New England estates enrich Woodbury auction Sept. 16
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
WOODBURY, Conn. – On Sunday, Sept.16, over 500 lots of fine and decorative arts from estates and consignors from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts will cross the block at Woodbury Auction. The sale is being held at 11 a.m. EDT. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Among the highlights of the auction is an original sterling silver brooch by Alexander Calder, whose workshop was in Roxbury, Conn. The brooch, never before offered for sale, was given by the artist in the 1960s to Winifred McCulloch, noted New York scholar and educator, and was bequeathed by McCulloch to the consignor. According to Thomas Schwenke, owner/auctioneer, the item – fashioned in the form of Winifred McCulloch’s initials – was consigned after the firm’s successful marketing of two original Calder sterling silver jewelry pieces in the June 17 annual Spring Fine Estates Auction.
Several bronzes are on offer in the sale, including two notable works from a Connecticut private collection, one attributed to Elie Nadelman (Poland 1882-1946), a bronze draped female figure, semi-nude with arms raised, 22 1/2 inches high, set on an oval base inscribed “JNO Williams Inc. – Bronze Foundry, N.Y.” and an abstract mythological bronze Leda and the Swan,” 11 1/2 inches high, by Rubin Nakian (American 1897-1986), on a rectangular base, inscribed “RBW Inc.,” foundry mark for Roman Bronze Works Inc., New York.
Among the rarest lots in the sale is a framed toile fabric section from original English yard goods in red and white, titled The Apotheosis of Franklin showing Gen. George Washington driving a leopard-drawn chariot with an allegorical figure of America holding a plaque inscribed “American Independence 1776.”
Local Woodbury history buffs will find delight in William Cothren’s personal bound collection of Civil War era sheet music, comprising 102 pieces of music for piano and voice, including an extremely scarce copy of the Stephen Foster’s work Maggie by My Side together with other patriotic songs of the era, many with pictorial covers and signed, overall 300 pages, together with a hand written index.
Also on offer is a signed limited 10th Anniversary edition of Atlas Shrugged, numbered 1,000 of only 2,000 copies, signed by Ayn Rand on the limitation page, published by New York: Random House, 1967, in original blue cloth and original slipcase.
Nantucket interest is represented by a Jose Formosa Reyes Nantucket lightship basket purse, the lid with ivory whale on an ebony plaque.
Fine sterling silver lots to be sold include a Schofield Co. boxed sterling silver partial flatware service in the Elizabeth Tudor – Hammered pattern, comprising 97 pieces total, 108.85 ounces weighable silver; a Schofield Co. round footed bowl in the Balto-Rose pattern, 16.54 troy ounces; a Tiffany & Co. sterling silver fruit serving bowl with foliate edge in the Clover pattern, engraved “New England Pony Club – Perpetual Challenge Trophy – High Score Pony Award,” weighing 25.38 troy ounces; and several fine pieces of Mexican sterling silver hollowware.
Other noteworthy lots include a large group of British campaign furniture and a collection of vintage leather automobile cases and picnic cases from the Adolph estate. Adolph was a co-owner of British Country Antiques in Woodbury for many years, and was a noted Bentley motorcar enthusiast. The sale also features numerous lots of Bentley memorabilia, catalogs, books, tools and automobile parts and paraphernalia from the extensive Adolph collection.
Among the many fine pieces of period furniture in the sale are an 18th century paint decorated Scandinavian dome top secretary with applied molded decoration in original untouched condition, previously in storage for many years, and a vigorously figured tiger maple miniature American chest.
The sale also features fine antique porcelain, including a Meissen porcelain monkey figure, a pair of Meissen covered vegetable dishes, a pair of reticulated Paris porcelain pots, a pair of Rosenthal “paper bag” vases, and several Staffordshire figures. Asian porcelains include a pair of large enameled urns on stands, a rare Asian pierced porcelain lantern, a large early Chinese porcelain vase, and several Imari porcelain chargers.
The sale will be broadcast live through LiveAuctioneers. For details call Woodbury Auction at 203-266-0323.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
Image courtesy of Woodbury Auction.
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