Notable sales found in our December 4, 2020 issue take you to the action. David Hockney’s “Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book” made a big splash at Doyle with a final gavel of $43,750. Meanwhile, a highlight of DuMouchelles’ November 20 sale was “Suntan” by Hungarian American artist Zoltan Sepeshy that sold in five figure range to a private collector. In what may have been a pre-holiday splurge, competitive bidding resulted in a final bid of more than $100,000 for a 10-carat man’s ring at Kodner Galleries. Keep on reading to learn the results of a pair of Russian target pistols, a Rolex Explorer watch, antique glass and more.
Hockney ‘Pool’ Makes A Splash At Doyle New York
NEW YORK CITY – Doyle’s auction of prints and multiples on November 11 saw strong competition for examples spanning the Seventeenth through the Twenty-First Centuries. With competitive bidding, the sale totaled $1,039,906, surpassing the estimate of $616,400/922,800 with 94 percent sold by lot and 100 percent by value. Notable in the sale was a color lithograph on Arches Cover paper, 1980 by David Hockney (b 1937). “Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book” (Tyler Graphics 269; M.C.A.T. 234) sold for $43,750, surpassing its $30,000 high estimate. Signed and dated and numbered 926/1000 in pencil (aside from 100 artist’s proofs), it was published by the Mount Kisco, N.Y., company and with their blindstamp, measuring 10½ by 9 inches framed. The lot was sold together with Paper Pools, the accompanying book, signed by the artist in red ink and stamp numbered 927 on the justification, with blue canvas covers and original slipcase. For information, 212-427-4141 or www.doyle.com.
Aesthetic Chandelier Lights Up Fontaine’s Auction Gallery Sale
PITTSFIELD, MASS. – Capping off a jam-packed fall season of auctions, Fontaine’s Auction Gallery held an auction November 14 that aptly demonstrated the A-to-Z nature of auctions. This sale had a group of fine items from several New England estates ranging from American furniture, paintings and porcelains to lighting, silver, clocks and more. The highlight item from this auction was a bit of a surprise when an Aesthetic Movement brass chandelier lit up its $1,2/1,500 estimate to sell at $10,587. For more information, 413-448-8922 or www.fontainesauction.com.
Zsolnay Ceramic Vessel Surprises With Strong Price At The Benefit Shop
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. – When the Benefit Shop Foundation conducted its usual Red Carpet auction on November 18, the firm was most surprised at the results of a Zsolnay trademarked ceramic vessel from Hungary. Its final price of $3,840 went well above and beyond the estimate for the item and outshone the other piece of Zsolnay pottery in the auction. With an iridescent coating, embossed design with bright red flowers topping a blue vase formed by the ceramic, the piece exhibited an Art Nouveau-style decor in between floral patterns with swirling lines in an offset orange-bronze. The pottery in a carnival glass style had a trademark on verso reading Zsolnay Hungary. For information, 914-864-0707 or www.thebenefitshop.org.
Miller & Miller’s Timing Impeccable For Rolex Explorer
NEW HAMBURG, ONTARIO, CANADA – Clocking in at $22,530, a 1966 Rolex Explorer stainless steel wristwatch with both inner and outer boxes, papers and original sales pamphlet was the lot to watch at Miller & Miller Auctions’ online sale of watches, jewelry & decorative arts on November 21. According to Ethan Miller, there was spirited international bidding for this rare example; estimated at $6,1/7,600, it sold to a private collector. Prices quoted have been converted from $CAD to $USD. For information, www.millerandmillerauctions.com.
Material Culture Bidders Knock Nakashima Table Out Of The Park
PHILADELPHIA – Topping Material Culture’s 502-lot November Estates sale on November 18, was a solid wood free-edge coffee table with dowel legs by George Nakashima (New Hope, Penn., 1905-1990). The table, which a private Philadelphia collector had acquired from Nakashima around 1970, had been estimated at $6/9,000 and sold to a New England private buyer for $10,880. For more information, www.materialculture.com or 215-849-8030.
Sepeshy ‘Suntan’ Heats Up DuMouchelles’ Saleroom
DETROIT, MICH. – A highlight of DuMouchelles’ sale on Friday, November 20, was “Suntan” by Hungarian American artist Zoltan Sepeshy (1898-1974), which had been estimated at $8/12,000 but after spirited bidding online and on the phone, it sold for $34,100 to a private collector in Pennsylvania. Sepeshy’s status as an artist and his position at Cranbrook boosted the appeal of the work, as well as its provenance to Sepeshy’s colleague and friend, Laurence Schmeckebeier (1906-1984), an art historian, sculptor and author who curated the first retrospective of Sepeshy’s work. For information, 313-963-6255 or www.dumoart.com.
Great Universal Compound Bottle Finds Broad Interest At Heckler
WOODSTOCK, CONN. – “The Great Universal Compound Stomach Bitters,” as advertised by Professor George J. Byrne in an 1870-80 square tall modified cabin-form lemon yellow bottle sold for $9,000 at Heckler Bottle Auction’s timed online sale that closed November 18. The bottle was 10-5/8 inches with ornate embossing, roped corners, applied sloping collared mouth with ring, and a smooth base with a five-pointed star. For information, 860-974-1634 or www.hecklerauction.com.
For The Man Who Has It All, Save A 10-Carat Diamond Ring
DANIA BEACH, FLA. – One of the top lots at Kodner Galleries’ November 8 sale was a diamond and 18K ring that sold for $107,100. Unique to this high-value example, as opposed to many other rings that run in these pages, is that this one was a man’s ring. Set in the center with a 10.07-carat Asher cut diamond in K-L color and VVS1 clarity, it was enhanced with 12 baguette cut diamonds measuring 3.50 carats total weight. For information, www.kodner.com or 954-925-2550.
Russian Target Pistols Take Aim At Flannery’s
PINE BUSH, N.Y. – Dating to the early Twentieth Century, a pair of .44 caliber Russian target pistols brought $5,938 at Flannery’s Estate Service’s November 16 sale. The auction house attributed their manufacture to Smith & Wesson and said they were made for Le Chobert, 16 rue Lafayette, Paris. The pistols featured Belgian maker touch marks with checkered stocks and were received by a prior owner for work rendered in the 1930s and then traded. For information, 845-744-2233 or www.flannerysestateservices.com.
