Topping the sale was this cameo glass vase made by George Woodall for Thomas Webb & Sons circa 1887 depicting “The Origin of Painting,” which a private collector prevailed to win for $118,750.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring, Catalog Photos Courtesy Heritage Auctions
DALLAS – Heritage Auctions’ Tiffany, Lalique & Art Glass, Including Art Deco & Art Nouveau sale, postponed from its original May 4 sale date to June 4 because of COVID-19, achieved $1,256,387, slightly ahead of the aggregate high estimate. The 448-lot sale received more than 95,000 page views on the firm’s website (www.ha.com), hosted more than 850 bidders during the sale and was 97 percent sold by value.
“I was very impressed with the amount of new bidders registering for this sale, and the depth evident in several branches of the glass market, including Lalique, Tiffany, English cameo and Galle,” Heritage Auctions’ senior vice president and the specialist in charge of the sale, Nicholas Dawes, said, when we reached him by phone a few days after the final gavel fell.
Cameo glass by George Woodall for Thomas Webb was the undeniable standout star of the sale, with four works claiming spots in the top ten prices achieved, including the lot that topped the sale, a vase decorated with “The Origin of Painting.” The vase was, Dawes’ words, “the prize piece” from the estate of “well-known glass collector,” Dr Jerry Black of Buckhannon, W.Va. The first of three examples made by Woodall, the 9½-inch vase had been extensively published and was well known prior to the sale. The vase saw competition from multiple online, phone and absentee bidders, finally selling for $118,750 to a private collector.
Other cameo pieces by Woodall for Webb included two plaques – “Poetry” and “Music” – consigned by the Birks Museum at Millkin University in Decatur, Ill., which had never been offered at auction before and which Heritage offered separately despite the two having always been together. Dawes was delighted that the same buyer bought both, paying $55,000 for “Poetry” and $37,500 for “Music.” An 1890 vase by Woodall for Webb depicting “Flora” realized $32,500.
The first lot in the sale finished in second place overall. Topping a sizeable grouping of works by Tiffany was this Tiffany Studios leaded glass and patinated bronze dragonfly table lamp, circa 1910. It was marked on both the shade and base and was won by a private collector for $57,500. Dawes said it was a “beautiful example” from the New York state estate of a “well-informed Tiffany collector.”
Bringing the second highest price in the sale was a circa 1910 Tiffany Studios leaded glass and patinated bronze dragonfly table lamp that finished at $57,500, selling to a private collector. The lot was one of 60 lots of works by Tiffany in the sale, a grouping of which Dawes was pleased to say “did very very well.” Other notable results in the Tiffany grouping were an LC Tiffany signed favrile glass paperweight vase that made $21,250, a gilt-bronze and favrile glass seven-light lily lamp that bidders chased to $18,125 and a pulled feather favrile glass and patinated bronze trumpet vase, circa 1910, that achieved $12,500.
“We did very well with older Lalique,” Dawes said, referring to another sizeable presence in the sale, nearly 75 lots. A comparatively modern piece – a clear and frosted glass cactus center table by Lalique, designed in 1951 by Marc Lalique – led the section when it brought $41,250 from a private collector new to Heritage. “We’ve sold a number of them and they typically bring $25/30,000; this was a very good example in beautiful condition,” Dawes said. “Everyone on that was a new bidder, which was surprising.” A Rene Lalique opalescent glass “Bacchantes” vase danced to $27,500, while an enameled frosted glass “Oranges” vase, also by Rene Lalique” sold for the tasty sum of $25,000.
Twenty-five lots of glass by Galle saw strong results, headed by a circa 1900 cyclamen vase marked “Emile Gallé, Etude 12” that achieved $30,000.
When asked if there were sections of the sale he had been particularly surprised by, Dawes called attention to plated amberina, all made in New England, of which there were just eight lots and all from the estate of Dr Jerry Black. “I was a little concerned with how it would do but it absolutely rocked and rolled.” He also noted a cup, saucer and plate of Rozenburg porcelain, made in 1914, that were sold together, for $3,000.
Heritage Auctions will next offer similar material November 18-20.
All prices include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
Heritage Auctions is at 2801 West Airport Freeway. For information, www.ha.com.
