BEACHWOOD, Ohio – An oil painting by the Japanese-American artist Kikuo Saito (1939-2016), a colorful Parisian street scene by Constantin Kluge (French, 1912-2003), and a large stoneware vessel by Claude Conover (American, 1907-1994) all finished well above their high estimates in Neue Auctions’ online-only Fine Art & Antiques auction on October 30.
The 1997 Saito painting, titled Summer Ghost, was the sale’s top lot, finishing at $14,760 against an estimate of $7,000-$10,000. The work was signed, titled and dated. Saito was an abstract painter with ties to the Color Field movement and Lyrical abstraction. His paintings infused saturated colorscapes with delicately drawn lines.
Two Kluge oils were on offer. The Parisian cityscape, titled Place de la Madeleine, went for $9,840 against an estimate of $5,000-$8,000, while the aptly titled Village on a River changed hands for $3,444.
The Claude Conover Milpa stoneware vessel soared past its $4,000-$6,000 estimate to bring $8,610. The large size of this structure makes the viewer think about how Conover stretches the limits of ceramic structure.
Lots that outperformed expectations included a pair of Chinese painted panels that realized $7,380 against a $500-$1,000 estimate; and a 19th-century Khotan handwoven wool carpet, made in Eastern Turkestan, which sold for $9,840, easily exceeding its $3,000-$5,000 pre-sale estimate. The rug had a vase and pomegranate design on a vibrant blue field.
The sterling silver category was led by a large circa-1966 Tiffany & Company monteith punch bowl weighing 109.37 oz. troy, which achieved $4,305, and an International sterling silver flatware service in the Royal Danish pattern weighing about 159.82 oz. troy, which sold for $3,705.
The sale featured a nice collection of American curly maple furniture, including a 19th-century curly maple two-drawer stand, finished on all sides and raised on turned legs, which realized $1,722.
Asian lots were led by a Chinese peach bloom glaze vase with the six-character mark of Qing Kangxi in underglaze blue, which sold for $2,460, and a Chinese Kangxi style famille verte tea caddy, which changed hands at $1,169.
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