BEACHWOOD, Ohio – Talk about an eclectic sale. The top five lots in Neue Auctions’ 342-lot Estate Fine Art and Antiques auction, held online on March 11, were a pair of antique maps that sold for a staggering combined sum of $147,600; a typed letter signed by Albert Einstein that realized $10,455; a carved and painted carousel giraffe that earned $9,840; and a stoneware vessel made by Claude Conover that brought $7,380.

By far the top lot of the auction was a map of the Persian and Red Seas, after Claudius Ptolemy, titled Geographica and dating to circa 1482 or later. The engraved woodcut with original color was after Ptolemy’s Cosmographia, showing Sinus Persicus (Persian Gulf) and Sinus Arabicus (Red Sea), a map of the Arabian Peninsula. The map trounced its modest estimate of $3,000-$6,000 to achieve $110,700.

The other standout map was a 17th-century Dutch Baroque map, Pascaarte van alle de Zecusten van Europa, published by Anthonie Jacobsz (Amsterdam), as seen in the lower cartouche. The map sailed past its $4,000-$8,000 estimate, bringing $36,900.

The two-page typed letter signed by Einstein was dated 1950 on the physicist’s stamped letterhead, written in German and addressed to the well-known medalist and portraitist Prof. Artur Immanuel Lowental of Vienna. It regarded Lowental’s not having been paid for a commissioned bust or medal of Einstein, who was sympathetic in the letter. As noted above, the letter sold for $10,455.

The sale’s expected top lot was the visually striking carved and painted carousel giraffe, crafted circa 1910 by Gustav and William Dentzel. The restored giraffe, 64 ½in tall, featured inset glass eyes and was saddle carved with eagle’s heads and green and red painted saddle details. It sold near its high estimate of $10,000.

The stoneware vessel by Claude Conover (American, 1907-1994), titled Siyab, was ovoid form with a cylindrical neck, 19in tall by 15in wide and decorated all over in a pattern of small stylized rectangles. It was signed and titled to the base by Conover, who worked as a commercial designer for more than 30 years before turning to ceramics full-time. As previously mentioned, it went for $7,380.

A painting by Joseph Ryan Woodwell (American, 1843-1911), titled Magnolia, Massachusetts, Coastline with Two Figures, artist-signed at the lower left, finished at $4,182. Woodwell was a member of the Scalp Level School, named for the area of Pennsylvania where they all gathered to paint.

A late 18th- or early 19th-century English Leeds Pottery creamware chestnut basket, having a footed bowl form base with applied entwined handles and applied bellflower swags, changed hands for $3,567, besting its estimate of $500-$800.

Other wonderful decorative accessories that performed well include a Sevres Chateau des Tuileries Art Nouveau vase of baluster form, decorated with a standing maiden with a halo of gilded flowers. It earned $2,706.

The furniture category was led by a group of 12 Art Nouveau mahogany dining chairs that comprised six chairs by Louis Majorelle (French, 1859-1926) in the Epis de Ble (Wheat sheaf) motif, together with six hand-made copies. Each had a narrow upholstered back, carved with a sheaf of wheat pattern at the top of the side rails, and together, the set achieved $5,160.

Cynthia Maciejewksi and Bridget McWilliams of Neue Auctions can be reached by phone at 216-245-6707; or, you can email them at cynthia@neueauctions.com or bridget@neueauctions.com. For more information, please visit www.NeueAuctions.com.

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