: Rose Hill Auction Gallery recently conducted its annual sale of
art and antiques. Highlighting this auction was the collection of
antiques from the estate of Carl Sebok, most of which were
purchased from prominent New York City auction houses and were
consigned without reserves.
This high-end sale brought out a standing room only crowd and led
to ferocious bidding by local dealers who had to compete with
absentee, phone and Internet bidders. In most instances, the
locals won out.
Among the top sales from the Sebok collection were a massive
Nineteenth Century dore bronze and rouge marble three-piece
garniture set, which reached its high estimate of $34,500; a
colorful amber, orange and red Galle vase with pear branch relief
that flew past its $2,5/3,500 estimate to reach $12,938; a highly
desirable group of porcelains that included a KPM plaque of a
seminude woman reading, signed "Korn," which sold for $6,038; and
another KPM "Clementine," a ravishing beauty, signed "Schinzel,"
which hit $11,500, way over its $3/6,000 estimate.
A Nineteenth Century Royal Vienna vase with hand painted nymphs
in a garden by Zwierzina went for $8,913, even with a restored
bottom. A highly unusual and beautifully rendered portrait of
Sarah Bernhardt, painted on leather with a gilded patterned
background, was a good buy at $1,725, the top of its estimate.
Nineteenth Century dore bronze and rouge marble three-piece
garniture set, $34,500.
Works from other estates that did well included a last-minute
arrival - a bronze Indian brave "Multnomah" by the American
sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil, which was a 1920s copy of an
earlier turn-of-the-century bronze. After heavy Internet and phone
bidding, it went to a Manhattan gallery for $51,750, nicely
exceeding its $25,000 estimate.
The sleeper of the evening was a pair of tiny 31/2-inch Satsuma
cabinet vases with finely painted florals that soared way past
the $400/600 estimate to hammer down at $9,085, in spite of the
fact that one vase was split in half.
Among the many fine quality bronzes auctioned off, an 1888 Hiolin
"man, dog and sheep group" brought $7,360; a somewhat dandified
and stylized version of Beethoven hit $7,763; while a large
bronze Nineteenth Century figure of a Neopolitan musician by A.E.
Carrier sold for $8,625; and a J.D. Cormier Deco bronze and ivory
figure of a dancer brought $11,500.
A pair of intensely colored 5-foot-tall stained glass windows
from a local church went for $3,565, while a pair of 4-foot,
beautifully carved white marble praying angels from the same
church brought $5,451.
Eric Sloane's iconic "Red Barn," oil in original wood frame,
$17,250.
While there were few bargains to be had in the antiques
section of the sale, the art that was sold first paled by
comparison, perhaps because buyers were holding onto their money
for the high-end "goodies" coming later. Ranging from the
Eighteenth through the late Twentieth Century was an eclectic
selection of Old Master, religious, genre, landscape, seascape and
portrait paintings running the gamut from classical to primitive to
Impressionist to abstract styles.
An Eighteenth/Nineteenth Century small oil after Albani
(Sixteenth Century) of the Holy Family with red wax seals
indicating it belonged to the Royal Prussian Hohenzollerns, was a
steal at $1,495. An unusual Nineteenth Century portrait of a nude
male painted in the difficult foreshortened frontal position,
first attempted by Mantegna in the Fifteenth Century, hit $9,200,
way past its $800/1,200 presale estimate. Nineteenth Century
landscapes and seascapes were good buys, most going near or
slightly above their estimates.
Faring better were several genres, especially a 3-foot-by-2-foot
exquisitely painted Nineteenth Century oil of monks in a kitchen
teaching a guinea pig and a rabbit some tricks, which fetched
$7,475; an equally charming watercolor of a female artist
painting a portrait of a cardinal by Belisario Gioja (Italian,
Eighteenth Century), $2,530; and a Henry Simmons Mowbray tavern
scene, $6,153.
KPM plaque, "Clementine," signed "Schinzel," $11,500.
Highlighting Twentieth Century art was Eric Sloane's iconic
"Red Barn" oil in its original wood frame that garnered a
respectable $17,250; a small but classic winter watercolor by
Berthelsen that made $1,035; a John Heliker large, almost abstract,
oil of "Mykonos" in shades of misty blue that went for $2,530; and
a Walter Koeniger winter scene that hit $8,625.
The market for American artist Gabriel Spat, who specialized in
Paris scenes, has been growing and six very small oils on board
from his estate did extremely well, selling from $1,000 to $3,450
for an 8-by-9-inch "July 14th Paris Celebration."
Among European artists, a wild American cowboy on a bronco by the
Hungarian Pal Fried made $2,070; a romantic painting of lovers in
the Alps inspired by Donizetti's opera Linda De Chamonix,
attributed to C. Ferrari brought $5,750; while an unusually
large, beautifully rendered watercolor of men and women in a
sailboat also hit $5,750.
Prices reported above include the 15 percent buyers premium. Rose
Hill will conduct another art and antiques auction in the spring
and is accepting consignments now. For information, 201-816-1940
or email rosehill@nj.rr.com.
Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, painted on leather with a gilded
patterned background, $1,725.
