May 2014 - Page 5 of 19 - Auction Central News

Paintings, porcelain, silver bolster Ahlers & Ogletree sale June 6-8

Oil on canvas painting by George Lambert (Br., 1700-1765), a classical landscape with figures (est. $25,000-$40,000).

ATLANTA – Ahlers & Ogletree’s June 6-8 estates auction was already packed with over 1,000 lots of fresh estate merchandise, but recently added to that impressive lineup will be important paintings by noted British artists John Frederick Herring Sr. (1795-1865) and George Lambert (1700-1765), porcelain pieces retrieved from a Chinese shipwreck in 1690, and dazzling sterling silver pieces.

LiveAuctioneers.com will facilitate Internet live bidding.

The June 6 session will begin at 6 p.m. and features over 250 lots including more than 30 pieces of blue and white Kangxi porcelain recovered from the Vung Tau, a Chinese trading junk ship that sank off the southern coast of Vietnam in the late 17th century. Among the cargo on board was large amounts of valuable Ching Dynasty porcelain. Some of these items being sold on June 6 were previously sold by Christie’s Amsterdam in 1992.

The two British paintings up for auction in June have been in private hands for decades in a collection located in Suwanee, Ga. The strong equestrian racing oil on canvas painting by John Frederick Herring Sr., was executed in 1851 and depicts – as its title bolsters – The Great Match, York-Spring Meeting Day. This famous race featured two of the most well-regarded British thoroughbred horses of the 19th century, Voltigeur and The Flying Dutchman. On May 31, they competed in a match race with The Flying Dutchman winning by a length. Herring’s signed and dated work up for auction measures 25 inches by 36 inches (framed, 29 1/2 inches by 40 1/2 inches). Importantly, this painting offers another perspective on the subject of The Great Match in York as Herring’s most noted paintings document this very event where these two notable horses competed. The painting is estimated to bring $90,000-$120,000.

Classical Landscape with Figures Strolling on a Path by George Lambert fits within the artist’s signature style and subject. The painting clearly highlights Lambert’s skilled use of perspective, atmosphere and handling. The work, while apparently unsigned, features a F.R. label on verso with registry number and information pertaining to the piece. Unframed, it measures 28 inches by 41 inches; framed, it is 34 inches by 47 inches. The estimate for the 18th century painting is $25,000-$40,000.

Saturday and Sunday’s portion of the sale will feature significant period sterling silver serving pieces by noted makers. Two George III oval platters by the renowned British silversmith Paul Storr, both made in the early 19th century, are prime examples. Both are meat serving platters with shell and leaf decorations. One is 89.2 troy ounces (est. $5,000-$7,000), the smaller is 53.1 troy ounces (est. $4,000-$6,000).

Other sterling silver lots of note include a large oval tea tray with two scrolled foliate bracket handles by the American silversmith William Adams (New York, circa 1850), 141 troy ounces (est. $3,000-$5,000); a very fine George III lidded tureen by Rebecca Ames and Edward Barnard I (London, circa 1809), about 112 troy ounces (est. $8,000-$12,000); and a pair of George III vegetable dishes by Robert Garrard (London, circa 1811), 104 troy ounces (est. $6,000-$8,000).

Start time for the auction held on June 7 and 8 will be 11 a.m. Eastern.

Inquiries regarding bidding or the auction can be made by e-mail (bids@aandoauctions.com) or phone 404-869-2478.

A buyer’s premium (on a sliding scale, depending how an item is bid on and paid for) will be applied to all purchases.

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.

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

Oil on canvas painting by John Frederick Herring, Sr. (Br., 1795-1865), with a horse race theme (est. $90,000-$120,000).

George III period sterling silver covered round vegetable dishes, by Robert Garrad of London, circa 1811 (est. $6,000-$8,000).

George III period sterling silver lidded tureen by Rebecca Emes and Edward Barnard I of London, circa 1809 (est. $8,000-$12,000).

Outstanding sterling silver pieces, like this George III platter by British silversmith Paul Storr (est. $5,000-$7,000) will be sold.

Collection of Bronte sisters first editions sells for £111,600

A collection of first edition novels by the Bronte sisters, including Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Price realized: £111,600 ($188,085). Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image.

LONDON – A complete first edition set of the novels by the three Brontë sisters sold at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions’ Important Books and Manuscripts, sale on May 19, for £111,600 ($188,085).

LiveAuctioneers.com facilitated Internet live bidding.

The unique collection was formed by American lawyer Thomas Lincoln Chadbourne, founder of Chadbourne & Parke. Bidders competed online and on the phone for the rare opportunity to take home the Brontë collection, which sold to a collector in the saleroom [Lot 67].

A highly desirable Chinese photograph album, circa 1860, demanded attention from buyers around the world. The collection boasted fascinating views of Shanghai Custom House, Anglo-Chinese artillery at Ningpo, riverside buildings before and after a typhoon, the steamer landing at Canton, bridges and a pagoda alongside portraits of Chinese sitters and a group of three Russian Orthodox priests, presumably members of the Peking mission. It sold for £37,200 [Lot 172].

The earliest Bible in both English and Latin, The Newe Testament in Englyshe and Latyn according to the translacyon of doctor Erasmus of Roterodam, first edition, 1538, also achieved a top price, selling for £22,320. Only three copies, all defective, have been offered at auction in the last 35 years [Lot 77].

A travel diary belonging to Nelson detailing a journey from Ringwood, Hampshire to Dublin, from the Matcham Collection of Nelsoniana, sold for £806. The collection was formed by Nelson’s brother-in-law, George Matcham (1753-1833) a traveler who married Catherine “Kitty” Nelson (1767-1842). One extract from the journal reads; “The ladys are to take me to the pump room aft but I am to go with Mr.C at 8. The town is beautiful. A new pump room will soon be completed from the old one – to the White Hart inn. A new street from that down to the duke of Kingstons bath … ” [Lot 34].

Elsewhere in the sale charming illustrated autograph letters and postcards by war artist and writer Edward Ardizzone, sailed past the presale estimate, selling for £3,720 [Lot 56] as did a collection of illustrated autograph letters by painter Paul Nash (1889-1946) which sold for £2,728 [Lot 53].

A collection of striking designer bindings from the property of the late Mel Kavin of Kater-Craft Bookbinders, captivated bidders, with the beautiful A Catalogue of The Thirty-Three Miniature Designer Bindings of You can Judge a Book by its Cover, by Michael Wilcox selling for £7,192 [Lot 144].

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

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

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

One of more than 100 prints comprising a circa 1860s Chinese photograph album, which sold for £37,200 ($62,726). Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image.

Leighton Galleries moves consignment day to May 27

ALLENDALE, N.J. – Due to the Memorial Day holiday, Leighton Galleries has rescheduled its weekly consignment day to Tuesday, May 27, from 1 to 4 p.m.

Leighton Galleries is seeking jewelry and couture pieces to add to a fine collection that will be auctioned July 17.

Customers are welcome to stop by the auctioneer’s gallery showroom at 6-C Pearl Court with items they are interested in selling at an upcoming auction.

Leighton Galleries’ consignment days are ordinarily Mondays from 1 to 4 p.m.

For details email info@Leightongalleries.com or phone 201-327-8800.

Oil painting certified as early work by Salvador Dali

Photographer: W. Vennemann. Salvador Dali in front of his painting 'Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach' (1938/39). Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Bassenge, Berlin.

MADRID (AFP) – An oil painting sold at a Spanish antique shop over two decades ago for around 150 euros ($200) has been certified as Salvador Dali’s first Surrealist work, which he painted as a teenager, art experts said Thursday.

Tomeu L’Amo, a painter and art historian, found the canvas at a store in Girona in northeastern Spain in 1988 and suspecting it was a work by Dali he paid 25,000 pesetas, Spain’s currency at the time, for it.

“I was very happy. I felt like a kid in a candy story,” he told a news conference in Madrid to discuss the conclusions of art experts who have studied the work.

“When I saw its colors I suspected it was a Dali. That was my opinion but I did not have proof. I investigated and little by little I realized it was a Dali.”

The Intrautirine Birth of Salvador Dali, which depicts angels floating in the sky over a volcano, bears the Spanish artist’s signature below a short dedication.

It was dismissed for years as the work of an unknown artist because the signature includes the date 1896 – eight years before Dali was born.

But after subjecting the painting to the latest high-tech tests – including infrared photography, X-rays and ultraviolet radiation – between 2004 and 2013 art experts have concluded that it is indeed the work of Dali and was made around 1921 when he was 17-years-old.

The work employs thick brushstrokes with the figures defined by strokes of black and blue pencil, said Carmen Linares, the head of the conservation department at Barcelona’s Frederic Mares Museum.

“Infrared photography has improved the visualization of the black lines thus confirming the use of this technique which is also used in other works by the artist,” she said.

Handwriting analysis also concluded that the script used in the ten word dedication in the lower right part of the painting corresponds with Dali’s writing style at the time.

L’Amo believes Dali, who had a reputation for making outrageous claims and carrying out media stunts, used numerology to come up with date he put on the painting.

“Dali must be laughing in his grave at the thought that he managed to fool everyone for so many years,” he said.

L’Amo said he sold the work earlier this month for an amount which he refused to reveal to a collector who wishes to remain anonymous.

“The painting can be considered the first surrealist work of Dali,” said Nicolas Descharnes, a leading Dali expert who has studied the painting.

Dali, who is praised by some as a creative genius for his striking and bizarre images, died in Figueres in 1989 at the age of 85.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Costumes welcome at SF Giants’ Heroes & Comics Night, June 7

All fans attending the June 7 game will receive a collector's-edition bobblehead figure of 'Courageous Catcherman,' former Marvel Comics impresario Stan Lee's interpretation of San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey.

SAN FRANCISCO – Following the success of their Stan Lee VIP Experience promotion last season, the National League West-leading San Francisco Giants are increasing this year’s comic hero celebration to ballpark-wide status.

Heroes and Comics Night will come to AT&T Park on Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 7:05 PDT as the Giants take on the New York Mets. Various components centered around popular comic book heroes will take place throughout the game, and all fans are encouraged to dress up as their favorite comic book characters.

In addition to the game itself, the special event ticket package includes a collector’s-edition bobblehead figure of “Courageous Catcherman,” former Marvel Comic impresario Stan Lee’s interpretation of Giants catcher Buster Posey. Lee, the creator or co-creator of characters ranging from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four to The X-Men and Iron Man, will throw out the Ceremonial First Pitch.

Lee will also take part in a special pre-game VIP experience in the Triples Alley Premium Space at AT&T Park. Each VIP-ticket holder will receive admission to the Triples Alley Premium Location 4:35-6:35pm, complimentary food and beverage (including beer and wine), the “Courageous Catcherman” bobblehead, and a limited-edition Stan Lee vinyl figurine, only available to ticketholders of this VIP offer.

This VIP experience and the Triples Alley venue includes on-field access from which to watch batting practice, early access to the ballpark, and at the conclusion of the pre-game event, a walk along the warning track on the field to get to your seats for the game. Special tickets are required for this event and space is limited.

Additional details for the event will be available on the Giants’ website as the event’s date draws closer. A portion of proceeds from every Heroes and Comics Day Special Event ticket will benefit local non-profits in the Bay Area.

Last year’s Stan Lee VIP Experience in Triples Alley netted attendees a custom, limited edition print signed by Lee and Giants closer Sergio Romo.

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Our thanks to Scoop (www.scoop.diamondgalleries.com) for sharing the information and images shown here.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

Limited-edition Stan Lee vinyl figurine to be given to each VIP ticketholder at the San Francisco Giants Heroes and Comics Night, June 7, 2014.

Flyer for June 7 Heroes and Comics Night at AT&T Park, San Francisco

Initial steps taken to create H.L. Hunley Museum in S.C.

The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, suspended from a crane during her recovery from Charleston Harbor on Aug. 8, 2000. Image by Barbara Voulgaris, Naval Historical Center, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – The South Carolina Hunley Commission has begun working to create a museum to house the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate vessel that was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports the commission reached an agreement Tuesday with the Charleston Naval Base Redevelopment Authority to create a museum authority to oversee planning and the building of a $40 million museum at the former base.

Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Robert Ryan said a new agency is needed because the Hunley Commission was not configured to build the museum. Ryan says there is not enough money to build it. The city of North Charleston has pledged $13 million.

The Hunley sank off Charleston in 1864 after sending the Union blockade ship Housatonic to the bottom. The Hunley was discovered in 1995 and raised in 2000. Since then it has been undergoing conservation at a lab in North Charleston.

Scientists this month began soaking the hand-cranked sub in a bath of sodium hydroxide to help loosen the encrustation of sand, sediment and rust coating the hull and interior of the sub. This summer, they will begin using hand tools to remove the encrustation and reveal the hull for the first time in 150 years.

They announced last year it appears the charge that sank the Houstonic was attached to the 16-foot spar at the front of the sub. That could mean the crew was knocked unconscious by the explosion and died in the blast. A closer look at the hull may provide clues.

When the Hunley was raised, historians thought it was farther away from the Housatonic and speculated the crew ran out of air before they could crank the sub back to the coast.

The encrustation should be removed in about a year but the sub will have to soak in the chemical bath for at least four more years to remove salts in the metal and prevent further corrosion.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com

AP-WF-05-21-14 1407GMT

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Miami pastor gets jail time in fake Damien Hirst art case

NEW YORK (AP) – A Miami pastor was sentenced Monday to six months in jail for peddling bogus examples of some of British artist Damien Hirst’s signature paintings.

Kevin Sutherland had faced a possible seven years in prison in the attempted grand larceny case, which accused him of knowingly trying to sell five fake Hirsts for $185,000 to an undercover detective. Sutherland, who plans to appeal, said he was just an art-world tyro who got confusing signals about the pieces’ authenticity.

Sutherland, 46, leads the small, nondenominational Mosaic Miami Church in Miami. Defense lawyer Sanford “Sam” Talkin emphasized Sutherland’s good works to the judge, and Mosaic Miami members and others wrote letters on his behalf.

Sutherland was convicted last month of agreeing to sell paintings and prints mimicking Hirst’s pharmaceutical-themed “`spot” paintings and round “spin” paintings, two of the artist’s best-known themes.

Part of a group dubbed the Young British Artists in the 1990s, Hirst received Great Britain’s prestigious Turner Prize in 1995.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office noted that Sotheby’s auction house had raised red flags about the authenticity of one of the paintings, but Sutherland nonetheless told the detective he didn’t know of any doubts about them.

But Sutherland said the auction house never clearly told him the artworks were counterfeit. He said he believed their authenticity was guaranteed when he bought them from Vincent Lopreto, an admitted California art scammer who testified against him.

Lopreto pleaded guilty this year to identity theft and other charges. Two other men also admitted guilt in phony-Hirst cases brought by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

“Because the art industry is largely unregulated, it is particularly important to hold accountable those who fraudulently deal artwork,” Vance said after Sutherland’s conviction.

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Reach Jennifer Peltz on Twitter (at) jennpeltz.

AP-WF-05-19-14 2213GMT

Portrait gallery adds ‘Cupcake Katy’ Perry to collection

'Cupcake Katy' by William Cotton; 2010; Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery; Promised gift of the James Dicke Family.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Pop star Katy Perry will soon take pride of place in the dignified National Portrait Gallery in Washington.

Cupcake Katy, an oil-on-linen portrait by New York artist Will Cotton, will go up on June 18 as part of a rotating display of recent acquisitions, the museum said Wednesday.

The painting, completed in 2010, is being gifted to the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery by the James Dicke family, whose wealth and large art collection derive from a global forklift truck business based in Ohio.

In a statement, National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet said the tongue-in-cheek work “brings to mind a traditional European portrait of a bewitching 18th century belle – Madame de Pompadour, perhaps?”

Sajet added: “Sweet but no mere piece of ‘candy,’ the woman is accessorized but not labeled – she’s the one in control.”

Perry, 29, is among the biggest names in pop music today, with a raft of Top 10 hits including California Gurls, Teenage Dream and Firework, and a reputation for wildly colorful shows.

She’s scheduled to bring her ongoing Prismatic concert tour to Washington’s Verizon Center arena – across the street from the National Portrait Gallery, as it happens – on June 24 and 25.

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China museum ordered to close over fake exhibits

The Shanghai Museum, where experts dispute the authenticity of a scroll that a Chinese tycoon purchased for $8 million at a New York auction house. Image by 寒江2009 Eddie Chen. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

BEIJING (AFP) – A Chinese museum has been ordered to close after thousands of its historical exhibits were found to be fake, state-run media said on Thursday.

Police shut down the Lucheng Museum, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, after finding that almost a third of the 8,000 items on display were not genuine, the Global Times newspaper reported.

Counterfeits on show included a sword touted as dating from the Qing Dynasty and worth 120 million yuan ($19 million), the report said.

China is on a museum building spree, with 299 new establishments registering last year, according to state media.

But its antiques market is said to be rife with fakes, posing a problem for the country’s growing ranks of private collectors.

A Chinese tycoon who has two museums is embroiled in a row with experts from the state-backed Shanghai Museum over the authenticity of a scroll he paid more than $8 million for at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.

Separately, last year a museum in the central province of Henan was found to contain scores of fake exhibits, including a vase decorated with cartoon characters but described as a Qing dynasty artifact.

Pictures posted by the state-run China Radio International showed the vase decorated with bright green cartoon animals, including a creature resembling a laughing squid.

“Similar fake museums are found in many places in China in search of monetary gain,” CRI quoted Chinese antiques expert Ma Weidu as saying at the time.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

1776 silver dollar, 1792 cent sell for $1.41M each at Heritage

1776 $1 Continental dollar. Prize realized: $1.41 million. Heritage Auctions image.

NEW YORK – A 1776 Continental dollar – the finest of only four silver Continental currency dollars known to exist and a 1792 silver center one cent piece – one of the earliest and most famous of all 1792 pattern coins – both realized $1.41 million at a coin auction conducted by Heritage Auctions, May 16-17.

These rare coins from the birth of the American republic were the undisputed stars at Heritage Auctions’ selections from the Eric P. Newman Collection IV Signature® Auction, which totaled more than $11 million. The Continental Dollar realized the highest price ever paid for a non-gold American Colonial coin.

The nearly 700 lots of the most important U.S. Colonials offered in recent memory, many of them pedigreed to “Colonel” E.H.R. Green, across the festive two-day auction, gave collectors of all levels a chance to own part of this long-held collection.

At almost 103 years of age Eric P. Newman is the foremost United States numismatic researcher and author. His massive and storied collection is one of the single finest numismatic assemblages ever seen. Along with the first three parts of his collection, auctioned earlier in 2014 and in 2013, his coins so far have realized more than $44 million.

“Historic coins like these, treasures from the birth of the United States, commanded appropriately important prices,” said Jim Halperin, co-founder of Heritage Auctions. “The top collectors in the world knew that they weren’t likely to see many of these coins ever again. The competition and overall prices, as it’s been throughout Mr. Newman’s amazing collection, exceeded even our in-house expectations.”

A 1783 “100” Unique Plain Edge Nova Constellatio 100 Units, Silver, AU55 NGC, the first pattern coin issued by the newly independent United States and a forerunner of the decimal coinage’s acceptance, first in America, then eventually by most monetary systems throughout the world, proved popular with collectors at a final price realized of $705,000. A 1652 New England sixpence, AU58 NGC, the finest known specimen, was also highly sought-after before finishing the auction at $646,250.

Copper highlights included the 1787 George Clinton Copper, MS63 Brown NGC, the finest-certified example of this rare classic offered at auction for the first time in more than a century, which realized $499,375, a price equaled by a simply stunning 1792 Reeded-edge Copper Disme AU55 NGC.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

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