BLOOMFIELD, N.J. – Nye & Company Auctioneers’ Fall Estate Treasures Auction on Wednesday, Nov. 1, will feature French furniture and decorative items from a private collection on Park Avenue in New York City, two Old Masters paintings, and a collection of American Aesthetic Movement items and furniture from a former Manhattan dealer. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
More than 120 other items in the auction will be sold to help fund the restoration of buildings and water features at Greenwood Gardens, a historic mansion home and the 28 acres of grounds surrounding it, located in Short Hills, N.J. Greenwood Gardens was open to the public in 2013.
Putting together an auction with three major components, like this one, isn’t always easy, said company president John Nye. “The auction market is more unpredictable today than it was several years ago,” he said. “The secret to gaining confidence in an upcoming sale is the quality of the property being offered. I feel very confident about the quality of the pieces in this sale.”
The Old Masters oil paintings are portraits with estimates of $10,000-$20,000. One is a portrait of an artist from the Circle of Caspar Netscher (Heidelberg 1639-1684, The Hague), half-length, with a palette, marble busts and an orange tree, 16½ inches by 13½ inches, signed “Netscher f” (above).
The other is an oil on panel attributed to Nicolaes Maes (Dordrecht, 1634-1693, Amsterdam), of Sir Constantijn Huygens I, Lord of Zuilichem (1596-1687), also half-length, in painted oval and signed lower right “N. MAES.” The work was exhibited at the London Royal Academy in 1888.
French furniture from the Park Avenue and Southampton, N.Y., private collection will be led by a Louis XVI-style giltwood marble-top console table (below), circa late 19th or early 20th century, (est. $7,000-$10,000); and a pair of Louis XV-style marble-top side tables, gilt bronze mounted, same period (est. $5,000-$8,000).
The Aesthetic Movement was a literary and artistic phenomenon that flourished in England in the 1880s and eventually spread to the United States. It stressed “art for art’s sake” and rejected the notion that art should have a social or moral purpose. Its exponents included Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, Max Beerbohm and others associated with the journal the Yellow Book.
The production of Aesthetic-style furniture was limited to just the late 19th century and was characterized by common themes, which included ebonized wood (painted or stained to a black ebony finish), a Far Eastern influence, the prominent use of nature (especially flowers, birds, ginkgo leaves and peacock feathers), and blue on white on porcelain and other fine china.
Aesthetic Movement pieces in the auction from the Manhattan dealer’s collection will feature an American 19th century ebonized display cabinet in two parts (est. $1,500-$2,500); and a Minton porcelain pitcher with matching vase, both a bright turquoise blue with a black flying birds pattern, circa 1870, being offered as a single lot (est. $300-$500).
Other Aesthetic Movement lots will include a pair of brown porcelain platters, one depicting a bamboo pattern and palace scene, the other a Japanese Doulton transfer decorated platter (est. $300-$500); and a Meriden sugar bowl and coffeepot (below), hand-hammered silver plate Japanese ovoid form with apple, grasshopper, flowers and birds decorations on both (est. $300-$500).
The Nov. 1 Fall Estate Treasures Auction consists of nearly 500 lots and will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
Nye & Company Auctioneers will conclude the Fall Estate Treasures Auction on Thursday, Nov. 2, at noon Eastern time, with an online-only auction of more than 300 lots of similar high-quality antiques and fine art.
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