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Edith Barretto Parsons (1878-1956) sculpted a collection of charming youngsters holding animals for use as fountain figures. A bronze version of her ‘Fish Baby,’ circa 1920, sold for $9,000 in the spring 2011 auction. Courtesy Kamelot Auctions

Garden sculpture has long, illustrious history

April 11, 2012/in ACN Columnist/by Tom Hoepf

Edith Barretto Parsons (1878-1956) sculpted a collection of charming youngsters holding animals for use as fountain figures. A bronze version of her ‘Fish Baby,’ circa 1920, sold for $9,000 in the spring 2011 auction. Courtesy Kamelot Auctions

Putting up sculpture in the great outdoors is one of man’s oldest compulsions. Religious devotion may have been the first motivation, but politics, aesthetic impact and human ego soon crept in. A pharaoh in ancient Egypt was pleased with the perfectly aligned row of sphinxes he had erected along the temple boulevard. He said, “That looks great. People will be impressed. Put my name on it.” The rest is history. Sphinxes flourished, and collectors still put them outside in the garden today.

Classical civilizations in the Mediterranean established a link between gardens and ornamental sculpture, which has survived to the present. In his introduction to Antique Garden Ornament, the essential reference on the subject, John P.S. Davis writes, “The Greeks and Romans were the first in Europe to create large gardens where not only plants, trees and nature followed man’s designs, but which were also adorned with marble and bronze effigies of gods and heroes. The contribution of these classical sources was to have far reaching effects on gardens throughout the Western world. This influence is still clearly evident in many gardens today.”

Hadrian, the Spanish-born ruler of the Roman Empire, A.D.117-138, set the standard when he laid out the grounds of his villa at Tibur, the modern day Tivoli. Just like modern collectors, the emperor admired works of art he had seen in Egypt and Greece. He constructed water features and grottoes adorned with statuary in various earlier styles. In the 16th century, Cardinal d’Este “collected” sculpture from Hadrian’s backyard to decorate the grounds of his own villa nearby.

The character of public and private gardens in America probably owes its greatest debt to traditional English design. Davis explains: “By the early 17th century, the ornamentation of British gardens with statuary was being used to create a direct link between the house and garden. The garden no longer stood as a separate, individual work of art, but complemented and related aesthetically to the house.”

In other words, a collector might decorate his front hall and a garden pavilion in similar fashion. Davis continues, “At the same time there was a growing interest in the classical marble statues excavated in Italy. Lord Arundel in particular took a great interest in these, and bought a considerable number which he used to decorate his house and gardens at Arundel House.”

Collecting vintage garden sculpture, seating, and containers has become an important specialized field within the antiques marketplace. Kamelot Auctions devotes a spring sale to garden and architectural antiques. The 2012 auction with over 700 lots will be held on Saturday, April 14. In the area of statuary, price points range from five figures for monumental bronze sculpture to $100-200 bargains for simple figures. Everyone can afford a gnome of their own.

Kamelot’s resident expert Jeffrey Henkel says, “The average retail customer who walks into the sale is looking for something that is manageable in scale and weight. The larger pieces are true sculpture, whether you place them in a garden or in an interior setting. The casting is so good on some of those pieces from the 19th century that they could have been used inside.”

The star of this year’s sale, a life-size bronze copy of the Diana of Gabii in the Louvre, will open the bidding. The draped goddess, which carries a $15,000-20,000 estimate, could hold her own in a line-up at Hadrian’s ancient villa.

Henkel notes: “She’s fastening her cloak at the shoulder – there’s something very elegant about it. The surface has gorgeous, gorgeous patina. Perfect – great design, great style, great height. This is destined for an important garden because it’s not inexpensive.”

Note that, although bronze is a traditional material for outdoor sculpture, it should be placed in a secure location because of its value.

Henkel says, “I track garden material all year but in the last three or four weeks, the prices for bronze—human or animal figures—are staggering. There seems to be a positive upward movement in our industry for great examples of garden objects. We try to get collections that have been in private hands. I spend all year searching for those items, but we try to have something for every collector.”

“In this sale, we’ll have bronze, marble, limestone and cast-stone or cement,” Henkel continues. “There’s one collection that came from a Long Island estate, outside of Oyster Bay; it was put together at the turn of the century. They’re very large limestone figures, and I’m thrilled to have them.”

The monumental, classically garbed male and female figures in question are estimated to bring $4,000-$6,000 each.

Animal figures are also popular with collectors. Among the pride of lions in the April sale are a monumental Philadelphia Centennial cast-iron pair, circa 1875 (est. $20,000-$30,000 and an appealing French terra-cotta male, circa 1910, that would fit in any garden (est. $600-$900). One of the more unusual figures, a signed bronze statue of an American Indian chief, 69 inches high, bears a $1,000-$1,500 estimate. Henkel adds, “I personally like the bigger, bolder things which make a statement.”

Choosing a garden figure is most often an affair of the heart, but collectors should begin by learning more about various materials. What will hold up best in snow or heat is an important point to determine. The book by John Davis on Antique Garden Ornament devotes separate chapters to metals including bronze, cast iron and zinc; natural stone, especially marble and limestone; and man-made materials such as Coade artificial stone and concrete.

Experts warn against trying to clean garden antiques. Their weathered appearance is part of their charm and adds value.

Beware the weeping angel and any sculpture with mourning symbolism that may have been lifted from a cemetery. Sculpture also disappears from public parks and private yards, so find a way to secure valuable pieces.

Any statue that cannot survive extremes of temperature should be covered or wheeled indoors during the winter.

Get more inspiration for sculptural groups outdoors in Antiques from the Garden by Alistair Morris, a new edition is available at www.antiquecollectorsclub.com, and in Antique Garden Ornament: Two Centuries of American Taste by dealer Barbara Israel.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

An Egyptian Revival figure of a wine bearer, 62 1/2 inches tall, sold two years ago for $4,600. The cast-iron statue, circa 1870, was Continental, possibly French, in origin. Courtesy Kamelot Auctions

This life-size bronze Diana will be offered in the upcoming Kamelot sale of Garden and Architectural Antiques on April 14—estimate $15,000-20,000. The elegant classical figure, a copy of the marble Diana of Gabii now the Louvre, was cast in the 19th century by the English firm of Elkington Mason & Co. Courtesy Kamelot Auctions

A Philadelphia find, this pair of monumental cast-iron lions, circa 1875, is estimated to bring $20,000-30,000 in the April Kamelot sale. Courtesy Kamelot Auctions

Perfect for the classical garden, a 19th century Italian marble term in the form of a spirited satyr carries an estimate of $5,000-$8,000 in Kamelot’s April sale. Courtesy Kamelot Auctions

This 67 1/2-inch-tall marble statue of a young woman watering flowers. made around 1860, brought $8,750 in 2010. Courtesy Kamelot Auctions

Also on display in the Philadelphia exhibition is one of Hadid’s newest designs – the highly polished Z-Chair (2011) - produced by Sawaya & Moroni of Milan. Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Furniture designs of Zaha Hadid: fluid forms, perpetual motion

October 6, 2011/in ACN Columnist/by Catherine Saunders-Watson

Also on display in the Philadelphia exhibition is one of Hadid’s newest designs – the highly polished Z-Chair (2011) – produced by Sawaya & Moroni of Milan. Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art.

PHILADELPHIA – Zaha Hadid is best known as an innovative architect with an international practice. In 2004, she became the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. Her firm in London – Zaha Hadid Architects – was just awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Stirling Prize for the second year in a row.

The winning project this year was the Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton, England. The firm won last year for the MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome. Her first American work was the 2003 Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Viewers around the world will see the London Aquatics Centre she created for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Hadid, born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950, is very much a living designer. She received a degree in mathematics from the American University in Beirut and was awarded the Diploma Prize by the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 1977. Many Americans know her work from a 2006 retrospective exhibition at New York’s Guggenheim Museum.

Fortunately for collectors, Hadid has far more strings to her bow than just architectural design. A new exhibition , Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion on display in the Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art through March 25, 2012, features the breadth of her creative range from buildings and furniture to shoes and jewelry.

Kathryn Bloom Hiesinger, the museum’s Curator of European Decorative Arts after 1700, explains, “The exhibition has about 20 objects or groups of objects in a setting that Hadid herself is creating. As an architect, she sites the objects in the space as if they were part of the architectural program. So everything is carefully placed to relate to her interior architecture and to each other. It’s the first time she’s done such a thing in the United States.”

“We do a design exhibition every year, and we’re supported in that by our affiliated group called Collab,” continues the Curator. ”They’re a group that focuses on product design, so that was an aspect of her work that we wanted to emphasize as opposed just to her architecture.” Collab, a volunteer committee of professionals and enthusiasts supporting contemporary design at the museum, will award Hadid their Design Excellence Award on November 19th.

Hiesinger says, “Hadid envisions the gallery as an active element in the display of her own designs, and will create an immersive environment from top to bottom. She is designing this amazing undulating wall system behind which a video will be projected that shows the whole breadth of her work – architecture master plans and product design. The outer surface of this screen wall serves as shelving for smaller design objects – for example, her Lacoste shoes.”

The Curator concludes, “From a market standpoint, she actually designs for two markets – for the high end gallery market and for limited and mass production. Her works are, at the same time, art objects and functional objects. She makes something you enjoy looking at, something you enjoy living with.”

Prominently featured in the exhibition are Hadid’s furniture designs, which are directly influenced by her architectural style. Beautiful and functional, the furniture on display includes the fiberglas Mesa Table and polished aluminum Crater Table, both from 2007, and this year’s Z-Chair produced by Sawaya & Moroni of Milan.

These brilliant furniture designs have captured the imagination of collectors of contemporary design. Since Hadid is a living artist, however, enthusiasts must make difficult decisions about what to buy now, while the artist continues to create new products.

When Hadid furniture comes up at auction, prices regularly fall in the five and six-figure range. For example, Phillips de Pury in New York sold a black Aqua Table – produced circa 2006 by Established & Sons U.K. – for $110,500 last December. The work was number four of a limited edition of twelve.

Wright auctions in Chicago is another firm which handles Hadid furniture and decorative art designs. Richard Wright says, “Zaha Hadid is among the most influential and forward thinking architects of today. Her importance in the field of architecture makes her designed objects desirable as well. She is innovative and has a distinct style within her industry.”

Wright stresses that buyers should be and are selective when buying Hadid’s furniture and decorative arts on the secondary market: “The application of architecture to designed objects is challenging and in my opinion her success is varied. Hadid’s works in silver are my favorites from her oeuvre.” In 2009, Wright sold a sterling silver TCTHADID tea and coffee service, made in limited edition by Alessi, for $21,250.

He comments, “This work best captures her architectural eye and the fluid nature of her work. Another successful work is the Wave Sofa with the detached back and stylized seat. This form illustrates an early and one of Hadid’s better explorations of interior space via a designed object.” An example of this 1988 sofa design brought $18,750 at Wright in April.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

The Mesa Table (2007) is part a new exhibition, Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through March 25, 2012. The design has a polyurethane base, fiberglass top, and metallic paint finish and was made by Vitra GmbH, Basel, Switzerland. Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, photography Eduardo Perez.

The polished aluminum Crater Table (2007) was made for David Gill Galleries, London, England. The work is part of a new exhibition designed by Zaha Hadid for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, photography Michael Molloy.

Hadid’s Wave Sofa, a 1988 upholstered seating design with a lacquered fiberglas and wood frame manufactured by Edra Italy, sold last April at Wright for $18,750. Courtesy Wright.

Richard Wright says, “Hadid’s works in silver are my favorites from her oeuvre.” The designer’s TCTHADID sterling tea & coffee set (2003), made in limited edition by Alessi, sold for $21,250 in 2009 at the Chicago auction house. Courtesy Wright.

An example of Hadid’s Moraine Sofa (2000) made by Sawaya & Moroni Milan brought $13,800 in December 2008. Courtesy Wright.

A Gyre Lounge Chair from the Seamless Collection, part of a morphological furniture series by Zaha Hadid, sold for $84,000 (est. $70,000-90,000) at Wright in 2008. Courtesy Wright.

$86 million Chinese vase. Image courtesy of Bainbridge's.

Slew of records set for antiques & collectibles in 2010

January 5, 2011/in ACN Columnist/by Tom Hoepf

$86 million Chinese vase. Image courtesy of Bainbridge’s.

Now is a good time to review 2010, which will be remembered in the antique and auction trade as a year of surprising prices – including many records – and great stories. Here are highlights gleaned from kovels.com.

December 2010

It was “save our history” week at New York auctions, with record prices set at Sotheby’s for three items:

1 – The highest price ever paid at auction for a U.S. Presidential document was $3,778,500 for an 1863 copy of the Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation;

2 – The guidon (the flag that identifies a unit going into battle) carried in Custer’s 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn sold for $2,210,500;

3 – The third bit of history was the document that listed the 13 rules for the game of basketball invented by James Naismith in 1891. It sold for the highest price of all, $4,338,500.

Another piece of history was auctioned in February. George Washington’s personal map of the Battle of Yorktown, which descended through the family of an aide to Washington, auctioned for $1.15 million at James Julia Auctions.

Some of the jewelry owned by the Duchess of Windsor (Wallis Simpson) was sold at Sotheby’s London on Nov. 30. Her flamingo pin made of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds sold for $2.7 million.

Bottles of vintage champagne were salvaged last summer from a shipwreck that happened near Finland and Sweden sometime between 1832 and 1844. Close to 50 sealed bottles are expected to sell for about $68,000 each.

November 2010

A signed Babe Ruth home run baseball the New York Yankees slugger hit in 1934 sold for $264,500 at an auction at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Kentucky.

The Maltese Falcon, the 1941 classic movie starring Humphrey Bogart, also featured an 11 1/2-inch statue of the bird. A group of collectors paid $305,000 for the movie prop made of resin.

Another found-in-the-attic story has a happy ending. Two relatives were cleaning up their inherited house near Heathrow Airport in England. They found a number of Chinese items, including a colorful 16-inch vase. They were wise enough to take it to a suburban London auction house, Bainbridge’s. Peter Bainbridge estimated the value of the vase at $1.3 million to $2 million. But the final auction price was $85.9 million (including the buyer’s premium and value-added tax). It’s a new world record price for a piece of porcelain and for a piece of Chinese art. It’s also the 11th-most-expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.

A Honus Wagner T206 baseball card in poor condition sold for $262,000 at a Heritage Auction Galleries sale. The card belonged to an order of Catholic nuns, the School Sisters of Notre Dame. However, when the winning bidder failed to pay, the auction house contacted another regular customer, who paid the full bid price to ensure the nuns got all the money.

Carnival glass set some records this month. A Northwood opal aqua Grape & Cable cracker jar sold for $67,500.

Babe Ruth signed baseball. Image courtesy of stricklerautographs.blogspot.com.

‘The Maltese Falcon’ figure. Image courtesy of Guernsey’s.

$86 million Chinese vase. Image courtesy of Bainbridge’s.

Honus Wagner baseball card. Image courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries.

Carnival glass cracker jar. Image courtesy of Seeck Auctions.

October 2010

A treasure hunter with a metal detector found a second-century Roman helmet in England earlier this year. It sold at a Christie’s auction in London for $3,629,469.

The Jazz Bowl sold for over five times estimate at Rago Arts and Auction Center. The Viktor Schreckengost art pottery masterpiece brought $158,600.

Art pottery ‘Jazz Bowl.’ Image courtesy of Rago Arts and Auction Center.

1943 copper alloy penny. Image courtesy of www.luxist.com.

September 2010

A 1943 zinc-coated steel Lincoln penny is worth less than 10 cents today. But a 1943 one-of-a-kind copper alloy Lincoln penny struck at the Denver Mint was sold by a New Jersey coin dealer for a record $1.7 million.

August 2010

A lot of comic books set records this year. The price for the rare 1940 Batman No. 1 comic book was $55,269. Found in Alaska, it was sold by Heritage Auction Galleries.

Another very valuable comic book has been found. It’s a copy of Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 issue that introduced Superman. That comic book has been attracting super prices since 2009. A couple was packing to move out of their foreclosed house when they found a copy of the famous comic book. They had read about the record-breaking sales and contacted ComicConnect. Presale estimate for the comic was $250,000. It sold for $436,000. The house was saved!

Action Comics No. 1. Image courtesy of ComicConnect.

Flash Comics No. 1. Image courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries.

July 2010

Not many stuffed horses sell for $266,500, but probably no other horse is as famous as Trigger, the palomino used by Roy Rogers on television and in the movies. Christie’s and High Noon jointly auctioned the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum collection, including Trigger.

June 2010

The world record price for a sports uniform was set at a Canadian auction house. The 1972 hockey jersey worn by Paul Henderson of Team Canada in the Summit Series sold for $1.275 million (U.S.). Henderson scored the winning goal for Canada in the deciding game against Russia.

An autograph by a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Button Gwinnett, sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $722,500. The rare Gwinnett signature was on a letter.

“Dave the Slave,” the famed Edgefield, S.C., potter from the 1830s, made news in 2010. A jug bought for $25 years ago sold at an Eagles Basket Auction in Travelers Rest, S.C., for $13,000.

A cigar store Indian that had been in the family basement since the 1960s gave the owner an unexpected legacy. The Indian, in fine unrestored condition, was sold by Heritage Auction Galleries for an amazing $203,150.

Another very expensive comic book sold in June. A copy of Flash Comics No. 1 in pristine condition sold privately for $450,000.

Cigar store Indian. Image courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries.

April 2010

Action Comic No. 1, the famous first appearance of Superman, has sold for an even higher record price. The new record: $1.5 million.

An ivory box, described as a 19th-century Persian piece estimated at $700 to $900, auctioned in Cleveland a year ago for $471,528. It was auctioned in 2010 at Sotheby’s London for $3.68 million.

The Gutenberg Bible is probably the most famous book in Western civilization – the first book printed with moveable type. There are 21 complete copies of the 42-line Bible in existence. It sold for $5.4 million at Christie’s, a record price at auction for a printed book.

The rare deep sapphire blue flask called “General Washington and Bust” (McKearin GI-14) brought $100,620 at an online Heckler Auction. The flask has the names Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on the ridge and is called the “Firecracker flask” because both men died on July 4, 1826.

A 1925 Buggati Type 13 Brescia race car that was pulled from a lake in Switzerland last summer auctioned for $368,686.

1925 Buggati Brescia. Image courtesy of Kovels.com.

Gen. Washington flask. Image courtesy of Heckler Auction.

March 2010

Batman can beat Superman – at least he did once in 2010. On Feb. 25, Detective Comics No. 27, which featured the first appearance of Batman, sold for the new record price of $1,075,500 at Heritage Auction Galleries.

February 2010

Action Comics No. 1, one of about 100 copies known to exist, sold in a private sale for $1 million. It was in great condition.

January 2010

About Kovels.com

Terry Kovel has written more than 98 books about collecting, including the best-selling annual price book, Kovels’ Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide. The 2011 guide is now in stores. Terry publishes a subscription newsletter and writes a syndicated newspaper column that appears in more than 150 newspapers and digital publications, including Auction Central News. She and Ralph starred in the weekly HGTV program, Flea Market Finds with the Kovels. The Kovels website, Kovels.com, offers 700,000 free prices and other information for collectors, including books, special reports, a weekly e-mailed letter to collectors, marks and an archive of other informative material. Since Ralph’s death in 2008, the Kovel brand has been continued by Terry Kovel and her daughter, Kim Kovel.

A complex carving of precious white jade soared to $334,000 in May at a New Orleans Auction Galleries sale. The 18th century pi disk is topped by a carved dragon; twelve symbols are carved in the tablet on the reverse. Courtesy New Orleans Auction Galleries

Chinese Jade: The great Asian buy-back

July 13, 2010/in ACN Columnist/by Catherine Saunders-Watson

A complex carving of precious white jade soared to $334,000 in May at a New Orleans Auction Galleries sale. The 18th century pi disk is topped by a carved dragon; twelve symbols are carved in the tablet on the reverse. Courtesy New Orleans Auction Galleries

Jade carving is a strong artistic thread that runs through the history of China. Jade artifacts are unearthed at prehistoric sites, powerful Emperors valued the material above gold, and modern collectors are avidly bidding on fine antique examples in auctions around the world.

In his survey Art in China, British art historian Craig Clunas states, “Jade, or more precisely nephrite, was first used by one of the cultures of the Chinese neolithic between 6,000 and 5,000 B.C.E. A mineral of extreme hardness, it cannot be carved with a metal blade, but must be worked with abrasive sand in a procedure of slicing and drilling which involves great expenditure of time and skill. Therefore, at a very early period, it became associated with power: temporal power, in the sense of control over resources, and by extension with spiritual power.”

Major museum collections contain precious jade plaques, pi disks, and ritual vessels from the Shang, Zhou, and Han dynasties of the second and first millennia B.C. In a late 2^nd century B.C. burial site found not far from Beijing, a prince and princess were laid to rest in suits of jade.

Two types of compressed metamorphic rock are commonly called jade. The mineral nephrite, ranging in color from white to various shade of green, was available at sites in China and acquired from sources on the Silk Road trade route. Jadeite in bright emerald green and other colors, found in Burma, was imported into China after 1800 A.D.

Most jade offered for sale today was carved in the 18^th and 19^th centuries of the modern era. Highly prized are pieces made in a period of intense artistic creativity during the long reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1736-1795 A.D.) of the Qing Dynasty. Still on view at the Palace Museum in Beijing is the largest jade carving in existence. The monumental boulder of mottled nephrite (over 7 feet high) is covered with exquisitely carved landscapes completed in 1787.

Inspired by such masterworks, serious collectors in Asia are searching the world for new acquisitions. Internet access to American auctions has produced a lively West to East trade in antique jade. Like many other firms, New Orleans Auction Galleries now offers a significant number of Asian lots in their general sales. Last October a large collection of jade produced some noteworthy prices, including a carved mountain scene that brought $16,800.

After the sale, president Jean Vidos said, “Over the past several years, the international market has just blossomed. The Internet has leveled the playing field when we’re competing for dollars against the big boys. Not a whole lot of stuff is slipping through the cracks any more.”

“We had Asian buyers bidding on Asian stuff in New Orleans, and that’s a great change from 10 or 15 years ago. Even during the recession, the Chinese have been vigorously bidding on stuff. Although the downturn has affected the economy worldwide, the Chinese have apparently figured out a way to buy. They’re really aggressive buyers and this sale happened to be really heavy duty with Asian.”

NOAG’s Asian specialist Rick Rhodes explained the appeal of the simple mountain carving: “It goes back to the tradition where officials and civil servants always wanted to retire to nature. They wanted to get away from the bustle of the court. So they would have these mountain scenes carved in jade that they could put on their desk and contemplate. They would feel like they were in the countryside. Because these carvings were sought after by the literati, many Chinese collectors of today go after that sort of thing because it’s still a way to escape from the pressures of modern society.”

Success in the jade marketplace brought out more consignments, and a masterpiece emerged from a private collection in central Louisiana in May of this year. The complex 18^th-century white jade carving featured a pi disk surmounted by a dragon on the front and a spirit tablet with symbols on the reverse. The lot had a modest estimate of $3,500-5,000 but determined bidding took the carving to a stunning $334,000.

“When selling things at auction, bidding always involves emotion,” said Rhodes. “There were two bidders on this particular piece, one was from mainland China, who had comes all the way over here and spent a whole day looking at the piece, and the winning bidder was from London. Two different sides of the world. You reach literally the entire world. Anyone who has a computer can access the auction and bid live from their computer.”

Rhodes said, “There seems to be a very, very strong market right now for really good quality jade. The Chinese are very discriminating buyers. We have done really well with jade. That May sale also included a beautiful group of a mother monkey with two smaller monkeys. It went for a great deal of money for what it was, $34,440.”

“The monkey group was made from a piece of nephrite with two colors – a dark olive green and a lighter green. The carver was very skillful, the mother is the dark color and the baby on her shoulder is a lighter color – it has a nice contrast to it.”

“Buying jade is a very personal thing,” Rhodes concluded. “A lot of it has to do with your perception of the stone and your experience in handling it.”

Other regional auction house have had similar good results. In response to market demand, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago is gathering consignments for their first dedicated Asian sale on October 26. Hindman said, “We’ve done very well, and we’re offering this fall sale because of the interest. She confirms that much of the bidding is coming directly from China, adding, “And some of it’s coming from New York but they’re bidding for people in China.”

Andrew Lick, the firm’s specialist in the field, explained, “We’ve always included Asian pieces in furniture and decorative arts auctions, but we’ve seen enough interest that it would be beneficial to have a sale for Asian works of art. We’ve had good collections of Chinese textiles, beautiful lacquer work, archaic bronzes, netsuke, jade – they’re all coming from private consignors and they’re new to the market.”

“The money flowing into the jade market is coming from mainland China. (Dealers in New York and London interested in the pieces but a lot of competition from China.) I think the Chinese are more comfortable buying pieces that are in the U.S., because there so many reproductions coming out of China right now. If they can purchase something that has been in an American collection for decades, it gives them a greater sense of comfort.”

In February 2009, Hindman’s sold a beautifully carved Qing Dynasty nephrite vase or brush pot for $96,400. Lick explained, “The piece had been purchased by New York collectors at Spink & Son in London in 1977, and we had the paperwork for it. That was a good example of having the provenance on a piece.”

“We have bidders that fly in from Shanghai for our sales and stay in Chicago,” he said. “They know what they want, but they’re looking at what everyone else in the room is bidding on too. They’re observing other Asian bidders and seeing what’s going where. When they see the excitement of the room go up on a major piece, sometimes they’ll jump into the bidding.”

Lick pointed out, “The white jade and other pale colors are the most desirable right now. I think that was the reason that yellow-jade lidded vase did well. But as in any other medium, it’s the quality and the age. If you have a very well-carved spinach jade piece, it can be worth just as much.”

Dallas Auction Gallery is another regional firm that has responded to the strength of the Asian market. Following their successful sale of Asian Antiques and Fine Art on March 10, they have scheduled another specialized sale for October 6, 2010, which will feature furniture, ivory, jade, and other decorative arts.

From the earliest human settlements in China to bustling 21^st-century society, carved jade continues to fascinate collectors. Admire it, touch it, own it – the material’s mystical appeal is hard to resist.

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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

A rare color, this 19th-century yellow jade lidded vase with central dragon relief panel sold for $26,840 in May. Courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

In January, this translucent jade teapot with lotus finial and vines in relief on the sides brought $19,520 at Leslie Hindman’s auction in Chicago. Courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

A rectangular plaque of green spinach jade carved with two dragons on either side of a flaming pearl realized $20,740 in Hindman’s October 2009 sale. Courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

A well-documented provenance adds value to this pale jade vase dating to the long reign of the Qianlong Emperor in the 18th century. Carved with trees and rocks in relief, the object sold for $96,400 in a February 2009 Leslie Hindman sale. Courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

One lot in a large collection offered for sale, this rectangular planter of Siberian spinach jade brought $18,000 last October at New Orleans Auction Galleries. Courtesy New Orleans Auction Galleries

Made for a scholar’s desk, this pale green nephrite carving of a mountain scene sold for $16,800 last fall at New Orleans Auction Galleries. Courtesy New Orleans Auction Galleries

Natural color variation in the jade stone is used to advantage in this carving of a mother monkey with a child on her shoulder. The group brought $34,440 in a May sale at New Orleans Auction Galleries. Courtesy New Orleans Auction Galleries