Dale Chihuly Macchia Bowl Basket, $5,227
ALAMEDA, Calif. – Michaan’s Auctions is having a good month. Its Gallery Auction on May 19 and its Luxury Auction on May 22 both turned in strong performances.
Art Deco pendant by Cartier, $100,800
CHICAGO – An Art Deco pendant by Cartier led Hindman’s May 16 Important Jewelry auction, realizing $100,800 against an estimate of $10,000-$20,000. The pendant was among a collection of Cartier jewelry, curated from estates across the country, which achieved strong results. Overall, the sale realized $3,689,973, with 67% of lots selling within the estimate or above the high estimate.
Edgar Alwin Payne, ‘Fishing Boats West Coast Of France,’ $59,375. Image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers
LOS ANGELES — John Moran Auctioneers presented its Spring California & American Fine Art auction on May 9, featuring fresh-to-market artworks from private and public collections throughout California and the Southwest, as well as a group of important early California works deaccessioned by the Jonathan Art Foundation of Los Angeles. Leading the sale were works by Edgar Alwin Payne, Sydney Mortimer Laurence, John Marshall Gamble, Marion Wachtel, Carl Oscar Borg and Charles Reiffel.
Massive Japanese dragon-form incense burner featuring almost 45 pounds of nearly pure silver, $250,000. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions, ha.com
DALLAS — The origin of the massive dragon incense burner that helped lead Heritage Auctions‘ Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu Signature ® Auction to a $1,501,201 finish on May 16 might be a mystery, but what’s no longer in question is the final selling price of this exceptional example of Japanese Meiji period craftsmanship. The dragon-form incense burner, which contains nearly 45 pounds of 99% pure silver, sold for $250,000, shattering its estimate of $70,000 and prompting an enthusiastic round of applause in the auction room.
Circa-1820 Quebec armoire with strong alligatored yellow paint that earned it family nickname Armoire Crocodile, CA$29,500
NEW HAMBURG, Canada – A circa-1820 Quebec armoire in alligatored yellow paint that earned it the family nickname Armoire Crocodile sold for $29,500, and a Louis XIII armchair from the Bastien family on the Huron-Wendat reserve in Loretteville, Quebec achieved $21,240 at the sale of the Jean-Marc and Danielle Belzile collection held May 13 by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd., online and live in Quebec, Canada. It featured 359 lots of 18th- and 19th-century Quebec furniture, folk art, sculpture and Canadiana in a sale that grossed $351,079. All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars. Read more
Chinese Export French-style automation clock, signed Cheon S’Nag Comton to the mechanism, $34,375
LOS ANGELES — John Moran Auctioneers presented its first Traditional Collector sale of the year as a two-day affair on April 25 and 26. It featured more than 500 lots of Continental furnishings, French, Italian, Art Deco, lighting, clocks, fine art, bronze sculptures, Gorham Martele and Tiffany & Co. silver, Christofle Cardeilhac flatware, and pianos by Bosendorfer and Steinway. Designer furnishings on offer included pieces by Linke, Riesener, Victor Paillard, Dasson, Barbedienne and Galle.
John Nieto, ‘Poised Coyote,’ $63,000. Image courtesy of Hindman
DENVER – Western artists ranging from historic painters such as Albert Bierstadt, William R. Leigh and Leon Shulman Gaspard to contemporary names such as Ed Mell, Jeremy Lipking and John Nieto achieved outstanding prices during Hindman’s May 4 Western & Contemporary Native American Art auction. Contemporary Native American artists were also among top performers, led once again by an iconic Fritz Scholder work, Indian at the Bar. Paintings by Native American artists such as Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith and Kay WalkingStick were also among the highlights. With a lively room of bidders and strong competition from the phones and online platforms, the auction ultimately realized more than $2 million, with 94 percent of lots sold.
Gilt-bronze figure of Shakyamuni Buddha, £806,700. Image courtesy of Bonhams
LONDON – The combined total of Bonhams London Asia Week sales hit more than £9.3 million (more than $11.5 million) this May across Bonhams New Bond Street and Knightsbridge salerooms. The top lot from the Asia Week sales was a magnificent gilt-bronze figure of Shakyamuni Buddha, with a Yongle mark and of the period (1403-1424), which sold for £806,700 in the Fine Chinese Art sale on May 18 against an estimate of £300,000-£500,000. This was closely followed by an Imperial court painting of the Bannerman Te’er Deng Che, Qianlong, dated by inscription to 1788 and of the period, which sold for £781,500, nearly four times the estimate of £200,000-£300,000.
Gilt-bronze Tibetan Buddha, $200,000
GARNET VALLEY, Pa. – A gilt-bronze Tibetan Buddha blasted through its $200-$300 estimate to achieve the staggering sum of $200,000 in an online Fine Estates Auction held by Briggs Auction, Inc. The piece, pulled from a Philadelphia Main Line estate, generated the most ever paid for a single item offered at Briggs.
Ives (USA) Uncle Sam clockwork perambulator, believed to be one of only two known examples, the other being the example depicted in Blair Whitton’s 1981 reference book ‘American Clockwork Toys 1862-1900.’ Sold for $72,000 against an estimate of $20,000-$40,000
VINELAND, N.J. – Bertoia Auctions welcomed spring with a beautiful selection of rare American and European antique toys and banks at their March 24-25 Signature Sale, which exceeded $1.8 million. The 708-lot event was highlighted by fine mechanical banks and bell toys from the renowned Rudd Trowbridge collection, Phil and Joan Steel’s prize collection of French-made Martin windup toys, and additional high-quality consignments. Absentee and Internet live bidding was provided by LiveAuctioneers.