The estate of English and Continental antiques dealer Joseph Stanley has been shuttered in a New Hope, Pa., mansion since the mid-1980s. Rago’s will sell its many rooms of property, along with additional lots of fine art, 19th- and 20th-century furniture and design, rugs, jewelry, watches, silver, ethnographic art and collectibles.
The first day will be a Discovery Auction, a semiannual event that features items that don’t quite meet Rago’s standards for its high-end cataloged sales. Everything is sold to the highest bidder; no reserves.
“The Discovery sales are the most fun we get to have all year. It’s the way great country auctions used to be, but with a way broader selection for people who want anything from the perfect sofa to silver, modern design or antiquities, lighting, an original work of art or garden items.” said David Rago.
This Discovery Auction includes more than 200 lots of jewelry, silver and accessories, many from Tiffany & Co., Omega, Lalique, Baccarat and Cartier. Included is a Tiffany & Co. Atlas necklace and earrings, a Faraone bypass bracelet, watches by Cartier and Omega, Mont Blanc fountain pens and a perfume bottle collection.
Modern furnishings are abundant in this sale. There are more than 100 lots from which to choose, from a Dakota Jackson Aldhabra dining table to furniture by Warren McArthur, Norman Bel Geddes, Heywood Wakefield, Howell Co., Paul McCobb, Edward Wormley, Wendy Murayama, George Nelson, Paul Evans, Charles Eames, Alvar Aalto, Wolfgang Hoffman, Knoll and Dunbar.
“Buyers will find the best of the Stanley estate in the Saturday sale, all unreserved,” said Tom Martin, the specialist in charge of estates at Rago’s. “We’ve included 200 lots of his antique English furniture and over 100 paintings and 100 lots of decorative arts and accessories. It’s a treasure trove.”
Highlights include an English partner’s desk in mahogany, circa 1840-1850 (estimate $3,000-$5,000); a 19th-century English Regency four-drawer bowfront chest (estimate $1,500-$2,000); a Regency card table in rosewood with satinwood crossbanding, brass inlay and lyre base, circa 1810 (estimate $1,500-$2,500); and a mahogany cellarette on stand, circa 1760-1790 (estimate $1,200-$1,500). Also among the finest furnishings are a pair of tortoiseshell chairs in the Regency style with horsehair upholstery, late 19th or early 20th century (estimate $10,000-15,000), and a circa 1860 Victorian Rococo mahogany sideboard with marble top attributed to Alexander Roux (estimate $6,000-$8,000).
From the Stanley estate come 18th- and 19th-century portraiture, marine art, animal art, landscapes and Chinese export paintings.
Decorative arts and accessories include a 19th-century Italian marble statue, Susanna After the Bath, on a green marble base (estimate $12,000-$18,000) and a 19th-century Biedermeier mantel clock (estimate $1,500-$2,000).
Americana highlights include a circa 1900 patchwork quilt in the Bethlehem Star pattern (estimate $400-$600); a circa 1900 American copper weathervane topped with a rooster (estimate $1,000-$1,500); and a 30-hour Philadelphia grandfather clock by Joseph Wills with brass dial and works, in a walnut case, 19th century (estimate $2,000-$3,000).
For details contact Kristina Wilson at 609-397-9374 or kristina@ragoarts.com
Previews will be conducted Aug. 1 through the morning of Saturday, Aug. 8 at Rago Arts and Auction Center. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. and by appointment. Doors will open at 8 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 7, and 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8.
Bidding is available in person, by phone, by advance bid and online. Rago’s has engaged the services of LiveAuctioneers (liveauctioneers.com) to provide clients with online bidding. View the fully illustrated catalogs and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Click here to view Rago Arts and Auction Center’s complete catalog.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
