Josef Israels, ‘Women Gathering Shellfish,’ oil on canvas. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction.
WOODBURY. Conn. – On Sunday, June 17, Woodbury Auction presents its third anniversary spring fine estates auction with a strong offering of over 480 lots of fine and decorative art and American and Continental furniture from seven estates and over 70 individual consignors from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas and California.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
This anniversary sale is being held at 11 a.m. EDT in the firm’s auction hall at 710 Main St. South, Middle Quarter Plaza, in Woodbury. Preview times are Thursday, June 14, noon to 5 p.m.; Friday, June 15, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, June 16, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. An extended preview with wine and cheese will be open from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday evening. Preview is also available from 8 a.m. on the day of sale. An old-fashioned barbeque will be served on Sunday during the auction.
Among the highlights of the auction are two original pieces of silver jewelry by renowned sculptor Alexander Calder, whose workshop was in Roxbury, Conn. The items, a spiral brooch and a ring, have never been offered for sale, having been given by the artist to the consignor, a local Woodbury resident, in 1953. According to Thomas Schwenke, owner and auctioneer, the items were discovered as a result of the firm’s consignment event held in April.
Other noteworthy lots from local sellers include a rare marble sculpture by noted American sculptor Oscar L. Lenz, who worked in Providence, R.I. The monumental work depicts the adoration of Pan by a female nymph and is in as found condition. According to the consignor, the sculpture descended from the Perry family home in Newport, R.I., and has been in storage for some time.
One of the rarest items in the sale is an original Art Nouveau-style bronze Porter Garden Telescope, serial number 27. The garden telescope was designed in the 1920s by Russell W. Porter, father of amateur astronomy in America, founder of the Springfield Telescope Makers, and an instructor at MIT. One of the fewer than 20 known surviving examples is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
Several mid-century modern pieces are on offer, including a grouping of wrought iron serpentine wall sconces and a rare and unique wrought iron circular serpentine 53-inch-diameter chandelier, all attributed to the renowned French designer Jean Royere. The items have been in storage for several years after being removed from a Connecticut location where they were installed in the 1950s.
The sale also features many fine art lots including a framed oil on canvas of two peasant women gathering shellfish by Josef Israels (1824-1911) a Dutch artist; a unique painted taxicab by graffiti artist LA II; a recently discovered oil on canvas of a harbor scene by Harry Chase (1853-1889); an American artist working in Europe, and two works by Ernest Hennings, which were recently found in a Chicago attic. Hennings painted in Taos, N.M., and sold works through Marshall Field & Co. in Chicago. The sale includes over 100 paintings, prints and drawings by various other listed artists including works by Marc Chagall, Le Corbusier, Joseph Newman and many others.
Fresh to the market formal American furniture lots include a recently discovered Federal inlaid mahogany Pembroke table, possibly from Litchfield, Conn., a rare Sheraton carved mahogany game table attributed to the workshop of Duncan Phyfe in original untouched condition, and a Hepplewhite inlaid mahogany swell-front chest with drop panel, probably made in Portsmouth, N.H.
Silver lots to be sold include a unique sterling silver presentation cup from Yale University, several sterling silver flatware sets including Dominick & Haff, Gorham and Towle, and from the estate of Jane Coler in Woodbury is a rare Tiffany & Co. sterling silver ivory handled presentation trowel given to Bird S. Coler as commissioner of New York City Department of Welfare and inscribed to commemorate the New York City Cancer Institute, Roentgen Pavilion, dated May 20, 1925.
Several bronzes are also featured, including two fine Bergman cold painted bronzes, one a lamp form Carrying the Princess, as well as a gilt bronze figure Nude Study by noted American sculptor Paul Howard Manship, best known for his famous Prometheus statue at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
The sale also includes over 50 estate Oriental carpets including Persian and Caucasian room and scatter-size rugs, and other regional Asian rugs of varying sizes.
The catalog for the sale is viewable at www.woodburyauction.com. Absentee and phone bidding are available for this live gallery auction, and the sale will be broadcast live through LiveAuctioneers.com. To register or arrange for absentee or phone bidding, please call Woodbury Auction at 203-266-0323.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Josef Israels, ‘Women Gathering Shellfish,’ oil on canvas. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction. Original Porter Garden Telescope. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction. Oscar Lenz, marble sculpture. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction. Alexander Calder jewelry. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction. Serpentine chandelier attributed to Jean Royere. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction. Important Federal inlaid mahogany Pembroke table. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction. Paul Manship, ‘Nude Study,’ gilt bronze. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction.
