At the top of the sale was this 20-piece group of Sèvres partial gilt and Bleu Lapis ground porcelain dinner plates, circa 1765, which sold for $87,500.
Review by W.A. Demers
DALLAS — Heritage Auctions’ December 5 Furniture & Decorative Arts Signature Auction realized $726,512, topped by a 20-piece group of Sèvres partial gilt and Bleu Lapis ground porcelain dinner plates, circa 1765. Featuring marks of blue interlaced Ls, some painter’s marks and incised marks, the antique service of 9¾-inch-diameter plates found a buyer at $87,500.
A trio of semi-nude maidens surrounded the base of an early Victorian giltwood center table with a specimen marble top. The mid Nineteenth Century table sold for $30,000.
Fetching $26,250 was a pair of Italian Empire partial gilt, verdigris painted console tables with marble tops, likely made in Palermo in the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century. The pair was property from the estate of Princess Maria “Mimi” Valguarnera di Niscemi, better known as Princess Romanoff. According to cataloging, the Sicilian Empire consoles with giltwood griffin supports bore similarities to a related console from the Sicilian Royal Collection, currently in the collection of the Royal Palace at Naples and illustrated in Italian Empire Furniture: Furnishings and Interior Design from 1800-1843 by E. Colle (New York: Rizzoli, 1998). In the book, Colle noted that this particular Griffin design appeared first in a round table, also in the royal collection at Naples, showing up in the Neapolitan inventories in 1815, dating these consoles to around the same period.
With marble tops, this pair of Italian Empire partial gilt, verdigris painted console tables, likely made in Palermo in the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century, crossed the block at $26,250.
As for these tables, family documentation from the Palazzo Niscemi indicates they were sent from Naples to New York by Princess Mimi for use in her New York apartment sometime after 1988.
One lucky bidder won a large Nam-Hing Chinese export silver covered trophy for $18,750. The piece was from the early Twentieth Century, bore marks for Nam-Hing and stood 22½ inches tall.
Sold at $16,250 was a 37-piece Tiffany & Co., France Cirque Chinois pattern partial gilt porcelain partial dinner service for eight. Designed by Camille Le Tallec, the service comprised 12 dinner plates, eight bread and butter plates, eight cups and saucers and one cake plate.
A fine art highlight was a framed KPM plaque after Louis Gallait: “The Power of Music,” which played to $13,750. The late Nineteenth Century plaque was signed “F. Schmidt” and measured 25¾ by 20 inches.
Depicted were a brother and sister before an old tomb, the brother attempting to comfort his grieving sister by playing his violin. The Walters Art Museum has the original oil on panel by Gallait (Belgian, 1810-1887).
The furniture category was again highlighted by a Louis XV-style gilt bronze-mounted desk with leather inset top after a model by Charles Cressent. The Nineteenth Century piece was property from the Brinker estate and bore marks including the Victoria, Princess Royal cypher and the address of Kaiser Friedrich Palais.
This Louis XV-style gilt bronze-mounted desk with leather inset top after a model by Charles Cressent sold for $11,875.
A pair of Sèvres partial gilt and Bleu Lapis ground porcelain covered ice pails, circa 1770, went out at $11,250. The pair featured finely painted floral bouquets surrounded by Bleu Lapis and edged with gilt floral and foliate borders. Cataloging observed that both examples were in very good overall condition, with barely visible wear to enamel and gilding. Examined under ultraviolet light, no restorations were seen.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For further information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.com.
