Top-lot status was awarded to “White Abstract” by Willem de Looper (American, 1932-2009), 1974, oil on canvas, 69 by 49 inches unframed, which totaled $5,120 ($1,5/2,500).
Review by Kiersten Busch
CHEVY CHASE, MD. — Various antiques, painting and sculpture, ancient pottery, black-and-white photographs, silver, decorative arts, rugs, Asian ceramics and works of art, jewelry, coins and clocks were among the offerings in Sloans & Kenyon’s February Estate Catalogue Auction, conducted on the 12th of the month.
Leading the sale at $8,320 was “White Abstract,” an oil on canvas by Dutch-American abstract painter and museum professional Willem de Looper. The unframed painting was signed and dated “June 1974” on its reverse, and measured 69 by 49 inches. One additional work by De Looper was offered, selling for $5,120. “Terracotta Abstract,” an acrylic on canvas done in 1975, was described in the auction catalog as “a sophisticated study in horizontal geometry and atmospheric color.”
Other oil paintings included Elaine Kurtz’s “White Abstract,” an oil on canvas completed in 1980 ($4,800), Sidney Gross’s 1960 Abstract Expressionist oil on canvas “Icarus” ($3,840) and the magical realism oil on Masonite “Crater de Luz (Crater of Light)” by Leonardo Nierman ($3,072).
Nearly 60 lots of silver were on offer, led by a 93-piece Wallace sterling silver flatware service in the Grande Baroque pattern. The 92-troy-ounce service set the table for $6,080, just exceeding its $6,000 high estimate. Following close behind at $5,760 was an English sterling silver rectangular serving tray made by EB London Limited in 1929. With molded edges and shaped corners, the 20-inch-long tray was engraved “Presented to / The Honorable Selwa Roosevelt / With Our Thanks for Your / Friendship and Excellent Work / From / The Ambassadors of the Arab Countries / February 18, 1989” in block lettering on its center.
Setting the table for $6,080 was this 93-piece sterling silver flatware set in the Grande Baroque pattern by Wallace, which weighed 92 troy ounces ($5/6,000).
A unique silver offering was a set of four hand-crafted sterling silver insects by artist and award-winning educator Judith Pestronk (active New York, 1924-2024), which hopped to $2,304. The lot included a grasshopper, scorpion, beetle and flying beetle, each of which were signed and inscribed “sterling.”
An 18K gold textured and smooth-polished fringe-style choker with a tongue-and-groove clasp led the jewelry selection, selling for $5,120. It was followed close behind, at $4,800, by a 14K yellow gold collar-style choker with four sets of interchangeable gold and gemstone slides by Ingrid Antoni Designs. The slides included a set of three Tahitian black cultured pearls a set of four baroque cultured pearls, each set in 18K gold, and 20 18K gold bars set with various rubies and diamonds.
Additional jewelry that performed well included two 18K gold braided and domed flexible strap bracelets, one white gold and the other yellow gold, which sold separately for $4,160 and $3,840 respectively, as well as a 14K white gold necklace with a pendant constructed of a cluster of five brilliant-cut round diamonds and four marquise-cut diamonds ($3,072).
Complete with polychromed fu dogs on their domed covers, this pair of Chinese famille rose porcelain baluster-form vases, early Twentieth Century, 45 inches tall with carved teakwood stands, made $3,200 ($1,5/2,500).
A pair of Chinese famille rose porcelain baluster-form lift-cover vases led a selection of just under 50 Chinese export lots, surpassing its $1,5/2,500 to make $3,200. Made in the early Twentieth Century, the pair of vases had a trailing floral decoration with pavilion fences; its domed covers had polychromed fu dog finials.
Furniture that drew bidders’ attention included a late Eighteenth Century Italian Neoclassical inlaid fruit-wood four-drawer commode ($2,688), a marble-top Louis XV giltwood console table paired with a marble-top en suite of a later date ($2,560), a George II or Queen Anne inlaid oak Welsh sideboard ($2,304) and a set of four circa 1980s black leather side chairs by Mario Bellini for Cassina ($2,176).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.sloansandkenyon.com or 301-634-2330.
