Osborne Shepherding Scene Wins Canadian Hearts and a $640,000 Bid

"Norfolk Village," by Walter Osborne, blew away its $30/40,000 estimate.

Osborne Shepherding Scene Wins Canadian Hearts and a $640,000 Bid

By Rita Easton

TORONTO, CANADA - Waddington's held a five-day auction November 26 to 30 featuring decorative arts and fine antique furniture, with 2,000-plus lots ranging from single consignments to entire estates crossing the block. All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars, converted at the rate of $1.55 (Canadian) to $1 (US). More than 1,000 bidding numbers were active, generating a gross of $3.875 million.

Fetching the highest bid of the auction was an oil on canvas by Walter Osborne (Irish, 1859-1903), "Norfolk Village," a 19.8 by 12.8-inch canvas depicting a little boy and a dog herding sheep, estimated at $30/40,000, but escalating to $640,000.

An oil on canvas by Sir Alfred Munnings (British, 1878-1959), "Exmoor Farmer," another canvas with a sheep herding subject, this time featuring a man on a horse, reached $300,000; a set of three carved ivory skull studs, elegantly boxed, sold at $5,500; a Rene Buthaud earthenware vase, circa 1925, 11.7 inches high, made $11,500; and an early Nineteenth Century Quebec painted pine cupboard, red with green bordered panels, garnered $25,000.

Quebec cupboard, $25,000.

A sterling silver Charles II tankard, circa 1677, 7.6 inches high, went out at $15,500; Mexican silver was a sought-after item, with a 970 grade fringe necklace set with oval amethyst cabochons, made by Antonio Pineda, estimated at $300/500, realized $1,955 and by the same maker, a 970 grade silver bracelet with amethyst stone, estimated at $250/400, achieved $2,070.

"Tete de Moine Effet de Soleil," a pastel by Marc-Aurele DeFoy Suzor-Cote (1868-1937), a portrait of a monk, 16 by 12.5 inches, reached $25,000; a miniature oval portrait of Daniel Leonard (1740-1829), 1.7 inches in height, estimated at $500/1,000, fetched $1,400; a boulle "Kple Kple" junior male mask, 41.5 cm high, and a signed and numbered color lithograph by Marc Chagall (French-Russian, 1887-1985), "La Verger de Philetas" from Daphnis and Chloe, 16.5 by 25.3 inches, was purchased at $15,500.

A Japanese bronze and ivory sculpture of a woman, "San-gen Player," 13 inches high, did $6,000; a bronze after Bruno Zach, 13 inches high, depicting two polo players, garnered $1,300; a fine Japanese ivory group of a monkey trainer with "Bundo" mark, 9.8 inches long, so at $1,500; a bronze on marble plinth, 30.5 inches long, "Satyr at Rest," after Ary Jean-Leon Bitler, reached $3,000; and "Cleopatra and Attendant," a 32.7-inch high bronze by Henri Dumas Etienne, went out at $16,000.

Prices quoted reflect a 15 percent buyer's premium.