GENESEO, NY — Martin May’s obituary describes him as something of a Renaissance man. He was a top-rated orthopedic surgeon with a South Florida practice, a husband, a father to three, a business owner, and apparently one of the leading collectors of non-Tiffany Studios leaded glass lamps from the early 20th century. Five years after his passing, the family of Dr. May (1947-2010) has elected to return his beloved lamps to the collecting community by way of Cottone Auctions on Friday, September 20, with 202 top-tier lots of lamps and (surprise) Tiffany Studios paperweight vases. The complete catalog is now open for bidding at LiveAuctioneers.
Bigelow, Kennard & Co. was founded in Boston in 1830 by John Bigelow as a jewelry importer with a nationwide clientele, including one US Army Major James Henry Carleton, who purchased expensive watches as peace-keeping trinkets to be given to the Apache population he oversaw at Fort Union, Albuquerque, New Mexico in the early 1850s. By the turn of the century, the firm was making Tiffany Studios-like leaded glass lighting, highlighted by this incredible cherry blossom chandelier with three satellites, described by Cottone as the only known example. Apparently a circa-1910 special order, it carries a $20,000-$40,000 estimate.
Dr. May’s beloved Duffner & Kimberly Dragon lamp is one of only four known to the collecting community. Two of the examples feature yellow dragon eyes, while the May collection example features the more striking red-eyed variation. The lamp appeared in D&K’s 1906 catalog as ‘Antique No. 521’ and was featured in Paul Crist’s Mosaic Shades Vol. II. It is estimated at $50,000-$80,000.
The sale’s third major highlight is a Handel Aquarium lamp. Its rectangular shade, decorated with goldfish swimming among aquatic plant life, has a unique texturing on the surface. When illuminated, it has an an eerie and realistic quality, due to Handel’s application of a thick enamel layer that reduces to translucent globules in firing. Signed ‘Bedigie’ on a mermaid base, the circa-1910 no. 7538 lamp is estimated at $20,000-$30,000.
