LANTANA, FL — When the Romanian-born French designer Maria Pergay (1930-2023) was asked why she chose to make furniture out of steel, she responded that it was because she had a score to settle with Stalin. “You know his name means steel? So the more I hit it, the happier I am.”
Her range of Modernist brushed stainless steel furniture, fashioned in organic shapes such as waves, rings, and shells, was first shown in 1968 at the Galerie Maison et Jardin in Paris. The pieces were made by the French company Uginox, represented by Gérard Martel, a French stainless-steel company.
Among the most popular designs was the 4ft wide Pouf Vague or Wave Bench, an example of which is included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection. Another, dated to 1968 to 1970, was offered by Neely Auction on July 21, where it carried an estimate of $600-$800 but hammered for $6,500, or $8,125 with buyer’s premium.
CHICAGO – Dating to 1946, the otherworldly wood engraving Children’s Carnival was created by Paul Landacre (1893-1963) the year he was elected as a full member of the National Academy of Design and the year before he was honored with a solo exhibition of his prints at the Smithsonian Museum. The work was published by Associated American Artists of New York in an edition of 250. Always popular whenever they appear for sale, this impression hammered for $10,000 ($13,100 with buyer’s premium) against an estimate of $800-$1,200 at Toomey & Co. on July 24.
According to Artprice, the sum is among the highest paid for a Paul Landacre print, with the current high standing at $20,000 for one of 60 copies of The Press, a 1934 print sold at Christie’s in August 2023.
PALO ALTO, CA — Solano Art Gallery brought to auction a 1924 work depicting a pair of Siamese cats on a grassy field in a harmonious balance between Japanese ukiyo-e and the Parisian school. What makes it all the more interesting is the artist: Georges Henri Manzana Pissarro (1871-1961), son of the ‘dean’ of the 19th-century Impressionist School, Camille Pissarro (1830-1903).
Sent to market in Palo Alto, California from a private collection in the United Kingdom, the untitled work known as Two Siamese Cats shows Manzana (the name by which he was best known) “meticulously captur[ing] the cats’ characteristics, making them lifelike and vivid,” Solano stated, adding, “The use of flat painting techniques and colors shows the influence of Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) and Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968), while the anatomical accuracy of the animals reflects European painting traditions.”
Estimated at just $1,500-$3,000 in the Estates and Fine Art Sale held on July 19, the lot went through an insane 200-plus bids before hammering for $15,000, or $19,200 with buyer’s premium.
YPSILANTI, MI — This pole screen was probably made in New York in the mid-1750s. Its tripod base features cabriole legs with acanthus carved knees and ball and claw feet secured by its original forged iron spider, and the gros and petit point needlework panel may well be the original.
Offered with an attractive estimate of $800-$1,000 in the July 20 sale at Schmidt’s Antiques, it hammered for $11,000, or $13,750 with buyer’s premium, with the winning bid coming via LiveAuctioneers.
Although a relatively common form in English furniture, few American mahogany pole screens reach the marketplace, and those with carved rococo-style decoration from this period are rarer still. Surviving examples are often attributed to the school of Henry Hardcastle, the British-trained immigrant carver who worked in New York from circa 1750 to 1755, before moving to Charleston, South Carolina.
JAMESVILLE, NY — A World War II-era battle-flown Republic of China flag came to market at CNY Militaria on July 20 with an estimate of just $500-$1,000. It hammered for an astounding $7,200 and sold for $8,820 with buyer’s premium.
The flag, best known today as the symbol of Taiwan, Republic of China, had provenance to the WWII flag collection of Dr. Clarence Rungee, who began collecting them while the war still raged. He was a guest of Admiral Chester Nimitz aboard the USS Missouri in 1946 during the signing of the instrument of Japanese surrender.
The ROC flag came with an inventory sheet detailing its history, as well as an associated copy of a 1947 letter from a US Marine Corps corporal noting the flag had been flown at the Chinese-Japanese conflict at Chun-tun Province in China. The flag was retained by US occupation troops, having been given to them by a former prisoner of war at Tsingtaio, China.
