FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Quinn’s Auction Galleries’ Fine & Decorative Arts sales are known for their high-quality consignments sourced directly from Washington, DC-area estates. The company’s next offering of fresh antiques and art from distinguished residences in and around the nation’s capital is slated for auction on Saturday, Dec. 5.
Within the fresh selection of artworks is a true gem, a rare 8-inch-square tile (above) painted in 1878 by Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910). Executed in blue and white, the tile depicts a woman walking on a windswept beach with sailing ships in the background and seabirds soaring against a cloud-filled sky. Homer is regarded as one the country’s foremost 19th-century landscape and marine painters and printmakers. He was also a member of a little-known group of artists called the Tile Club, founded in 1877. Over the club’s 10 years of existence, only 31 artists were included within its membership, among them such distinguished figures as William Merritt Chase, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Francis Millet.
“China painting became very popular in the last quarter of the 19th century, and it was something the club members did while socializing,” explained Matthew Quinn, vice president of Quinn’s Auction Galleries. “But it seems the group never took itself too seriously. As hard as it is to imagine, they were known to throw tiles at each another at the end of their meetings. It’s speculation, of course, but their ‘tile fights’ would be one possible explanation as to why so few exist today. Some say as few as six tiles produced by Winslow Homer have survived in any condition.”
The Winslow Homer tile comes with provenance from the Estate of Cora and Laurence C. Witten II (founder of Laurence Witten Rare Books in New Haven, Connecticut), and before that, the Giovanni Castano Galleries in Boston, which was well known for selling works by Homer and other Boston school painters. The tile entered in Quinn’s auction was broken at some point in its past – perhaps even during a Tile Club meeting – but it was professionally repaired and is conservatively estimated at $15,000 to $25,000. On a related note, the auction also includes a 10 by 5 foot wall comprising 180 Spanish tiles that illustrate the story of Don Quixote the Man of La Mancha. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000
Also from the Witten Estate comes a circa-1530 woodcut block/printing block (below) after Albrecht Durer (German, 1471-1528) titled A Man Drawing a Lute. Created after Durer’s death from the actual woodblock Durer made in 1525, it illustrates the revered Renaissance artist’s work on measurement and the effects of perspective from a fixed physical point of view. Measuring 3 3/8 by 4/58 inches, it is expected to make $10,000-$15,000 at auction.
A broad selection of Washington, DC-related items is led by a large, original 1979 painting (below) by Sam Gilliam (b. 1933-) titled Open Cylinder. Signed, titled and dated on verso, the oil on cut, patched and pieced canvas measures 77 by 44 inches and is estimated at $7,000-$9,000. Other DC artists featured in the sale include Benson B. Moore, A.J. Schram and Gladys Nelson Smith. There are also coveted early DC maps, colored etchings from 19th-century newspapers and magazines; early photographs and transferware with Washington scenes and buildings.
Another quality artwork in the sale is Henry Koehler’s (American, b. 1927-) oil-on-canvas titled Four Blue Jockeys (below). Signed at lower right and signed, dated (1973) and titled on verso, the beautifully executed 18 by 24-inch painting in appealing shades of blue and green could reach $2,000-$3,000.
A circa-1960s gouache on board by Shri Jamini Roy (Indian, 1887-1972) is a bright palette titled Four Drummers (below) that quintessentially showcases the late artist’s style. Signed at lower right (in Bengali), the 23 by 16½-inch work is estimated at $2,000-$4,000.
With the gift-giving season just around the corner, Quinn’s has chosen for its Dec. 5 sale a grouping of 10 vintage watches by such makers as Jaeger Le Coultre, Movado, Elgin, Universal Geneve, and others. Several rings featuring sizable, high-quality diamonds will shine, as well. A gentleman’s hefty 18K yellow gold ring centered with a round, brilliant-cut 4.42-carat diamond is accompanied by a 2007 GIA Diamond Grading Report attesting that the stone is VVS1 in clarity and N in color. The ring (below) is cataloged with a $20,000-$30,000 estimate.
The Dec. 5, will start at 11 a.m. Eastern time. For additional information on any item, call 703-532-5632. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
