Fast cars, Tiffany lamps featured in Fontaine’s sale Oct. 20

Fast cars, Tiffany lamps

Marty Seigel customized this Chevy Corvette in 1968-70. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. Fontaine’s Auction Gallery image

PITTSFIELD, MASS. – Expected to drive Fontaine’s Auction Gallery’s antiques and estates auction on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 11 a.m. Eastern time will be seven antique and vintage cars along with a select grouping of fine luxury goods ranging from Tiffany Studios lamps to silver and bronze decorative pieces. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

This auction will feature 400 lots of antiques and fine art.

In recent months, Fontaine’s has sold several Tiffany lamps in the five-figure price range. “Tiffany lamps really resonate with our buyers and we are delighted to continue to be able to ferret out great examples from fine area estates for our auctions,” said John Fontaine, owner of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery. “From the intricate designs and harmoniously colored shades to the elegant and ornate bronze bases, the best examples of these lamps always attract robust bidding and interest. This auction has many lots across the board to interest collectors.”

The offering of Tiffany lamps will be centered by a Tiffany Studios Dogwood floor lamp ($50,000-$75,000) with a 22-inch diameter Holden shape shade with eight rows of a staggered brick pattern over an allover pattern of mottled white dogwood flowers. The shade is original and signed “Tiffany Studios, New York,” and the lamp is on a contemporary bronze “junior” base in the style of Tiffany Studios, 70 inches tall.

Fast cars, Tiffany lamps

This Tiffany floor lamp has a 22-inch Dogwood shade. Estimate: $50,000-$75,000. Fontaine’s Auction Gallery image

Another Tiffany lamp sure to light up the block is a Tiffany Studios Daffodil table lamp ($35,000-$50,000) having a 20-inch diameter leaded conical shade with long green and blue leaves and golden yellow mottled glass daffodil flowers. Signed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 1497” with a gilt finish, the lamp is on a fine gold dore bronze “Old English” pattern Tiffany Studios table lamp base.
Racing across the block will be a total of seven cars. Drivers will get their engines revving with such models as a 1990s Heritage Replica 1934 Mercedes Benz convertible on a fabricated steel chassis using Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro drivetrain components ($20,000-$25,000); a 1936 Mercedes Benz 500K Marlene cabriolet convertible replica ($15,000-$20,000) made with a Mustang/ Mustang II drivetrain and a 1960s extreme custom Chevrolet Corvette ($15,000-$25,000) made in 1968-70 on a theft/recovery Corvette chassis.
“This was a very special collection from a New Jersey man who had been constructing and collecting cars for decades,” Fontaine said. “We’ve already had a lot of buzz from the antiques and the classic car communities so we are excited to see how these cars set the pace for this sale.”
The auction’s offerings run across the board spanning continents and centuries with silver figuring prominently among the items on offer, especially Russian silver. A pair of Russian silver figural candelabra ($12,000-$15,000) has domical relief decorated platforms with standing Bogatyr knights, signed with hallmarks for the firm of Sazikov and an 1867 Aleksandr Alekseevich Smirnov assayers mark. A six-piece Russian silver tea set with tray ($6,500-$8,500) is signed with hallmarks for silversmith Anders Wilhelm Ljung (Liung), Aleksandr Ilyich Yashinkov assayers mark, St. Petersburg city mark and an 84-zol. silver purity mark.

Fast cars, Tiffany lamps

Russian silver figural candelabra, signed with hallmarks for the firm of Sazikov, 22 inches high x 8 inches wide x 8 inches deep. Estimate: $12,000-$15,000. Fontaine’s Auction Gallery image

The parade of Russian goods continues with an Emile Eisman-Semenowsky (Russian, 1857-1911) oil on mahogany panel portrait ($5,000-$7,500) of two well-dressed French women, one with a basket of flowers and the other with a bird perched on her finger; a 14K Russian Order of St. Stanislaus pendant ($4,000-$6,000), an Albert Moritz Wolff (1854-1923) bronze grouping ($4,000-$6,000) of a young Cossack woman watering horses with two horses standing beside a well, 16 inches tall, and a pair of Russian Tula Arms cased dueling pistols ($3,000-$5,000).

Fast cars, Tiffany lamps

Emile Eisman-Semenowsky (Russian, 1857-1911, active in Paris), oil on mahogany panel, 25½ x 18½ inches. Estimate: $5,000-$7,000. Fontaine’s Auction Gallery image

Mid-century offerings include a large Edward Wormley leather “Party” sofa by Dunbar ($4,000-$6,000) in tufted black leather with a continuous even armrest, an Eero Saarinen Womb chair and ottoman for Knoll International in cream-colored tweed fabric ($1,200-$1,500), and a pair of Le Corbusier Basculant cowhide sling armchairs by Cassina having chrome-plated steel frames ($1,000-$1,500).

Rounding out the auction is a Jerome Secor clockwork banjo player automaton ($12,000-$15,000) and a walnut Queen Anne  Wooton desk ($6,000-$8,000).

Fast cars, Tiffany lamps

This Jerome Secor clockwork automaton retains its original clothing and wool hair. Estimate: $12,000-$15,000. Fontaine’s Auction Gallery image

For details contact Fontaine’s Auction Gallery at 413-448-8922.