WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A two-session auction featuring market-fresh Palm Beach estate finds on Day 1 and Asian antiques and archaeological artifacts on Day 2 will be held Sunday and Monday, Nov. 11 and 12, by Auction Life. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
The Day 1 session on Sunday will begin promptly at 1 p.m. Eastern time and feature more than 400 lots of antiques, collectibles, clocks, fine art, sculptures, bronzes, art glass, candelabra, furniture, jewelry, porcelain, crystal, watches and more. Most of the merchandise has been pulled from prominent estates and collections in Palm Beach and the surrounding region.
The Day 2 session on Monday has a 7 p.m. Eastern start time and will boast 276 lots of Asian antiques and archaeological artifacts, comprising a large part of a 50-plus-year collection of a New York archaeologist and collector. He was also involved in curating several famous Asian art collections and wrote many articles on a wide range of topics.
“They’re all fresh-to-the-market finds,” said Tarek ElJabaly, the owner and auctioneer of Auction Life, based in Loxahatchee, of the Day 2 offerings. “The majority of these items haven’t seen the light of day in decades. We’re excited to feature this once-in-a-lifetime collection of historical artifacts back to the world. Collectors, take note.”
Most of the auction’s expected top lots are in the Day 1 catalog. An enormous original oil on foam core board painting by Romero Britto (Brazilian, b. 1963), depicting the sun rising over the water, signed upper left and so large (at almost 8 feet long) it can be folded in half, is estimated at $5,000-$10,000. Also, a monumental pair of bronze Sphinx sculptures, each one about 43½ inches long and 26½ inches tall, should realize $3,000-$6,000.
An 8-carat natural Colombian square-cut emerald, with good clarity and provenance, has an estimate of $25,000-$35,000; and a dazzling pair of Van Cleef & Arpels Snowflake Lampion diamond platinum earrings, having 98 diamonds with a total weight of 5.79 carats, ranging from F to VS, should bring $15,000-$20,000.
Another Day 1 bronze is the 11½-inch-tall (with base) original maquette by Bill Mack (American, b. 1949), titled Tranquility, 1996, signed and numbered “15/150”, and atop a revolving black marble base (est. $1,000-$3,000).
Another lot to watch is a pair of gold gilt bronze and lapis French candelabra, 44 inches tall by 16½ inches wide (est. $7,000-$10,000).
Star lots of the Day 2 session should include an early Bronze Age, early Spedos variety, circa 2500 B.C. Cycladic marble figure of a reclining female, 5½ inches tall and excavated from the Green Islands (est. $2,000-$4,000); and an important 19th-century Japanese Imperial vase shaped in its entirety as a forest, with 3-D birds and a scenic interior, 9¾ inches tall (est. $750-$1,500).
Two Egyptian lots carry identical estimates of $750-$1,500. One is a green porphyrite pharaoh’s head, a rare archaeological tomb piece, circa 16th Dynasty, overall 4½ inches tall on a base. The other is a limestone carved stele (standing slab with hieroglyphic carving or sculptured design), depicting the figures Isis and Osiris, carved on both sides, 8½ inches in height including base.
For those who prefer to wear their antiquities, there is a Spanish “Piece of 8” coin salvaged from the 1622 Atocha shipwreck, mounted in a round pendant and hanging on a 20-inch sterling silver necklace (est. $1,250-$2,500); and a scarce New Zealand green nephrite Hei-Tiki Maori tribal ancestor pendant, measuring nearly 3 inches in length and weighing 38 grams (est. $400-$800).
For details contact Auction Life at 561-757-1551 or auctionlifeflorida@gmail.com.
[av_button label=’View the fully illustrated catalog and bid on LiveAuctioneers.’ link=’manually,https://www.liveauctioneers.com/auctioneer/5226/auction-life/’ link_target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ position=’center’ label_display=” icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ av_uid=’av-ll77ar’ admin_preview_bg=”]