“The Fullback” by Ernie Barnes (1938-2009), 1968, oil on canvas, 40 by 30 inches, came from the collection of the family of Nat King Cole and led the sale with a $288,000 result ($80/120,000).
SARASOTA, FLA. — On January 19, Amero Auction’s first sale of 2025, Frosty Finds Winter 2025, featured 430 lots from several East Coast estates. Notable categories featured were contemporary and antique art, Eighteenth to Twentieth Century furniture, Oriental rugs, garden sculptures, Asian and European porcelain, important art glass, luxury goods including vintage clothing and jewelry. On a chilly Sunday morning, in-house bidders filled the auction room undeterred by the thousands of online participants.
Highlighting the sale were two paintings: Ernie Barnes’ “The Fullback,” oil on canvas, which sold to the phones for $288,000, while a beautifully framed Franz von Stuck portrait titled “The Spring” also went to a phone bidder, for $120,000. Also performing well was an Old Master painting attributed to Pietro Paolini that brought $22,500.
Furniture offerings warmed up the winter crowd when a lapis and amethyst table in the French Empire style achieved $15,600. Following were a pair of Chinese huanghuali folding chairs finishing at $13,750. Earning $12,000 was a Special Chan coffee table by Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, which still retained its original studio label underneath.
Four stone-clad clocks performed very well. The first, a monumental malachite and bronze grandfather example featuring profuse ormolu displaying finely detailed cherubs, garland and ribbon, brought $10,800. A second malachite clock featuring bronze figures of Cupid and Psyche was bid to $5,313. Another malachite timepiece crowned with bronze Apollo and Diana fetched $4,688. Lastly, a lapis clad clock topped with seated putto and featuring a French movement attained $4,063.
The selection of clocks was led by this monumental malachite and bronze grandfather example that stood 88¾ inches tall. Estimated at $10/15,000, it achieved $10,800.
Heating up the season was a 51-inch-tall Stephen Rolfe Powell art glass sculpture. In excellent condition and sporting a certificate of authenticity, this work sizzled to $11,875. Standing far above other Quezal lots in the event, an iridescent Jack in the Pulpit vase crossed the block for $2,625.
Surprising the audience was an assorted nine-piece lot of Royal Copenhagen china in the Full Lace Red Fluted pattern. Most frequently found in blue, this rare red shade flew to $4,800, courtesy of an in-house bidder, far exceeding its $300/500 estimate. Also greatly surpassing its $1/1,500 estimate was a Western Union stock ticker tape machine. Consigned by a local collector, this 35-A model, including a movement marked “Mt’d by T. A. Edison, Inc.,” sold for $11,250.
Other memorable sales included a bronze horse and rider titled “Caesar Crossing the Rubicon,” which featured a bespoke pedestal from the collection of Elizabeth Rockefeller Bowles that once graced the office of John D. Rockefeller; it galloped to $9,600. An aluminum bull’s head trade sign, likely designed for a butcher shop, ended at $7,435. Bringing $13,200 was the American silver-hilt hanger sword of William Alexander, who was known as Lord Stirling, major general in the Revolutionary War. The weapon, with well documented provenance, hailed from the estate of Donald Ball, a noted Civil War and Revolutionary War collector.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
For information, 941-330-1577 or www.ameroauctions.com.
