Tiffany chandelier tops Cowan’s Fine & Decorative Arts Auction
Walter von Nessen designed these tiered aluminum space age table lamps for Pattyn Products, Detroit, in the mid-1930s. The pair sold for $9,987.50. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions.
The classic chandelier, marked Tiffany Studios, New York, and featuring green geometric leaded glass panels with a wide band of iridescent turtleback tiles, was the highest-selling lot of the auction and finished within its $25,000-$35,000 estimate.
The auction featured items from important institutions and estates around the United States. Bidders competed enthusiastically over several lots of 20th-century art and design. Two paintings by American artist Joseph Marioni (b. 1943), examples of his early monochromatic work, sold within their $10,000-$15,000 estimates, each for $11,750, while a third, Pink and Orange, sold for $14,687.50. A pair of 1930s tiered Pattyn Products aluminum space age lamps rose above the estimate selling for $9,987.50.
“These are items that aren’t generally seen in this region, but they generate a lot of interest,” noted Diane Wachs, Cowan’s director of the Fine and Decorative Art Department. As she predicted after the successful sales of modern design from the October 2009 Decorative Art Auction, Cowan’s expects to see great examples of 20th century design in future auctions.
Another icon of American design that garnered extensive of interest from collectors was an early Indian Scout motorcycle. The last lot of the auction, the Indian Model R was produced in 1920, the first year for the two-cylinder Scout and sold for $25,850.
Furniture enthusiasts were drawn to a group of Spanish furniture from the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. A Spanish Baroque writing table with a single board walnut battened top and scroll-cut legs rose above the $1,500-$2,500 estimate, and sold for $5,875. A 17th-century carved walnut writing table with iron braces realized $4,112.50.
“These items were fresh to the market and we were happy to see such strong bidding on these great pieces,” said Wachs. The proceeds from the sale of the deaccessioned furniture will benefit the museum’s acquisitions fund.
Fine Art and sculpture also garnered strong interest. Night Landscape, an oil on canvas by 19th-century Czech Republic artist Adolf Chwala realized $8,225, well above its $1,000-$1,500 estimate. The Orientalist bronze by French sculptor Emile Edmond Peynot titled Merchant of Arms also exceeded its auction estimate, bringing $27,025. The oil on canvas by American painter Orville Bulman titled Victorian House sold three times its $3,000-$5,000 estimate for $14,100.
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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Home sales shot up in Cincinnati last month. Orville Bulman’s ‘Victorian House,’ a 24 1/4- by 29 1/2-inch oil on canvas, sold for $14,100, eclipsing the $3,000-$5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions.
‘Weasaw Shosone’ is incised on the bottom of this 8 1/2-inch Rookwood portrait vase decorated by Grace Young in 1901. Expected to sell for $5,000-$7,000, the Standard Glaze vase topped $10,575. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions.
Marked ‘Tiffany Studios, New York,’ this four-light chandelier with green geometric leaded glass panels and a wide band of turtleback tiles had fiery iridescence. It brought $31,725. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions.
The low serial number on this Indian Scout motorcycle dated it to the first year of production, 1920. Fresh from a Kentucky estate, the bike surpassed its high estimate of $20,000 and topped out at $25,850. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions.
