NEW YORK — One of Tiffany & Co.’s most enduring designs came to market at Fortuna on August 13 as a moderately estimated $12,000-$20,000 lot. Instead, Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co.’s ‘Bird on a Rock’ aquamarine brooch with its original box hammered for $42,000 and sold for $54,600 with buyer’s premium.
There’s a legendary but apparently true story about Schlumberger’s so-called ‘reveal’ moment at Tiffany & Co. in 1965. The moment Schlumberger unveiled this piece to fellow Tiffany designers was documented by famous fashion journalist Eugenia Sheppard in a 1965 article for the New York Herald Tribune. Sheppard said, “When he sat down and pressed open the lid of the blue velvet box … everybody smiled.” The design is now synonymous with the Tiffany brand, as evidenced by the performance of this piece.
BUFORD, GA — Nora Lee Ezell (1919-2007) is considered America’s premiere story quilt maker, having created her first edition featuring Martin Luther King, Jr. Story quilts tell stories panel by panel, much as a comic strip does. Ezell was a master of embroidery and applique, in which finished character and storytelling elements are affixed to the background quilt panel. Each panel is then sewn together along with batting and a backing layer to create the finished product.
Ezell’s ‘The American Indian’s Saga’ story quilt, dating to 1993, came to market August 4 at Slotin Fine Arts. The house assigned a “who knows?” estimate of $200-$400. Fierce bidding broke out on LiveAuctioneers as numerous participants were determined to add the quilt to their collections. The victor pledged a staggering $5,500, or $6,875 with buyer’s premium.
CLINTONDALE, NY – The sale at Kensington Estate Auctions on August 5 was dominated by the performance of an early canvas by the Afro Native American landscape painter Richard Mayhew (b. 1924-). The framed oil, probably from the 1960s, was estimated at $1,000-$3,000 but had already generated plenty of bidding in the run up to the auction. Ultimately, it hammered at $19,500 and sold for $24,375 with buyer’s premium.
Mayhew is the last living member of Spiral, the Black painters’ group in 1960s New York that included co-founder Romare Bearden, Charles Alston, and Hale Woodruff. This 21-by-18in painting, titled Path in a gallery label on the verso, has the earthier colors found in his atmospheric 1960s and early 1970s landscapes, rather than the high key tones of his more contemporary paintings. From the late 1950s through the early 1960s, the era in which this work was made, Mayhew was represented by the Robert Isaacson Gallery, which gave him four solo exhibitions.
WICHITA, KS — Kirby Morgan was a diving equipment company founded by Bob Kirby and Bev Morgan. Its innovative helmet designs focused on deep-sea petroleum exploration crews, a small and limited market that demanded the highest quality for such extreme depths. Kirby Morgan helmets are rarely seen in today’s collecting market because of their low production runs. Extant examples are generally in good condition due to their high original price tags. Simply put, they were too expensive to abuse.
Nation’s Attic offered a Kirby Morgan model KMHeH-2 helium helmet dating to around 1966 in its August 10 auction. The company had licensed its design to Japan’s Yokohama, and this example Yokohama-built model featured identification badges for both companies. As a plus, the helmet was signed by Bob Kirby himself. Nation’s Attic noted, “On the rare occasion Bob would sign helmets he made, essentially authenticating the helmet for future generations. His signature in black Sharpie is bold and clear on the bonnet.”
Estimated at $7,000-$12,000, the Kirby Morgan-Yokohama KMHeH-2 hammered for $17,000 and sold for $20,740 with buyer’s premium.
NEW YORK — Bonhams brought a very late work from famed Haitian self-taught artist Hector Hyppolite to market August 1 as part of its online Modern and Contemporary Art sale. Hyppolite (1894-1948) is often referred to as ‘Grand Maître of Haitian Art,’ and he was a third-generation Voudu priest. He was extraordinarily prolific, creating upwards of 600 paintings during the final years of his life.
Les Cultivateurs is dated to his final year of 1948, and as such it carried a strong estimate of $25,000-$35,000. After about two dozen bids, the oil on board hammered for $95,000 and sold for $124,450 with buyer’s premium.
