Notables that crossed the block in our July 2, 2021 issue included Chinese porcelain, Asian bronzes, American landscapes and other sundry temptations. A 56-inch-high marble sculpture by Italian artist Emanuele Caroni, a Sino-Tibetan bronze standing Amida Buddha and a pair of hand painted Asian porcelain floral bowls came in just south of $100,000 each at LeLand Little, DuMouchelles and The Benefit Shop Foundation. A Winston Churchill-related lot led the sale at PBA Galleries, a leaded glass lamp lit the bidding at Nadeau’s and a pair of Chinese porcelain ginger jars prompted active bidding at Andrew Jones.
Small Bowls, Big Prices At Benefit Shop
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. – A highlight from the June 16 Red Carpet Auction at The Benefit Shop Foundation was a pair of small (3 inches high, 5 inches diameter) hand painted Asian porcelain floral bowls that were from the estate of Byron DeWill Miller, the chief executive officer of F.W. Woolworth. Without information from the estate to go on, the bowls were priced at $50-100, but they quickly surprised the auction house when they sold for $88,448, to a buyer in the United States. For information, 914-864-0707 or www.thebenefitshop.org.
Eldred Bidders Adored Pomodoro Necklace
EAST DENNIS, MASS. – Across three days, June 9-11, Eldred’s offered more than 950 lots of jewelry and decorative arts, with a gold and gem-set pendant by Arnaldo Pomodoro beating its $7/9,000 estimate and selling for $20,000. The pendant, which could also be worn as a brooch, is set with 13 rubies and three emeralds, and is signed on the reverse “Arnaldo Pomodoro 1963 60.” Consigned from a private collection, it sold to an online bidder. For information, 508-385-3116 or www.eldreds.com.
Hit The Floor: Apple Blossom Shade, Boots With The Fur
WINDSOR, CONN. – Nadeau’s Auction Gallery wrote briefly and broadly on a leaded glass lamp, lot 801, in the firm’s June 12 sale. They wrote that it was large, that it was American, it was made of leaded glass with an Apple Blossom pattern, and that it had a tree form base with six lights. Sixteen bids pushed the lamp past its $5,000 high estimate to land at $27,060 – the bidders did the talking. For information www.nadeausauction.com or 860-246-2444.
Small White Dog Painting Needs No Emotional Support
CLARENCE, N.Y. – Described only as a “very realistic painting of a dog” was a work that sold for $11,993 at Schultz Auctioneers’ June 11 sale. The 31½-by-21½-inch work was painted in oil on metal. It was pursued by both internet and in-house bidders through 71 increments. For information, www.schultzauctioneers.com or 716-407-3125.
Amida Buddha Towers At DuMouchelles
DETROIT – In the catalog description for a Sino-Tibetan bronze standing Amida Buddha, DuMouchelles erred on the side of caution, attributing the large, 32½-inch figure to the Eighteenth Century. “Possibly earlier,” they wrote, and bidders no doubt agreed as they pushed the Buddha to $91,500 in the firm’s June 11 sale. The specialists wrote the figure was an early bronze in the manner of examples from the Heian period. It had provenance back to the estate of Josephine Sibley, daughter of the lumber baron Frederick Sibley, who was among the first people in the United States to commission a semitrailer to haul lumber on the back of a Model T, for which Henry Ford cancelled his warranty. For information, www.dumoart.com or 313-963-6255.
Silva’s Sunset Captures Moment For Old Kinderhook
VALATIE, N.Y.- A luminist seascape at twilight titled “Coastal Sunset” by American artist Francis Augustus Silva (1835-1886) sold for $21,000 at Old Kinderhook Auction Company’s June 8 sale. The work bore a label for Rafael Fine Arts and another that indicated it was once the property of Edward Lamb, of Toledo, Ohio. Lamb was a well-known broadcasting executive, businessman and labor lawyer, who successfully argued cases in the United States Supreme Court. The scene is a quintessential Silva, a Luminist known for his Atlantic coast depictions. For information, 518-912-4747 or www.oldkinderhookauction.com.
Churchill Takes Initiative At PBA
BERKELEY, CALIF. – Three lots pertaining to Winston Churchill led the Americana, Travel, World History and Cartography sale at PBA Galleries that closed June 10. At $10,800 were two of Churchill’s titles, the five-volume set, The World Crisis, and the four-volume set, Marlborough: His Life and Times. The World Crisis, published between 1923 and 1931, was inscribed from the author to Lord Alfred James Balfour, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. At $9,000 was a 1941 gelatin silver print photograph of Churchill taken by Yousuf Karsh. For information, www.pbagalleries.com or 415-989-2665.
Exhibited At Philadelphia Centennial, Caroni Marble Finds Love Again
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – On June 12, Leland Little Auctions sold “The Telegram of Love,” a 56-inch-high marble sculpture by Italian artist Emanuele Caroni that was exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The work sold for $96,000. The auction catalog noted, “A contemporary critic praised the work in an Illustrated Catalogue of The Masterpieces of the International Exhibition 1876, describing this sculpture as ‘amused with a lighter and more hopeful subject: this radiant maiden, who confides to the neck of her dove the fluttering message which will lead to a rendezvous of an answer, is tortured by no doubt, crushed by no despondency…all grace, spontaneity, sweetness and pastoral charm.'” The work had provenance to the North Carolina collection of the late Mrs C.O. Robinson Jr. For information, www.lelandlittle.com or 919-644-1243.
Ginger Jars Spice Up Andrew Jones Auction
LOS ANGELES – The top lot in Andrew Jones Auctions’ June 16 DTLA Collections and Estates sale was a pair of Chinese blue and white porcelain ginger jars from the Bel Air, Calif., estate of Ruth Harvey. Estimated at just $300/500, the pair caught the attention of collectors of Chinese works of art, who pushed bidding on the 25-inch-tall vessels to $12,500. Aileen Ward, vice president and senior specialist, said that “significant worldwide interest drove the price with a Chinese buyer ultimately coming out on top.” For information, 213-748-8008 or www.andrewjonesauctions.com.
