This late Eighteenth Century fire screen, probably of New York origin, blazed to the top of the auction, ignoring its $800-$1,200 presale estimate to sell for $13,750 to a collector in Buffalo, N.Y. Standing 53½ inches high overall, it featured mahogany construction with a floral needlepoint panel and carved flame finial. The height of the screen was adjustable and it stood on a tripod base with cabriole legs.
Review by W.A. Demers
YPSILANTI, MICH. — An American fire screen scorched its estimate at Schmidt’s Antiques on July 20, blazing past its expected $800-$1,200 and selling online to a collector in Buffalo, N.Y., for $13,750. The late Eighteenth Century fire screen, likely of New York origin, featured mahogany construction, a floral needlepoint panel and carved flame finial. The screen’s height was adjustable and it had a tripod base with cabriole legs. It stood 53½ inches high overall.
The auction offered a diverse selection of jewelry, furniture and decorative arts. It had fine art, including paintings by Chuang Che, Miguel Florido and Raphael Coronel; decorative art; Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture; Midcentury Modern items and more from estates and private collectors in Michigan and Ohio. The sale totaled more than $180,000 with a 95 percent sell-through rate.
More than 1,500 bidders registered for this sale, representing the United States, Canada, Mexico, Poland, Italy, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, Guam, China, Slovakia, Hong Kong and India.
Bidders’ love for the venerable Louis Vuitton steamer trunk never abates. The example in this sale reached its high estimate, going out the gallery door at $4,375 to an online collector in Milan, Italy. The trunk, dated to circa 1930, had wooden construction, the desired and original stenciled “LV” monogram patterned canvas exterior and the original stamped brass hardware. Its quilted interior had “Louis Vuitton” and “Marshall Fields & Co.” labels. Monogrammed “F.L.C. Chicago” on its sides and lacking the interior tray, the trunk showed the usual wear and minor damage. It measured 31½ by 19½ by 13½ inches overall.
A perennial favorite at auctions, this Louis Vuitton steamer trunk achieved its high estimate, reaching $4,375 online, going to a collector in Milan, Italy. Dated to circa 1930, it had wooden construction with the desirable original stenciled “LV” monogram patterned canvas exterior and the original stamped brass hardware.
The jewelry category held two items of note among the sale’s top eight. The first was a Chinese 22K gold bracelet that finished below estimate at $5,313; it sold to a collector in Richmond Hill, Ga., who was bidding on the internet. The bracelet had a chunky, triple linked design with scrolled floral decoration and a spherical drop charm with serpent-form clasp. Impressed with Chinese hallmarks, it tested 22K gold and weighed 60.6 grams total. The second piece was a 14K gold charm bracelet; it settled online at $4,063, close to its low estimate, going to a dealer in Huntington Beach, Calif. The vintage bracelet had 10 14K charms, including a bust of Nefertiti, William Gladstone, Saint Christopher, St Paul’s Cathedral, a cornicello, gavel, jeweled ewer, Mayan warrior, stein and an oil rig, and one 18K charm of a donkey. It weighed 90.8 grams total.
Furniture was modern or folky. A seven-piece Danish Møller dining set by Niels Møller for J.L. Møllers sold for $3,500 to a collector in Ann Arbor, Mich. With rosewood construction, the set featured six dining chairs and an oval extension dining table. The chairs bore the original “J. L. Møller Model” and Danish Control foil labels on their undersides, while the table was unmarked. The table measured 78 inches long, fully extended, and the chairs were each 30½ inches high.
Exuding folksiness was a desk from the Eighteenth Century that went out at $3,125 to an in-house bidder. The New England Chippendale period slant top desk had curly maple construction with pine as its secondary wood.
A curly maple slant top desk from the Eighteenth Century changed hands at $3,125 and was won by an in-house bidder. The New England Chippendale period slant top desk had pine secondary wood and a fold-down writing surface that opened to reveal a fitted interior with valanced letter compartments around two center drawers. Its base section had four long, dovetailed drawers and it sat on tall bracket feet.
More decorative arts included: a Tiffany silver kettle and stand, going to a collector in Philadelphia, that attained $3,250 and a pair of George III knife boxes that rose to $3,125, also selling to an online collector in Philadelphia. The mid-Nineteenth Century Tiffany, Young & Ellis .800 silver kettle on stand was made by John. C. Moore & Son, 1854-1869. Among the desirable elements of the kettle were repousse and engraved floral decoration, a hinged cover with a swan finial and a warming stand with scrolled legs and shell-form feet. The vessel was monogrammed “E.R.B” on the front for Eliza Ripley Buckingham, the wife of William A. Buckingham — former mayor and governor of Connecticut. Impressed “Tiffany & Co. / M Late M / Tiffany, Young & Ellis” and “550 Broadway” on its underside, the set weighed 53.98 troy ounces total, and included with the lot were a late Nineteenth Century book of Buckingham’s life and handwritten letters regarding his death.
The knife boxes were Eighteenth Century British and made of pear wood. The molded cases had satinwood and ebony stringing, each featuring a sloped, hinged lid with inlaid shell design above a banded front. A silvered escutcheon had an engraved shield bearing an Agnus Dei emblem.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. The firm’s next auction is August 17. It is an online-only auction of the contents of a Victorian Mansion in Coldwater, Mich.; the catalog is already accessible on www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
For additional information, www.schmidtsantiques.com or 734-434-2660.
