Michaan’s caps successful year in fine art sales

 

ALAMEDA, Calif. – Michaan’s second Fine Art, Furniture, Decorative Arts and Jewelry Auction of 2016 brought excellent prices across all categories, with a number of lots finishing far above their estimates at the Dec. 9 sale. Preview events were well attended and specialists fielded inquiries from many countries. Winning bids came from buyers in the house, from many states in the U.S., and from abroad. As always, bidding was active online and by phone. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.com.

In this sale Michaan’s offered a diverse collection of fine 19th and 20th century artworks from around the globe. Building on previous sales to the strong market for Filipino artists, Marikina, 1927, a Fernando Amorsolo landscape depicting the lush countryside and field workers at rest, was the star lot, realizing $112,100 (estimated at $50,000-$70,000). “The excellent provenance of this painting, together with its inherent beauty, attracted interest that is gratifying to see,” noted appraiser and specialist Susan Paffrath. “This is not Michaan’s first success with Amorsolo, and I’m confident it won’t be our last.”

France was strongly represented by many works including Etienne Trouvelot’s rare 1882 portfolio of chromolithographs, The Astronomical Drawings, which greatly surpassed its estimate of $4,000-$6,000, closing at $44,250. Like the paintings of Audobon, Trouvelot’s studied, meticulous pastel drawings have the special distinction of representing the intersection of art and scholarly inquiry, and were long valued as much by scientists as by art lovers.

 

 

Bernard Buffet’s striking mid-century French landscape, “Coastal Town with Lighthouse” netted $31,860. “Buffet’s popularity with collectors is exciting and also rather poignant,” noted Paffrath, because Buffet enjoyed great early success but later fell out of favor with critics, losing fame, fortune and eventually his life to the melancholy of believing himself a failure. The appeal of his work to today’s discerning art buyers is an inspiring affirmation of Buffet’s singular talent.

 

 

Works by Italian artists also resonated with bidders at this auction. Achille Perilli’s abstract oil painting La Luce Della Cabala in bold orange, blue and ochre brought $42,480 (est. $20,000-30,000), and a second abstract work by Perilli sold well at $17,700 (est. $8,000-12,000).

 

 

Francesco Somaini’s “Proposta per un Monumento,” a dynamic iron shard sculpture, sold for $11,210. Among artists from Michaan’s home state of California, standouts included Bay Area icon Wayne Thiebaud, whose delectable “Colorful Cakes” lithograph realized $32,450 (est. $10,000-15,000); August Gay’s “Town Scene” brought $9,440.

The auction of fine jewelry is always a highlight at Michaan’s, and the Dec. 9th sale featured substantial diamonds, prominent designers and a number of rare period estate pieces. Jewelry totaled to over $120,000 for just 50 lots; 75 percent of the jewelry lots were sold. A price of $5,015 was realized for the Etruscan Revival malachite suite (est. $1,000-1,500) attributed to Tiffany & Co., a family heirloom that thrilled appraiser Elise Coronado from the moment she first saw it. Not only did the suite come snugly stowed in a fitted leather box bearing the Tiffany name and the jeweler’s address from the period, but also “the simple, elegant design and old-world craftsmanship are both uncommonly fine,” says Coronado.

Bidders also came forward in droves for the coveted William Spratling sterling silver suite (est. $1,000-$1,500), driving its sale price up to $3,835.

 

 

Lively online and in-house bidding led to a $16,520 result for a Granat Bros. diamond and platinum ring.

Vintage treasures from the estate of a stylish Berkeley centenarian did especially well in this sale, including a Victorian citrine demi parure set ($2,950), as well as two original Fortuny Delphos gowns and a Fortuny couture embroidered velvet evening coat (below) that brought $6,490 (est. $1,000-1,500).

 

 

Top sales of American Arts and Crafts fine collectibles included $7,080 for a California Faience Pottery tile in a Dirk Van Erp copper frame (est. $2,000-3,000) and a copper and mica lamp ($8,850) also by Van Erp.

 

 

Many collectible Tiffany Studios glass pieces were sold, including a butterfly lamp pendant that netted $4,425. Additional glass highlights were the $9,440 sale of an Emile Gallé cameo landscape lamp, and a fantastic Art Nouveau opalescent oil floor lamp, standing over 5 feet tall, that sold for $4,720.