BLOOMFIELD, N.J. – A gorgeous pair of 18th-century Louis XV giltwood fauteuils à la reine sold for $225,000 at an Estate Treasures Auction held March 14 and 15 by Nye & Company Auctioneers. The French armchairs were easily the auction’s top lot. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
“The unexpected discovery of the fauteuils in a New York City collection was a pleasant surprise, since much of what came from that group was primarily decorative,” said John Nye, president of Nye & Company Auctioneers. “They were, however, of the highest quality, and generated inquiries from all over the world as the word spread. The competition was intense.”
The chairs, originally part of a suite of at least six, were made in France circa 1755-1760 by Jean Gourdin, after designs attributed to Nicolas and Dominique Pineau. One was stamped “Pere Gourdin” and both had a handwritten label “89/4.” Two pairs from the original suite sold at Christie’s in 2001.
More than 100 people attended the auction in person over the course of the two days. Nye said attendance was “robust and heavier than usual from the trade and private sector,” which he attributed in part to the interest in the fauteuils. “There was a strong international presence in this sale,” he said. “People flew over from Europe just to participate and bid on the pair of fauteuils.”
Overall the auction performed very well and continued to show a strengthening market for traditional decorative arts.
Two etchings by Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (British, 1890-1978), piqued bidder interest. Both were of the same subject – Dorette Woodward, a young woman Brockhurst met in 1929 when she was a 17-year-old model at the Royal Academy Schools in London. The etching titled Adolescence (below) sold for $15,000, while the other, titled Dorette, brought $3,400. Both were signed.
A ceramic head pitcher by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), for Madura, black and white with hints of blue, together with a Picasso dove and face plate, marked on verso, went for $4,400.
Also, a KPM painted tile, depicting a seated scholar with a feather, books and a globe, signed “Eckard”, rose to $2,000; and an 18th-century gilded silver Russian icon of Christ the Pantocrator made $5,300.
A handsome 20th-century Chinese hardwood horseshoe-back chair with a carved back splat (below) knocked down for $6,800; a 19th/20th-century Chinese paint-decorated panel, fitted as a low table, found a new owner for $4,375; and a 20th-century Chinese Art Deco rug with lovely butterfly and floral decoration on a purple field brought $2,000.
Other highlights included a Reubens School oil on canvas portrait of a gentleman, unsigned, in a 19th-century Italian frame, brought $3,125; a folk art painted desk stand inkwell from the early 20th-century, possibly Pennsylvania, the top adorned with carved figures of a male and female lion on a rocky bluff and a band of leaf carvings around the waist made $2,250; and a pair of 20th-century Neoclassical-style marble pedestals mounted with ormolu-vases with crystals hit $1,875.
In the furniture category, a pate de verre glass side table signed Daum (France), with a glass top attached by cast bronze frog hardware, wowed the crowd for $4,100; a pair of 19th/20th-century Italian figural giltwood occasional tables commanded $4,000; and a beautiful French Louis XVI-style 19th-century mahogany bureau plat with tooled leather inset top, hammered for $2,813.
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