Andy Warhol folio tops Woodbury Auction event at $25,830

Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.

WOODBURY, Conn. – Andy Warhol’s Wild Raspberries a folio of 18 hand-colored lithographs created in 1959 and signed by Warhol to/for the original purchaser, sold for $25,830 at Schwenke’s Woodbury Auction Spring Anniversary Fine Estates Auction held June 9. Internet live bidding was provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

The original owner, legendary New York folk art dealer Gerald Kornblau, had granted folio rights for the book Pre-Pop Warhol, published by Panache Press of Random House, and the auction lot included two original letters of thanks from the publisher detailing permission rights of material from the folio to be exhibited in the book

A 14-piece Tiffany “Venetian” desk set, consigned by a member of the original owner’s family totaled $6,450. The set, which was sold individually, included the inkwell, blotter, penholder, calendar, notepad, letter hold, pen tray, postage scale, stamp box and paper clip. A Tiffany “Spanish” pattern picture frame from the same consignor was claimed by a California bidder for $1,920.

This sale also featured many estate Oriental carpets including Persian and Caucasian room- and scatter-size rugs, and other regional Asian rugs of varying sizes. Top rug lot of the sale was a fine Persian wool and silk Tabriz rug, 20th century, with central floral medallion on a rose ground with floral and spandrel decoration enclosed in a wide floral border, 12 feet 4 inches by 8 feet 3 inches, which went for $3,960. A Persian wool Nain rug, first half 20th century, made $2,640.

Portraits and portrait miniatures fared well, with a Continental School, 18th century oil on copper portrait of a woman, framed in an elaborate gilt metal and wood frame, was claimed by an English bidder on the Internet for $3,720 against an estimate of $500-$700. Another British Internet bidder bought a full-size Continental School, 17th century oil on canvas, unsigned and titled Prince in Regalia, for $3,240, against an estimate of $2,500-3,500.

A fine oil on canvas by Virgil Maley Williams (American, 1830-1886) Ox Cart and Ruins in Landscape, 1864, also went abroad to yet another British buyer, racking up $3,240 from the distant Internet bidder.

A framed Tibetan thangka, 19th/20th century, depicting a central blue deity surrounded by smaller deities, was hammered down to a bidder in the room for $4,500. The piece had been picked from storage in a closet by Schwenke during a visit to a consignor’s home in New York City.

Two Asian porcelain lots brought surprising results. Both were groups of framed Chinese porcelain signed scenic plaques. One group of four and the second a pair were both claimed by the same Asian buyer, bidding on the Internet, for a combined total of $6,900.

Top silver lot of the sale was a rare sterling silver tankard made in London in 1839 by Richard Pearce and George Burrows. With elaborate chased detail and weighing 48.8 troy ounces, the tankard fetched $3,480.

American and English furniture performed well with a rare Federal mahogany specimen cabinet going for $2,280 and a Federal bird’s-eye maple server selling for $1,800.

For additional information call Woodbury Auction at 203-266-0323.