Fine art glass was well received at Skinner’s Twentieth Century Design sale December 17, and Tiffany was a reliable favorite. Although the lots across the block spanned the century, the highlight of the nearly 800-lot sale was a Tiffany Studios Dragonfly table lamp that sold in the gallery for $74,063. The dragonflies, with protuberant amber red eyes, were set against a blue-green ground embedded with green jewels. The shade was signed and the decorated bronze base was marked “Tiffany Studios, New York 359.”
A mosaic glass Snowball table lamp with an irregular border was not marked, but stood on a bronze verdigris base marked “Tiffany Studios, New York 351,” and sold for $11,850.
A Tiffany Studios bronze and art glass lamp cap with a gold Favrile glass finial was unmarked, but still realized $5,925. A Tiffany Studios hanging Acorn lamp that retained the Tiffany Studios tag went to $11,331. A Tiffany Studios Acorn table lamp, circa 1905, which catalog notes indicate was marked “Tiffany Studios 1435” and inscribed “Goodyer Guilford Conn.,” sold for $10,073; a Tiffany Studios Lily lamp on a bronze lily pad base with seven lights brought the same price.
Somewhat surprising, a Tiffany Studios table lamp with a doré shade and panels of green linenfold glass that was marked “Tiffany Studios, New York, 1931” realized $8,888 against the estimated $10/15,000. A small (15¾ inches) Tiffany Studios table lamp with a single light and an urn form base sold for $3,185. A bronze student lamp with two Tiffany green damascene glass shades had some damage but realized $7,703. Other Tiffany pieces included a Tiffany Furnaces brass desk clock with blue enamel decoration and a movement by Chelsea Clock Company, which realized $3,675.
French glass by René Lalique was a big attraction. A Lalique Acanthus vase in clear and frosted butterscotch glass, with acanthus leaves wrapped around the body, was marked and sold for $20,145. An opalescent Lalique Danaïdes vase decorated with six water bearers drew $5,629, and a René Lalique smoky gray glass sophora vase from a 1926 pattern reaped $4,148.
A Charder LeVerre Francais cameo glass vase decorated with hanging trumpet blossoms was signed and inscribed and sold for $3,555, while a LeVerre Francais cameo glass table lamp decorated with abstract budding branches on a peach ground elicited $3,081.
A handsome 113/8 -inch Daum cameo glass vase with enameled decoration on a shaded peach to green ground sold for $4,148; a French Nancy signed pâté de verre fish dish by Almaric Walter and Henri Berge realized $3,675; and an etched glass and enamel Galle scent bottle decorated with flowers with gilt highlights on etched green glass fetched $4,740. Italian glass was represented by a 56-inch-tall Murano glass figure “La Musa” by Pino Signoretto that sold for $3,553.
A Thomas Webb and Sons cameo glass claret jug with white decoration on a yellow ground and with a silver gilt mount was hallmarked for Frederick Bradford McCrea of London, 1885, and realized $5,096 from a phone bidder. A hexagonal Art Nouveau cameo glass vase with cameo panels of birds and insects carved white on a blue ground sold at $4,740, while a Thomas Webb and Sons glass vase with white flowers and vines carved onto a blue ground brought $3,851.
A pretty English Stourbridge rock crystal decanter went to a phone buyer for $4,444.
A wrought iron and glass fire screen, circa 1909, with a mosaic glass overlay of red roses and green leaves over clear glass panes from Bigelow Kennard of Boston went for $10,665.
Attributed to John LaFarge and removed from the New York home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a mosaic glass transom window sold for $9,480. LaFarge oversaw the decoration of the Fifth Avenue mansion; the transom window was installed in 1881 and sold back to LaFarge in 1893, who kept it until his death.
Described as being from “Europe,” a 26-inch Art Deco marble lamp in the form of a dancer in harem dress and with a small lamp at her feet sold for $3,851.
Modern furniture included a 1972 Wendell Castle low table in walnut and laminated walnut was described in the catalog notes as a “laminated cherry low table.” Marked “WC 72,” it sold for $24,885. A Wendell Castle wall mirror in walnut and laminated walnut marked “WC 76” sold at $13,035. The mirror was commissioned directly from Castle by the consignor.
A George Nakashima black walnut lounge chair with a square spindle back brought $3,063, while a pair of Tommy Parzinger floor lamps in bright orange paint on stacked bases sold for $11,025. A tubular brass floor lamp by Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings for George Hansen Lamps attracted much interest and fetched $3,318, far exceeding the estimated $200/300. A mahogany and brass dining table by Robsjohn-Gibbings for Saridas of Athens realized $5,333. A pair of Danish modern lounge chairs in oak and paper cord by Hans J. Wegner for Carl Hansen and Son brought $4,740.
An 80-inch credenza and mirror from 1970 by Bernard Rohne for Mastercraft in acid etched brass brought $5,925; an English officer’s aluminum armoire and bed fetched $3,437; a Charles Eames chair and ottoman in rosewood with black leather for Herman Miller sold for $3,981; and a Charles and Ray Eames chair and ottoman for Herman Miller realized $3,675.
A Midcentury Modern upholstered chair, circa 1962, with cream painted arms and legs, was estimated at $500/700 and sold for $5,206. No maker was specified, but someone knew something. A patinated and acid etched bonze wall plaque by Philip and Kelvin Laverne with images of Chinese figures in a palace, circa 1974, measured 32 by 104 inches and sold for $11,850, and a 54-inch Laverne patinated and acid etched bronze wall plaque, circa 1974, decorated with Chinese figures along a river with mountains went for $5,819.
A pottery charger by California art potter Peter Voulkos appealed to a variety of bidders, and went out at $10,665. Other art pottery of note included a tall cylindrical pottery vase by New Hampshire artists Edwin and Mary Scheier made in brown with a blue interior that realized $8,888, and a Grueby pottery lamp in green glaze with an unmarked slag glass shade with autumn leaves that brought $7,703. A late Nineteenth Century Weller Louwelsa floor vase decorated by Eugene Roberts stood 50 inches tall; it may have been an exhibition piece. A buyer on the phone claimed it at $4,444.
A selection of Dedham pottery that had once belonged to actor and director Penny Marshall attracted a number of bidders, including Boston arts and crafts scholar and author Marilee Boyd Meyer, who was present to observe the proceedings. There were eight pieces of Dedham turtle pottery including a small plate signed by Maude Davenport that sold in the gallery for $5,036, against the estimated $700/900, while a lot of three pieces of Dedham chick pottery, comprising a small bowl and two plates estimated at $300/500, brought $4,740 online. Eight pieces of Dedham elephant pottery brought $2,963, while another group of ten Dedham elephant pieces drew $3,200.
A Newcomb College pottery vase, circa 1918, decorated with trees in a landscape with Spanish moss in shades of blue and green and a yellow moon, was impressed “JM” for potter Joseph Meyer. The 7½-inch vase was $3,851. And a Handel painted table lamp, reverse painted with a landscape with birch trees, went to a phone buyer for $5,333.
Of the paintings for sale, the oil on canvas “North Truro Farm with Houses” by Helen Alton Farnsworth Sawyer fetched $4,444.
All prices reported include the buyer’s premium.
For additional information, www.skinnerinc.com or 508-970-3000.
