: Weschler's recent auction of European and American furniture and
decorations including Asian works of art ended on a high note
with an Aesthetic Movement Minton tile inset burl wood and walnut
side cabinet on the auction block.
During exhibition, the carved cabinet ($3/5,000) garnered a lot
of attention and once bidding commenced the estimate was quickly
topped to reach a final price of $97,250 to an East Coast museum.
The sale offered 585 lots, with more than 90 percent of the
property selling and totaling $1.25 million.
American furniture included a Chippendale walnut tall case clock
($5/7,000) by Conococheague, Penn., clockmaker John Scott that
sold to an avid collector for $49,350.
A Federal inlaid and crossbanded birch and curly maple bow front
chest of drawers, from the workshop of James Prescott, Deerfield,
N.H., sold for $7,050; a Chippendale walnut small chest-on-chest
($1/1,500) realized $14,100; and a Philadelphia classical
satinwood inlaid mahogany fold-top card table, with
double-dolphin standard, was aggressively bid to $8,225.
American decorative and fine art highlights included a Federal
satinwood inlaid and crossbanded mahogany miniature side cabinet,
climbing past its estimate to $3,290.
A 65-piece cobalt and gilt decorated dinner service, made for
the Arnold family of Providence, RI, Jiaqing Period (1796-1820)
more than doubled its presale estimate to realize $24,675.
A large Navajo Ganado-Klagetoh rug, circa 1940-1950, fetching
$14,100; and a oil on canvas by Twentieth Century artist D. Tayler,
"American Frigate at Sea," sailing away to $3,995.
Chinese Export was another solid performer at the February
auction. The most sought-after lot was a 65-piece cobalt and gilt
decorated dinner service. The dinner service ($7/10,000), made
for the Arnold family of Providence, R.I., Jiaqing period
(1796-1820), realized $24,675.
American, English and Continental silver included an American
repoussé silver ewer by Andrew Ellicott Warner, which brought
$3,430 and a silver punch ladle, possibly by Philadelphia
silversmith J. Alexander Simpson, that sold for $2,585.
A George III black and gilt-japanned bracket clock by John
Ellicott, London, realized $22,325.
Decorative Continental furniture continues to dominate the
market as an Italian neoclassical-style micromosaic and specimen
marble side table depicting St Peter's Square and other Roman
monuments sold for $17,625. A massive Syrian mother-of-pearl, ebony
bone and wire inlaid hardwood side cabinet brought $11,750.
Continental ceramics featured a pair of late Nineteenth Century
Sèvres-type ormolu mounted pictorial covered urns, which sold to
a phone bidder for $6,462, and a Meissen nodding pagoda figure
hammered down at $5,390.
French mantel clocks hit a high note with a late Nineteenth
Century Sèvres-type and ormolu three-piece clock garniture
($6/8,000) by Japy Frères that realized $11,750. A pair of
Charles X ormolu centerpieces drew $6,462 and an unsigned
Eighteenth Century Spanish School portrait of a gentleman ($1/
2,000) that incited a bidding war between the phones and the
floor realized $14,100.
A large selection of Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century
boxes and tea achieved strong results including a Spanish
Colonial brass and silver mounted tortoiseshell casket, which
more than tripled its estimate to sell for $5,875 and a German
brass mounted kingwood tea caddy that realized $3,525.
English furniture highlights included a pair of Regency style
mahogany caned bergères, which brought $8,812, an early
Nineteenth Century Regency ebonized wood inlaid and crossbanded
mahogany sideboard at $4,935 and a George III style ebonized and
satinwood inlaid mahogany linen press at $3,760.
An Eighteenth/Nineteenth Century Sino-Tibetan bronze figure of
the Dakini Vajravarahi fetched $17,625.
One standout from a selection of four English bracket clocks
was a George III black and gilt-japanned bracket clock ($4/6,000)
by John Ellicott, London. Consigned from a prominent Virginia
collection, the clock, circa 1770, struck at $22,325.
The Asian works of art session saw fierce overseas bidding
including a Korean white slip inlaid Punch'ong stem bowl, Chôson
dynasty, Seventeenth Century, which realized $4,465; a Nineteenth
Century Chinese coromandel lacquer eight-panel floor screen at
$5,875, an Eighteenth-Nineteenth Century Sino-Tibetan bronze
figure of the Dakini Vajravarahi for $17,625; and a Chinese
Famille Rose plaque of immortals playing a game of Go sold to an
Internet bidder for $20,825.
An Egyptian mounted giltwood Osiris bronze ($1/1,500) was a
standout when it sold for $16,450. Additionally, among the 30
rugs offered was a late Nineteenth Century Serapi rug, which sold
within estimate at $23,500.
Weschler's next auction of European and American furniture and
decorations including Asian Works of art will be May 20. For
information, www.weschlers.com or 202-628-1281.
