CINCINNATI – Cowan’s Auctions’ live salesroom two-day Winter Fine and Decorative Art Auction on Feb. 14-15 totaled $811,000 in sales. The auction featured a diverse and eclectic array of American and Continental furniture, fine art, works on paper, glass, silver, sculptures, portraiture and more. Many fine collections were offered in the sale, including the Clarence and Mildred Long Collection of Indiana artists, property from the Collections of St. Ann Convent in Melbourne, Ky., and property of the Convergys Corp. in Cincinnati, Ohio.

LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.

Paintings by well-known artists exceeded expectations in the auction. An oil on canvas depicting a match race at Newmarket by Francis Sartorius I realized $22,800, a painting by Paul Sawyier, titled Off the Rocks at Camp Nelson, sold for $14,400, a work titled Apple Pickers in Pennsylvania by Charles Wysocki realized $10,800, and portraits of George and Martha Washington attributed to Gilbert Stuart hammered down at $9,000.

Fine furniture did well in the sale, as the market for this material seems to be on the rise. A Bembe and Kimbel U.S. House of Representatives chair, circa 1857, sold for $18,000; a secretary bookcase with an Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts label brought five times its low estimate of $2,500-$5,000 and sold for $12,000; a Georgian-style secretary bookcase realized $7,200, and a walnut marble-top console table estimated at $200-$300 sold to a bidder on the phone for $4,800.

A number of silver pieces also sold well above their estimates. A Samuel Kirk coin silver pitcher, estimated at $600-$800 ended up selling to a bidder on the phone for $10,455, a Gorham silver presentation pitcher from miles greenwood realized $9,000 and a Tiffany & Co. sterling chased cocktail shaker brought $4,612.50.

Fine bronzes brought competitive bidding in the auction. An Austrian bronze Indian camp scene by Bergman realized $5,227.50, a Russian bronze troika scene after Vassily Gratchev hammered down at $4,800 and a bronze nude by P. Braecke dated to 1914 and sold for $2,706.

Additional notable items in the sale included an Andrew Clemens sand bottle that brought $19,800, a paint-decorated Noah’s ark toy with animals estimated at $800-$1,000 sold for $9,225, a set of Louis C. Tiffany pastel Favrile glass tablewares brought $7,200, and a set of salesman’s samples of sterling cane and parasol handles realized $3,997.50.

For more information about the Feb. 14-15 Fine and Decorative Art Auction, contact us at Cowan’s at 513-871-1670.

Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE