BOSTON, – Skinner Inc. will host an auction of European Furniture and Decorative Arts on Saturday, April 9, beginning at 10 a.m. in their Boston auction gallery, located at 63 Park Plaza. There are over 480 lots of silver featured in the sale, including tea sets, tablewares, flatware services, and serving pieces ranging from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century. Offerings include British, Continental, Russian, Asian and American silver articles.
LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
One of the cover lots is 847, a large Tiffany & Co. sterling silver ewer of great quality. The piece stands 20 3/8 inches on a trumpet foot, and weighs approximately 68 troy ounces. The original Tiffany fitted oak case is included. Valued at $8,000-$12,000, this ewer, with its highly detailed, sculptural bacchic mask decoration, bears a striking resemblance to punch bowls from the three garnitures commissioned by the U.S. government circa 1873 for presentation to the three arbitrators of the Alabama reparations claim case. The design of these suites has been attributed to one of Tiffany’s most celebrated designers and chasers, Eugene J. Soligny (1832-1901). Soligny was also involved in the design of some of Tiffany & Co.’s most renowned showpieces, including the Comanche Trophy of 1873, and the Bryant Vase of 1875/76. A bowl unmistakably similar to this Tiffany Silver ewer was featured in Skinner’s Fine Silver sale of April 10, 2010.
The range of styles extends from lot 634, a Paul Storr silver set suitable for traditionalists, to lot 1065, a Reed & Barton “The Diamond” set, for lovers of modern design. While extremely different, both represent great design of their day and show the versatility of silver as a medium. The three-piece George III Silver tea set by Paul Storr is dated to 1810 and valued at $4,000-$6,000. The set is composed teapot with flat lid, urn-form hot water pot and a creamer. Reed & Barton’s sterling The Diamond pattern four-piece tea and coffee set and tray, circa 1958, is composed of coffeepot, teapot, covered sugar, creamer and circular tray. The tallest piece, the coffeepot, stands 11 3/4 inches tall and the total weighable silver is approximately 68 troy ounces. It is estimated at $2,500-$3,500. The Diamond pattern was launched by Reed & Barton in 1958 and was a collaborative effort between the designers Gio Ponti and John Prip. Prip was given the task of designing the hollowware, while Ponti was the inspiration behind the flatware. Although designer John Prip was born in New York City, he was raised in Denmark. He returned to the United States and was hired by Reed and Barton in 1957.
Other impressive and contrasting silver table wares include lot 701, a pair of French candelabra fit for a regal chateau, and lot 742, a Georg Jensen six-piece Cosmos pattern tea/coffee set. The Louis XV-style French silver seven-light candelabra is mid to late 19th century and is estimated to be worth $6,000-$8,000. The Georg Jensen sterling silver six-piece Cosmos pattern tea and coffee service (1915-32) was designed by Johan Rohde and is engraved with the owner’s name, “Gordon Mendelssohn,” the name of his yacht, Quartermore, and dated 1935. This service was part of a suite of Jensen tableware used on the vessel. Mendelssohn was a wealthy Detroiter and a patron of the arts. The set includes a teapot, coffeepot and kettle on stand with burner, creamer, covered sugar and open sugar. The set is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.
There will be two notable gold articles in the auction. Lot 601 is a fine French bicolor gold and diamond-mounted snuffbox, circa 1840. The box lid contains a copy of a photograph of either Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar (1831-1896) or his successor, Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar (1853- 1907), and is surrounded by 26 rose-cut prong-set diamonds. The gold snuffbox comes from a Rhode Island estate, it was presented to Richmond Pearson (1852-1923), who was U.S. Minister to Persia by President Theodore Roosevelt, and held the post from 1902-07. The estimated value is $8,000-$12,000. Lot 606 is a 14K yellow gold trophy cup from B.D. Howes and Son, circa 1973. The trumpet-shaped bowl is engraved for the “Hollywood Derby” at Hollywood Park and has an estimated value of $6,000-$8,000. The inscription is for the $150,000 One Mile and One Half winner, “Amen 2nd,” a 3-year-old owned by Dee-Bob Stable, trainer P.G. Johnson and jockey Eddie Belmonte, won July 15, 1973. The Hollywood Derby is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race held at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, Calif.
The auction also has a selection of Russian icons to offer, including Lot 216: Icon of Christ Emmanuel, Russia, circa 1780, valued at $2,000-$2,500, depicting Christ as a youth.
An interesting KPM porcelain plaque depicting Rubens’ The Garden of Love, also pictured on the catalog, from late 19th century Germany will be offered at the sale. The piece, after Peter Paul Rubens, has a number of cavaliers and ladies dressed in luxurious fashion of the period, all assembled in a garden by the edge of a fountain sporting a number of putti and adorned with a statue of Venus. The estimated value is $15,000-$20,000. Another notable porcelain piece to be auctioned is Lot 194: Meissen porcelain triumph of Venus on stand. Made in Germany in the 19th century and estimated to be worth $3,000-$5,000, the item is polychrome enameled and gilded, and features the figure of Venus surrounded by cherubs and attended by mermaids and a merman.
There are several impressive furniture pieces in the sale, including Lot 6, a William & Mary oyster veneered chest of drawers, and Lot 50, a Dutch Marquetry cabinet on stand. The 18th-century William & Mary chest has oyster veneer to top, sides, and front surfaces, with two short over three long drawers, and sits on stemmed bun feet. Its estimated value is $2,500-$3,500. The Dutch Marquetry cabinet is late 19th century, is estimated at $2,000-$3,000, and features an upper section with bombe bible drawers over two cupboard doors elaborately inlaid with flower-filled urns and various flower stems.
Some of the oldest items in the sale are Lot 351, a pair of Baroque polychrome carved giltwood kneeling angels dating to the late 16th century (likely Naples School) with an estimated value of $10,000-$15,000.
Previews will be Thursday, April 7, noon to 5 p.m. and Friday, April 8, noon to 8 p.m.
For details to the the Skinner website: www.skinnerinc.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
