CRANSTON, R.I. – Palace-size antique Persian wool carpets and oil on canvas paintings by Italian artists shared top lot honors at a 373-lot Estate Antiques & Fine Art Auction held Jan. 26 by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
“It was exciting to see the nonstop bidding on the Oriental rugs, proving the market is strong,” said Bruneau & Co. president and auctioneer Kevin Bruneau. “It was also good to see a nice collection of contemporary photography sell with a lot of local interest. Overall, a great sale.”
The auction’s top lot was circa 1920 Persian Bidjar rug, which sold for $12,500. The wool textile, measuring a stout 24 feet 9 inches by 14 feet 11 inches, boasted a blue ground with an overall floral and tendril pattern within vibrant floral borders and green coloring throughout the field. The carpet had been deaccessioned from the Kendall Whaling Museum in Sharon, Mass.
A smaller antique Persian Bidjar rug that did well sold for $5,000. Just as beautiful, it featured a central red medallion within a navy-blue field and had an intricate floral design within wide stylized borders. It came out of an estate on Cape Cod, Mass.
“Paintings were by far my favorite part of the sale,” remarked Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. specialist and auctioneer, adding, “It was fulfilling to see the Gaetano Pompa, the Old Masters and the Frantisek Reichenthal painting perform so well. I can’t wait for the next similar auction.”
The modernist abstract oil on canvas by Gaetano Pompa (Italian, 1933-1998) realized $6,250. Titled The Kitchen Door, the painting depicted two abstracted figures divided by a door with colorful forms throughout. The work, which came out of the estate of David Rockefeller (1915-2017) measured 15½ inches by 19¾ inches in the frame and was signed and dated 1960.
The Cubist-modernist oil on canvas by Frantisek Reichenthal (Slovakian-American, 1895-1971), depicting a woman holding a bird in a vibrant color palette, went for $4,688. Housed in a 22-by-15-inch frame, the painting was artist signed lower right. Reichenthal is regarded as one of the most influential Eastern European modern artists, having painted with Marc Chagall.
An 18th-century Italian rococo Old Master oil on canvas painting, done around 1750, garnered $6,875. The Neoclassical work depicted a divine beauty seated in a gold chariot pulled by doves with three cherubs and greyhounds tending to a tired hunter. The painting, which had been professionally restored and relined, was unframed and measured 34¼ inches by 30¾ inches.
Following are additional highlights from the sale:
Soda vending machines – especially Coca-Cola machines – continue to be popular with guys looking to outfit their man caves). A 1959 model CS-72 Cavalier 10-cent Coke machine, with a 72-bottle and 17-chilled bottle capacity, left the room for $2,812. The machine, nicely restored and in good working condition, was 58 inches tall by 25 inches wide.
An Italian Lino Tagliapietra Murano Incalmo glass vase, produced in collaboration with Maria Angelin, 9½ inches tall, hit $2,000. The robust form vase with a rounded rim was decorated with a banded black stripe pattern and numbered 5 of 100. It was dated 1984 and signed to the underside, “Tagliapietra / Angelin by F31 Murano.” It retained the original Oggetti Glass sticker.
A fine 17th-century European carved oak coffer chest sold for $2,000. The three-board top over four carved gothic panels chest with the original iron escutcheon had issues, such as the absence3 of a lock, worm holes, repair to the feet and a missing return on the lid molding. But none of these deterred bidders.
To contact Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers email info@bruneauandco.com or phone 401-533-9980.
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