THOMASTON, Maine – Thomaston Place Auction Galleries will present large selections of fine art paintings and sculpture, beautifully crafted jewelry, Native-American artifacts, and rare coins at their first sale of 2009, on Saturday and Sunday, January 31 and February 1. Another important highlight will be a collection of nine pieces of art pottery created by Brother Thomas Bezanson (Vt./Pa., 1929-2007).
Thomaston Place owner and auctioneer Kaja Veilleux said, “We have been working hard to pull together an exciting catalog for our customers. The array of fine art, including works by Jack Lorimer Grey, William Louis Sonntag, Sr., Romain de Tirtoff Erte and Thomas Gainsborough, is truly amazing. And we are thrilled to be able to offer nine Brother Thomas Bezanson art pottery pieces in this auction, as even single pieces of his work rarely come up for sale. We also have a great collection of fresh-to-the-market Native-American artifacts that have been stored under a bed for many years.”
Featured paintings will include: Jack Lorimer Gray’s (N.Y., 1927-1981) oil-on-canvas work, Two Fishermen Pulling Herring Net into Dory on the Outer Banks (est.: $40,000-60,000); an Adirondack valley landscape by William Louis Sonntag, Sr. (Ohio, N.Y., 1822-1900) (est.: $25,000-35,000); an oil on canvas by Aurelio Tiratelli (Italian, 1842-1900) of an Italian scene with a woman feeding geese under a grape arbor in alley (est.$20,000-30,000); an oil-on-copper painting set on cradled panel titled Dutch Still Life with Flowers, from the circle of Jan van Kessel (est.: $10,000-12,000); Fleurs Rouges, a portrait of a lady by Emilio Grau-Sala (Spanish/French, 1911-1975) (est.: $9,000-12,000); and two important paintings by Charles Warren Eaton (N.Y./N.J., 1857-1937).
The sale will include a drawing by Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727-1788) titled Portrait of Mrs. Abington, the Actress (est.: $8,000-12,000). Frances “Fanny” Abington (1737-1815) was one of David Garrick’s stars at Drury Lane in London.
There will be a selection of sculpture, such as: Arctic Sea’, a bronze sculpture by Romain de Tirtoff Erte (NY, 1892-1990) (est.: $15,000-18,000); The Neapolitan Fisher Boy, a bronze by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (French, 1827-1875) (est.: $10,000-15,000); and a John H. Bellamy carved wooden eagle with banner lettered Don’t give up the ship (est.: $10,000-15,000).
The Brother Thomas Bezanson art pottery collection includes: a tall vase with bold shoulder, narrow opening, and wide flared rim with rich oxblood glaze and white at the rim edge (est.: $4,000-6,000); a high-shouldered vase on tapered base with dark brown flow and light brown/copper overglaze (est.: $3,000-4,000), a large orb form vase with rolled rim-top opening on footed base and deep lavender flow glaze over teal (est.: $3,000-4,000); and a rimless tapered side center bowl with celadon green glaze and dark speckled overglaze (est.: $2,500-3,500).
Some of the Native-American highlights are: a Sioux circa-1880 pipe bag decorated with sinew sewn beads and dyed porcupine quill-wrapped rawhide slats (est.: $4,500-5,000); a circa-1880 Central Plains Indian pipe bag in native tanned buckskin decorated with sinew sewn beads (est.: $4,500-5,000); and a 19th-century Sioux saddle bag with sinew-sewn beadwork on native tanned buckskin (est.: $3,500-4,500). Also offered is a cabinet card photograph of “Curley,” General Custer’s Native-American scout and the only survivor of “that horrible massacre,” by D. F. Barry, with caption and backstamp (est.: $3,000-5,000) and 7 lots of Mayan clay artifacts.
The jewelry selection will feature: a platinum ring featuring a 14.05 carat natural yellow sapphire flanked by two shield-shape diamonds (est.: $27,000-30,000), an 18K gold, diamond and emerald handmade necklace and earrings set (est.: $22,000-25,000), a platinum, diamond and sapphire Art Deco period dinner ring (est.: $20,000-22,000), a pearl necklace with 33 graduated 11.5 to 14.0 mm fancy silver gray South Sea pearls and 14K gold clasp pave set with diamonds (est.: $7,500-9,500), and a rare circa-1860 black and white oval hard stone cameo brooch with a portrait depicting Queen Elizabeth I in a 14K gold setting with 15 mine-cut diamonds (est.: $7,000-9,000).
The 85 lots of coins in the sale will include: a group of 6 Austrian 1915 gold 100 corona coins in mint, uncirculated condition (est.: $4,500-5,000); a group of 3 Flying Eagle cents from 1856, 1857, and 1858 (est.: $3,000-4,000); an 1867S Liberty Seated silver quarter (est.: $2,000-2,500); a group of 3 Mexican gold coins – 1947 50 pesos, 1959 20 pesos, and 1945M 2 pesos (est.: $1,200-1,400); and a Liberty Head 1898S $20 gold piece (est.: $1,000-1,200).
The sale will include 6 vintage music boxes, including: a Stella 17.25-inch disc music box on base cabinet (est.: $8,000-10,000), a Mermod Freres 12-tune cylinder music box with removable external crank (est.: $4,500-5,500), a mahogany-cased Mira 12-inch disc player with removable interior crank and zither function (est.: $3,500-4,500), and a Junod 12-air, 5-bell music box, featuring engine turned bells with floral finials and polychrome butterfly strikers (est.: $3,400-4,500).
As always, this Thomaston Place auction will include a large selection of antique furniture, Asian antiques, oriental carpets, fine porcelain and glass items and timepieces.
Five hundred items will be sold per day, and the auction will begin at 11:00 a.m. EST on both sale days. A complete catalog, with detailed descriptions and photographs, is available, and all lots can be viewed at the LiveAuctioneers Web site (www.liveauctioneers.com).
In addition to live bidding in the auction hall, Thomaston Place accepts bids via absentee, telephone, and live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com. For additional information call 207-354-8141.
Click here to view Thomaston Place’s Jan. 31 sale; click here to view the Feb. 1 sale.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
