sale, a selection of work by British abstract artist and printmaker Sir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin CH, CBE (b.1932) sold well. The first, a signed and dated colored lithograph titled For Bernard Jacobson, was printed and hand-colored by Alan Cox and Don Bessant at Sky Editions, London, published by Bernard Jacobson Ltd., London. Dedicated to the art dealer and publisher, Bernard Jacobson, the print was one of the first to be produced on the same scale as the artist’s paintings. Portraying the view of India at night from a balcony, the print is said to be one of Hodgkin’s most complex prints as each sheet of paper was hand-dyed and then interleaved with layers of printing. It sold for £5,580 [Lot 417]. The second of the two works, In an Empty Room, sold for £7,440 [Lot 418].

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

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Internet live bidding was provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

Attracted by an exceptionally and consistently strong selection of works by top-tier artists, including two works by top California Impressionist Guy Rose, bidders from all over California filled the saleroom at the Pasadena Convention Center to capacity. A number of works sold above their high estimates, and several artists’ world records were broken within the span of an hour.

The first work by Guy Rose (1867-1925) to go on the block was Windswept Trees, Laguna, aptly described in a note in Moran’s catalog by well-known California art expert Will South as “by every measure, a signature example of his mature aesthetic, an aesthetic that defines the highest cultural achievement of his time and place.’’ Rose painted the 40-by-30-inch oil-on-linen “en plein air” in 1917, and was so pleased with the result that he kept it in his private collection, and reproduced it in a larger studio version which now belongs to the Irvine Museum. Purchased from Stendahl Galleries at the Guy Rose Memorial Exhibition by members of the same family who consigned it to Moran’s, this important work made its reappearance on the market with aplomb, realizing $480,000 (estimate: $500,000 – $700,000).

The second work by Rose, Winter Haystacks at Crecy-en-Brie, France, was painted earlier, in 1890, when Rose was a student in Paris. Possessing an authority and presence that belies its diminutive size, the delicately shaded oil was purchased by a determined floor bidder for a final price of $120,000 (estimate: $100,000 – $150,000). Two more works by Guy Rose are slated for sale at John Moran Auctioneers’ October California and American Fine Art Auction.

One of the standout record-breaking paintings was a large and unusually dramatic oil by Paul Grimm (1891-1974), California Clouds. Hailing from a private Orange County collection, the canvas went up on the block with a conservative estimate of $7,000 – $9,000. Competing floor and a full bank of telephone bidders quickly drove the asking price much higher, however, to a final bid of $30,000.

Sweeping Southern California landscapes in general performed quite well at Moran’s. A bidding war broke out for a massive canvas (40 inches by 60 inches) by Hanson Duval Puthuff (1875-1972) depicting a wide view of Big Tujunga Canyon (estimate: $60,000 – $80,000). Puthuff’s impressive work renders the California scenery in true-to-life hues of yellow, brown and green, skillfully capturing the arid-meets-verdant landscape. Bidding did not top out until the price reached the $96,000 mark. John Frost’s (1890-1937) electrically colored oil on canvas, San Jacinto, Palm Springs, executed in a feathery, painterly hand, earned an impressive $85,750, well over the expected $50,000 – $70,000.

The Beautiful Bay of Avalon by Joe Duncan Gleason (1881-1959) also performed beyond expectations. The work serves as a fascinating architectural and geographical record of the popular resort town on Catalina Island. Painted from a similar vantage point as the current record-holder for the artist, a larger work that Moran’s sold for $161,000 in February, 2007, it takes its title from a poem by Jennie L.H. Giddings, whose family home, Holly Hill House, is the structure on the right of the canvas, facing the Sugar Loaf Casino on the other side of the bay. Gleason created the painting as a gift to the family upon their purchase of the property, and it remained in the family until the present day. Expected to bring $20,000 – $25,000, the modestly sized painting realized $36,000.

Also serving as an intriguing architectural time capsule of sorts is a watercolor by Emil Kosa Jr. (1903-1968) of downtown Los Angeles and City Hall. A somewhat moody composition, with dark clouds breaking apart to reveal bright blue Los Angeles skies, this work was estimated at $6,000 – $8,000, but ultimately went to a floor bidder to the tune of $13,200. Another city scene, capturing the picturesque Chinatown, San Francisco by Jules Pages (1867-1946), earned $16,800 at the block (estimate: $10,000 – $15,000).

Some new records were set by stunning works by lesser-known but immensely talented California artists. A muted oil by Ted Christensen (1911-1998) titled Tiburon captures the hamlet on a foggy day, showing a road winding down through buildings to the distant bay covered in haze. Bidders responded enthusiastically to the sketchy, almost abstract, scene, bidding well beyond the estimate of $1,000 – $1,500, to a purchase price of $4,287.50. Shortly thereafter, a sunny watercolor by Sacramento artist John Britton Matthew (1896-1980), Divers Cove, Laguna Beach – From Life, broke the artist’s record with a selling price of $3,900, well over the estimated $1,000 – $1,500.

Other results of note include George K. Brandriff’s (1890-1936) A Gathering Storm, Mono Lake, Calif., which was expected to find a buyer for $2,000 – $3,000, but earned an impressive $6,000 in the end. Late Afternoon – La Crescenta by Los Angeles artist Walter Farrington Moses (1874-1947), a skillfully composed composition depicting distant mountains revealed by a divided clutch of stately eucalyptus trees to the mid ground, was initially estimated to earn $800-$1,200. Wooing bidders with a cool and calming palette replete with purples, blues and greens, the piece fetched $4,200. A bright and bold composition by John Wesley Cotton (1868-1931), titled Gnarled Veterans in reference to the massive sycamore trees that serve as the painting’s subject, incited a number of bidders to compete for ownership. In the end, the work realized $8,400 (estimate: $3,000 – $5,000).

Additional highlights include:

– Massachusetts artist John Whorf’s oil on canvas, Southern Cruiser, is a stunningly dramatic maritime nocturne, looking over the bow of a ship and beyond to a view of crushing waves. Perhaps made all the more captivating with the inclusion of a solitary figure on deck, illuminated by an interior light, the work earned $30,000 (estimate $15,000 – $20,000).

– A pair of complementary works by Pasadena artist Marion Kavanagh Wachtel, initially given a conservative $1,500 – $2,000 estimate for the pair, sold at $6,000.

– A charming, feathery still life of lilacs by Clair H. Ruby made quite an impression when auction attendees viewed it in person, inciting a number of bidders to leave absentee bids. One such absentee bidder was indeed successful, buying the work for $2,400 (estimate: $1,000 – $1,500).

John Moran Auctioneers’ next California and American Fine Art Auction is scheduled for October 21st, and consignment inquiries are now invited. Call the offices directly for more information: 626-793-1833.

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

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE