All four ships are included in this Buck Rogers set by Tootsietoy. In C8 condition, the scarce set has a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery.
SHELTON, Conn. – Lloyd Ralston Gallery will present part 2 of the diverse vehicle collection of Bob Blake on Feb. 13 at Ralston’s facility at 549 Howe Ave. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
Blake, the Emmy-nominated TV and film editor, began collecting toys in the 1970s. Included in the sale will be cast iron, lithographed tin, die cast, hard plastic and rubber vehicles. Hubley, Arcade, Champion, Dent, A.C. Williams, Marx, Paya, Corgi, Dinky, Tekno, Birk, Sabra, Solido, Cherryca Phenix and Tootsietoy are some of the toy makers represented along with Japanese manufacturers.
The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern with the sale of a Corgi 262 Lincoln Continental Limousine in its original display box. Rated at C9, the car already has multiple bids.
Among the top items in the auction Saturday is a Tootsietoy Buck Rogers 25th Century Rocket Ships set complete in its original box. In C8 condition, it carries a $4,000-$6,000 estimate.
A 1938 Tootsietoy Gift Box containing three sets – Fire Department Set, Aeroplanes Set and Playtime Set – has a $1,600-$2,200 estimate. Graded C7-9, all three sets have the original box and insert.
From the Clint Seeley collection are two Tootsietoy prototypes – a Chevy fastback and a Rabbit Funnies Auto, each estimated at $7,000-$1,000.
For details call 203-924-5804
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Tootsietoy included three sets – Fire Department, Aeroplanes and Playtime – in this 1938 Gift Box. In C7-9 condition, the combo has a $1,600-$2,200 estimate. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery. This Chevy Fastback, a Tootsietoy prototype, exhibits handworked metal. In C6 condition, this unique piece has an $800-$1,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery. From the Clint Seeley collection comes this Tootsietoy Rabbit Funnies prototype auto. The rabbit’s ears are missing and the paint is chipped and flaking, which accounts for the C4 grade. It is estimated at $700-$1,000. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery. Tootsietoy’s 5211 Fire Department set consists of the Mack Ladder Wagon, Pumper, Chevrolet Ambulance and Mercury Fire Chief’s car. Complete with all accessories, original box and inserts, the set has a $500-$800 estimate. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery.
The artist did not sign this 18th-century French School portrait of a noble woman. The 28 1/2- by 38 1/2-inch oil on canvas has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co.
ABERDEEN, Miss. – Stevens Auction Co. will conduct the sale of the Roy Clyde Gardner estate museum on Feb. 20 at the firm’s gallery at 609 N. Meridian St. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
Auctioneer John Dwight Stevens said that Gardner’s lifelong quest was to acquire only the finest original works of art and the best antiques, especially beautiful art glass, metals and ceramics.
The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Central. A preview will be held on Friday, Jan. 22, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Gardner, a resident of Neshoba County, Miss, was an accomplished floriculturist. He also frequented antiques shops, flea markets and estate sales in search of treasures. With each passing year, his collections grew in size and sophistication, said Stevens.
The estate is loaded with artwork, much of it framed portraits. These will include a framed oil on canvas work, 45 inches by 60 inches, of a young boy with a catch of fish; an unframed oil on canvas, 39 inches by 51 inches, of a European man dressed in black with an ornate collar; and a tempera on wooden panel painting of two apostles in an ebonized frame.
Additional artwork will include a framed oil on canvas portrait of Judge John Girard, attributed to Sir Thomas Lawrence; a framed oil on canvas portrait of a female in black lace with a red flower in her hair; a framed oil on canvas work of a female in a green dress; and a signed Deniers framed oil on canvas painting of three men smoking pipes.
Also offered will be a Swiss music box with rosewood cabinet.
The name Tiffany will be chanted often at the auction. Expected top lots include a Favrile glass vase by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the peacock feather design; a Tiffany art glass centerpiece composed of an iridescent bronze stand with center glass vase and two glass side bowls; and a lovely Tiffany art glass vase, iridescent green in color, with an upward threaded design. A Tiffany desk set will be split into three lots. These will include an inkwell, bronze, with slag glass; a desk tray, also bronze with slag glass; and a matching pair of bronze desk pads, or blotter ends. Also by Tiffany is an art glass center bowl, green with bronze organic casting.
For details call (662) 369-2200.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com
A Vanhauten silver-plated floral design casing complements this 11 1/2-inch iridescent art glass vase. It is estimated at $750-$1,500. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co. Signed ‘L.C. Tiffany Favrile,’ this 11-inch vase has a $1,200-$2,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co. King Louis XIV is depicted in carved ivory. The statuette on ebony and a wooden base is 18 inches tall and has a $15,000-$40,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co. Ernest Emile Armand-Delille (French 1843-1883) may have painted this copy of the Louvre’s ‘Eliezer and Rebecca’ by Nicolas Poussin. The oil on canvas measures 46 inches by 78 inches. It carries a $10,000-$15,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co.
‘Rotante primo sezionale n. 1’ (Rotating First Section No. 1), one of two artist proofs of this sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro, attained $468,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.
BOSTON – Skinner Inc. recorded strong results for its Americna & European Paintings & Prints auction, conducted Jan 29. The sale grossed more than $2.5 million with a strong bidding audience in the room and high bid activity from the phones and Internet.
The top-lot of the sale was an Arnaldo Pomodoro artist proof of Rotante primo sezionale n. 1 (Rotating First Section No. 1), 1966, estimated at the high end at $150,000, but bringing $468,000, a very strong price for the only artist proof of this title offered thus far.
Rounding out the top three were a newly rediscovered Georgia O’Keeffe, Alligator Pear in White Dish, which sold for $225,150, well above its estimate high of $150,000; and Jesus Rafael Soto’s Struttura, estimated between $30,000 and $40,000, selling for $100,725.
Record-setting bids were placed for Saul Steinberg’s Art Lovers, which sold for $22,515, several times the estimate high of $5,000 and the highest price reported for a work of his on paper; Daniel Chester French’s Portrait Bust of a Woman, which brought $16,590, the highest price paid for this work; and Cecilia Beaux’s Portrait of Joseph B. Thomas III, which brought $8,295, the highest price reported for a work on paper by Beaux.
“We’ve spent the past year redefining the mission of Skinner’s paintings department. This sale, in particular, featured works of greater quality, and we presented them more effectively in our redesigned catalog format. Clearly these changes are beginning to bear fruit,” said Robin Starr, director of American & European Paintings & Prints. “We’re very pleased with the strength of Skinner’s first sale of 2010. We’re finding renewed interest in contemporary works and that’s good news for the art market overall.”
Skinner’s next auction of American & European Paintings & Prints will be held Friday, May 21, in Boston.
Considered lost since the mid-1950s, Georgia O’Keefe’s ‘Alligator Pear in White Dish’ sold for $225,150. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc. Jesus Rafael Soto’s ‘Struttura’ sold for $100,725. Made of painted wood, steel and nylon, the work stands 30 1/2 inches high. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.
(pictured in auction preview)
‘Art Lovers,’ ink and colored pencil on paper, by Saul Steinberg (American, 1914-1999) sold for $22,515. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Fontaine’s Auction Gallery is offering a free seminar and appraisal on the lamps of Tiffany and other 20th-century lighting to be held Sunday, Mar. 21, in the firm’s gallery facility, located at 1485 S. Housatonic St.
Fontaine’s has been the scene of numerous auctions that featured rare and vintage lamps and lighting fixtures.
Guest speaker for the event will be Paul Crist of Paul Crist Studios, an expert in Tiffany lamps and the author of the book Mosaic Shades Volume II. An informative seminar by Crist will begin at 10 a.m., with a question-and-answer session to follow. Crist specializes in Tiffany examples and has more than 30 years of experience in mosaic shades – copper foiled and leaded.
Teaming with Crist will be John Fontaine of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery, himself an expert in the field of lamps and vintage lighting and co-author of the book The Handel Lamps Book. Fontaine invites attendees to bring their lamps to the seminar for a free evaluation and authentication. A certificate documenting a vintage lamp’s authenticity may also be purchased.
“If you have one piece or an entire collection, we are here for you,” said Fontaine. “We suggest calling ahead, to reserve a time slot in the morning or afternoon.” Fontaine added his firm will host a Spring Exceptional Antiques Auction on May 22, at which a session will be devoted entirely to fine lighting from estates and collections from around the country.
“We are offering a zero percent sellers’ commission on high-end lighting and antiques,” said Fontaine. “It will cost consignors nothing to sell their Tiffany and other high-end lighting at one of the top galleries for 20th-century arts and lighting in the country.” Fontaine’s implemented the zero percent commission policy at the end of last year.
Crist is a nationally renowned and leading expert. He is said to be the “last stop” for authenticating and lighting evaluation. Crist’s exhaustive research and documentation, spanning more than three decades, prompted him to produce the three-volume Mosaic Shades series, which is used as a learning tool by collectors.
His first publication, Mosaic Shade Volume II, is packed with knowledge and photos of the many copper-foiled shade makers apart from Tiffany, to include Duffner & Kimberly, Chicago Mosaic, Wilkinson, John Morgan, Unique Glass Co. and more. Volume II serves a dual purpose: It is a handsome coffee-table book, and it is a go-to reference for the researcher.
Fontaine was born into the world of auctions and antiques. He has been in the business for 40 years, both as an auctioneer and researcher. His knowledge extends to renowned furniture makers like J.H. Belter, J. & J.W. Meeks, R.J. Horner, Herter Brothers, Alexander Roux, Gustav Stickley and Charles Rohlfs.
But Fontaine’s passion for lighting is uncharted. His driving ambition assisted him well in the preparation and writing of The Handel Lamps Book. Documenting and photographing the treasures of Philip Handel, he was able to produce a definitive reference work on Handel lamps.
Fontaine has embraced the world of 20th-century lighting fully. Included in his repertoire is knowledge of other reverse painted lamp makers such as Moe Bridges, Pittsburgh, Jefferson and Pairpoint, as well as leaded/copper-foiled lamp makers like Tiffany, Duffner & Kimberly, Chicago Mosaic, Wilkinson, John Morgan, Unique Glass Company and many others.
Preceding the March 21 seminar event will be an Antique Discovery Estate Auction, slated for Saturday, March 20, beginning at 10 a.m., also at the Fontaine’s gallery. The May 22 event will be a cataloged auction, featuring antique furniture, lighting, mission, and antique clocks and watches. The zero percent consignors’ commission for high-quality items applies.
For details call (413) 448-8922, send an e-mail to Fontaine at info@fontaineauction.com or visit the Web site at www.fontainesauction.net
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
John Fontaine and Paul Crist, who will both speak at the seminar, authored these lamp books. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.
‘Weasaw Shosone’ is incised on the bottom of this 8 1/2-inch Rookwood portrait vase decorated by Grace Young in 1901. The vase is expected to sell for $5,000-$7,000. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions.
CINCINNATI – A Tiffany Studios turtleback chandelier will be featured in Cowan’s Feb. 20 Fine and Decorative Art Auction. The 461-lot sale features consignments from the estate of Catherine J. Wiebold of Cincinnati, Ohio, the estate of T.V. and Anne Ponder of Louisville, Ky., Stewart S. Maxwell of Cincinnati, the Dayton Art Institute, Western Reserve Historical Society, the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis and others. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
The four-light chandelier, estimated to sell for $25,000-$35,000, is marked “Tiffany Studios, New York” and features green geometric leaded glass panels with a wide band of iridescent turtleback tiles.
Later 20th-century decorative and fine art are also highlighted. A circa 1970 galvanized steel console table by John Dickinson (American, 1920-1982), in the form of a draped table with cloth folds and a one inch brass band on the skirt’s edge, is estimated to bring $25,000-$35,000. Dickinson is considered to be one of the most innovative and original American designers of the 20th century, working predominantly with the neutral color palette of plaster, tin and steel. This table is an example of work made by Dickinson at the pinnacle of his career.
Cowan’s will offer a collection of paintings by American artist Joseph Marioni (b. 1943). A Cincinnati native, Marioni has been a force in monochromatic painting since the 1970s, when the offered paintings were executed. Purchased directly from the artist, the three works, one red, one yellow and one pink and orange, range in size from 68 1/2 inches by 47 3/4 inches to 54 1/2 inches by 84 1/2 inches and are estimated to bring upwards of $15,000 each.
A circa 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle, manufactured by Indian Motorcycle Co. of Springfield, Mass., is estimated to sell for $15,000-$20,000. An icon of American design, the Scout, with two-cylinder, 55-horsepower, 596cc (37ci) engine, was a popular motorcycle built from 1920 to 1949. It rivaled the earlier Chief as Indian’s most important model. The Scout was an immediate hit with dirt track and endurance racers and street riders and became even more popular after the frame was lowered and the engine bumped to 45ci in 1928.
Other fine art offered in the auction will include a winter landscape by Roy Cleveland Nuse (American, 1885-1975) titled Winter Morning, estimated to sell for $10,000-$15,000. Signed and dated “37,” the painting was discovered in Northeastern Ohio and has remained in a private collection until its inclusion in this auction. A hunting scene by William McKendree Snyder (American/Indiana, 1848-1930) is also featured and carries an estimate of $10,000-$15,000. A native Hoosier, Snyder painted predominantly landscape portraits in the style of the Hudson River School. This is a rare example of a hunting scene for Snyder as opposed to his more consistent subject matter of forest landscapes.
Two strong Rookwood pieces are leading lots in the auction. A 1937 Rookwood vellum plaque by Fred Rothenbusch, depicting a winter mountain landscape with snow-capped mountains, tall firs and reflecting water, and in an Arts and Crafts oak frame, is estimated to bring $8,000-$12,000. Additionally, a 1901 Standard Glaze vase by Grace Young featuring a portrait of Hopi Indian “Weasaw Shoshone,” executed by Grace Young in 1901, carries an estimate of $5,000-$7,000.
A folk portrait of abolitionist John Brown, by African American artist Edwin Garnet Riley, is estimated to sell for $4,000-$6,000. The lot includes a group of materials related to the artist, including his self-published book A Tribute to John Brown. A native of Pittsburgh, Riley was an author, poet and painter whose articles were published regularly in the Pittsburgh Press.
Southern items will likely inspire spirited bidding. A pair of double portraits attributed to Dupue, identified as the couples Ragland and Couchman of Clark County, Ky., related by the marriage of their children, are estimated to bring $10,000-$15,000 each. Dupue, a French artist, is believed to be the so-called Guilford Limner of Guilford County, N.C. Sitters are depicted with large eyes and in various kinds of turned or fancy chairs. Men often have their knees crossed; the women are often holding handkerchiefs, books or engaged in knitting or sewing.
Furniture highlights include a Federal sideboard-secretary of figured mahogany, circa 1790-1810, likely Mid-Atlantic or Southern, estimated at $1,500-$2,550, and a Southern poplar paneled sugar chest estimated at $1,500-$2,500.
A pair of aluminum space age table lamps manufactured in the mid-1930s by Pattyn Products, Detroit, has a $6,000-$8,000 estimate. The lamps are accented with bands of brass and Bakelite.
For details call 513-871-1670.
To view the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com
Marked ‘Tiffany Studios, New York,’ this four-light chandelier with green geometric leaded glass panels and a wide band of turtleback tiles has fiery iridescence. It carries a $25,000-$35,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions. John Dickinson (American, 1920-1982) designed his galvanized steel table in the 1970s. The metalwork resembles cloth folds with a 1-inch brass band on the skirt’s edge. A brass plaque with artist’s signature and Roman numerals XLII is found on the skirt. It has a $25,000-$35,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions. The low serial number, 55R72, on this Indian Scout motorcycle dates it to the first year of production, 1920. Fresh from a Lexington, Ky., estate, the bike has a $15,000-$20,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions. A nice Arts and Crafts oak frame holds this 10- by 12-inch Rookwood vellum plaque by Fred Rothenbusch. The impressed flame logo indicates the plaque was made in 1937. It remains uncrazed and has an $8,000-$12,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions.
Virginia City, Nev., became a boomtown with the discovery of the Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859. This view of the town was taken about eight years later. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons. RENO, Nev. (AP) – The daughter of Ansel Adams is helping to shed some new light on Nevada with the help of photographs shot long before her father’s renowned images of the American West.
Anne Adams Helms has donated about two dozen photos to the Nevada Historical Society in Reno. The images were taken as early as the 1860s by photographers who predated her father.
The collection includes fading carte-de-visite photos – small albumen prints mounted on cards – of Mark Twain acquaintance Robert Howland, Nevada Territorial Gov. James Nye, the old Wells Fargo office in Virginia City and the former U.S. Mint in Carson City.
Helms, 74, of Salinas, Calif., said the photos were handed down by Olive Bray, who was Ansel Adams’ mother. Bray, who was raised in Carson City, married Charles Adams there in 1896 before the couple settled in San Francisco.
While the collection and most of the photos that make it up are small in size, historians are hailing them as historically significant. “We’re lucky. These kinds of photos don’t surface that much anymore,” said Guy Rocha, retired Nevada state archivist. “It gives us a better idea of what people and places looked like back then.”
The collection includes original photographs and copies of originals. Images capture famous Nevadans as well as scenes from one of the world’s greatest bonanzas: a massive, underground pocket of silver and gold known as the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, about 20 miles southeast of Reno.
Among other things, Helms’ donation gives the Historical Society its lone original photo of the Wells Fargo office in Virginia City and its only photo of Howland as a young man, said Lee Brumbaugh, the society’s photo curator.
It also provides the museum with its only photograph of early Carson City photographer Frank Ludlow and a copy of Timothy O’Sullivan’s famous 1863 photo of the Gould and Curry Mill in Virginia City.
“It’s one of those times when photography clearly allows insight into history and becomes a subject of unlimited research,” said Brumbaugh, who considers the Howland photo as one of the most significant of the collection.
As a young man, Howland shared a cabin with Twain in Aurora, Nev., in 1862. Unlike Twain, he succeeded in mining and became superintendent at several mines and then a co-owner in at least two enterprises. He also was the first warden of the territorial prison in Carson City.
Robert Stewart, author of Aurora: Nevada’s Ghost City of the Dawn, said he’s aware of at least two other early photos of Howland but the one donated by Helms is unique. It shows Howland posing while dressed in Western attire and holding a hat.
“I think it reveals something about his personality,” Stewart said. “It shows a man who came west (from New York) and became a Westerner. He’s comfortable in his Western attire and looks like a man who would be uncomfortable in an Eastern suit.”
Twain, in a letter at the time, wrote that Howland “has such a jolly long tongue and keeps it wagging so comfortably” that it was difficult to ask him a question.
Twain went on to become a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City during a nearly three-year stay in Nevada that ended in 1864.
The Historical Society plans put enlargements of the photos, along with the story of their ties to the Adams family, on public display beginning in August. The fading originals cannot be safely displayed because of their age, Brumbaugh said.
Helms also donated about three dozen bills, receipts and other items dating to the 1890s from the Charles E. Bray Co., a Carson City livery stable owned by Ansel Adams’ maternal grandfather.
Helms thinks Ansel Adams’ parents might have met while his father worked in the 1890s on a mine near Wellington, about 65 miles south of Reno.
His mother, Olive Bray, was born in Iowa and was 2-years-old when her family moved to Carson City in 1864. She graduated from high school there.
While Helms is “very interested” in her own family history, she didn’t find a need for the Nevada photos, she said.
“I wanted to get them in the hands of an organization that would care about them,” Helms said. “I’m delighted that the historical society has them and can use them.”
She and Dr. Michael Adams of Fresno, Calif., are the only children of Ansel Adams, one of the nation’s most famous photographers.
Adams is best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, mainly images of the landscape, especially in Yosemite National Park. He died in 1984 at 82.
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On the Net: Nevada Historical Society: http://nevadaculture.org
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Portrait of Andrew Jackson, painted 1836 by William Stewart Watson and given by the president to an Alabama supporter, sold for $36,320. Image courtesy of Case Auctions.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— In a surprise finish, a portrait of General-turned-President Andrew Jackson won top lot status at the Winter Case Antiques auction on Jan. 23 – a sale punctuated by several other bright spots as well.
“In terms of sales results, this was our best auction in almost two years,” said company president John Case. “We saw heavy online and phone bidding, and a full gallery with a lot of new faces.”
Portraits of Jackson painted during his lifetime (1767-1845) are fairly scarce. This one, 34 inches by 31 inches framed, was painted during his presidency in 1836 by William Stewart Watson (Scottish, 1800-1870). According to the family in which it descended, the portrait was given to Alabama Col. Albert James Pickett when Pickett visited Jackson at his home, the Hermitage, in 1837. Pickett had been instrumental in organizing a counter response to a group of Alabama anti-Jackson states rights legislators, and the portrait was a reward for his loyalty. Estimated at $7,500 to $8,500, it generated a drawn-out battle between a man in the gallery and a phone bidder from the Southwest, and eventually hammered down to the phone at $36,320. (Prices include the buyer’s premium.)
A painting of ice skaters in Central Park by African American artist Joseph Delaney (1904-1991), drew action on multiple phone lines and sold to a South Carolina bidder. It reached the top of its estimate, $28,375, tying a hammer price record set for the artist in 2007.
Delaney, a Knoxville native, left in the 1930s for New York, where his brother Beauford was also working as an artist, and enrolled in the Art Students League under the tutelage of Thomas Hart Benton and Alexander Brooke. His work is the subject of the 2009 book, The Life, Art and Times of Joseph Delaney, 1904-1991 by Frederick C. Moffatt. The painting is illustrated in the book.
“While most of Delaney’s subject matter is tied to New York, the interest generated by this piece tells us there is a very strong market for his work here in the South,” said Case. “We hope to see more of his paintings here in the future.”
Other art highlights included a landscape with trees and luminescent sky by Adolf Robert Shulz (Indiana, 1869-1963) which realized $6,129 (est. $3500-$4,500), a 20th-century Mississippi homestead scene by self-taught Southern artist Rhoda Brady Stokes, $3,859, and an early 20th- century still life by Tennessee artist Cornelius Hankins, $1,702. La Danse a la Campagne, a Pierre August Renoir soft ground etching, sold amid heavy competition at $9,988 despite some condition issues including a faint stain and trimmed edges, and a 19th-century miniature painting on ivory signed “Vernet,” depicting Christopher Columbus at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, brought $4,313.
An Edgefield, S.C., stoneware butter crock with slip swag decoration topped the offerings of Southern pottery, always a staple at Case. It achieved $18,160 (est. $3,500-$4,500). The 9-inch- tall piece retained its original lid, and Case said it was especially desirable because both the base and lid were marked “Chandler Maker.” Thomas Chandler, who has been called Edgefield’s premier potter, was born in Virginia but enlisted in the Army in Albany, N.Y., in 1832, so may have potted briefly in New York. A decorated jar made by him bears a decided resemblance to New York wide-mouth jar forms with lug handles. His straight-sided cake crocks are also reminiscent of Northern cobalt decorated crocks. In 1838, Chandler married into the Durham family of potters in Edgefield. He is believed to have turned wares at all of the Edgefield factories where slip decoration was widely used. Chandler died in North Carolina in 1854.
Another Edgefield piece, an ovoid form jug decorated on both sides with a “broken flower stem” slip design, also possibly by Chandler, brought just over its high estimate at $2,610. An East Tennessee decorated stoneware 2-gallon jar attributed to Charles Decker earned $2,156 (est. $900-$1,200), and an 8-gallon Wythe County, Va., stoneware jug with sine wave decoration and ribbed rim brought $851. A miniature Middle Tennessee jug sold for $225.
The sale featured a large amount of American and English 19th- and 20th-century silver hollowware and flatware, with most of the sterling bringing consistently good prices. The category was crowned by a coin silver calling card case bearing the mark of David Hope, only the second coin silver card case known with a Tennessee maker’s mark. It competed to $2,838, double its high estimate. A lot of six coin silver teaspoons, four marked by Samuel Bell of Knoxville, brought $1,589 (est. $400-$500), and an 1860 English sterling fish set with ivory handles carved in the form of mermaids, inscribed to Simon Cameron, Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war, served up $1,816.
Furniture as a category remained somewhat soft, with a few exceptions. A Middle Tennessee cherry book or china press with glazed doors and some height loss to its feet earned $9,534 (est. $4500-$5,500), while a sideboard which descended in the same family, with similar design and construction but more significant foot losses, brought $1,589. A miniature grain painted Wythe County, Va., blanket chest with bracket feet closed at $1,135.
Textiles and Folk Art highlights included a Connecticut alphabet sampler with floral border dated 1845 and signed Chloe Jane Blakeslee, $1,021 (est. $400-$600), and a Middle Tennessee quilt in the Rose of Sharon or Whig Rose variant pattern, $908. A folk art painted watch hutch with grain paint and later stenciled chickens on top flew to $1,078, while an elaborately pieced picture frame with heart and hand designs made $567, the same price as a Southern dulcimer in wooden case with old bow.
Other standouts included a 1904 Confederate Cavalry veterans photos of Troop A from Nashville, Tenn., picturing two African American porters, $2,043 (est. $600-$800), and a Handel Arts and Crafts table lamp with bronze base and a possibly later leaded floral glass shade, $1,816.
An Aesthetic movement faience jardinière with bronzed feet cast in the form of elephant heads brought $1,248, and a set of Aunt Louisa’s Little Pets Alphabet blocks by McLoughlin Brothers spelled out a top bid of $567.
“We were very encouraged by the results of this sale, especially the fact that we experienced a record number of online bidders through LiveAuctioneers,” said Case. “Whether it’s the economy finally showing signs of recovery, or a result of our most aggressive advertising to date, we feel very grateful.”
Case is currently accepting consignments for its Spring auction, scheduled for May 22 in Knoxville. The company conducts sales in its gallery in the historic Cherokee Mills building in Knoxville and also operates a branch office in Nashville.
For details call 865-558-3033 or visit Case’s website: www.caseantiques.com
Both the lid and body of this rare Edgefield, S.C., butter crock were decorated and marked “Chandler Maker.” It sold for $18,160. Image courtesy of Case Auctions. ‘Central Park Skating,’ an oil on masonite painting by Joseph Delaney (New York/Tennessee, 1904-1991), 29 inches by 31 inches, sold for $28,375. Image courtesy of Case Auctions. Marks on this coin silver card case identify it as the work of Tennessee silversmith David Hope. The case sold for $2,838. Image courtesy of Case Auctions. This Middle Tennessee cherry book or china press, 90 1/2 inches by 46 3/4 inches by 19 1/4 inches, sold for $9,534. Image courtesy of Case Auctions.
A bergere is a French upholstered armchair with closed upholstered sides. Back in the Dark Ages of the 1970s my wife and I bought our first house. An old house built in 1928. A big house. And as apartment and dorm dwellers for many years we had a miniscule accumulation of furniture – the odd chair, a sewing machine cabinet and of course a homemade wine rack but little of real use. After we moved into our new old house – one trip in two cars – we realized we didn’t quite have enough “stuff” to fill that 2,400-square-foot space. What we especially didn’t have was furniture.
We furnished the bedroom from a junk store with what later turned out to be a pretty decent 1940s vintage Colonial Revival Federal style mahogany suite. Not bad for a first try for $90. The next effort was less successful – the search for a dining table. We thought we really liked a modern style table from a Scandinavian-type store, but about two hours after delivery we had them pick it back up. It just wasn’t us – and it also wasn’t the house. So we expanded our search, beginning with yard sales and garage sales.
Henry Gasser’s untitled watercolor of a boat shed and dory, 12 1/4 inches by 18 3/4 inches, has a $1,000-$2,000 estimate. Image of courtesy Outer Cape Auctions. PROVINCETOWN, Mass. – Outer Cape Auctions will host its second art auction of the year on Feb. 14 with a sweet Milton Avery self-portrait ink on paper, a stunning early Henry Gasser watercolor and a Wolf Kahn etching among the 190 works of art being offered. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
The auction will again be conducted at the new Seashore Point Community, 100 Alden St. in Provincetown beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern. Previews will be held daily in the run-up to the auction.
Along with live bidding, phone and absentee bidding, Outer Cape Auctions will offer Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers. Outer Cape Auctions will also provide a live audio/video feed for the Internet bidders.
The auction will start off with an early watercolor by Henry Gasser (1909-1981). The untitled work views a boat shed, a tarp-covered dory and the sea in the background. “This painting’s lines are straight and clean and the palette used, sensational,” said Terry Catalano, owner and auctioneer. The work measures 12 1/4 inches by 18 3/4 inches and is signed on the lower left, “H. Gasser.” The estimate is $1,000-$2,000 with an opening bid of $100.
“I love when I receive consignments without reserves because it gives me the opportunity to offer a fabulous work at a ridiculously low price, knowing full well that it will attract many bidders and hopefully, send the hammer price above the estimates,” said Catalano.
Milton Avery (1885-1965) is represented by a self-portrait ink on paper dated 1959. It had been appraised in September 1999 as being authentic and the authentication report is included with the work. A barely noticeable stain on the paper is the only visual defect, and the work is estimated to sell at $3,500-$4,500. An etching of a European bridge overpass by Wolf Kahn (born 1927) dated ’82 and hand-numbered 90 of 90 is also one of the sleepers of the auction with an estimate of $200-$400.
“Such strong and recognizable names are sure to garner a lot of interest,” said Catalano.
Other works by late artists being offered include three oils by Arthur Vidal Diehl (1870-1929), a beautiful dunescape dated 1946 by Raymond J. Eastwood (1898-1987) and a beautiful watercolor of a white picket fenced Cape Cod home by James Kirk Merrick (1905-1985). William F. Boogar Jr. (1893-1958) was a well-known Provincetown bronze sculpture artist and there are two works in the auction, a seagull and a lamp with original shade, top and the base designed as a dove taking flight. Robert Beauchamp (1923-1995), a Truro, Mass., artist is represented by a large oil measuring 50 inches by 40 inches and signed on verso. There are four works by Ada Rayner (1901-1998), the first wife of Henry Hensche; three works by William H. Littlefield (1902-1969) including an early impressionist landscape that was exhibited at the Cape Museum of Fine Art and was featured in the catalog; an oil painting of a pier, red shack and fishing boat and dory, most likely Rockport, by George Elmer Browne (1871-1946); and there is an oil painting of a sailing yacht named Thunderhead by Cleveland Woodward (1900-1986), another Truro, Mass., artist.
Malcolm Humphreys (1892-1963), Dorothy Lake Gregory (1890-1973), Henry Kallem (1912-1985), John Hare (1909-1978), James Lechay (1907-2001), Gerrit Hondius (1891-1970), Philip Evergood (1907-1973), Judith Shahn (1929-2009) and Cy Fried (1917-2010) also have works in the auction, among many other late artists.
On the contemporary front, Canadian Steve Walker, known for his many book covers and homo-erotic content paintings is represented by two original acrylic on canvases, Stay the Night and Jay and Clayton are on the block, along with two beautiful oils by Cape School of Art teacher Lois Griffel. There are works by Jackson Lambert (born 1919), Hilda Neily (born 1947), Michael E. Davis (born 1945), William Maynard (born 1921), John DiMestico (born 1949), Jack Garver (born 1921), Anne MacAdam (born 1930) and many more.
A painting by Paul Sattler, a contemporary Boston artist, titled Providence (Final Variation on Wtewael’s “Wedding of Peleus and Thetis”) that measures 60 x 72 and exhibits the Alpha Gallery, Boston, label and the date of 2003. A stunning work by Fernando DeOliveira titled Nirvana dated 2006 is also being offered along with the hard covered book about him and his art. There are three works by Canadian artist Joann Corno, two oils by Kathy Buist (born 1959) and many more.
For details call 508-487-7281.
There is a full preview online at www.outercapeauctions.com with multiple images, in-depth lot descriptions and artist’s information.
To view the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
This self-portrait by Milton Avery, one of America’s pioneering colorists, is an original drawing, ink on paper, measuring 5 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches. It has a $3,500-$4,500 estimate. Image courtesy of Outer Cape Auctions. This dunescape by Raymond Eastwood is dated 1946. The 19 1/2- by 23 3/4-inch oil on canvas has a $2,000-$4,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Outer Cape Auctions. Largely self-taught Provincetown artist Arthur Diehl painted this untitled oil on board, which measures 11 1/2 inches by 8 1/8 inches. It has a $1,000-$2,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Outer Cape Auctions. Robert Beauchamp, a figurative painter known for a colorful, expressionistic style, was active in Provincetown since the 1950s. This untitled oil on canvas, 50 by 40 inches, is dated ‘5/94,’ 10 months before he died. It has a $5,000-$10,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Outer Cape Auctions.
These Imperial bowls are slightly different. One is 2 inches by 10 5/8 inches, the other 2 1/8-inches by 10 1/2 inches. They are decorated front and back and have underglaze blue seal marks for Qianlong (1736-1795). From the estate of Thomas E. Cody, the bowls are estimated at $50,000 to $80,000. ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Buffalo Bill Cody bought his Wild West show to American towns and cities. His reenacted gun fights and Indian battles delighted the public for 30 years. Thomas English Cody (1889-1948) followed in his great-uncle’s footsteps, but it was the Far East he brought to the United States. In the 1930s, the singer and actor avidly collected Chinese porcelain and objects of hard stone. His superb 25-lot collection of Asian art is the centerpiece of Brunk Auctions sale Feb. 20-21.
For emphasis, Brunk chose Cody’s Chinese Imperial bowls for the cover of the sale’s color catalog. The pair, differing slightly in height and diameter, is decorated with nine blue peaches on a yellow ground with Qianlong (1736-1795) seal marks. Presale estimate on the pair is $50,000-$80,000.
Also of note from the Cody collection: a Chinese lidded jar in yellow glaze with an impressed seal for Daognang (1821-1850) and a Chinese aubergine-glazed bowl with a blue six-character mark for Yongzheng (1723-1735). The 11½-inch jar is expected to bring $6,000-$12,000; the 1 5/8-inch by 8 1/8-inch bowl, $5,000-$10,000.
For good measure, Brunk added 70 lots of Chinese art from other private collections that would, quite possibly, attract the attention of antique dealers from China. Midway through the collection of porcelain, pottery, bronze censors and carved stones is a 7 5/8-inch by 3 3/4-inch blue and white meiping (human form) vase. In blue underglaze are rocks, bamboo, roses, saplings, butterflies and a blooming prunus tree. Four lug handles are at the top; two horizontal slots at the bottom. The vase, estimated at $15,000-$30,000, descended in the family of Ferdinand Howard, an Ohio benefactor to the Columbus Museum of Art.
There’s a strange bull loose in the Brunk Auctions’ china shop. The beast shatters estimates, not Chinese porcelain. Last year, an Imperial vase skyrocketed from an estimate of $400 to $1,236,250. A bowl from the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (1723-1735) began humbly at $150 and finished at $115,000. A $300 lavender blue vase ended honorably at $12,650. With estimates higher this time and porcelain fresh-to-the-market from noted collections, anything could happen.
The sale also includes more than 80 paintings dating from the early 18th century to the mid-20th century.
The earliest painting will reach the auction block within the first hour of the opening day. Thomas Broughton (1668-1737), a wealthy Indian trader and landowner, served as speaker of the 15th Assembly, lieutenant governor and governor of the South Carolina colony. He was the ideal candidate for a portrait during the early painting career of Henrietta Johnston (1670-1728), this country’s first-known female professional pastelist. Her pastel portrait of Broughton on blue laid paper with signature label verso is expected to bring $15,000-$25,000.
Three 20th-century paintings are expected to do well: Andrew Wyeth’s watercolor, The Road to Holiday’s Barn and Serge Poliakoff’s Composition and another abstract composition dated “5.1.60” (1960).
Poliakoff (1900-1969), a Russian abstract expressionist, was a major influence in post-World War II School of Paris and in the Tachisme art movement. The latter, also known as Art Informel, was described as “a lack or absence of form itself.” Both paintings are oil on wood panel, signed lower right and reflect Poliakoff’s mature style. Composition is earlier, 1955-1956, and brighter; the later composition is more somber and dark. A letter signed by the artist attesting to the painting’s authenticity, accompanies Composition. Each painting is estimated at $200,000-$300,000.
The Wyeth watercolor of a figure on a dirt road walking toward a barn is early and personal. Completed when he was only 18, Wyeth dedicated it to Miss Jessica Wallwork, a nurse who worked for the Wyeth family. He signed and dated (1935) an inscription to her lower right. The 16 1/2-inch by 21 1/2-inch watercolor carries an estimate of $25,000-$35,000.
A Brunk Auctions sale would not be complete without Southern furniture. Two pieces are important and of special interest. The Swisegood School is one of North Carolina’s premier furniture shops, and the sale’s walnut circa 1820 Swisegood corner cupboard, estimated at $40,000-$60,000, is excellent and original in all respects. In single case construction and towering 96 1/2 inches, it descended in a Forsyth County, N.C., family, not far from where it was crafted. At 91 1/2 inches, an early 19th-century cherry tall case clock from Kentucky, is almost cupboard height. Highly decorative with star and fylfot inlay and painted wooden dial with pink roses, it is expected to sell for $10,000-$20,000.
Brunk Auctions is located at 117 Tunnel Road, Asheville.
For details call 828-254-6846.
To view the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
From the top, note the shell-carved finial plinth, elaborately decorated waisted case, central bull’s-eye window and turned feet on this elegant early 19th-century Kentucky tall case clock. It has a $10,000-$20,000 estimate. The original blue paint on this Swisegood School corner cupboard can be seen under its orange and red painted surface. The cupboard was made in Davidson County, N.C., circa 1820. Note the rope-carved quarter columns, original brasses and original bracket feet. It has a $40,000-$60,000 estimate. The barn in this signed, inscribed and dated Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) watercolor is in Chadds Ford Pa. The painting was given as a gift in 1935 to a trusted nurse who served the Wyeth family, who in turn gave it to a friend in the 1950s. It has a $25,000-$35,000 estimate. A handwritten letter from artist Serge Poliakoff (1900-1969) dated June 23, 1969 attests to the authenticity of ‘Composition,’ accompanies the 1955-1956 signed painting. The oil on sand painting on panel, which measures 45 3/4 inches by 35 inches, has a $200,000-$300,000 estimate.
Click here to view Lloyd Ralston Gallery’s complete catalog.
