SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. – Amid a setting of soft gold, gleaming silver and glittering jewels, the circus will come to suburban Philadelphia on Friday, September 25th. That’s when the estate specialists at Stephenson’s Auctioneers in suburban Southampton will present as the centerpiece of their 600-lot Fine & Decorative Arts sale a rarely seen and extremely desirable circus suite from Tiffany & Co. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Objets d’art by Tiffany are accustomed to the spotlight, but the whimsical enameled sterling silver Circus set from a Pennsylvania estate is just as comfortable in the center ring under the Big Top. Designed by Gene Moore and produced in Italy, its 21 pieces depict various classic circus attractions, including a lion in a circus wagon, a bear on roller skates, a tiger balancing on a ball, and an ever-popular clown circus car with harlequin figure. Other pieces include both a large and small elephant with colorful “blankets;” an aerial acrobat with accessories, and a ringmaster in red jacket with tails.
“Although it is not a complete set, it is a sizable representation, and the condition is excellent throughout. The enamel paint is beautiful and unchipped,” said Cindy Stephenson, owner of Stephenson’s Auctioneers. All pieces are marked “Tiffany & Co.,” and some are also stamped “Sterling 925 Made in Italy.”
The selection will be auctioned in consecutive multiple lots to cater equally to new collectors and those who may be seeking particular pieces to add to their existing sets. Estimates range from as low as $400-$800 to $6,000-$9,000, and there will be no reserve on any of the lots. (As a point of reference, a 25-piece Tiffany silver circus sold at Christie’s New York in June 2012 for $56,250.)
Complex circus pieces and affinity groups will be kept together. “For example, the woman standing on a galloping horse and holding up a parasol to balance herself will be sold as one lot. So will the clown mother and baby with carriage, which are actually three separate pieces,” Stephenson explained.
The auction also includes two heavy Tiffany & Co. sterling silver flatware sets. One of them is a 53-piece dinnerware service for eight in the Audubon pattern. It has a total weight of 96.4 ozt. The other is a 29-piece luncheon service in the English King pattern and weighs 42.69 ozt.
A wealth of men’s and women’s fine jewelry, mostly from Philadelphia-area estates, will be offered in approximately 130 lots. Gold highlights include a 14K 4-color hunting pocket watch (shown below), a charm bracelet with 18K and 14K travel-related charms, two pairs of Charles Garnier 18K hoop earrings, and a luxe circa-1900 T.B. Starr emerald and diamond ring.
An exciting collection of gold stickpins includes many old examples, such as a fully diamond-encrusted horse with ruby eyes, and a pearl and diamond question mark.
Doing double duty as both a jewelry item and numismatic antique, a weighty 14K gold money clip with handsome crosshatching features a 1907 US $10 gold coin with the image of Lady Liberty.
A large Baccarat barware set, a pair of midcentury egg-shape Murano shades (shown below) and an extensive Lalique collection that incorporates both older and newer pieces lead the crystal and glass section. Other European decorative art includes an estate collection of large Armani figurines.
Two genuine African masks and an exceptional collection of African malachite in the form of 20 to 30 dresser boxes plus game sets with carved playing pieces have come to Stephenson’s by way of the estate of a US Secret Service agent who lived in Africa in the 1970s.
Among the fine artworks to be auctioned are an ornately framed 18th-century Continental school allegorical oil-on-canvas painting depicting “Hope” on craggy rocks, holding an anchor (56¾ by 39 inches sight / 58 by 43½ inches framed); and an Alice Barber Stephens (American, 1858-1932) pencil and crayon interior scene with figures of a mother and daughter kneeling. It measures 20 by 15 inches sight / 31 by 25¼ inches framed and retains a framing label on verso.
Of special note is a high-quality, 43 by 77-inch Jean-Michel Lartigaud (French, b. 1949-) polychrome abstract Aubusson tapestry. Signed at lower left, it is one of only eight of its type. All in the edition were expertly crafted by weavers in Aubusson, France. Additionally, a number of Persian and Chinese antique and semi-antique carpets are entered in Stephenson’s sale.
Period furniture in a variety of styles will be offered, including a Chippendale chest of drawers, pine corner cupboard, several midcentury productions and some newer furniture designs by the popular manufacturer Baker.
Other excellent buying opportunities are seen in an elegant Yamaha cherrywood baby grand player piano with discs, and two Victorian taxidermy bird groupings presented under domes. Twenty-six birds are displayed in one of the avian tableaux, while the other contains 12 birds.
Stephenson’s Friday, September 25, 2015 Fine & Decorative Arts Auction will commence at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Bidders may participate absentee or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.
For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Stephenson’s Auctioneers at 215-322-6182 or e-mail info@stephensonsauction.com.
