Neal Auction’s Spring Sale Sees Sweeping Standouts

New Orleans, LA.

:Neal Auction Company's April 14–15, 2007, spring estates auction witnessed considerable success. With presale estimate of $1.5/2.2 million, the 917 lots sold attained $2.6 million.

The auction featured paintings, furniture, porcelain, sculpture, garden ornaments and other decorative works of art, with many of the examples offered coming from the estate of the Reverend W.A. Criswell of Dallas.

Leading art offerings and the sale was a William Henry Buck (New Orleans, 1840–1888) oil, "Along the Bayou" ($100/150,000), that achieved $234,750, followed closely by a Richard Clague Jr (New Orleans, 1821–1873) oil on canvas, "Life on the Farm: St Tammany Parish," ($80/120,000) that realized $201,750.

A four-lot collection of Hans Mangelsdorf (New Orleans, b 1903) oil paintings soared above expectation, with the first, "Louisiana Bayou," selling at $12,337 — a record price for a Mangelsdorf painting. The remaining three, "Men Planting," "Louisiana Fishing" and "Public Health and Industry," achieved $8,225, $5,287 and $4,112, respectively.

A Marc Chagall (Russian French, 1887–1985) lithograph, "Bay of Angels with a Bouquet of Roses," achieved a sizable $19,975 — a record price for this particular print. James Michalopoulos's (New Orleans, b 1951) oil "Held by Hope, Etrigny, France" also achieved $8,812, while a Rafael Coronel (Mexican, b 1932) acrylic, "Painter in White," realized $11,943.

European oil painting standouts included a small oil (9¾ by 13 inches) by Guillaume Seignac (French, 1870–1924), "Summer Idyll," that realized $12,862, and a Nineteenth Century French School painting depicting "The Marquis de Lafayette and His Groom with an Arab Horse, Before a Stable Façade within a Princely Park," at $8,518.

A John Kelly Fitzpatrick (Alabama, 1888–1953) oil on canvas, "Loading Hay," was one of the auction's biggest surprises. With a supporting estimate of $1,5/2,500, the painting achieved a record price of $18,800 — more than 12 times its low estimate.

Furniture bidding was strong in all categories, with English and Continental examples predominating.

Highlights included a Nineteenth Century English Louis XVI-style ebony, amboyna, Sèvres and bronze-mounted bonheur du jour from the Criswell estate at $10,800 and an antique English carved mahogany cabinet in the style of Thomas Chippendale at $11,162.

Another lot that performed well was an Eighteenth Century rare French provincial painted and brass-mounted cabinet on stand, with its doors and drawer fronts decorated with painted figures of early Christian saints centering the Holy Trinity. It achieved $12,925.

With a presale estimate of $2/3,000, a late Eighteenth Century George III inlaid mahogany sideboard table in the Hepplewhite taste achieved $15,275.

Also performing well was a pair of American 12-inch globes, 1854–1855, by Josiah Loring, Boston, which brought $7,050.

Porcelain offerings were stellar, with numerous items having good estate provenance and many coming from the estates of Walter S. McIntyre and Reverend Criswell. Highlights included a Sèvres porcelain tea service, decorated with scenes from Napoleon's battles, at $4,993 (Criswell estate); a Paris porcelain cobalt and gilt-decorated and biscuit reticulated figural corbeille, $9,000; and a set of six Limoges porcelain oyster plates from the White House service of President Rutherford B. Hayes, $8,518.

Sculpture performed well, with one lot exceeding all expectation by selling for almost four times its presale estimate and another achieving a record sale price.

A rare pair of French portrait-headed bronze sphinxes, mid-Eighteenth Century, mounted by Cupids posed as holding urns (elements now lacking), on boullework sarcophagus stands, as a garniture de cheminée, sold for $31,200, while a Malvina Hoffman (American, 1885–1966) mahogany sculpture, "African Slave," achieved the record price of $7,750 for an example in wood.

Garden ornaments and statuary highlights included a group of eight Continental carved and painted pine columns ($3/4,000) that reached $11,750, a Nineteenth Century American cast iron sugar kettle of massive proportions, 87 inches in diameter, at $21,150, and a mid-Nineteenth Century set of antique American "Lamb and Willow" cast iron fencing, measuring approximately 90 feet, at $19,975.

All prices reported include the buyer's premium. Neal Auction Company is at 4038 Magazine Street. For information, www.nealauction.com or 504-899-5329.