SHERMAN OAKS, CA — Van Eaton Galleries, an auction house known for selling top-quality items associated with Walt Disney Productions and the theme parks, on June 30 realized $42,500 ($51,425 with buyer’s premium) for an original gouache on board for It’s A Small World by legendary Disney concept artist Mary Blair (1911-1978).
Blair worked at Walt Disney Studios from 1940 to 1953, and during that time contributed greatly to the studio’s animation and later theme park designs. Disney animator Frank Thomas said of her, “Mary was the first artist I knew of to have different shades of red next to each other. You just didn’t do that! But Mary made it work.” Fellow animator Marc David recalled of Blair, “She brought modern art to Walt in a way that no one else did. He was so excited about her work.”
The 13 by 14.5in work presented in the June 30 sale had minor pinholes but was in otherwise fine condition. The lot opened at $10,000 and rose steadily across two dozen bids before the final hammer.
BANGOR, PA — The swan-form iron is a favorite of iron collectors and has been much reproduced. The novelty form was made in the 19th century by several manufacturers, each with a different take on the general theme. The 3.5in example that raced away from its $75-$150 estimate to sell for $6,000 ($7,440 with buyer’s premium) at an auction of more than 500 antique pressing irons at Hartzell’s Auction Gallery on July 10-11 is a rare variant.
It shares much in common with the famous Barnes patent ‘swan and cygnet’ model made for a few years from 1877 (an example of which sold at Hartzell’s on July 11 for a hammer price of $3,750) and is also thought to be by Barnes.
Another of this model in black with the words ‘Barnes Patent and Heater’ to the handle hammered for $2,400 at Hartzell’s in 2019. This 2024 version retained its original naturalistic paintwork, with red highlights to both the beak and the feet.
The Hartzell’s Auction Gallery sale is an annual event conducted for PITCA – the Pressing Iron and Trivet Collectors of America.
STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET, UK — Born in Constantinople, the daughter of a French nobleman of Hungarian descent, painter Sophie-Ernestine de Tott (1758-1848) spent more than two decades in London as an amateur painter and musician.
‘Madame Tott’ fled the Revolution in the 1780s and did not return to France until the return of absolute monarchy in 1824. During her time in the UK, she exhibited a handful of works at the Royal Academy and painted the portraits of her fellow French aristocrats in exile.
Included in Sworders’ sale of Old Master, British and European Art on June 25 was a portrait she painted of Charles-Philippe, Comte d’Artois (1757-1836), who lived in London on a generous allowance from George III from 1792 to 1815. The future King Charles X of France — he reigned for six deeply unpopular years from 1824 to 1830 — is shown at three-quarter-length, seated and in military uniform.
The 4ft 3in by 3ft 5in (1.27m by 1.03m) oil required restoration (in addition to some losses, it has some white vertical lines of staining running down the left half of the canvas), but it is indicative of the current interest in even minor women artists that it improved on an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 to bring £28,000 ($36,175), or £35,000 ($45,225) with buyer’s premium.
FALLS CHURCH, VA — A circa-1875 gilt leatherbound specimen book showing various official governmental icons, symbols, and other design elements used in printing currency and official documents was offered July 16 at Quinn’s. Estimated at $300-$500, it hammered for $10,000 and sold for $12,700 with buyer’s premium.
The book contained 141 engraved plates, all mounted India-proof specimens. The artwork included portraits, vignettes, national symbols, and other designs of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing used on currency, government bonds, and other relevant productions of the Bureau. Only designed for internal use, the book was internally clean with obvious aging to the cover.
DENVER, PA — The sale of Fine & Decorative Arts at Morphy’s on June 11-12 included many good examples of Amphora and Zsolnay, including one of the most innovative designs by the Amphora factory: Paul Dachsel’s circa-1906 Amphora Cactus vase.
The monumental 11in (27cm) Art Nouveau vessel with undulating reticulated handles and iridized matte green glaze has a PD mark and the impressed number 1048. In perfect condition, this is the example illustrated in Richard Scott’s reference work Ceramics from the House of Amphora, which was first published in 1955. It was chased to $28,000 ($35,840 including buyer’s premium) against an estimate of $18,000-$24,000.
