DOUGLASS, Kan. – Woody Auction will celebrate the grand opening of its new gallery with a major antique and fine art auction on Saturday, Feb. 24, one that will be highlighted by several original artworks by the Swedish-born Kansas painter Birger Sandzén (1871-1946), plus outstanding collections of Royal Bayreuth, Daum, Galle, Tiffany, Pairpoint, pattern glass and furniture. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
The new showroom is located at 130 E. Third St. in Douglass, southeast of Wichita.
“The Feb. 24 grand opening will be the first of many quality auctions to be showcased in our new facility,” said Jason Woody of Woody Auction. “Like in all our past auctions, everything will be sold without reserve to the highest bidder.”
All four of the original Sandzén paintings are fresh to the market, not offered to the public in over 50 years. The Royal Bayreuth collection of 132 items out of Indiana features many of the rarest animal forms available. A private collection from Illinois will present a great selection of Daum, Galle, Tiffany, Pairpoint, pattern glass and additional quality art glass. The period furniture collection features Meeks, Wooton and Hunzinger. Also sold will be bronze statues and lovely brides baskets.
Birger Sandzén was born in Blidsberg, Sweden, in 1871. He studied art in Stockholm and Paris early on, before coming to Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, in 1894, to teach languages and assist in the art and vocal music departments. He remained at Bethany for the remainder of his career, becoming the principal art instructor in 1899 and retiring in 1946. He painted right up until his death, in 1954.
During his lifetime Sandzén completed more than 2,600 oil paintings and 500 watercolors. He created 207 lithographs, 94 block prints and 27 drypoints which, when the editions are totaled, amount to over 33,000 prints. He was also a skilled draftsman, filling over 80 sketchbooks. He exhibited extensively throughout the United States and Sweden and today his works are found in many museums worldwide.
The centerpiece artwork in the group of four Sandzén paintings in the sale is Cedars and Rocks (above), a vivid and colorful oil on canvas landscape rendering of Manitou Springs, Colorado, dated 1922. The 36-by-48-inch painting was professionally cleaned by WCCFA in Denver in 2015 and is housed in its original frame.
“It’s also the finest artwork we’ve ever had the privilege to bring to auction,” Woody said.
The other paintings are Lake in the Rockies, a 26-by-22-inch oil on canvas using thick paint with high ridges (the meringue technique), in the original frame, dated 1921; Horses in Wyoming, a 20-by-24- inch oil on board, a subject for another painting, circa 1930; and an untitled oil on board (various references have indicated Glimpse of Mountain Lake), 36 inches by 48 inches, circa 1938.
Collectors of Royal Bayreuth are in for a treat. Lots will include a 6 ¼-inch-tall unmarked candlestick holder depicting a full figure fox in a colorful dinner jacket, a 4 ¾-inch-tall turtle lemonade pitcher with blue mark, a 7 ¼-inch-tall Santa Claus lemonade pitcher (below) with blue mark, a 6 ½-inch-tall coiled snake water pitcher with a blue mark and an unmarked 8 ¼-inch-tall squirrel water pitcher.
Lamps and lighting will feature a rare and beautiful Pittsburgh banquet lamp (below), electrified, displaying a scene of a warrior riding a white stallion while holding a lance and sword, set against an elaborate mosaic-like background, and a Galle signed figural table lamp with a French cameo art glass shade having a carved pink and green floral design with elaborate interior floral carved highlights, set on a fine bronze base showing a woman standing and feeding three rabbits, artist-signed “F. Gopnik.”
Tiffany Studios will be represented in the sale, including an all original desk lamp with signed “L.C.T. Favrile” decorated art glass shade, signed “Tiffany Studios 417” on a weighted base, and a rare 5 ½-inch- tall Cypriot art glass vase exhibiting beautiful colors and signed “L.C. Tiffany Favrile 8324J.”
Daum Nancy will feature a French cameo art glass vase (below), 4 ¾ inches tall, signed, with gorgeous colors and a fall season décor; and a 28 inch tall signed French cameo art glass vase having a pale lavender background with cameo carved white leaf and blossom overlay. Also sold will be a Wavecrest plaque with 10-inch round portrait of Queen Louisa, with green, cream and pink tones, in a gilt metal frame.
Bronzes will showcase an original statue, 39 inches tall by 16 inches wide, titled Cerberus (below), artist signed “Raoul Verlet” (French, 1857-1923), from the Ferdinand Barbeditenne foundry in Paris, with great detail and patina; and a 24-inch-tall statue, signed by Edmond Louis Charles Tassel (French, 1870-1900), of a young maiden crossing a stream, on a marble base, titled Passage du Ruisseau, dated 1890.
The furniture category will include a pair of original, marked Hunzinger Renaissance Revival chairs with carved female heads, curved wooden sides and ebony highlights and dated 1869, upholstered with tufted pale green floral fabric and a two-piece Meeks rococo-style parlor set with a laminated rosewood couch and matching chair in the Stanton Hall pattern.
Internet bidders are encouraged to register at least 48 hours in advance of the auction.
For details contact Woody Auction at 316-747-2694 or info@woodyauction.com.
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