ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Theme and Variations Auction, a new entry on Michaan’s annual auction calendar, saw more than 100 active participants on October 15. Michaan’s was thrilled with the activity as well as the auction results.
A Herter Brothers bedroom suite attributed to Gueret Freres, which once graced a Menlo Park historic mansion, was a big hit. It was one of several fine examples of Aesthetic Movement design in this sale. “The Aesthetic Movement was a time for such great, lavish effects and inlays, and in this suite the faux bamboo treatment of silver maple was nonpareil,” says Fenichell, adding that the Herter Brothers suite sold to a private buyer for $10,200.
Most of the top-selling lots were by names most avidly sought by collectors: Herter, Tiffany, Gorham, Van Erp, Jensen and Wooton.
Other strong performers include an American Renaissance Revival extra grade Wooton desk, which sold for $5,100, and a Georg Jensen sterling silver Poppy candelabra, which achieved $6,000.
Also of note was a Dirk van Erp large hammered copper vase, which realized $7,200.
Rounding out the top lots was a Gorham Fontainebleu sterling silver flatware set, which sold for $5,100, and a Tiffany Studios cameo glass vase, which changed hands for $6,000.
Michaan’s October 16 Gallery Auction garnered close attention from local and international collectors.
The fine art section featured Sophisticated Dachshund, an oil on canvas by American artist Ira Yeager. The work caught the eye of a private collector who paid $10,800.
A gold ring set with strands of George Washington’s hair soared above its $600-$800 estimate to sell for $5,400. This fascinating auction lot comprised a 14K yellow and black enamel ring holding six strands of the first American president’s hair, along with a document detailing how the ring came to be. The document is a letter, dated 1862, that tells the story of how Washington’s godson shared a lock of the first President’s hair with various parties, including the letter writer, who then had a jeweler create the ring. Also included in the auction lot was a newspaper clipping describing the sale of the ring at auction in 1913, for $480.
In the Asian art section, a top lot was the Shiwan pottery figure of the scholar Chen Wei Yan. Bidding rocketed past the $500-$700 estimate, and the figure ultimately sold for $22,800. The piece was exhibited in 1994 at the San Jose Cultural Center in the show Shiwan Ceramics: Beauty, Color and Passion. Depicting a drunken scholar-poet reclining on a wine jar, the figure is finished with a crackle Ge-type glaze.
The jewelry section saw a collection of 13 unmounted emeralds sell for $9,000, twice the presale estimate. Also helping push October’s jewelry sales to more than $115,000 (including buyer’s premiums) was the Indian gold and silver necklace featuring a carved hardstone plaque. The beauty of the plaque depicting a deity, accented by lapis, turquoise and coral cabochons, drove bidding on the necklace to a realized price of $7,200.
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View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/
