Louis Comfort Tiffany and Sir Thomas Lawrence triumphed at Cottone

Lady Fitzwilliam, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which sold for $74,000 ($92,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

GENESO, N.Y. – An oil by Louis Comfort Tiffany that probably hung in his Long Island home hammered for $50,000 ($62,500 with buyer’s premium) at the March 20 Fine Art and Antiques sale at Cottone Auctions.

Gossipy Market Women at Nuremberg, an oil on canvas housed in its original carved and giltwood frame attributed to Stanford White, was estimated at $20,000-$40,000.

Likely painted during a summer trip in 1889, when Tiffany traveled to the Exposition Universelle in Paris and then on to Germany and northern Italy, this picture of three market traders in conversation was exhibited in 1891 in both New York and Chicago. By repute, it was among the furnishings at Tiffany’s Oyster Bay, Long Island home Laurelton Hall, where a study of the subject was kept until the house and contents were sold in the 1940s. It was given by Tiffany’s daughter, Louise Comfort Tiffany Gilder, to the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Orlando, Florida.

Two portraits of Regency beauties by the virtuoso English painter Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) came by descent from the industrialist Colonel Charles Clifton (1853-1928) of Buffalo, New York. Clifton was an important figure in the early years of the automotive industry, overseeing the evolution of a bicycle wheel manufacturer into the Pierce-Arrow Motor Company. A recipient of the legion d’honneur for his work with the Allied war relief effort in France, he served on the board of the Albright Knox Art Museum (now the Buffalo AKG Art Museum) from 1914 until his death in 1928.

He collected English portraiture at that extraordinary moment in the first quarter of the 20th century when prices were at their peak. The 1818 portrait of Lady Elizabeth Mary, Countess of Belgrave, who later became Marchioness of Westminster, comes with full documentation, including a copy of a 1923 receipt from Fearon Galleries in New York. Then, it had cost a mighty $20,000 (equivalent in purchasing power to around $400,000 today). Precisely 101 years later, the picture was consigned with an estimate of $30,000-$50,000, but hammered at $16,000 ($20,000 with buyer’s premium).

A second (unfinished) Lawrence oil depicting the face of Lady Fitzwilliam, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke, performed much better. This picture was part of the Bretby Heirlooms auction that was held for the 7th Earl and the Dowager Countess of Chesterfield by Christie’s in London in June 1918. It was acquired by Clifton from Knoedler & Co. of New York in 1923 at a cost of $9,000 (about $163,300 in modern dollars). This time out it was estimated at $15,000-$25,000 and made $74,000 ($92,500 with buyer’s premium).

Lady Fitzwilliam, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which sold for $74,000 ($92,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Lady Fitzwilliam, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which sold for $74,000 ($92,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Mary, Countess of Belgrave by Sir Thomas Lawrence, $16,000 ($20,000 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Mary, Countess of Belgrave by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which sold for $16,000 ($20,000 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s 'Gossipy Market Women at Nuremberg,' which sold for $50,000 ($62,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s 'Gossipy Market Women at Nuremberg,' which sold for $50,000 ($62,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

Two portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence come for sale at Cottone March 20

GENESO, N.Y. – Two portraits by the virtuoso English painter Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) will be presented at Cottone Auctions. The Wednesday, March 20 Fine Art and Antiques sale features two portraits of Regency beauties that come by descent from the industrialist Colonel Charles Clifton (1853-1928) of Buffalo, New York.

Clifton was an important figure in the early years of the automotive industry, overseeing the evolution of a bicycle wheel manufacturer into the Pierce-Arrow Motor Company. A recipient of the legion d’honneur for his work with the Allied war relief in France, he served on the board of the Albright Knox Art Museum from 1914 until his death in 1928.

He collected English portraiture at that extraordinary moment in the first quarter of the 20th century when prices were at their peak. The 1818 portrait of Lady Elizabeth Mary, Countess of Belgrave, who later became Marchioness of Westminster, comes with full documentation, including a copy of a 1923 receipt from Fearon Galleries in New York. It had cost a mighty $20,000, which is equivalent in purchasing power to around $400,000 today. Precisely 101 years later, the picture appears at Cottone with an estimate of $30,000-$50,000.

A second unfinished Lawrence oil depicts Lady Fitzwilliam, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke. This picture was part of the Bretby Heirlooms sale that was held for the 7th Earl and the Dowager Countess of Chesterfield by Christie’s in London in June 1918. It was acquired by Clifton from Knoedler & Co., New York, in 1923 at a cost of $9,000. This time out it is estimated at $15,000-$25,000.

A rediscovered picture from the end of the 19th century is Gossipy Market Women at Nuremberg, an oil on canvas by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). Housed in its original carved and giltwood frame attributed to Stanford White, it is estimated at $20,000-$40,000.

Painted circa 1889, while Tiffany was busy with his celebrated Havemeyer Mansion commission, this picture of three market traders in conversation was exhibited in 1891 in both New York and Chicago, and by repute was among the furnishings at Tiffany’s Oyster Bay, Long Island home Laurelton Hall. A study of the subject was kept by Tiffany at Laurelton Hall. When the house and contents were sold in the 1940s, it was given by Tiffany’s daughter, Comfort Tiffany Gilder, to the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park, Florida. The 20 by 16 ¾ inch canvas on offer descended in the family of Henry M. V. Summers (1871-1959), who was a friend of Theodore Roosevelt and an auctioneer in Oyster Bay.

Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Mary, Countess of Belgrave by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which sold for $16,000 ($20,000 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Mary, Countess of Belgrave by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which sold for $16,000 ($20,000 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Lady Fitzwilliam, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which sold for $74,000 ($92,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Lady Fitzwilliam, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which sold for $74,000 ($92,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s 'Gossipy Market Women at Nuremberg,' which sold for $50,000 ($62,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s 'Gossipy Market Women at Nuremberg,' which sold for $50,000 ($62,500 with buyer's premium) at Cottone Auctions.

Tiffany Studios Peony lamp, estimated at $60,000-$90,000 at Cottone Auctions.

Tiffany Studios Peony lamp, estimated at $60,000-$90,000 at Cottone Auctions.

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

Franz von Stuck silver-plated nautilus cup leads our five lots to watch

Silver-plated nautilus cup designed by Franz von Stuck and produced by WMF, estimated at $3,000-$5,000 at Turner Auctions + Appraisals.

Silver-plated Nautilus Cup Designed by Franz von Stuck

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – This nautilus cup was one of the first sculptural works created by German painter and sculptor Franz von Stuck (1863-1928). Related to a calendar illustration for the month of October published in the Fliegende Blatter in 1889, it is thought to predate the Glaspalast exhibition in Munich in 1892, when the artist displayed his more famous work titled Athlet.

Stuck himself owned a bronze version of the model, mounted with a real nautilus shell, that he occasionally used as a prop in his paintings. However, most surviving examples were made in electroplate by WMF (Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik).

This one will be offered at Turner Auctions + Appraisals on Saturday, March 9 with an estimate of $3,000-$5,000. It is part of a sale dedicated to the estate of Edward S. Stephenson (1917-2011), a production designer for television who launched the leading prop house Hollywood Studio Gallery. Turner sold his large holdings of Japanese woodblock prints in May 2023.

Italian 17th-Century Wrought-Iron Four-Poster Bed

Italian 17th-century wrought iron four-poster bed, estimated at $1,000-$10,000 at Ashcroft and Moore.
Italian 17th-century wrought iron four-poster bed, estimated at $1,000-$10,000 at Ashcroft and Moore.

HATBORO, Penn. – With the news that High Point, North Carolina dealership Randall Tynsigner is closing after almost 35 years in business, auction house Ashcroft and Moore is conducting a retirement sale. The three-day auction, taking place Tuesday, March 12 through Thursday, March 14, numbers almost 900 lots, many of them priced at a fraction of retail levels. This four-poster bed fashioned in wrought iron is a type once common in 17th-century aristocratic Italy. Similar theatrical beds embellished with scrollwork decoration survive in a number of museum collections: this example was previously used as a movie prop in the 1933 film Queen Christina, starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in their fourth and final film together. Although it was priced at an eye-watering $140,000 in the Randall Tynsigner gallery, it has a more approachable auction estimate of $1,000-$10,000.

Star Trek’ Signed Cast Photo, Inscribed by William Shatner

‘Star Trek’ cast photo, signed by seven members and inscribed by William Shatner with the words that opened each episode of the original TV series, estimated at $1,700-$2,550 at Nate D. Sanders.

LOS ANGELES – Star Trek autographs don’t get much better than this one that will appear in Nate D. Sanders’ Thursday, March 14 Memorabilia Auction. Not only is the photo signed by seven leading members of the cast – William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, James Doohan, and Walter Koenig – but Shatner additionally writes in silver felt-tip the famous opening sequence: ‘Space the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.’ Offered together with an image of Shatner recently adding his words, it has an estimate of $1,700-$2,550.

Louis Comfort Tiffany Painting of a River Landscape

River landscape by Louis Comfort Tiffany, estimate $6,000-$8,000 at Willow Auction House.
River landscape by Louis Comfort Tiffany, estimate $6,000-$8,000 at Willow Auction House.

LINCOLN PARK, N.J. – Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) is best known for his work as a glassmaker and jeweler catering to the Gilded Age elite, but he was also a formally trained artist of some merit. His oils and watercolors are of particular interest for their choice of subject matter. In addition to typical Hudson River School-style landscapes of upstate New York, Tiffany applied the lessons of French realism to paint scenes of industry along the Hudson River and the slums of New York City. His apparently tranquil scenes of Seabright, New Jersey also depict its mixed-race fishing community and the economic strife faced by African Americans who moved north after the Civil War.

This oil on canvas of houses in a river landscape is signed at the lower right and measures 10 by 12in. It has an estimate of $6,000-$8,000 at Willow Auction House on Thursday, March 14.

Mid-18th-century Chinese Coromandel Lacquer 10-panel Screen

Mid-18th-century Chinese coromandel lacquer 10-panel screen, estimated at $4,000-$6,000 at Clarke Auction Gallery.
Mid-18th-century Chinese coromandel lacquer 10-panel screen, estimated at $4,000-$6,000 at Clarke Auction Gallery.

LARCHMONT, N.Y. – This mid-18th-century Chinese coromandel lacquer 10-panel screen will be part of the Sunday, March 10 estates auction at Clarke Auction Gallery. It has an estimate of $4,000-$6,000 and a provenance that includes former ownership by Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness (1883-1940), the British shipping magnate who, during his lifetime, was one of the richest men in the world. The screen, decorated to one side with a continuous pavilion scene in red, green, brown, and gold and to the reverse with calligraphy and precious objects, was later sold by Mallett & Son in London in 1969, at Parke Bernet in New York in 1971 for $5,500, and again in 1993 for just under $10,000. It comes for sale from a Greenwich, Connecticut estate.