HUDSON, N.Y. – Still not had enough of the Ann and Gordon Getty collection? There’s a chance for a final bite at the apple when Stair Galleries sells a further 340 lots under the title A Confluence of 19th and 20th Century Design on Thursday, February 29. The catalog is available at LiveAuctioneers.
Following a three-day auction in upstate New York in January, the primary focus of this last hurrah is the Aesthetic movement, Gothic Revival, and Arts and Crafts works that Ann Getty bought in the 1990s to furnish a Greco-Roman-style estate in Berkeley Hills called Temple of Wings. Under Ann Getty’s stewardship, this historic house held a microcosm of late 19th-century taste: lighting and glass from Tiffany Studios, pewter by Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co., and ceramics by William De Morgan.
This may be the material that didn’t quite make the cut when Christie’s held its $19 million Temple of Wings auction back in June 2023, but there is plenty here to whet the appetite, with estimates set in the distinctly affordable range. They start at $50 and peak at $6,000-$8,000 for a Tiffany Studios bronze floor lamp with a later shade. Many items include provenances to auctions and dealerships in London and New York.
Highlights include a series of designs for Christmas cards by Danish illustrator Kay Nielsen (1886–1957) that were commissioned by the American card firm Cardoza in the 1950s. The designs on the theme of the Nativity were redrawn by Disney artists in pen and ink and gouache sometime later in the 1950s, with these pastels representing Nielsen’s final American works. Last sold at Sotheby’s in 1996, the five 14 by 10in designs have estimates of $4,000-$8,000 each.
Certain to generate plenty of interest at $1,500-$3,000 is a pair of reformed Gothic brass and enamel vases to a design by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852), architect of the Palace of Westminster and its renowned clock tower, the Elizabeth Tower. Although unmarked, they were made by made by John Hardman & Co, the Birmingham firm that enjoyed a close relationship with Pugin from the 1840s. Bought from London dealership H. Blairman & Sons in 1996, this is one of just a handful of pairs known, including one previously owed by Sir Stuart Knill, cousin of Pugin’s third wife Jane Knill.
These and other items feature in our slide show of 10 items to choose from in the last of the Ann and Gordon Getty sales.
Pair of AWN Pugin for John Hardman & Co. enameled brass vases, estimated at $1,500-$3,000 at Stair Galleries.
Royal Doulton stoneware clock to a design by William Burges, dating to 1888 and estimated at $1,200-$1,800 at Stair Galleries.
Grotesque vase designed by Christopher Dresser for William Ault Pottery, estimated at $1,000-$1,500 at Stair Galleries.
Pair of Arts and Crafts oak hall chairs by E.A. Taylor, estimated at $500-$700 at Stair Galleries.