A Northeast collector, bidding online, took “Deep Snow” by Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (New York/Virginia, 1860-1961) to $62,500. The work, which was done in 1957 in oil on Masonite, had been acquired from Hammer Galleries in New York City in 1980 and had been off the market since then ($60/80,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring, Catalog Photos Courtesy Everard Auctions & Appraisals
SAVANNAH, GA. – Everard Auctions & Appraisals recently began holding online auctions on multiple platforms and reaped the benefits of expanding its internet presence. The June Southern Estates and Various Owners two-day sale June 8-9 saw nearly 650 lots cross the block, achieving $554,307 and a sell-through rate of about 80 percent. Phone and absentee bidding complimented live-stream bidding on four platforms.
Amanda Everard said, “We had active bidding on all the platforms. This was only our second online sale on multiple platforms, and we saw solid results.”
The top lot was a wintery scene by Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (American, 1860-1961), titled “Deep Snow.” In 1980, it had been handled by Galerie St Etienne in partnership with Hammer Galleries, who sold to a now-deceased Amelia Island, Fla., collector. Everard said she was surprised that the competition for the painting was all online, saying that it sold to a Northeast collector for $62,500.
“I’m not surprised at how the watches did. We had a ton of interest in them,” Amanda Everard said regarding the watches in the sale. This Rolex Daytona 18K gold and black man’s watch, circa 2005, was one of seven watches from a Bluffton, S.C., estate. It sold to a phone bidder for $35,000 ($25/35,000).
Despite a global presence, there is often a thrill – and perhaps a sense of relief – when something that has local importance and meaning stays close to home. That was the case with a rare bird’s-eye lithograph scene of Savannah’s Monterey Square done by Charles Parsons (1821-1910) in 1855 after a drawing by John William Hill. It is one of only three known examples, with one in a private Savannah collection and the other in the I.N. Phelps Stokes collection at the New York Public Library. Everard said it drew interest from trade buyers and private collectors on both the East and West Coast, but in the end, a private collector in Savannah won it for $17,500.
“I’m thrilled it’s staying in Savannah. A neighbor of mine bought it; they fell in love with it and have a Nineteenth Century house, so it was meant to be,” Everard said.
A Bluffton, S.C., estate was the source of all the wristwatches in the sale – seven in total – in a collection sold by the collector’s widow, who planned to travel with the proceeds raised from selling them. Unsurprisingly, the two Rolex watches – a Daytona 18K gold black dial man’s watch and an 18K gold Yacht-Master II watch – brought the most, $35,000 and $25,000, respectively. Examples by Blancpain Leman, Cartier, Gucci and Longines rounded out offerings in both men’s and ladies’ styles.
The third highest price in the sale — $18,750 — was realized by this abstract color field oil on canvas titled “Captain Cook” by Cleve Gray (American, 1918-2004). An online buyer from the Midwest prevailed for the 69½-by-68¾-inch work ($8/12,000).
A good mix of traditional, modern and contemporary art peppered the sale. “Captain Cook” by Cleve Gray (American, 1918-2004), is an abstract color-field oil on painting done in 1971. Despite competition on three phone lines, an online buyer from the Midwest won the lot for $18,750. It was in an exhibition of Gray’s works at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, N.Y., and had been acquired directly from the artist in the 1970s.
An online bidder snapped up a Midcentury Modern circular ceramic stool by Claude Conover (Ohio, 1907-1994) for $5,937. Done in the 1960s, the piece, which was titled “Tucub,” was characteristic of the work of Conover, a designer who began making ceramics and was a member of the Cleveland School.
A small group of early maps from a Hilton Head, S.C., private collection was among some of the pleasant surprises for Everard. Leading the group was a circa 1572 bird’s-eye map of London and Westminster done by Georg Braun (1541-1622) and Frans Hogenberg (1540-1590) that multiplied its estimate and brought $5,000 from an online buyer. Johannes Jansson’s (German, 1596-1666) copper engraved and hand-colored map titled America Septentrionalis nearly doubled its high estimate and sold for $2,625. A map of New England by Matthäus Seutter (German/Augsburg, 1678-1756/57) sold squarely within estimate, to finish at $1,375.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
Everard Auctions’ next sale has not yet been set, but Everard said it will open at the end of September and close in October.
For information, 912-231-1376 or www.everard.com.
