Ming Imperial dragon carpet, $324,500. Image courtesy of Skinner
MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Skinner Auctioneers presented its initial sale from the the Jim Dixon collection, commanding widespread interest beyond the centerpiece Ming Imperial dragon carpet. The May 4 auction represented the first of several planned sales from the lifetime accruals of Jim Dixon, a passionate antiquarian and outsized figure in the world of fine woven textiles who passed away in 2020. Sales for both the live May 4 auction and a late April-early May online auction together reached $1,375,805.
Harry B. Wagoner, ‘Desert Landscape,’ est. $3,000-$5,000
MONROVIA, Calif. – John Moran Auctioneers, Inc.’s first Art of the American West sale of 2022 will take place on Tuesday, May 24. Enthusiasts of Native American art as well as Western art will find abundant examples of pottery, textiles, basketry and beadwork as well as fine art, sculpture, Native American kachina figures and painted retablos. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Phil and Joan Castle made the find of their lives in October 2018, when they swept their metal detectors over what proved to be a so-called “purse hoard” of 14th-century British gold coins. Image courtesy of Noonans
LONDON – Phil and Joan Castle, who live in New Romney in Kent, England, have been hunting treasure with metal detectors for more than 30 years. It was in October 2018, while searching one of their favorite plowed fields at nearby Romney Marsh that Joan, using her XP gold max metal detector, found a broken gold coin on the surface. Another signal beside it in the soil revealed a medieval brass purse bar at eight inches down. Phil came over to help and immediately found a gold coin. During the next two hours, the married couple uncovered four more gold coins in an area of five meters, with Joan finding two herself. The purse bar and the coins, which are estimated at £12,000-£15,000, will be offered for sale by specialist coin, medal, banknote and jewelry auctioneers Noonans (previously Dix Noonan Webb) on Tuesday, May 24.
Paul Augustin Aizpiri, ‘Sainte Maxime,’ est. $25,000-$35,000
DALLAS — Dallas Auction Gallery will hold its next sale on Saturday, May 25, featuring a wide selection of Texas, European and contemporary art as well as a significant collection of Venetian glass, sterling silver, estate jewelry and Chinese antiques. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Minton majolica boar’s head tureen with matching fitted tray, est. $40,000-$60,000
WOLCOTTVILLE, Ind. – A three-day, semi-annual Antique Auction featuring more than 1,800 lots of furniture, silver, estate jewelry, fine art, lighting, glass, porcelain and majolica will be held May 25, 27 and 28 by Strawser Auction Group. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
NEW YORK — The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents an exhibition devoted to Chilean artist, poet, activist and filmmaker Cecilia Vicuna (b. 1948-), who has been based in New York for the last 40 years. Titled Cecilia Vicuna: Spin Spin Triangulene, it opens May 27 and continues through September 5.
