: Ivey-Selkirk Auctioneers celebrated its 175th year as the oldest
auction house in the Midwest and one of the oldest locally owned
businesses with a Winter gallery auction held on December 3 and
4, at 7447 Forsyth. Ivey-Selkirk sold more than 700 lots of fine
art and antiques and achieved a total result of $1,103,390. All
prices quoted include the buyer's premium.
The headliner for this auction was the "Autumn Aspens" oil on
canvas by Oscar E. Berninghaus, (American, 1874-1952), that sold
for $151,000 to a very active telephone bidder.
Another American artist, Frederick Oakes Sylvester, was
represented by four oil paintings in the sale that sold from
$5,000 to $8,500. Sylvester is best known for his lyrical
paintings of the Mississippi River Valley; he lived in St Louis
beginning in 1892.
Continental art, specifically Italian paintings, doubled and
tripled their presale estimates.
Twelve rare George II mahogany dining chairs went for $72,900.
A Nineteenth Century painting of a vast landscape with
shepherdess and cattle by G. Segantini, tripled its presale
estimate to sell for $23,000 to an East Coast telephone bidder. An
elegant painting of cherubs, measuring 36 by 49 inches, attributed
to Andrea Vaccaro (Italian, 1598-1670), sold for $8,625. An
additional Italian oil painting by Giorgio Lucchesi (1855-1941),
bearing an exhibition label from the Associatione Nationale Degli
Artisti, Florence, sold for $20,700. This painting, dated 1923,
depicts a still life with a basket dripping colorful grapes and
apples placed on a ledge.
A set of 12 rare George II mahogany dining chairs doubled its
presale estimate to sell for $72,900. These chairs were
originally purchased from Frank Partridge & Sons, Ltd, in
1933 by a prominent St Louis family for $6,400, exactly one-tenth
of the gavel price on December 4. The chairs were formerly from
the collection of S.B. Joel and of Sir Blundell Maple.
An important American fine and rare Chippendale period cherrywood
long case clock by Jacob Young, Elizabeth-Town, Md., estimated to
sell between $15,000 and $20,000, sold for $46,000, returning to
its origins on the East Coast.
Jacob Young, ElizabethTown, Md., this long case clock sold for
$46,000.
Among the highlights in Continental decorative arts, glass
and sculpture was a beautiful decorated Austrian Lobmeyer enamel
glass service of 54 pieces. Each gold rimmed piece was decorated
with colorful polychrome enamel figural reserves and flowers. The
entire service was estimated at $4/5,000; it sold for $10,925.
An elegant marble female allegorical figure by Batachi of
Florence, standing at 76 inches tall, tripled it estimate at
$29,900 and an exceptional Austrian enamel cornucopia vase
depicting mythological and classical scenes on a robin's-egg blue
and black ground and mounted with jeweled and enameled bronze
sold for $24,150, quadruple its estimate.
Rare, turn-of-the-century Oriental carpets invited competitive
bidding in the rug department. A fine French Aubusson flatweave
palace carpet in the Louis XV style on a pale celadon field,
circa 1860, sold for $10,120 to a local floor bidder. An unusual
and fine Manchester wool Luristan room rug, circa 1930, exceeded
estimate to sell for $10,925. This carpet came from a weaving
region south of Hamadan, which extends into North Luristan.
Ivey-Selkirk is now accepting consignments for its spring
auction, scheduled for March 25-26. For further information,
314-726-5515, 800-728-8002 or iveyselkirk.com.
