Timepieces have always made for great fashion. In modern times, swagger is styled in the simple elegance of a Patek Philippe or in the centuries-old craftsmanship of a Breguet, but Sixteenth Century folks were looking good with their Nuremberg ivory diptych sundials. “Do you have the time?” a lady would ask a gentleman. “So long as the sun is shining,” he would say with a smile, as he fished his sundial from his pocket, unfolding it and pointing it at the sun, reading the “gnomon” to tell the hour of the day. As it were, punctuality was a bit more relaxed back then — you would get there when you got there. Nuremberg was the mecca of diptych sundial makers, known for producing beautiful examples in ivory with detailed and stylized incising. And they worked very well, so long as the latitude was calibrated correctly. So well, in fact, that they were still used at the advent of the mechanical clock to calibrate the still-imperfect mechanisms. A diptych sundial approaches the block at Alderfer Auctions, joining other top lots from around the United States in this week’s picks.
ALDERFER AUCTION
Sale Date: September 20, 2018
Lot 296
Seventeenth Century Diptych Sundial
Internal compass aperture and viewing hole, the inner face with time scale graduated 4-12, 1-8 around a glazed sunk compass with maker’s mark. Rear face also has makers mark, 2 ½ inches high.
Estimate: $3/4,000
Lot 296
Seventeenth Century Diptych Sundial
Internal compass aperture and viewing hole, the inner face with time scale graduated 4-12, 1-8 around a glazed sunk compass with maker’s mark. Rear face also has makers mark, 2 ½ inches high.
Estimate: $3/4,000
THOMASTON PLACE AUCTION GALLERIES
Sale Date: September 19, 2018
Lot 5197
Late Nineteenth Century Bust Profile Portrait
Depicting an elderly man with white beard, oil on canvas, unsigned, in a late Victorian gilt gesso frame, image 25½ by 21½ inches.
Estimate: $400/600
Lot 5197
Late Nineteenth Century Bust Profile Portrait
Depicting an elderly man with white beard, oil on canvas, unsigned, in a late Victorian gilt gesso frame, image 25½ by 21½ inches.
Estimate: $400/600
PBA GALLERIES
Sale Date: September 20, 2018
Lot 307
Correspondence Between Future Saints
Two-page autograph letter from Louise de Merillac de Gras, with 11 lines of notations in the hand of Vincent de Paul.
Estimate: $10/15,000
Lot 307
Correspondence Between Future Saints
Two-page autograph letter from Louise de Merillac de Gras, with 11 lines of notations in the hand of Vincent de Paul.
Estimate: $10/15,000
RAGO
Sale Date: September 22–23, 2018
Lot 1035
Paul Evans (1931–1987)
Wall sculptures, New Hope, Penn., 1960s.
Welded and enameled steel, 24-karat gold leaf,
patinated copper.
Estimate: $7,5/9,500
Lot 1035
Paul Evans (1931–1987)
Wall sculptures, New Hope, Penn., 1960s.
Welded and enameled steel, 24-karat gold leaf,
patinated copper.
Estimate: $7,5/9,500
HERITAGE AUCTIONS
Sale Date: September 21–23, 2018
Lot 63636
Karl Schmidt (1890–1962)
“Tall Trees of California,” triptych, 1916,
oil on lithograph in original trifold frame,
15¼ by 30¾ inches.
Estimate: $2/3,000
Lot 63636
Karl Schmidt (1890–1962)
“Tall Trees of California,” triptych, 1916,
oil on lithograph in original trifold frame,
15¼ by 30¾ inches.
Estimate: $2/3,000
BRUNEAU & CO
Sale Date: September 22, 2018
Lot 139
Tiffany Studios Poppy Blown Glass Table Lamp
New York, circa 1910, poppy shade consisting of
variegated blue, green, red and yellow Favrile glass with reticulated bronze overlay supported by
a globular reticulated blown glass base.
Estimate: $80/120,000
Lot 139
Tiffany Studios Poppy Blown Glass Table Lamp
New York, circa 1910, poppy shade consisting of
variegated blue, green, red and yellow Favrile glass with reticulated bronze overlay supported by
a globular reticulated blown glass base.
Estimate: $80/120,000
BERTOIA AUCTIONS
Sale Date: September 22, 2018
Lot 181
Man In Flying Dirigible Toy Go-Around
Muller and Kadeder, Germany, hand-painted. Depicts man seated in tin basket propelled by flapping prop dirigible, able to spin around Eiffel Tower styled center structure, 18 inches high.
Estimate: $2,5/3,500
Lot 181
Man In Flying Dirigible Toy Go-Around
Muller and Kadeder, Germany, hand-painted. Depicts man seated in tin basket propelled by flapping prop dirigible, able to spin around Eiffel Tower styled center structure, 18 inches high.
Estimate: $2,5/3,500
COWAN’S
Sale Date: September 21, 2018
Lot 31
Plains/Prairie Spontoon Pipe Tomahawk
Third quarter Nineteenth Century, ash handle, pierced for attachment. With a highly developed iron blade, cutout heart and double curled flanges,
23 inches long.
Estimate: $4/6,000
Lot 31
Plains/Prairie Spontoon Pipe Tomahawk
Third quarter Nineteenth Century, ash handle, pierced for attachment. With a highly developed iron blade, cutout heart and double curled flanges,
23 inches long.
Estimate: $4/6,000
CARLSEN GALLERY
Sale Date: September 23, 2018
Lot 177
Pharmacy Hanging Globe With Eagle Mount
37½ by 20 inches overall.
Estimate: $500–1,500
Lot 177
Pharmacy Hanging Globe With Eagle Mount
37½ by 20 inches overall.
Estimate: $500–1,500
