ALAMEDA, Calif. – Michaan’s major auction on Monday, June 13, encompasses jewelry, fine art, furnishings and decorative items. Highlights include an oil painting by revered Filipino artist Vicente Manansala, a pair of rare Tiffany Studios jeweled candlesticks and a historic pocket watch once owned by the family of Capt. Myles Standish.
Absentee and Internet bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
Diamonds certain to impress bidders in Michaan’s sale include a ring centering a round brilliant cut stone of an approximate 3.03 carat weight, estimated at $18,000-25,000 (below).
An unmounted, GIA certified natural fancy deep yellowish-orange diamond (below) weighing 2.17 carats provides a beautiful alternative to traditional stones as lot 2066 (est. $10,000-$15,000).
A choice piece among the antique jewelry is a Belle Époque pendant-brooch adorned with diamonds and pearls (below, est. $8,000-$10,000).
A pocket watch (below) said to be from the family of Colonial Capt. Myles Standish together with a collection of Commander Henry B. Soule’s U.S. Navy certificates and documents signed by Theodore Roosevelt and other presidents is estimated at $5,000-$7,000.
Fine art in the sale is highlighted by the oil painting Preparing Dinner by the father of transparent Cubism, Vicente Manansala (1910-1981), at an estimate of $80,000- $120,000. This technique developed by Manansala where the subject and environment are masterfully superimposed is utilized by the artist alongside reflections of society and culture in his works.
Manansala, who was once a member of the Thirteen Moderns group and the neo-realists, is considered a leading figure of the modernist movement in the Philippines. The Holy Angel University in Angeles City, Philippines, recently opened a section of its museum dedicated as the Vicente Manansala Collection.
A photography collection of Brett Weston (American 1911-1993) silver gelatin prints will also be presented in 25 lots. The offered prints, primarily from the 1950s and ’60s, were gifted directly by Weston to the consignor’s family.
A pair of Tiffany Studios jeweled candlesticks (below) is a decorative gem in Michaan’s auction, estimated at $37,500-$42,500. The rare design of an extremely low production is of a bronze body of a starburst base cradling 16 iridescent handblown Favrile glass “jewel” spheres of a butterscotch color, measuring approximately 1 inch in diameter each. Two mid-sized jewels are then ensconced in the slender shaft of each candlestick, all containing an especially high iridescence. A candle would then insert into a large butterscotch glass sphere measuring approximately 2 inches in width at the top. The candlesticks stand approximately 14 3⁄4 inches high and remain in very good condition (with the jewels on the starburst base being reproductions). Each bears Tiffany Studios stamps upon the reverse of the bases.
For information call Michaan’s at 510-740-0220 ext. 0 or e-mail info@michaans.com.
