BOSTON – Skinner Inc. will conduct its European Furniture & Decorative Arts sale with a bonus selection of fine ceramics on Saturday, July 11, with real-time Internet bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. The sale boasts more than 800 lots including English and Continental decorative works of art, statuary, textiles and furniture from the 18th through 20th centuries. Real-time Internet bidding will be provided through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
A special highlight is the Elizabeth Chellis Wedgwood Collection. The late Elizabeth Chellis was, among other things, a founder of the Wedgwood International Seminar, and founder and president of the Wedgwood Society of Boston. She was a scholar and collector, and her library relating to Wedgwood, which is housed at the Birmingham Museum of Art, is believed to be the largest in the world.
Ms. Chellis’ collection of ceramics spans a wide variety of Wedgwood wares and includes a Queen’s Ware “Frog Service” platter (estimate $10/15,000), 18th-century English pottery highlighted by an enamel decorated salt-glazed stoneware landscape teapot (est. $2/4,000), and interesting Wedgwood-related ephemera.
Also included in the sale are two additional private collections of Wedgwood. Among the offerings are encaustic decorated black basalts, a nice assortment of Fairyland Lustre, queen’s ware, Carrara ware, Lessore decorated items, majolica, and a variety of jasper wares including a most unusual full-size Portland vase (est, $1,000/1,500).
Other English pottery and porcelain includes early white salt-glazed stoneware, agate and lead-glazed creamwares. A pair of Minton Christopher Dresser design Pilgrim vases (est. $8/1,200), Sunderland lustre, and a large collection of parian busts and figures help round out the sale.
Of note in the decorative arts offerings are 18 lots of Royal Worcester porcelain models of birds by Dorothy Doughty (estimates ranging from $300 at the low to $1,500 at the high); an interesting German wood and ivory figural group titled “The Fortune Teller,” signed C.L. Haebler, Baden Baden (est. $5/700); a French Aesthetic Movement charger (est. $2/4,000), and a large bronze figure of a maiden by Mathurin Moreau (est. $5/7,000).
Also of interest is an unusually extensive collection of 44 Italian crèche figures (est. $4/6,000). Rarely do such extensive sets of crèche figures appear in the auction market.
The sale also features an extensive selection of clocks and timepieces including a Meissen porcelain mantel clock (est. $2,5/3,500), a Turkish market clock (est. $700/1,000), a carriage-style enamel timepiece (est. $3/500), a Louis XIV-style Boulle clock (est. $1,2/1,500), and a Georgian-style case clock (est. $8/10,000).
Offerings from Britain and the Continent, spanning the centuries, include interesting forms such as a cellarette – a wine bottle storage box for dining rooms (est. $1,5/1,800) – a pair of Louis XV rafraichissoirs – French wine glass and wine bottle cooler (est. $2/3,000); a jardinière table signed by the cabinetmaker, Bernard Molitor (est. $12/18,000); and a Carlton House desk (est. $2/4,000), which is a writing table of a style introduced by Gillow’s in their pattern book of 1796, and believed to derive its name from the Prince Regent’s palace.
Other nice furniture offerings include a mid-Georgian side table (est. $1,2/1,800), a
George III sideboard (est. $3/4,000), a Renaissance Revival jewelry box on a stand (est. $3/5,000), a large Venetian carved wood hall figure (est. $4/6,000), and a pair of George III giltwood mirrors (est. $12/18,000).
For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 508-970-3000. View the fully illustrated auction catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet on auction day at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
