MORRISTOWN, N.J. – On Saturday, Nov. 21 and Sunday, Nov. 22 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Millea Bros. Ltd. will host its fifth annual Fall Estates Auction Weekendat the Morristown Armory in historic Morristown, New Jersey. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
Unreserved fresh-to-the-market estate goods will be the focus of the two-day auction event, with an eclectic offering of almost 1000 lots culled from prominent Manhattan and New York metro estates and private collections, including property from the Duveen Family Collections, the Estate of Caral Gimbel Lebworth, a French Royal Family, the Estate of Henry Luce III, deaccessioned works of art from a major Mid-Atlantic museum, the Estate of Lucia Moreira-Salles, and the Estate of Doris Duke.
Saturday’s Asian Art session will feature a selection from Doris Duke’s Southeast Asian art collection, including furniture, decorative art and Buddhist sculpture from Thailand, Burma and Cambodia. As author Nancy Tingley states in her book Doris Duke: The Southeast Asian Art Collection, “Doris Duke’s astute appreciation of 18th and 19th century Thai and Burmese material more or less ignored by Western collectors in the 1960s, and more recently acquired by Southeast Asian collectors or Western decorators, led to her compiling the finest collection of this material in the West. Today it would be impossible for a collector to amass a comparable group of objects, for the marketplaces of Thailand and Burma have been drained of most authentic works of that period.” The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation donated many objects from this collection to major museums throughout the United States and abroad.
Prospective buyers interested in Saturday morning’s Asian offerings will have the opportunity to bid on almost 50 lots from Doris Duke’s Southeast Asian Art Collection, including (3) antique Thai carved giltwood and red lacquered Chinese-style beds (ests. $2,000-5,000); an antique Southeast Asian giltwood reclining platform with crest (est. $1,200-1,800); and a large selection of 19th century Thai and Burmese architectural elements (ests. $200-1,200). Alongside Doris Duke’s Southeast Asian offerings will be (3) antique Dehua porcelain figures of Guanyin from the Estate of a Washington, D.C. collector, Ming and Qing Dynasties (ests. $1,000-3,000); an antique Chinese dark green jade tripod censer with archaic decoration (est. $1,000-1,500); a 19th century Chinese Export carved ivory sewing caddy (est. $700-1,000); a pair antique Chinese yellow bowls bearing Zhengde marks (est. $1,000-1,500); a pair of Chinese Export porcelain wine coolers, 18th/19th centuries (est. $700-1,000); a Japanese Musen enamel tray by Namikawa Sosuke ($6,000-8,000); and a pair of Kangxi Period cafe au lait rosewater sprinklers (est. $500-700).
Saturday’s Postwar and Contemporary Art and Modern Design session will be highlighted by a Modernist brass reading lamp from Doris Duke’s Boeing 737 (est. $150-250); an Important German avant-garde silver tea set designed by Paula Straus, circa 1926 (est. $10,000-15,000); an embossed-crocodile side table by Karl Springer (est. $1,200-1,800); a figural bronze coffee table by Ray Book (20th century, American) (est. $1,000-1,500); an abstract bronze dated 1988 by Herbert Ferber (1906-1991, American) (est. $12,000-18,000); a gouache drip painting by Norman Bluhm (1921-1999, American) dated 1959 (est. $2,000-3,000); a projectile point and resin sculpture by Yaacov Agam (b.1928, Israeli) (est. $2,000-3,000); a galvanized steel and brass console table by John Dickinson (est. $8,000-12,000); a brass snowflake chandelier by Paavo Tynell (1890-1973, Finnish) (est. $2,000-3,000); a rare stoneware bottle by Leza McVey (b. 1907, American); a terra cotta female bust attributed to Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919, German) (est. $12,000-18,000); and a group of small art bronzes from the Estate of contemporary art collector Caral Gimbel Lebworth. The bronzes include a work by Alicia Penalba (1913-1982, Argentinean) (est. $1,500-2,500).
Saturday’s auction will conclude with a single-owner collection of couture, designer clothing, accessories and jewelry from the Estate of Lucia Moreira-Salles. A fashion icon of the 1960s, Moreira-Salles made her runway debut in 1957 and became a muse to Valentino Garavani and Coco Chanel, and was a close friend to Diane Von Furstenberg. She later retired to her native Brazil and became a child-health advocate. Almost 150 lots from her personal collection will cross the block, highlighted by a Hermes crocodile Birkin bag, circa 2004 (est. $7,000-10,000); a selection of Chanel and Valentino Couture suits and evening gowns (ests. $700-1,500); a Valentino Furs sable coat (est. $3,000-5,000); an Hermes alligator Constance handbag (est. $2,000-3,000); as well as a 18K gold, ruby and hardstone chinoiserie pin by Nardi (est. $1,200-1,800); a pair 18K gold earclips by Van Cleef & Arpels (est. $1,000-1,500); and a Louis XV style giltwood bench with Vuitton upholstery (est. $1,000-1,500).
English furniture, paintings and silver will kick off Sunday’s auction, followed by Russian works of art. The remaining contents of Doris Duke’s library at Duke Farms, approximately 2,000 volumes (est.$1,000-1,500), will be sold among the English lots, including a Regency mahogany inlaid breakfront bookcase (est. $6,000-8,000); a selection of English tortoiseshell and ivory tea caddies, including a large William IV silver mounted tortoiseshell example (est. $1,500-2,500); and an English cameo glass perfume vial by Thomas Webb & Sons (est. $1,000-1,500). The Russian grouping is highlighted by an 88 silver and enamel Khodynka cup by Antip Kuzmichev (est. $5,000-7,000); an 88 silver enamel cream ladle also by Kuzmichev (est. $600-800); a Russian Neo-classical specimen Kalgan Jasper tazza (est. $3,000-5,000); and an oil painting with ballerinas by Aleksandr Arkadyevich Labas (1900-1983, Russian) (est. $20,000-30,000).
Arts of the Middle East, antiquities, and nearly 150 lots of Italian fine and decorative arts and Old Master pictures will follow, highlighted by a Rare Achaemenid Persian bronze model of a ram’s head (est. $3,000-5,000); an Antique Egyptian turquoise faience and limestone figure, probably New Kingdom (est. $800-1,200); an antique gilt and enameled glass Mosque lamp (est. $800-1,200); two pairs Neo-classical style patinated bronze torchieres from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (ests. $1,500-3,000); an oil painting on cradled panel depicting The Madonna and Child attributed to Perino del Vaga (1501-1547, Italian) (est. $3,000-5,000); an oil on canvas depicting the Descent from the Cross, school of Jacopo Robusti called “Tintoretto” (1519-1594, Italian) (est. $4,000-6,000); a collection of Venetian and Florentine silver from a Washington D.C. collector, including a pair Italian Classical Revival silver candlesticks by G. Casini, Florence, circa 1877 (est. $1,200-1,800); a Venetian canal scene, oil on canvas by Alessandro Guaccimanni (1864-1927, Italian) (est. $6,000-8,000); an unusual 19th century Genoese inlaid rosewood pinball amusement bearing original maker’s label and Sotheby’s provenance (est. $2,000-3,000), as well as a large selection of Italian Baroque Period tables, credenza and period furnishings (ests. $700-2,500).
Sunday’s auction will continue with French and Continental fine and decorative art and museum deaccessions, including a gilt and silvered metal 8-arm chandelier by Maison Bagues with original receipt and catalogue photo (est. $2,000-3,000); a set of (8) Louis XVI style cream painted fauteuils with Aubusson tapestry upholstery, 18/19th centuries, sold in two lots (est. $2,000-3,000 ea.) and matching canapé (est. $4,000-6,000); a Louis XVI ormolu “Grande Sonnerie” traveling clock, 18/19th centuries (est. $2,500-3,500); an oil portrait of a striking beauty by Paul-Jean Gervais (1859-1936, French) (est. $1,500-2,500); a Napoleon III (7)-piece giltwood and Aubusson tapestry upholstered salon suite ($10,000-15,000); a 19th century German carved-ivory Bacchanalia plaque ($1,200-1,800); a rare Meissen Hausmaler porcelain Kakiemon tea caddy and a Meissen Hausmaler style porcelain milk jug and tea bowl (est. $700-1,000) and (est. $600-800); an oil on canvas by German artist Johann Freidrich Engel (1844-1921) depicting a farming family on a barge (est. $3,000-5,000); and a KPM Berlin porcelain center bowl signed Wagner (est. $2,000-3,000).
American furniture, fine art, silver, decorations and pianos will finish Sunday’s sale featuring a large impressionist oil on canvas by Luis Graner Barcelona (1863-1929, Spanish/American) (est. $4,000-6,000); an American Chippendale cherrywood reverse serpentine chest of drawers with blocked front (est. $3,000-5,000); an oil painting of the five-masted schooner “Diria” by Antonio Jacobsen (1850-1921, American/Danish) (est. $6,000-8,000); a large 19th century American School painting of two boys fishing by a stream with Christie’s provenance (est. $3,000-5,000); a rare Victorian Civil War themed cast iron hall tree (est. $3,000-5,000); Doris Duke’s Hammond B3 organ and Leslie 122 speaker (est. $1,000-1,500); and (2) Steinway model-M grand pianos, circa 1921 and 1932 (est. $7,000-10,000 ea.).
For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Millea Bros. at 973-605-1265. Visit the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
