Newcomb College bud vase, decorator Marie De Hoa LeBlanc, potter Joseph Meyers; circa 1907, white clay body with blue, green and yellow glossy glaze with daffodil decoration. Impressed on bottom NC, JM, W; marked in blue MHLeB, BZ-90. 6 3/4in h x 2 3/4in dia. Estimate $3,000-$4,000. Quinn’s Auction Galleries Image.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Collectors should be delighted with the art pottery collection of William S. Lieth set to be auctioned by Quinn’s Auction Galleries on Saturday, Dec. 7. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Lieth has amassed one of the largest and most diverse collections of Cowan pottery by any private collector. The 500-plus piece collection includes one of the only 25 “Eve” sculptures ever made by R. Guy Cowan of Cowan Pottery. “Eve” was created by Cowan in 1928. Just three years later, in 1931, Cowan Pottery went out of business. The sculpture is decorated in terra-cotta glaze and estimated to bring $2,000-$4,000. Featured as well is a pair of metallic elephant bookends estimated between $400 and $600. These bookends feature a rare bronze metallic glaze used by Cowan Pottery. Also included are works by Cowan Pottery’s Thelma Frazier Winter, Margaret Postgate, Walter Sinz and Alexander Blazys. R. Guy Cowan founded Cowan Pottery in northeastern Ohio in 1912.
Some of the most desirable items in the sale will be the seven pieces by the famed Biloxi potter George Ohr. Included is one of Ohr’s famous lobed bowls he nicknamed his “Mud Babies.” The form demonstrates a refined clay with collapsed folds in a green glaze. Ohr’s impressed signature, “G.E. Ohr, Biloxi, Miss,” is on the bottom beneath the remnants of an uncontrolled glaze (est. $3,000-$5,000).
The second-largest part collection features incredible works from Rookwood Pottery. Included are works dating back to 1881 including a pitcher created by Maria Longworth Nichols in 1882. The decoration features a scene of an owl perched on a tree branch eating his caught dinner with a fork (est. $1,500-$2,000). Also featured are works by Rookwood artist Kataro Shirayamadani. Most notable is his 1894 vase decorated in Rookwood’s standard glaze with a foliate design (est. $1,500-$2,000). Other works include forms by Anna Marie Valentien, Sara Sax, Matthew A. Daly, Elizabeth Lincoln and Sally Coyne. Maria Longworth Nichols founded Rookwood Pottery Co. in Cincinnati in 1880.
Lieth certainly could not have completed his collection without a few pieces of Newcomb College, pottery from the women’s college of Tulane University in New Orleans. The Newcomb selection includes a bud vase created by Joseph Meyer and decorated by Marie De Hoa LeBlanc. The decoration features a white clay body with a blue, green and yellow glossy glaze with a daffodil pattern (est. $3,000-$4,000). Other works include pieces by Ada Witt Lonnegan, Mazie Teresa Ryan, Maude Robinson, Sadie Irvine and Lillian Ann Guedry. Newcomb College was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886.
No American art pottery collection would be complete without Roseville and this collection will feature some of the hardest to find patterns and pieces that collectors still seek despite its decline in popularity in recent years. The 120-plus pieces of Roseville feature patterns like Ferrella, Monticello and Futura.
The auction will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern.
For additional details on any lot in the sale call 703-532-5632 or e-mail info@quinnsauction.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Newcomb College bud vase, decorator Marie De Hoa LeBlanc, potter Joseph Meyers; circa 1907, white clay body with blue, green and yellow glossy glaze with daffodil decoration. Impressed on bottom NC, JM, W; marked in blue MHLeB, BZ-90. 6 3/4in h x 2 3/4in dia. Estimate $3,000-$4,000. Quinn’s Auction Galleries Image. George Ohr small lobed and folded bowl, green glaze. Impressed on bottom: G. E. Ohr, Biloxi, Miss. 1 1/2in h. x 4in dia. Estimate $3,000-$5,000 Quinn’s Auction Galleries image. Cowan pottery figure of Eve, circa 1928, terra-cotta glaze, felt on bottom, 13 1/4in. Estimate $2,000-$4,000. Quinn’s Auction Galleries image. Rookwood vase with decoration by Kataro Shirayamadani, 1894. Standard glaze tall vase with raised floral and foliate design. Impressed with ROOKWOOD 1894, 742D, and artist’s mark. 12 1/2in h. Estimate $1,500-$2,000. Quinn’s Auction Galleries Image.
