: "I am thrilled," Jeffrey R. Brown said simply after he outlasted
all comers for a stunning painting of Gloucester Harbor by
William Morris Hunt for a record $391,000 at Grogan &
Company's recent sale. Brown, of Brown-Corbin Fine Art in Milton,
Mass., called the painting "extraordinary" and "irreplaceable."
He said he was buying for inventory, but that he hoped to see it
in a museum one day. Several museums did indicate interest, but
the competition came down to Brown and Newport, R.I., dealer
William Varieka, both of whom were bidding in the room after they
defeated the more trepid phone bidders.
The painting is one of two views of Gloucester Harbor that Hunt
painted in the summer of 1877. The other is part of the
substantial collection of the artist's work held by the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston. As he hammered it down, auctioneer Michael B.
Grogan observed, "It's not every day we get to have a painting
that is better than one at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston."
Descended in the family of Gordon Prince of Boston, the picture
had it all: a brilliant mastery of light, atypical of Hunt's
usual dark works. As the artist himself put it, he "painted a
picture with light in it."
A painting with other Prince provenance, a portrait of Frederick
O. Prince, grandfather of Gordon, by Joseph Ames, brought $3,738.
Prince, a former mayor of Boston, had loaned the picture to the
Museum of Fine Arts in 1883.
Bidding on the Canadian picture "Onions" by Quebec-born Marc
Aurele de Foy-Suzor Cote that was signed and dated "Suzor Cote
'96" opened at $10,000 against a $3/5,000 estimate and escalated
easily to $71,875. A dealer on the phone from Canada was the
victorious buyer.
While they were not a record, two paintings by French artist
Marcel Dreyfus Dyf brought strong prices from two separate phone
bidders. His signed "Vase of Flowers" brought $11,500, and "Still
Life with Flowers and Hat" drew $16,675. Both went to the trade;
one to a Canadian dealer, the other to a Midwestern dealer.
Ralph Cahoon's "Ms Crockett's Victory Garden" referred to the
PBS series of the 1970s, Crockett's Victory Garden, and
featured five mermaids working in a garden with a ship and
anchor in the background. The painting brought $31,050.
Internet bidders were so eager to have the indistinctly
signed oil on canvas by Romanian artist Elena Popea, "Woman and
Girl by the Harbor," that they were jumping the bids. The picture
was estimated at $300/500 and brought $3,105.
A watercolor abstraction by Hans Hoffmann from a Vermont
collection went to the phone for $17,250,and the very pretty oil
on canvas view of blue mountains and the sea, "Hawaii" by Francis
Orville Libby, went to a Boston dealer for $4,025 against its
estimated $800 to $1,200.
"Ms Crockett's Victory Garden" by Ralph Cahoon was a reference to
the PBS series of the 1970s, Crockett's Victory Garden,
which featured the esteemed Jim Crockett. The painting portrays
five mermaids working in a garden with a ship and anchor in the
background. It brought $31,050 from Cape Cod dealer Ralph
Diamond, who acknowledged the enormous popularity of Cahoon
pictures on the Cape.
The Eighteenth Century Italian School oil on canvas "Figures in
an Allegorical Landscape" brought a strong $24,150 from a phone
bidder who also took a Continental oil on panel impression of "St
George Slaying the Dragon" for $3,220.
Eighteenth Century Continental pictures were also of interest, as
a "Harbor Scene with Figures" brought $7,475.
The Willard Family Tree in watercolor interested buyers, who
drove it way past its estimated $400/600 to $4,600.
A fine early Nineteenth Century carved whalebone swift sold for
$3,738, and a stick barometer from Sewill of Liverpool drew
$2,415.
A large pair of Sevres porcelain vases (one shown) was painted
with maidens and putti and signed "A Collot" and sold on the
phone for $31,050.
The star of the Continental furniture was, without question,
the 74-inch George III carved giltwood demilune console table with
marquetry inlay that sold on the phone for $24,150. The table was
deaccessioned by an area institution and needed a little
restoration. It sold to a New Jersey buyer who called 20 minutes
into the sale to bid. A set of six George III side chairs brought
$5,750.
A George I burl walnut chest of drawers with three drawers over
four drew $6,325 from an absentee bidder, who also bought a
George II padouk four-drawer chest for $3,738.
A set of four Adams-style painted armchairs with caned seats sold
for $2,300, and a Seventeenth or Eighteenth Century Continental
fruitwood vargueno with beautiful marquetry inlay and iron mounts
sold for $5,175.
A Nineteenth Century Louis XVI-style marble-top demilune commode
with marquetry inlay and ormolu mounts was stamped "C. Pepin" in
three places and sold for $2,415.
A late Nineteenth Century American mahogany and satinwood stand
with a single drawer and a serpentine front sold for $5,750.
A federal-style mahogany serpentine front sideboard with nice
bell flower inlay sold to an Internet buyer for $3,738. Speaking
after the sale, Grogan said, "It must have been older than we
thought!"
A lot of 14 carved and polychrome wood santos from Puerto Rico
that dated from about 1790 through 1885 brought $5,463, and an
imposing 19-inch medieval gilt copper crucifix was a fairly
strong $2,760. They went to a Puerto Rican dealer on the phone
who was successful with many similar objects. An Italian pair of
carved and polychrome wall mirrors realized $2,530 from the same
phone bidder, while a Continental gilt wall mirror with a sturdy
carved overhang brought $2,415.
Four Nineteenth Century neoclassical panels painted with images
of musical instruments and classical reliefs brought $6,038, and
a pair of circa 1800 Continental panels decorated with images of
men fishing and fencing fetched $2,760. A pair of Eighteenth
Century brass wall sconces with shield-form backs and cut glass
shades was $2,645.
A pair of crystal and gilt metal vasiform wall sconces, each with
two lights, drew $4,600.
A pair of very large (32 inches) French porcelain vases from
Sevres in blue was painted with maidens and putti and signed "A
Collot." The pair sold on the phone for $31,050.
The pair of Chinese Export dogs appeared to be singing for
their supper. They brought $24,150.
An impressive Nineteenth Century pair of Chinese carved green
jade lanterns attested to the quality of Asian objects across the
block when it sold for $24,150. Two lots later, a pair of Chinese
Export figures of seated dogs, also from the Nineteenth Century,
emphasized the point when it also drew $24,150 from a different
phone bidder. A Chinese silk needlework fan with a carved white
jade handle with a $200/300 estimate fetched $4,313.
An Edo period Japanese two-panel paper screen titled "Lotus with
Moon" and painted elegantly in mineral color on gold brought
$18,975 against the estimated $4/6,000. It came from the
collection of a Vermont woman who bought in the 1970s in New York
and who also consigned the Hoffmann.
An Eighteenth Century Japanese scroll painting on silk with an
image of two quail in a landscape with berries went to another
phone bidder for $4,025 against the estimated $200/400, and a
small Japanese carved wood figural group with the same estimate
went to $4,600.
An 8 1/2-inch Gorham hammered silver and mixed metal footed bowl
decorated with a rooster, birds, butterflies and a spray of crab
apple elicited a very strong $9,488, but it was Danish silver
that commanded the greatest attention. A set of eight Georg
Jensen silver cordials with grape decoration drew $5,175, more
than ten times the high estimate. A Jensen silver compote, also
with a grape decoration, sold for $4,313, and an 11-inch Jensen
silver divided vegetable dish fetched $3,335.
All prices quoted reflect the 15 percent buyer's premium. For
information, 781-461-9500 or www.groganco.com.
