Craftsman Auction Establishes Record Price For Zimmermann

LAMBERTVILLE, NJ

:On September 17 and 18, Craftsman Auction, hosted by David Rago, Jerry Cohen and Suzanne Perrault, offered a select assortment of Arts and Crafts furniture and accessories that were well received by a large and enthusiastic audience. Prior to the sale, David Rago stated that he was expecting to realize $1.7 million from the 838 lots offered. A total of $2,283,583 was achieved with $1,955,670 resulting from the Saturday session alone.

Bidder participation included 120 absentee, 140 phone and more than 500 on the Internet. Highlighting the auction were 30 select lots by Arts and Crafts period metal craftsman Marie Zimmermann. The collection was directly descended from the artist's keepsakes of her own work, bequeathed to her lifelong house manager, Ida Egli, at the time of Zimmermann's death in 1972. The rare pieces had remained in Egli's possession until now.

More than 50 museums contacted the auction house to inquire about the outstanding collection. According to Rago, collectors and museums hoped to find one or two pieces and were staggered at the concept of seeing so many examples in one place. Zimmermann's work is currently owned by The Boston Museum of Art and The Metropolitan Museum in New York City, among others.

The top lot of the Zimmermann pieces was an elaborately hand carved wooden box, 101/4 by 121/2 by 85/8 inches, that was studded with cabochon jewels of amethyst and semiprecious quartz. It stood on round ivory ball feet with cast bronze handles and hinges with a hasp intricately fashioned in Egyptian motifs. The surface was richly painted in green, blue, red and yellow with black outlining and natural brown wood edges and the interior was lined in purple silk with small medallion designs in Eastern taste.

The rare box was pictured in the February 1922 issue of House and Garden, a copy of which was included with the sale of the item. Estimated at $30/50,000, it realized an astounding $117,500, a record price for the artist's work. The previous record for Zimmermann was established in 1989 at Sotheby's when a large covered silver jar sold for $49,500.

Offered for the first time in 63 years was a group of exceptional collection of Rookwood. These were one-of-a-kind pieces that were considered so unique that they reportedly went directly to the Cincinnati Museum. In 1942 they were sold at B. Altman's in New York City and were purchased at that time by the consignor. Chief among them was a fine Standard glaze tall vase with bronze overlay decorated by Kataro Shiravamadani with an understated Japanese scene of a fish and sea plants, 1889. Aggressive bidding on the 12-inch vase brought the total to $36,425, against a presale estimate of $6/9,000.

In general, pottery sold well. Among the other notable lots was a bulbous vase by George Ohr. The 6-inch-tall piece with a scalloped rim and floriform dimple on the front was covered in a green and gunmetal brown and amber mottled glaze. It was sold with a handwritten letter and poem signed by Ohr and dated 1899, as well as a newspaper clipping relating a conversation between potter Jules Garby and Ohr. Estimated at $4/5,000, the lot opened at $12,000 and galloped to a staggering $32,313.

A 42-piece third-generation private pottery collection formed in the 1880s featured an extraordinary John Bennett large 15-inch covered jar painted with branches of yellow dogwood and red roses on a dramatic black ground. The interior of the lid showed black-eyed Susans on a golden ground. Signed "Bennett New York, 1881," the jar sold at more than four times the estimates at $64,625.

From the same collection came a vase by Elizabeth and Hannah Overbeck decorated with heavily stylized Queen Anne's lace blossoms in mottled brown, cherry red and turquoise on a brown and mauve ground. More than doubling estimates, the lot was hammered down at $24,675.

Among a selection of Grueby was a spherical vase by Ruth Erickson with a closed-in rim surrounded with tooled and applied full height green leaves on a blue green ground. Cataloged as "a most successful piece in shape, design, and color," it was the first one like it that the auction house had ever seen. Marked with a circular stamp and paper label, the vase commanded $25,850.

Tiffany took center stage with a fine lady's version desk set that was consigned after surfacing at a Monday appraisal day at Rago's. It consisted of 12 pieces set in Mosaic pattern enamel and each piece was marked "Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces" and realized $35,250 against a presale estimate of $4/6,000.

Other accessories of interest included a Jesse Preston four-branch bronze candelabra with trumpet flowers on swirling stems attached to a free-form organic Art Nouveau base that brought $10,575.

Lamps included a rare Roycroft table lamp designed and executed by Dard Hunter with a sloping circular leaded glass shade in a stylized pattern of fruit and foliage in yellow and green slag glass. The ceramic base was molded with salamanders and covered in a matte green glaze. Rago commented that very few of Hunter's ceramic works are still in existence. The lamp opened at $27,500 and finished at $76,375, easily surpassing the high estimate of $50,000.

An unusual Gorham table lamp with an asymmetrically bordered leaded glass shade of white and pink cyclamen blossoms and green leaves on a foliate base more than doubled estimates at $14,100.

Gustav Stickley topped the furniture selection with a large server, circa 1902, attracting the lion's share of attention. With chamfered sides and two small drawers over a single long drawer, wooden pyramidal knobs and a dark brown original finish, the piece was estimated at $20/30,000. Bidding on the lot was brisk with it selling at $58,750.

A price of $26,438 was paid for a Gustav Stickley even-arm crib settle with canted sides in original finish, while a Roycroft hand tooled and embossed leather covered chair with vertical seat-rail slats and tapered legs had a carved orb and cross mark brought $31,725.

The tile selection featured a rare Hartford Faience mosaic tile panel depicting a hilly landscape and tall trees in matte greens and browns on a blue sky. It was mounted in its original pine box that measured 191/4 by 131/4 inches and sold for $16,450. A large 1914 Rookwood scenic vellum plaque painted by E.T. Hurley with sheep grazing under apple trees also did well at $26,438.

All prices include the buyer's premium charged. For further information contact Craftsman Auctions, 333 North Main Street, Lambertville NJ 08530, 609-397-9374, or www.ragoarts.com.