GENESEO, N.Y. – Two rediscovered marble busts by the French 18th century sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741-1828 Paris) sold for a combined $1.5 million at the Fine Art & Antiques Auction held March 23 by Cottone Auctions, online and in the firm’s gallery. The busts were the top achievers in an auction that featured just over 300 lots, totaling over $3 million in sales. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
CLINTONDALE, N.Y. – Kensington Estate Auctions’ March 25 sale offered a sampling of estate heirloom-quality jewelry. Selling several gold necklaces spurred tremendous absentee and Internet bidding interest through LiveAuctioneers. The hammer prices realized were $10,500 for an 18K Bucciari coin chain necklace (above) and $9,250 for an 18K yellow gold circle link chain necklace (below). Prices quoted do not include the buyer’s premium.
HATFIELD, Pa. – Alderfer Auction shattered the auction records for the Chester County artist Peter Sculthorpe (b. 1948) at their March 20 auction. Of his eight works in the auction, three depicted herds of Galloway beef cattle. Leading Sculthorpe’s Galloways was his signed watercolor Winter in Berks County that sold for $33,000, a record for the artist. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
DENVER, Pa. – An imposing lithographed-tin visitor from both the future and times past, a Masudaya Machine Man robot claimed the top position in Morphy Auctions’ March 13-14 toy auction, selling for $86,100. Big, boxy and 15 inches tall, the late 1950s/early 1960s Japanese production is one of few known examples of its type from the fabled “Gang of Five” robot series.
NEW YORK – Yuhua Showzhi Wang’s Pomegranates in Bamboo Basket commanded $1,270,000 at Gianguan Auctions on March 18. The sale set a world record price for the Chinese contemporary artist. The masterpiece led a strong slate of traditional art, porcelains and carved jades, all of which reached or exceeded their estimates. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
YORK, Pa. – Fresh-to-market original comic book art spurred a fan frenzy at Hake’s March 13-14 auction and produced a $1.26 million result, with new auction records set by several prize entries. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
MONROVIA, Calif. – Moran’s first Traditional Collector auction of the year achieved strong prices across the board for fine art and objects sourced from Southern California estates as collectors vied for rare examples of fine French furniture and masterworks of European art. If this trend continues, Moran’s next Traditional Collector auction in July is sure to perform just as well. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
LOS ANGELES – Andrew Jones Auctions’ first Design for the Home and Garden auction of the New Year, on Sunday, March 3, featured about 400 lots of market fresh fine furniture, art, jewelry, silver, ceramics, decorative arts, carpets and design from prominent local collections and estates. The sale achieved a 95 percent sell-through, grossing $1.1 million. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
CRANSTON, R.I. – A matching pair of samplers, done by young sisters in Ohio in 1806 and 1808, sold as one lot for $10,000 at an Antique, Fine Art & Jewelry Auction held March 2 by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Every auction has its surprises, but no one expected the prison correspondence of Boston gangster Whitey Bulger Jr., to steal the spotlight at Urban Culture Auctions’ (UCA) Feb. 24 debut. The 289-lot Sunday session that piggybacked a modern design sale hosted by UCA’s parent company, Palm Beach Modern Auctions, featured a mix of what auctioneer Rico Baca called “the fun stuff – from iconic pop furniture and graffiti art to street fashion, celebrity memorabilia and Space Age electronics.” But it was the Bulger material that ignited a media frenzy.