Davidson collection of antique microscopes to sell at Gray’s April 17 to benefit Case Western’s medical museum

Culpeper Type Compound Monocular Microscope, estimated at $800-$1,200 at Gray's.

CLEVELAND – A collection of microscopes and other antique scientific instruments from the estate of Ohio scientist John A. Davidson Jr. (1939-2023) will be presented at Gray’s Auctioneers on Wednesday, April 17. Titled The Art of Discovery, Part 1, proceeds from the sale will benefit the Dittrick Museum of Medical History at Case Western Reserve University, where many of the pieces had been on display.

Davidson, who worked with the tire makers BF Goodrich and later at CWRU, had a great passion for historical instruments and machines. Among the clubs and societies to which he belonged were the Stanley Steamer, the Magic Lantern, the Pittsburgh Climbers, and the Northeastern Ohio Live Steamers.

His collection of 18th- and 19th-century microscopes numbered more than 40 different models. The earliest in the sale is an Italian ‘simple’ microscope of brass screw barrel design dated circa 1715. Contained in a fitted book-form box that is bound in leather and titled Physique Nouvelle, the microscope’s accessories include eight objectives (apparently molded and not ground), two eye pieces, and a mounting ring to use as a magnifier. With no identical example of this particular instrument known, it is estimated at $8,000-$10,000.

Made circa 1745 is a compound microscope signed for John Cuff (circa 1708-1772). An important London instrument maker, he traded as a ‘Spectacle and Microscope Maker’ at ‘the sign of the Reflecting Microscope and Spectacles opposite Sergeant’s Inn’ on Fleet Street from 1737-1757 and then from ‘the sign of the Double Microscope, three Pairs of Golden Spectacles & Hadley’s Quadrant’ opposite Salisbury Court in the Strand. Famously, after supplying several microscopes to the court of George III, he had his portrait painted in his workshop by the Anglo-Swiss artist Johann Zoffany in 1772. Cuff’s instrument, employing ‘new’ features such as a Lieberkuhn reflector to enhance the amount of focussed light, is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.

There are several examples of the Culpepper-type compound monocular microscope, named after the famous instrument by Englishman Edmund Culpeper (circa 1670-1738). An evolutionary step from the true Culpepper, many were intended for the pleasure of the leisured classes and amateur biologists.

Although unsigned, one of these with a turned wood ocular support and a leather and ray skin draw tube is close to those signed by the mid-18th-century London maker Matthew Loft. With accessories and four objectives, it is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.

From the Victorian ‘brass and glass’ era of instrument production is a James Smith compound monocular first-class microscope dating to circa 1840 and estimated at $3,000-$5,000. Signed J. Smith London and bearing the serial number 12, it is one of the earliest known British achromatic compound microscopes. The earliest microscope by Smith owned by the Royal Microscopical Society has the serial number 43.

Culpeper Type Compound Monocular Microscope, estimated at $800-$1,200 at Gray's.

Culpeper Type Compound Monocular Microscope, estimated at $800-$1,200 at Gray's.

James Smith Compound Monocular 1st Class Microscope, estimated at $3,000-$5,000 at Gray's.

James Smith Compound Monocular 1st Class Microscope, estimated at $3,000-$5,000 at Gray's.

John Cuff Compound Microscope, estimated at $3,000-$5,000 at Gray's.

John Cuff Compound Microscope, estimated at $3,000-$5,000 at Gray's.

Rare Italian Simple Microscope, estimated at $8,000-$10,000 at Gray's.

Rare Italian Simple Microscope, estimated at $8,000-$10,000 at Gray's.

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte has worked in editorial, design and the toy and auction industries for more than 30 years. He co-founded Auction Central News in 2007.

Kenojuak Ashevak shared all the colors of the Arctic

Kenojuak Ashevak’s 1960 stonecut print ‘The Enchanted Owl’ achieved CA$140,000 ($103,275) in December 2023. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK – Outsiders tend to think of the Arctic region in northern Canada, sometimes known as Canada’s Last Frontier, as a mostly white mass of land that is frozen for most of the year. But Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak (1927-2013) grasped the beauty and the potential of this seemingly barren landscape. She lived in the Inuit hamlet of Kinngait (previously known as Cape Dorset) in the Nunavut Territory. A prolific printmaker and sculptor dubbed the ‘Poet of the Arctic,’ she captured the colors and the spirit of her ancestral home in her artworks, which are avidly sought by collectors across the world.

‘Woman with Animals’, a Kenojuak Ashevak mixed media on board, made $5,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2019. Image courtesy of Santa Fe Art Auction and LiveAuctioneers.
‘Woman with Animals’, a Kenojuak Ashevak mixed media on board, made $5,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2019. Image courtesy of Santa Fe Art Auction and LiveAuctioneers.

When she received one of the distinguished Canadian Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts in 2008, a presenter said of her work: “Only those who know it, and who draw it, understand the color in the Arctic landscape.” Rich blues of the ocean and sky, golden fields, radiant yellow suns, and brightly colored animals in her prints draw the viewer into a world teeming with life and energy.

‘Summer Courtship’, a Kenojuak Ashevak stonecut from the year 2000, secured CA$3,200 ($2,355) plus the buyer’s premium in September 2023. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.
‘Summer Courtship’, a Kenojuak Ashevak stonecut from the year 2000, secured CA$3,200 ($2,355) plus the buyer’s premium in September 2023. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

“Over a period of more than 50 years, Kenojuak’s ability to capture the vibrant and emotive spirit of the Arctic landscape led to her contribution of graphic works to the Cape Dorset co-op, which vividly showcased the kaleidoscopic variety of colors found in the Arctic,” said Nadine Di Monte, executive director and specialist at First Arts Premiers Inc, based in Toronto.

Ashevak is celebrated not just as an artist but as a trailblazer. “She was among the first generation of Inuit artists to embrace drawing in the late 1950s – a time when the concept of being an artist as a profession was virtually unknown in the Canadian Arctic,” Di Monte said. “Her dedication and unprecedented success helped define the role of an artist in her community during the early days of the art-making experiment in Kinngait (Cape Dorset).”

Kenojuak Ashevak’s 1994 stonecut ‘Tattooed Sun’ took CA$7,000 ($5,155) plus the buyer’s premium in October 2020. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.
Kenojuak Ashevak’s 1994 stonecut ‘Tattooed Sun’ took CA$7,000 ($5,155) plus the buyer’s premium in October 2020. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

Printmaking in the region dubbed the Great White North has a fairly short history that begins around 1957, when southern Canadian artist James Houston arrived in the Cape Dorset area. Previously, Inuit artists expressed themselves by stitching intricate clothing and fabric items, or carved bone, ivory, and stone. European missionaries brought them paper and drawing tools, and the first Inuit printmakers began creating works in 1959 as the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, which was better known locally as the Kinngait Co-Op. Ashevak, who grew up living a traditional and nomadic lifestyle common to Inuit people, was the first woman artist to join the co-op.

According to the Canadian Museum of History, “Inuit artists have used printmaking to illustrate Inuit myths and history, as well as Arctic animals, and to document traditional ways of life and a changing cultural and social landscape.”

Detail of Kenojuak Ashevak’s 1960 stonecut print ‘The Enchanted Owl’, which achieved CA$140,000 ($103,275) in December 2023. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.
Detail of Kenojuak Ashevak’s 1960 stonecut print ‘The Enchanted Owl’, which achieved CA$140,000 ($103,275) in December 2023. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

Her most famous image is the stonecut print The Enchanted Owl, which she created in 1960. This image was widely seen and even graced one of Canada’s postage stamps in the 1970s. An example attained CA$140,000 ($103,275) at First Arts Premieres Inc. in December 2023.

“The Enchanted Owl is highly desirable for collectors due to its iconic status and the artist’s fondness for owls as a motif,” said Di Monte, noting that the prints were made in an edition of 50 using two colors, with the first 25 in red and black and the second 25 in green and black. “The red versions – colloquially called ‘red-tail’ – are generally more coveted, as this is the image that has been reproduced on stamps, in books, films, and other ephemera.” Ashevak’s ‘green-tailed’ version also has significant value, she added, citing a First Arts sale in December 2022 in which an example realized CA$120,000 ($88,715) plus the buyer’s premium.

A green-tail version of Kenojuak Ashevak’s famed 1960 print ‘The Enchanted Owl’ attained CA$120,000 ($88,345) in December 2022. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.
A green-tail version of Kenojuak Ashevak’s famed 1960 print ‘The Enchanted Owl’ attained CA$120,000 ($88,345) in December 2022. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

“The essence of the appeal of her prints and visual language lies in her ability to blend traditional subjects, themes, and her environs with a decidedly modern aesthetic, resulting in some of the most iconic and instantly recognizable images in not just Inuit art, but in Canadian art as a whole,” she added. Among Ashevak’s motifs were owls, foxes, rabbits, fish, birds, and mythical creatures.

Birds were indeed one of her most favorite subjects, as evidenced by the 1960 stencil print Birds from the Sea, which sold for CA$30,000 ($22,125) plus the buyer’s premium in December 2022 at First Arts Premiers Inc. “Birds from the Sea stands out as a notable print for several reasons. Following the success of her Rabbit Eating Seaweed in the inaugural Cape Dorset print catalog of 1959, the subsequent Kinngait collection featured 10 of Kenojuak’s works, including this print,” Di Monte said. “It is considered a paragon of Kenojuak’s artistic evolution and bears a strong resemblance to the celebrated Rabbit Eating Seaweed in its enchanting allure.”

The 1960 Kenojuak Ashevak stencil print ‘Birds from the Sea’ sold for CA$30,000 ($22,125) plus the buyer’s premium in December 2022. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.
The 1960 Kenojuak Ashevak stencil print ‘Birds from the Sea’ sold for CA$30,000 ($22,125) plus the buyer’s premium in December 2022. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

Di Monte called this print captivating and described it as “a balletic scene of these hybrid kelp-like birds in mid-flight. The colors in this airborne dance of feathers and foliage are applied with subtlety, with ink laid by printmaker Iyola Kingwatsiak in a way that creates gradations suggesting both the depth of the ocean and the interplay of light and shadow.”

Kenojuak Ashevak’s 1960 stonecut print ‘Complex of Birds’ earned CA$26,000 ($19,210) plus the buyer’s premium in July 2020. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.
Kenojuak Ashevak’s 1960 stonecut print ‘Complex of Birds’ earned CA$26,000 ($19,210) plus the buyer’s premium in July 2020. Image courtesy of First Arts Premiers Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

One of Ashevak’s most intricate stonecut prints from 1960 was Complex of Birds, which took CA$26,000 ($19,210) plus the buyer’s premium in July 2020 at First Arts Premiers Inc. Paying homage to the Inuit tradition of appliqueing designs onto seal skin, this monochromatic work features individual images of figures interacting with wildlife. The figures are interconnected, though, so the overall design becomes one image when hands, feet, and wings meld into one another. The 24-by-26-inch print is thought to be her only 1960 print in which the original graphite drawing was produced on a large sheet of paper. The well-mapped out placement of each figure in relation to each other, as well as the white space, speaks to the overall complexity and difficulty in her design.

A 1961 print by Kenojuak Ashevak, ‘Multi-Feathered Bird’, brought $3,250 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2020. Image courtesy of Clars Auction Gallery and LiveAuctioneers.
A 1961 print by Kenojuak Ashevak, ‘Multi-Feathered Bird’, brought $3,250 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2020. Image courtesy of Clars Auction Gallery and LiveAuctioneers.

Another example showing her fondness for avian subjects is the 1961 print Multi-Feathered Bird, which brought $3,250 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2020 at Clars Auction Gallery.

The auction market for Ashevak’s artworks is active, presenting collectors with a variety of price points. Di Monte stated there is a relatively even split between Canadian and international buyers, indicating her works are prized both domestically and globally.

“In terms of collectability, her career spanned several decades; prints and drawings from both her early and later periods are highly sought after. However, it is her early prints from the late 1950s and early 1960s that are particularly desirable,” she said.

A stone sculpture by Kenojuak Ashevak, ‘Bird in transformation’, went out at CA$4,600 ($3,395) plus the buyer’s premium in October 2022. Image courtesy of Champagne Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.
A stone sculpture by Kenojuak Ashevak, ‘Bird in transformation’, went out at CA$4,600 ($3,395) plus the buyer’s premium in October 2022. Image courtesy of Champagne Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

While Ashevak is best known for her prints, which typically bring prices in the mid-five-figures, she also carved stone animals and humans. Her stone sculpture Bird in Transformation went out at CA$4,600 ($3,395) plus the buyer’s premium in October 2022 at Champagne Auctions.

She also did mixed media works, and a particularly colorful example is Woman with Animals, which made $5,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2019 at Santa Fe Art Auction.

This 1993 print by Kenojuak Ashevak, ‘The Sun’s Return’, realized $2,750 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2019. Image courtesy of Clark’s Fine Art & Auctioneers, Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.
This 1993 print by Kenojuak Ashevak, ‘The Sun’s Return’, realized $2,750 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2019. Image courtesy of Clark’s Fine Art & Auctioneers, Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

New collectors looking for affordable pieces by Ashevak would do best to avoid her circa 1960s works and instead target her later ones. Even with it selling above its conservative $400-800 estimate, the 1993 stonecut with stencil print The Sun’s Return was a good buy at $2,750 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2019 at Clark’s Fine Art & Auctioneers, Inc.

Kenojuak Ashevak created a far-ranging oeuvre that is instantly identifiable. Her themes and highly imaginative subjects may seem unique to the Arctic, but they also resonate with global audiences.

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo is an award-winning journalist who has worked for media publications for more than 20 years. Today, she enjoys writing about antiques, collectibles, art and the art of collecting. Based in Connecticut, she's also an avid scrapbooker who loves Broadway shows.

Japanese Woodblock Prints presented in New York on April 10

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, ‘Looking as if she wants a drink: the appearance of a town geisha of the Ansei era (1854-70)’, from the Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners series, estimated at $4,500-$5,500 at Jasper52.

NEW YORK – On Wednesday, April 10, launching at 8 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will present a sale of Japanese Woodblock Prints, featuring 87 lots of works from Tokuriki, Masao Ebina, the Utagawa School, and more. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

First among the highlights is Bakufu Ohno’s (1888-1976) 1950 print Rice Planting, which shows an undulating landscape with farmers at work. Described in the lot notes as having ‘Fine impression and color, toning’, it is estimated at $200-$250.

There is also a fine 1888 first edition impression with tri-color cartouche of Looking as if she wants a drink: the appearance of a town geisha of the Ansei era (1854-70) from the Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners series by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892). The woodblock print is estimated at $4,500-$5,500.

And a 1960 self-published woodblock print by Sekino Jun’ichiro (1914-1988), titled Yoshiwara and belonging to the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô, is estimated at $2,500-$3,000. It shows a group of people in winter clothes in the foreground and a looming mountain peak in the background. The lot notes state: ‘This is the VERY RARE, first version of Yoshiwara of 1960. Later, in 1974, Sekino designed another, entirely different print for this series, with the title Yoshiwara.’

 

 

Bakufu Ohno, ‘Rice Planting’, estimated at $200-$250 at Jasper52.

Bakufu Ohno, ‘Rice Planting’, estimated at $200-$250 at Jasper52.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, ‘Looking as if she wants a drink: the appearance of a town geisha of the Ansei era (1854-70)’, from the Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners series, estimated at $4,500-$5,500 at Jasper52.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, ‘Looking as if she wants a drink: the appearance of a town geisha of the Ansei era (1854-70)’, from the Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners series, estimated at $4,500-$5,500 at Jasper52.

Sekino Jun’ichiro, ‘Yoshiwara’, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô, estimated at $2,500-$3,000 at Jasper52.

Sekino Jun’ichiro, ‘Yoshiwara’, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô, estimated at $2,500-$3,000 at Jasper52.

ACN Staff

ACN Staff

Content bearing the byline of ACN staff has been researched and written by multiple members of the Auction Central News team.