DALLAS — The Japanese silver incense burner that leads Heritage Auctions‘ Tuesday, May 16 Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu Signature® Auction is a giant among dragons. Created from nearly 45 pounds of 99% pure silver and accented with eyes of more than 22k gold, the piece, which hails from the Meiji period, holds an estimate of $50,000-$70,000 and is steeped in mystery. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

To produce a piece of this scale required exceptional craftsmanship and an extraordinary amount of time. The finely articulated scales and barbs that detail the meandering piece, which is a near match to a bronze example in the Musee Cernuschi in Paris, are of such quality and cost that it must have been commissioned by someone important, possibly a member of the Meiji royal court. But who commissioned the piece remains a mystery. We do know from the marks on the dragon and censer that it was made by the Kimura Toun family, known for their exuberant bronze dragons, and the incense burner by Kagawa Katsuhiro, who was appointed Artist to the Imperial Court in 1906. But the rest of the story has yet to be uncovered.

“I am excited to see how the market reacts to this incredible dragon censer,” said Vice President of Fine Silver & Decorative Arts at Heritage Auctions Karen Rigdon. “The quality of the intricate surface is amazing, the stance theatrically fierce and the size staggering at 32 inches high and 40 inches wide.”

But the dragon-form incense burner isn’t this auction’s only piece that is cloaked in mystery. The 403-lot sale includes a fine reproduction of the Byzantine David and Goliath silver plate in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a piece that also presents a puzzle yet to be solved. The circa-1977 plate, which is estimated at $10,000-$15,000 and illustrates the biblical narrative of David and Goliath, is a faithful reproduction of the museum’s 7th-century example, which was made during the reign of Emperor Heraclius and is one of a series of nine plates illustrating the life of King David. It is possible that the offered plate, which is unmarked, is the same plate from a story involving Tom Hoving, who was the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s director from 1967 to 1977. As the story goes, Hoving had the David and Goliath reproduction prototype plate in his office for review when visiting dignitaries came to his office bearing gifts. With no gift to offer in return, Hoving grabbed the plate and presented it to the dignitaries.

But much is still to be learned about this mysterious plate: Is it, in fact, the reproduction prototype given by Hoving? How many David and Goliath reproductions were manufactured in the 1970s? And which other plates in the David series were replicated? While questions abound, this example appears to be unique and the quality of the model extraordinary.

The auction also includes a Gorham Mfg. Co. partial gilt silver and cut glass claret jug made for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair. The stunning claret jug, which is estimated at $3,000-$5,000 and features a central carved glass body of symmetrical floral and foliate motifs secured at the top and a base with silver mounts. It is inscribed to the underside along with its purchaser’s name, the fabled Mary Adelaide Yerkes, whose husband, Charles Tyson Yerkes, died in 1905, leaving her a $15 million estate.

Another top lot in the auction is a pair of Mario Buccellati fox-form silver wine coolers made in Milan circa 1950 and estimated at $50,000-$70,000. The head of each piece opens to reveal a wine cooler in disguise, and the foxes’ fur coats were created with a technique known as lavorazione a pelo, or “hairlike,” where each wire “hair” of varying length and thickness is individually soldered to create a realistic coat.

The auction also features a set of 18 Tiffany & Co. gilt silver finger bowls, estimated at $15,000-$25,000, and a set of 18 Tiffany & Co. gilt silver plates with an identical estimate, both from the collection of the 19th-century art patron Mary Jane Morgan. The circa-1883 bowls and plates both bear her monogram, MJM. Other notable pieces include a selection of early Continental silver, including boxes, candlesticks, cups and beakers. Among the standouts are a circa-1660 Swedish snakeskin beaker, estimated at $2,000-$3,000; a German partial gilt silver portrait cup, estimated at $800-$1,200; and an assortment of boxes such as an 18th-century arcaded tower example from Berlin, estimated at $1,000-$1,500.

Other highlights include a Georg Jensen No. 1052 Swan silver water pitcher that has an estimate of $10,000-$15,000; a variety of Taxco flatware lots, including William Spratling’s Amarres pattern, estimated at $4,000-$6,000, and Hector Aguilar’s Rope pattern, estimated at $10,000-$15,000; several strong Peruvian forms by Graziella Laffi, including monumental holloware forms and bold jewelry designs in both silver and gold; textural eggs by Stuart Devlin; and mushrooms by Christopher Nigel Lawrence that open to reveal whimsical surprises.

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