CHICAGO – The top lot in the July 25 sale at Wright was a hand-colored lithograph by Bauhaus artist Lothar Schreyer (1886-1966). Estimated at $600-$800, Farbform 2 Nacht (Colorform 2 Night) hammered for $7,000 and sold for $9,170 with buyer’s premium.
Although he would later throw in his lot with the Nazis, signing the infamous Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft, or vow of most faithful allegiance, in 1933, Schreyer was a pioneer of the so-called ‘degenerate’ expressionist theater. Co-founder of the Sturmbühne, in 1921 he became the first master of the stagecraft workshop at the Bauhaus. Students from all departments were encouraged to participate, exploring the relationships between design, architecture, and theatrical method.
This lithograph, made in an edition of 100 (plus 10 on Japan paper and 20 artist’s proofs), is from a series made circa 1920-1921 under the title Neue europäische Graphik (New European Graphics, 1st Portfolio) printed by Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar and published by Muller & Co. Verlag, Potsdam. It was signed and dated at the lower right ‘Lothar Schreyer 1920’ and was part of a single-owner collection titled Arts 220: The Vision of Fern Moss Kalai, an eclectic range of art and design from Kalai’s retail boutique in Winnetka, Illinois, and from her personal collection. Kalai opened Arts 220 in 1987 and exhibited regularly at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart.
ST. PAUL, MN –Revere Auctions’ July 23 sale titled Eternal Beauty: Splendors in Asian Art was dominated by a group of Chinese jades that came by descent from the family of Jerry O’Brien (1902-1951). A Wichita, Kansas manufacturer of airplane and automotive parts, his collection of 22 handling jades were displayed together in a silk-lined box. While most were typical Qing celadon carvings from the 18th and 19th century, the subject of feverish bidding was an archaic cong-form bead or ritual ornament.
As bidders speculated it was ancient, the competition jumped quickly from its estimate of $150-$300 to $14,000 before moving in increments of $2,000 to $50,000, or $65,000 with buyer’s premium. The winning bid came via LiveAuctioneers.
Although undated in the catalog, this form was made from the Neolithic period into the Shang (circa 1600 BC–circa 1046 BC) or Zhou (circa 1046-771 BC) dynasties. Writers of the late Zhou period described the cong as a symbol of the Earth, pairing it with the ritual disk (bi), which was thought to symbolize heaven.
MAIDENHEAD, UK – No visit to the recently excavated ruins of Pompeii or the slopes of Vesuvius during the Grand Tour was complete without the purchases of one or more gouache and watercolor views of the surrounding scenery. Sets of these paintings came back to the UK and US in large numbers, most of them painted by Neopolitan artists who are destined to remain anonymous.
The trio of scenes offered by Dawsons on July 25 were particularly good examples, and probably dated from the last quarter of the 18th century. Housed in decorative parcel gilt frames, they measured 20in by 2ft 3in each and depicted views of Vesuvius from the Bay of Naples, Lago D’Agnano, and the Temple of Venus with the Bay of Naples. They have labels for the early 20th-century King’s Road, London dealership Chapman Bros, specialist frame-makers and picture dealers in the pre-war era. Highly decorative, the trio was estimated at a very modest £1,200-£1,800 ($1,560-$2,340) but hammered to an internet bidder via thesaleroom.com at £24,000 ($31,250) and sold for £32,640 ($42,500) with buyer’s premium.
BANGOR, PA – A rarity spotted in the Summer Gallery Auction at Hartzell’s on July 29 was a pair of early 20th-century women’s evening shoes with appliques by the Wiener Werkstätte.
While the Austrian workshop was probably not the maker of the ivory silk shoes, the silver and enamel buckles or clips with stylized bird motifs are a design by founding member Koloman Moser. They are both stamped to the back with the WW mark for circa 1905-1910.
Only a handful of these are known still applied to the shoes for which they were made. The pair hammered for $1,000, or $1,240 with buyer’s premium against an estimate of $300-$500.
CAMBRIDGE, UK – The personal collection of the renowned collector and dealer Eve Clarke was sold by Cheffins on July 25. Notable prices were achieved for good examples of 17th-century stumpwork throughout the sale.
Dated to around 1670 was a 16.5in-by-20in (42 by 51cm) panel that featured the familiar scene of Charles II and his bride Catherine of Braganza, standing in a landscape surrounded by figures, birds, and animals. The embroidered surface is worked in polychrome and metallic thread on an ivory ground, highlighted with mica sequins. This achieved a hammer price of £9,500 ($12,370), or £11,875 ($15,460) with buyer’s premium, selling online to a private UK buyer. However, it is an indication of current pricing that Clarke had paid £24,000 (roughly $31,250) for this at Cheffins back in 2018.
Stumpwork, or raised work embroidery, evolved from early padded ecclesiastical embroidery and was at its peak as a pastime between around 1650 and 1690. Most pictures were made by following one of the many printed patterns available at the time.
