Elsa Tennhardt designed this Art Deco cocktail set for E. & J. BASS Co. around 1928. The silver-plated brass set shook up the auction when it sold for $31,720. Image courtesy Sollo Rago.LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – Gold has made headlines this year, but silver was the precious metal of choice at Sollo Rago’s Real Modern Auction on Sept. 12. It was there a rare Elsa Tennhardt/E. & J. Bass Co. cocktail set sold for a dazzling $31,720 and a Danish silver ice bucket on a teak base brought an impressive $4,880.
Solid prices reflect the market’s continued interest in stylish, mid-priced design, said John Sollo, who directed the auction.
Other top lots included:
Leather-covered three-drawer dresser in the style of Jacques Adnet, estimated at $1,500-$3,500, sold for $3,660;
Rare glass-top sculptural cocktail table in the style of Ibram Lassaw, estimated at $4,000-$6,000, sold for $5,490;
Sculptural leather and walnut frame lounge chair and ottoman by Adrian Pearsall for Craft Associates, estimated at $1,200-$1,800, sold for $2,074;
Edward Wormley for Dunbar oak desk on brass frame, estimated at $1,200-$1,800, sold for $3,050;
First-generation Isamu Noguchi for Herman Miller wooden and glass coffee table, estimated at $1,200-$1,800, sold for $2,074;
Radiating 34 3/4-inch sculpture constructed of steel nails with gold and silver leaf finish, in the style of Curtis Jere, estimated at $400-$600, sold for $1,952;
Bleached mahogany 12-drawer dresser by Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern, estimated at $1,500-$3,500, sold for $3,416;
James Mont dresser in black enamel, estimated at $1,200-$1,800, sold for $3,538;
Florence Knoll 10-drawer rosewood credenza, estimated at $2,000-$4,000, sold for $4,880;
Eero Saarinen for Knoll marble-top side table, estimated at $400-$600, sold for $1,037;
Straight-sided glass vase by Edwin Ohrstrom for Orrefors of an early Ariel Girl and Dove, 1960s, estimated at $1,200-$1,800, sold for $1,342;
Mogens Lassen for K. Thomsen pair of sculpted solid teak stools, estimated at $2,000-$3,000, sold for $3,416;
Hovmand Olsen wall-hung rosewood and black laminate server, estimated at $1,000-$1,500, sold for $2,562;
Hans Wegner for Carl Mansen oak armchair with woven cord seat, estimated at $800-1,200, sold for $1,952.
For details phone 609-397-9374. For additional prices realized go to www.ragoarts.com
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
This leather-covered dresser in the Style of Jacques Adnet sold for $3,660. It was from the collection of designer Juan Montoya. Image courtesy Sollo Rago. Tommi Parzinger’s mahogany dresser for Charak Modern measures 66 1/4 inches wide. Estimated at $1,500-$3,500, it sold for $3,416. Image courtesy Sollo Rago. A brass frame and pulls brighten this Edward Wormley desk for Dunbar. Estimated at $1,200-1,800, the desk sold for $3,050. Image courtesy Sollo Rago. Steel nails with gold and silver leaf finish were joined to create a radiating sculpture in the style of Curtis Jere. More than 34 inches in diameter, the sculpture has bronze welds. It raised $1,952. Image courtesy Sollo Rago. This rare sculptural cocktail table in the style of Ibram Lassaw made $5,490. Image courtesy Sollo Rago. This Danish silver ice bucket with a fitted teak base carried the hallmark
Award-winning 1785-1790 J.P. Beck (northern Lancaster County, Pa.) rifle featuring exceptional rococo hand-carving, $20,700 at Dan Morphy Auctions, Aug. 14, 2009. Image courtesy Dan Morphy Auctions.DENVER, Pa. – More than 1,000 antique firearms enthusiasts attended Dan Morphy Auctions’ preview prior to the standing-room-only Aug. 14, 2009 sale of the late John Holman’s collection of 220 antique Kentucky rifles and powder horns. The selection of handmade rifles – many of them crafted by German immigrant gunsmiths of the 18th and 19th centuries – broke the half-million-dollar mark in Morphy’s $2.5 million Aug. 13-15 auction event.
“People came from all over to bid on these guns – Connecticut, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina and, of course, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They filled two overflow parking fields,” said the auction company’s owner, Dan Morphy. “The preview was so busy, we had to hire two extra employees to help out.”
The top-selling rifle, at $20,700 inclusive of 15% buyer’s premium, was a 1785-1790 J.P. Beck (northern Lancaster County, Pa.) rifle with exceptional rococo carving. It previously had won a blue ribbon for “best relief carving” at the Kentucky Rifle Association’s annual show.
“Even though we knew the guns would fly, we weren’t expecting so many of them to go two and three times their estimate,” said Morphy. “There were 30 guns estimated at $1,200-$1,500 that at least doubled their high estimate, with some selling for as much as $7,000.”
Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers added incredible punch to the final tally. Over the three-day auction period, 714 lots sold through LiveAuctioneers, with an average daily online sell-through rate of 23.7%.
Morphy said there wasn’t a weak category in the sale, which also featured fine and decorative art, mechanical music, antique toys and dolls, jewelry and coins. “We had 8,500 left bids, and it wasn’t just for the guns,” Morphy said. “Mechanical banks continue to attract bidders. A Kilgore Turtle bank sold for $64,400. Fresh to the market collections, which are our specialty, are on a winning streak – no doubt about it.”
A full postsale report on this sale will follow soon on Auction Central News. Click here to view the illustrated catalog for Dan Morphy Auctions’ Aug. 13-15 sale, with prices realized.
Cast-iron Turtle mechanical bank manufactured by Kilgore, $64,400 against an estimate of $25,000-$50,000 at Dan Morphy Auctions, Aug. 15, 2009. Image courtesy Dan Morphy Auctions.
FBI mugshot of notorious 1930s bank robber John Dillinger.
CHICAGO – Americana and Chicago-related material were highlights of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ July 28 Fine Books and Manuscripts auction. The event was right on target with expectations, achieving $212,210 against the high estimate of $211,250, with 85 percent of lots selling.
A letter penned by notorious 1930s-era bank robber John Dillinger sold for $60,400 – 10 times the presale high estimate of $6,000. Dated Dec. 18, 1932, the letter was written by Dillinger during his incarceration at the Crown Point jail in Lake County, Indiana. He writes his niece, Mary Hancock, expressing his wish to be with the family at Christmas, and says it will be his last Christmas in jail. He goes on to press his niece for details about her current boyfriend and jokes that he may need to borrow money once he’s released from jail. Dillinger would later famously escape from the Crown Point jail using a fake gun carved out of wood.
Likewise, the highly anticipated Colt Army Special .38 revolver used by East Chicago Police Captain Timothy O’Neil in the final shootout with Dillinger at the Biograph Theatre ignited heated competition among five telephone bidders. The gun sold for $36,400 to Wayne Lensing, owner of the Historic Auto Attractions Museum in Roscoe, Illinois.
John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903-July 22, 1934) was a feared criminal in the Midwestern United States during the early 1930s. He was responsible for the murder of several police officers and robbed no fewer than two dozen banks and four police stations. He escaped from jail twice, but some people idolized him as a modern-day Robin Hood. He was nicknamed “the Jackrabbit” for his close getaways from police and graceful movements during heists, such as leaping over counters.
After his escape from the Crown Point jail, Dillinger spent nearly a year running from police and hiding out in Florida, Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He was wounded in one escape from police and covertly recovered at his father’s home. He returned to Chicago in July 1934, the site of several of his most highly publicized crimes. After a tip from a prostitute, police tracked down the fugitive. On July 22, they closed in on the theater where he was watching a movie, and waited to arrest him as he left the building. Dillinger pulled a weapon and attempted to flee but was shot three times and killed when a bullet hit his face.
His robberies and numerous escapes had been so sensationalized in the media that Dillinger’s heinous legend remained in the American public’s consciousness for many decades. In 1973, the movie Dillinger was released. In the acclaimed 2009 film Public Enemies, Johnny Depp plays the role of John Dillinger, attesting that the 1930s crime-spree era is still fascinating to many.
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ next Fine Books and Manuscripts auction will take place on November 19. Call 312-280-1212 for more information.
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Some of the historical information in this article was sourced through Wikipedia.org.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Letter written by John Dillinger to his niece while incarcerated, together with a photo of Dillinger and an official Wanted poster. Auctioned at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on July 28, 2009 for $60,400 – 10 times the high estimate. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
The top lot in the Mass Modern sale was this circa-1955 Italian mirror of enameled steel, brass and glass, estimated at $1,000-1,500. It sold for $11,250. Image courtesy Wright.
CHICAGO – The ultra-stylish Chicago auction house Wright is known for its impeccable presentation of rare 20th-century decorative art, furniture and fine art. Once a year, however, the company holds its Mass Modern event, in which all but a few lots are sold without reserve. This year the special event so popular with budget-minded collectors took place on June 27, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.
“It’s a fun day,” said Richard Wright of Wright Inc., describing Mass Modern’s environment. “Beginning collectors, design enthusiasts and just plain bargain-hunters come out, and no one complains about the prices.”
What a smart event this was: a 10-hour sale of mid-to-late 20th-century furniture, lighting and objects, most without reserves. Chicagoans are design-lovers. They like to fuss over furnishing their rehabbed brownstones and lofts, their cool lakeside apartments in big shiny black Mies towers (they are on a first-name basis with their modernists in Chicago, it’s “Mies” and “Charles and Ray”). The sale was perfectly suited to its locale.
So many great pieces sold for less than $200, some for less than $50! I will try not to get on my soapbox here, but this is one of those auctions that reminds me how many opportunities consumers have to buy truly fabulous, well-crafted and beautifully designed furniture and objects in the secondary market for less than they would pay for mediocre new things. I mean, nothing against Ikea, but someone got six very good Vico Magistretti circa-1975 dining chairs of lacquered wood and rope, made by the venerable Italian manufacturer Cassina, for about $50 each (see illustration.) The chairs are unique, great looking, functional and collectible.
Did the buyer of the torso-form lamp attributed to Antoine Zaccagnino and estimated at $1,500-2,000, do a little jig when he/she got it for $31? (All prices mentioned include a 25% buyer’s premium.) Or, consider the set of six Ettore Sottsass Mandarin chairs manufactured by Knoll, estimated at $2,000-3,000 that sold for $250. (I picture a stylish Art Institute Design School kid lashing those chairs to his bike in a teetering stack and pedaling off.) How about the chilly 1965 Jacques Adnet brass and vinyl-trimmed wall mirror that sold for $125.
Kelli Thoma, Wright’s director of operations, told me the preview was well attended and that about 150 people attended over the course of the 10-hour sale. That’s a lot of people in the saleroom for Wright, whose high-end auctions attract an international bidding audience through LiveAuctioneers and the phones. “Even our local buyers are apt to be phone or Internet bidders,” said Thoma, “but the Mass Modern sales are crowded.”
In the unruly absence of reserves, it’s hard to make sense of the statistics, other than to say it’s a popular event and that things tend to sell when there’s no minimum. With a total low estimate of $646,450 on 605 lots, the auction had an 89 percent sell-through rate by volume and just over 94 percent sold by value.
There were strong prices in this sale, as well, like for the unattributed Italian 1950s standing mirror with three coffin-shape sections, estimated at $1,000-1,500 and selling for $11,250 (illustrated.)
The sale encompassed idiosyncratic as well as familiar pieces. Someone bought an interesting Lawrence Weiner circa-1989 MetaMemphis worktable and bench for $4,063 (estimate $5,000-7,000.) A selection of Edward Fields carpets, a set of Alexander Girard’s La Fonda del Sol dishes, some terrific lamps and fixtures, lots of Knoll and Herman Miller staples, various pieces of furniture by Paul McCobb and TH Robsjohn-Gibbings, and some nice chests by Eliel Saarinen rounded out the sale.
Wright’s fall season features two major auctions, Post War and Contemporary Art on Sept. 17; and Design on Oct. 6. The consignment deadline for the latter sale is August 7.
For further information call 312-563-0020. Wright is located at 1440 W. Hubbard St., Chicago, IL 60642.
Visit Wright’s June 27, 2009 Mass Modern auction catalog with prices realized online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
A bookcase by Muriel Coleman, circa 1948, made by Pacifica Iron Works, USA was estimated at $1,000-1,500. It sold for $4,688. Image courtesy Wright.This Lawrence Weiner for MetaMemphis tiger oak and copper table and bench, 1989, titled What is set upon the table… was estimated at $5,000-7,000. It sold for $4,063. Image courtesy Wright.An Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Arco floor lamp, marble base, with telescoping arm, made by Flos, designed circa 1962, was estimated at $700-900. It sold for $2,375. Image courtesy Wright.These six Vico Magistretti lacquered wood and rope dining chairs, Cassina, Italy, circa 1975, were estimated at $1,500-2,000. They sold as a group for $313. Image courtesy Wright.A circa-1965 Italian wall mirror in the manner of Jacques Adnet, made of vinyl, mirrored glass and brass, was estimated at $2,000-3,000. It sold for $125. Image courtesy Wright.This oak and lacquered-wood china cabinet by Johann Tapp, made in USA circa 1960, was estimated at $2,000-3,000. It sold for $125. Image courtesy Wright.An Erik Hoglund iron and glass chandelier manufactured by Boda Nova glassworks and Axel Stromberg ironworks, Sweden, circa 1965 was estimated at $1,500-2,000. It sold for $188. Image courtesy Wright.This Eames for Herman Miller ash, plywood and canvas screen was estimated at $3,000-4,000. It sold for $2,550. Image courtesy Wright.
Art by Buzz Hansen. Image courtesy Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction.
HONOLULU – A record 379 bidders from around the world turned out on July 17-18 for the fifth biennial Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Center, presented by Quiksilver Waterman Collection. Aggressive bidding led to a new record total for the specialty auction: $767,546.
One of the most surprising developments of the evening was the heated push for surfing collectibles from the 1970s. When the final hammer fell, two items had broken through the previous single-item record of $33,000, and five items had reached or exceeded $20,000.
The star of the show was the 11-foot Bob Simmons foam sandwich board (1949/50) from the James Arness “Gunsmoke” collection that topped the night at $40,000. The same bidder also walked away the second-highest item, a 1955 Matt Kivlin 10 ft. 4 inch balsa board, for $39,000; and the top-finishing paddleboard – a towering 13 ft. 8 inch wooden Tom Blake Rogers production that sold for $20,000. All three boards are now Australia-bound.
Without a doubt, it was the 1970s collection that broke down the door to a new era of collecting. An 8-foot Lightning Bolt board shaped by Gerry Lopez sparked a bidding war that resulted in a new record price for a 1970s-era board of $25,000. An outrageous George Greenough Flextail board from 1972, equipped with roughshod nose leash loop, release fin, and raw two-tone red and blue surface spray job rocked the house when it far exceeded its $7,500 reserve to fetch $20,000.
It wasn’t all about surfboards, either. No one could have been more shocked than 1977 world champion Shaun Tomson (South Africa) to discover that his 1975 Duke Surf Classic set of white boardshorts, event program and Oscar-like gold trophy had sold for $10,300 – more than his trademark blue 7 ft. 10 inch Tom Parrish board that went for $10,000. All proceeds from those items will be going to the Mathew Tomson Foundation.
The top-selling non-surfboard lot was the Kahanamoku family album – 60 pages of incredible family history, original photographs and newspaper clippings. It sold for $14,000 to a young bidder from Hawaii who slipped through the door seconds after the item took the stage, and exited just as quickly upon winning it. The local community was happy to know the album would be remaining in Hawaii, since it pertains to the legendary father of surfing, Duke Kahanamoku.
Along with a powerhouse bidding pack, the evening experience was made richer by the stunning turnout of surf icons from across the generations. Among them were Greg Noll, Bing Copeland, Jock Sutherland, Mark Richards and Peter Townend. Also present were legendary shapers Matt Kivlin and Joe Quigg, whose combined board sales exceeded $100,000. Joining them was Dick Brewer, who commanded ultimate respect in his stylish Roy Orbison-inspired black trousers, deep lilac collared shirt and bolo tie combination.
A portion of every sale made will be donated to the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation, along with the Surfing Heritage Foundation and the Surfrider Foundation, with the balance going to the individual consignors.
Visit Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction online at www.hawaiiansurfauction.com
Orry (for Orra) Anne Alexander was 11 when she completed this sampler in 1835. Her father operated a hotel outside Asheville, N.C. The sampler, which sold for $21,850, was the top lot of the 700+ lot sale.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – In a sale heavy with ornate Oriental carpets and elegant English and Tiffany silver, two humble Southern samplers topped all competitors at Brunk Auctions’ sale on July 11.
The textile leader was a 17-line sampler by Buncombe County, N.C., resident Orry A. Alexander. Orry was 11 years old when she completed the 17-inch by 17½-inch sampler in 1835. Her handiwork opened strong at $3,000 and sold to a phone bidder for $21,850 against an estimate of $3,000-$6,000 (all prices include a 15% buyer’s premium).
The Alexanders were well known to Brunk staff members. In 1997, principal auctioneer Robert Brunk edited a collection of original essays on Western North Carolina decorative arts. The book, May We All Remember Well, included a history of the Alexander family and described a sampler completed by Orry’s sister, Harriett.
At $18,400 (est. $1,000-$2,000), a 16-inch by 17-inch New Market, Va., silk-on-linen sampler was the second highest sale of the day. Stitched at the bottom was the name and date of the student artist: “Virginia Miles Age 12 years New Market March 8th 1844.”
Virginia stitched six lines of letters, numbers and verse and a yellow house, trees and picket fence. Yellow house samplers are discussed in Kimberly Smith Ivey’s book In The Neatest Manner: The Making of the Virginia Sampler Tradition. Popular from 1824 to 1845 in the New Market area, the yellow house may have been the home of a prominent printer or a design suggested by a teacher.
A large collection – 102 pieces – of Tiffany Persian sterling flatware earned top dollar among the 135 silver lots in the sale. The elegant place settings include a number of pierced serving utensils. With various monograms, the set opened at $2,000 and escalated to $6,900.
Although Oriental carpets with no to low pile do well at Brunk Auctions – a worn 10 ft. 7 inch Heriz sold for $4,830 – bidders chose a modern carpet in excellent condition for the highest-priced Oriental. The 7 ft. 11 inch by 11 ft. 7 inch silk Tabriz in ivory with blue, olive and burgundy highlights brought $6,900 (est. $1,500-$2,500).
Southern furniture was well represented. Included in the collection were a walnut and poplar Southern Chippendale corner cupboard from either North Carolina or Tennessee ($2,185) and a Southern walnut serving table, probably North Carolina ($4,830).
Brunk allocated a half-page in the color catalog to a 19th-century North Carolina walnut cellaret. It warranted the attention. In excellent condition with its original locks, hinges, inlaid escutcheons and possibly the knobs on its single drawer, the bottle case sold for $12,650 (est. $5,000-$8,000).
Brunk Auctions’ next sale on Sept. 12-13 may prove to be “one of the most important rugs sales of the last few years,” said Robert Brunk. In the 1950s, when conservators at Tryon Palace in New Bern, N.C., began restoring the first permanent capital of the Colony of North Carolina, they bought some of the finest 17th-century Oriental carpets available. In succeeding years, when scholars learned that carpets did not typically cover floors in colonial North Carolina, the Tryon carpets were removed from exhibition and stored. They will now be deaccessioned in Brunk’s auction. Included is a rare 17th-century Kirman Shrub carpet, a 17th-century Ottoman Cairene medallion carpet and a 31 ft. by 11 ft. 17th-century Indo/Isfahan carpet.
LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding for the sale. Around late August, the fully illustrated catalog will be available to view and absentee bids may begin to be lodged online through www.LiveAuctioneers.com. To contact Brunk Auctions, call 828-254-6846
ADDITIONAL SOLD LOTS OF NOTE
At $12,650, this one-piece walnut and yellow pine cellaret with open interior was the top furniture lot in Brunk Auctions’ July sale.Comprising 10 of the 102 pieces of Tiffany Persian sterling flatware, this set realized $6,900.The yellow house at the bottom of Virginia Miles’ 1844 sampler is a bit faded, but the stitchery is typical of Shenandoah Valley samplers from 1825 to 1845. It went far beyond its modest $1,000-$2,000 estimate and sold for $18,400.One of a number of Oriental rugs from Moore, S.C., this one topped all: a modern, finely woven silk Tabriz rug with elaborate central medallion. It more than doubled its high estimate to sell for $6,900.
AMHERST, N.H. – The $10.50 check that astronaut Neil Armstrong wrote just hours before he and his Apollo 11 crew were launched on their famous flight to the moon has been auctioned for $27,350.
“I think it is incredible that this small check signed by Neil Armstrong has sold for such a fantastic price exactly 40 years to the day that it was signed,” said Bobby Livingston of RR Auction, the company that held a 17-day online auction of the check. Bidding lasted until 8 a.m. today.
The lot represents the most expensive single signed Neil Armstrong autograph ever sold, according to Anthony Pizzitola, vice president of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club, breaking the previous record of $19,000.
The check was purchased by Jack Staub, an engineer and business owner from Newport Beach, California.
“From an engineer’s (my) perspective, Armstrong rode the back of 10,000 years of human development,” Staub said. “You can draw a straight line from the invention of the wheel to Edison and Einstein to this check, and then to Armstrong’s first step onto the moon. I feel quite humbled.”
Staub told the Boston Globe he had been prepared to pay as much as $40,000 for the astronaut memento. He said he plans to keep the check and “pass it on to my kids.”
RR Auction obtained the check through Noah Bradley, who bought it at auction from Harold Collins’ son George in 2004. George Collins told Bradley that on the morning of the launch, Armstrong realized that he owed Harold Collins, NASA Chief of Mission Support, $10.50. He made out the check and told Collins that it should be cashed ONLY if he died in space.
The only known Apollo-era check of Armstrong’s, its signature includes his middle initial and is one of only a handful of items signed in full by Armstrong, who has not given an autograph since 1994.
“This is probably the coolest Apollo 11 autograph in private hands,” Livingston said. “Here’s Neil Armstrong rocketing to fame, and he wanted to make sure that he paid his debts in case anything happened.”
RR Auction LLC recently auctioned the autographed photo of Albert Einstein with his tongue wagging for a record $74,340. Since its inception in 1976, RR Auction has published close to 350 consecutive monthly autograph catalogs, which are distributed internationally.
ADDITIONAL NEIL ARMSTRONG IMAGES OF NOTE
One-of-a-kind item from the first man on the moon, a personal check, 6 inches by 2.75 inches, filled out and signed in-full (including the rarely-seen middle initial), by "Neil A. Armstrong," payable for $10.50 to NASA official Harold Collins on the day of the Apollo 11 launch, July 16, 1969. Courtesy RR Auction.
This 26-inch by 39-inch watercolor by American artist John Izard Middleton (1785-1849) was the highlight of the sale, fetching a world record price for the artist at auction: $100,800. Image courtesy Jackson’s International.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – “Wow” is one word to describe the bidding action at Jackson’s International June 23-24 auction, and perhaps “predictable” might be another. The sale saw one new world record set, drew more than 450 registered bidders and produced gross sales of $1.2 million dollars. Eighty lots sold online through LiveAuctioneers.com.
The top lot of the auction was a watercolor that topped prices realized at $100,800. The story surrounding the painting is just as interesting as the price, which was a world record at auction for the artist, who remained a mystery until Jackson’s research led to its identification.
A little over two months ago, an East coast dealer who regularly consigns European paintings to Jackson’s sent in an unsigned watercolor landscape he had recently acquired at auction for less than $1,000. The painting, by all appearances, looked like a typical, albeit nicely executed, early 19th-century watercolor of Roman ruins.
The painting arrived at Jackson’s just a few days before the company’s auction catalog was to be sent to press. It was checked in and initially described as an early 19th-century watercolor, probably British, as indicated by the consignor’s cover letter.
The painting, which depicted a landscape with old Roman ruins, was photographed and about to be cataloged as an anonymous 19th-century Continental watercolor. However, the painting caught the eye of Jackson’s president and CEO, James L. Jackson, who had not seen the painting when it first came in but was impressed with its quality and size. Although no signature appeared on the front, his instincts told him that it needed be taken out of the frame and examined more carefully.
During his examination, Jackson discovered an inscription in pencil on verso that read, “Painted by John Middleton in Rome about 1825.” There was also a middle name, but it was indiscernible.
Assuming at first that it was indeed a European work, and having a certain early 19th-century British feel to it as suggested by the consignor, Jackson speculated it might have been painted by a minor watercolorist from Norwich, England, named John Middleton. However, when his research showed that British artist John Middleton, who painted large landscapes as well, was born in 1827, Jackson knew it could not be the same artist who painted the picture he was examining.
Additional research by Jackson indicated that this same John Middleton had a father who also painted landscapes and whose life dates would fit the period of the mystery painting – yet he was unconvinced.
Jackson could not find a middle name for either of the British John Middletons to help substantiate any hypothesis. With the auction catalog deadline now only a day away, Jackson turned his research to the subject of the painting, subsequently identifying it as the ancient ruin known as the Tomb of the Plautii Family, located near Tivoli, Italy, a few miles outside Rome.
With all this said, Jackson was still not satisfied that the creator of such a large and impressive work could be completely unknown and decided to once again have a go at the inscription on the back of the painting. By this time the catalog was already at the printer, with the painting cataloged simply as being by “John Middleton, 19th century.”
The indistinct middle name, which Jackson believed was the key, at first glance appeared to read “Igarst” or perhaps “Izarst,” none of which made sense. More research and a helpful tip led Jackson to discover that the reason he was finding nothing under European artists was because the artist of this painting was not a European but rather an American with the obscure middle name of “Izard,” which turned out to be the artist’s mother’s maiden name. Indeed, “Izard” was the very name by which the artist was known to family and friends. Thus the mystery was solved; the painting was by American artist John Izard Middleton (1785-1849).
The artist was born to a prominent family at Middleton Place Plantation, today an important historical landmark just outside of Charleston, S.C.. His father, Arthur Middleton, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. What little is known about John Izard Middleton is fascinating to say the least. Nineteenth century American author, social critic and art professor Charles Eliot Norton dubbed Middleton “the first American Classical archaeologist.” Like his father, young John was educated at Cambridge University. In 1810, the younger Middleton married Eliza Falconet who bore him one child, who did not survive.
While on the Continent, Middleton became mesmerized with the ancient ruins found throughout Italy and, like many gentleman artists of the day, began making observations and sketches of the sites he visited. Between the years 1808-1809 Middleton compiled a group of detailed sketches for the purpose of publishing a folio-sized book which he did in 1812 under the title “Grecian Remains in Italy: A Description of Cyclopian Walls, and Roman Antiquities. With Topographical and Picturesque Views of Ancient Latium.”
Later on in the 1820s it is believed that Middleton began work on what he had hoped would be a follow-up book, titled “Roman Ruins.” Many of the images were eventually published some 174 years later, in 1997, by the University of Carolina Press under the title “The Roman Remains – John Izard Middleton’s Visual Souvenirs of 1820-1823.”
Middleton completed many drawings and watercolors for his second edition, although he would never see them published. He and his wife took up permanent residence in Paris, where he died in the year 1849. His body was eventually returned to Middleton Plantation where he is buried. Sadly during the U.S. Civil War the Middleton family estate was ransacked and burned, taking with it a vast multitude of irreplaceable treasures accumulated by the Middleton family over two centuries – and no doubt many of John Middleton’s works as well. A quick bit of research revealed that no known works by John Izard Middleton had ever been sold at public auction. Therefore there were no comparable sales in which to gauge what the value might really be. However, as Jackson commented, “Everyone in the game knows that paintings executed by American artists in the Colonial period or Federal period and which are not in the category of portraiture are generally speaking quite rare.”
Jackson continued, “As I continued to learn more about Middleton, I knew that such a large and exceptional work was going to have considerable value. However I also knew I needed to notify the right people, which we did through a campaign of press releases and contacts with various museums, institutions and galleries in the Charleston area. By the day of the auction we had received three substantial absentee bids, and eight telephone bidders had signed up. To make matters even more interesting, the painting still carried its original $1,500-$2,500 presale auction estimate, which had been assigned to it when it originally arrived.”
Bidding on the painting opened at $10,000 with an in-house bidder and slowly wound its way upward between phone bidders (including two European bidders) to the remarkable final selling price of $100,800 (including buyer’s premium).
Commenting on the sale, which realized $1.2 million, James Jackson said: “You know, the one trend that continues is interest in blue-chip material, be it a painting, vase, sculpture or piece of furniture. These items still seem to be maintaining their own. And it would seem that other areas offer good buying opportunities at present, particularly in the second-tier merchandise.”
ADDITIONAL SOLD IMAGES OF NOTE
Portrait of bearded man in the manner of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640), oil on wood panel, 20½ inches by 16½ inches. Sold through LiveAuctioneers for $17,060 against an estimate of $800-$1,200. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers Archive and Jackson’s International.Fabergé guilloche enameled silver-gilt cigarette case, hallmarked, 1908-1917. Sold through LiveAuctioneers for $12,300. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers Archive and Jackson’s International.Oil on canvas by Edward E. Simmons (American, 1852-1931), 40 inches by 32 inches, sold for $93,600. Image courtesy Jackson’s International.Petite Fabergé guilloche enamel clock measuring 3.5 inches in diameter, auctioned for $72,000. Image courtesy Jackson’s International.Oil on canvas by Luigi Chialiva (Swiss, 1842-1914), sold to an Italian phone bidder for $43,200. Image courtesy Jackson’s International.
1904 Newcomb College high-glaze pottery vase decorated by Marie Hoa LeBlanc in the Clematis pattern, $169,200. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.
NEW ORLEANS – A 1904 Newcomb College art pottery vase decorated by Marie de Hoa LeBlanc electrified Neal Auction’s June 27-28 Summer Estates Auction when it sold for a record-smashing $169,200. The highly important, 13-inch vase in the Clematis pattern soared above its $35,000-$45,000 estimate to achieve a world record auction price for Newcomb pottery.
Neal Auction Co. began promoting Newcomb Art Pottery as an important genre of American Arts and Crafts during the early 1980s, before any other auction company in the country. They are credited with having pioneered the Newcomb pottery market, cultivating it, and consistently achieving world record prices for exceptional examples of Newcomb sold under their auspices. A spokesperson for the purchaser of the June auction’s highest-priced lot remarked that the Clematis vase “represents a high-water mark for Newcomb College pottery and stands as perhaps the finest example extant of their floral designs.”
Artworks filled in the rest of the slots in the auction’s “top five.” A small (9 x 12 inch) oil painting by William Aiken Walker (American/Charleston, 1838-1921, active New Orleans, 1876-1905) titled Wash Day: Cabin Scene drew significant attention from collectors nationwide. It sold near the top of its estimate range for $28,850.
A painting by Joseph Rusling Meeker (American/Missouri, 1827-1887) depicting “Bayou Peyone,” also drew considerable attention, with a number of left bids in the auctioneer’s book. The 1879 oil realized $28,200.00 – just shy of its $30,000 high estimate.
George Louis Viavant’s (American/New Orleans, 1872-1925) watercolor still life titled Nature Morte: Mallard Duck put in a surprisingly strong performance. It more than doubled its high estimate to settle at $27,025.00. As a side note, Neal Auction continues to maintain the record auction price for a work by Viavant, with Nature Morte: Duck, which sold on Dec. 3, 2005 for $41,000.00.
Rounding out the quintet was a painting by Meyer Straus (American/California, 1835-1905, active New Orleans 1869-1872) titled Dusk on the Louisiana Bayou. The circular, 10-inch picture of a man navigating a pirogue filled with baled Spanish moss through the water achieved $25,850.00 against a $12,000-$18,000 estimate. Neal Auction continues to maintain the world record price for a Meyer Straus painting sold at auction, with Louisiana Landscape, which sold on Dec. 3, 2005 for $75,000.00.
Collectors of Asian art showed their resolve when lot 333 crossed the auction block. The pair of Chinese famille verte porcelain rouleau vases, probably from the Daoguang (1821-1850) period attracted intense interest from abroad, particularly Asia. The elegant duo sold to a European buyer on the phone for $18,800.00.
A quintessential example of Alfred Heber Hutty’s (American/Charleston, 1877-1954) watercolor technique was Mrs. Hutty’s Garden, a scene the artist spotted on Tradd Street in Charleston, S.C. The artwork made $17,625.00.
Despite evidence of some restoration, a fine, 20th-century Chinese carved ivory river scene climbed well above its $6,000-$8,000 presale estimate to achieve $14,687.00. The intricately carved piece, which likely dates to the late 1960s/early 1970s Cultural Revolution period in China, sold to an Asian collector against significant telephone and absentee competition from this country and abroad.
Forty-nine lots sold via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.com. A late-19th-century Italian carved and gilded console and mirror, with openwork crest of scrolled foliage, engaged putti and columns, went to an online bidder for $7,995.
Also selling via LiveAuctioneers was William A. Slaughter’s (Texas/California, 1923-2003) Bluebonnets by the River, a signed 12 x 16 inch oil-on-canvas painting in an attractive giltwood frame. It finished its run at $5,535.
To contact Neal Auction Company, call 504-899-5329.
View Neal Auction Company’s Summer Estates Auction catalog complete with prices realized online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Wash Day: Cabin Scene, oil painting by William Aiken Walker, $28,850. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.Bayou Peyone, oil painting by Joseph Rusling Meeker, $28,200. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.Nature Morte: Mallard Duck, watercolor still life by George Louis Viavant, $27,025. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.Dusk on the Louisiana Bayou, circular 10-inch painting by Meyer Straus, $25,850. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.Pair of Chinese famille verte porcelain rouleau vases, first half of 19th century, probably Daoguang Period, $18,800. Image courtesy Neal Auction Co.Late-19th-century Italian carved, gilded console and mirror, 104 inches tall by 63 inches wide, sold through LiveAuctioneers.com for $7,995. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Neal Auction Co.Bluebonnets by the River, oil on canvas by William A. Slaughter (Texas/Calif., 1923-2003), 12 x 16 inches, sold through LiveAuctioneers.com for $5,535. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Neal Auction Co.
Twelve bottles of 1989 Petrus topped prices realized in Bloomsbury’s New York Fine Wine debut, selling to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $26,290. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Bloomsbury Auctions.
NEW YORK – Bloomsbury Auctions successfully entered the fast-growing wine auction market on June 19 with a competitive 17 percent buyer’s premium and a set of guarantees unmatched by any other wine auction house. The sale concluded with a solid 67 percent sell-through rate overall, with 100 percent of the champagne lots sold. Additionally, the sell-through rate for Bordeaux was 83 percent. The top lot, and 124 others, sold through LiveAuctioneers.com.
In keeping with Bloomsbury Auctions’ company mission to sell at every level of the market, auction buyers were attracted by an incredible selection of prized Bordeaux and Burgundy along with an eclectic mix of wines from single bottles to regions not typically found at auction.
LiveAuctioneers helped pop the virtual cork to initiate Bloomsbury’s exciting new department, with 125 lots selling online during the high-profile event. To no one’s surprise, the lot comprised of 12 bottles of 1989 Petrus, the Bordeaux blend described by wine connoisseur Robert Parker as “stunningly opulent, rich, full-bodied…exotic…remarkably youthful,” was in strong demand. A LiveAuctioneers bidder ultimately prevailed with a $28,680 bid.
Six 1.5-liter bottles of 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild – regarded as the modern-day equivalent of the vintner’s immortal 1959 vintage – were headed to another LiveAuctioneers bidder’s wine cellar, after a successful bid of $26,290 was lodged against the presale estimate of $15,000-$19,200.
Other top selling lots included:
• 12 bottles of 1995 Petrus which sold for $13,145 (Estimate: $10,800-$12,900) • 12 bottles of 2003 Ausone which sold for $12,870 (Estimate: $10,800-$14,400)
“We are delighted with the results of our inaugural wine auction and believe we have made significant headway in changing the game in this market,” said Bernard Frelat, CEO Bloomsbury Auctions, New York. “With our attractive buyer’s premium, unique money-back guarantees and a broad choice of wines, auction buyers can truly build their cellars with confidence.”
“Only through Bloomsbury Auctions, do buyers have a full-cellar solution for both investment and consumption along with an unprecedented level of protection on their purchases,” added Dave Sokolin, president of Sokolin LLC, who handled the wine expertise and logistics for Bloomsbury Auctions.
Bloomsbury Auctions plans on holding several wine auctions per year, with its next specialty wine event scheduled for October 2009. Consignments will be accepted until July 31, 2009.
Click here to visit the online catalog, with prices realized, for Bloomsbury’s June 19 sale.
