Rose Hill's Auction Of Art And Antiques Is 'Best Yet'

ENGLEWOOD, N.J.

: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.

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.

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.

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.