Leading both days at a sparkling $212,500 was this 18K white gold ring set with a modified 10.22-carat marquise diamond, which was flanked by two additional tapered baguette-cut diamonds ($250/350,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
LOS ANGELES — Abell Auction’s first two-day sale of the month was conducted on March 15-16, with just shy of 700 lots crossing the block. The Fine Art, Jewelry and Important Estates Auction sale offered fine art, more than 70 lots of estate jewelry and “rare treasures” from the collection of designer George Doan. With a 91 percent sell-through rate, the sale garnered $2,375,000.
“Overall, we’re very pleased with how the Fine Art, Jewelry and Important Estates Auction went,” commented vice president Todd Schireson. “The level of engagement from bidders, both online and in person, was strong, and we saw competitive bidding across several key pieces. It’s always exciting to see great art find new homes, and the results reflect the continued strength of the market. Antiques were strong, Spanish Colonial paintings and santos achieved great numbers, and the vintage and name brand jewelry performed very well. Modern art, as usual, was very strong.”
The sale pulled interest from all around the world, with 71 countries recording registered bidders. “Norway saw a lot of action, the United Kingdom, of course the US, Switzerland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Hong Kong, China, France, Canada and Australia led with the most,” shared Schireson. He also reported that the total approved bidders across all platforms exceeded 18,000 over the two days.
Approximately 102 lots of fine art hammered down on day one, led by “Der Graue Tag (The Gray Day)” by Russian artist Konstantin Ivanovic Gorbatov, which was bid to $62,500, the highest price of the day. It had provenance to a private southern California estate and was dated to circa 1930. This lot “was a special painting,” explained Schireson. “I do believe our estimate [$10/15,000] was conservative, but we did have a lot of international bidding competition on this, including three phone bids. It is a very pretty piece in person as well.”
Leading day one of the sale at $62,500 was “Der Graue Tag (The Gray Day)” by Konstantin Ivanovic Gorbatov (Russian, 1876-1945), circa 1930, 31 by 37 inches framed, titled and signed verso ($10/15,000).
“Washington Park Club, Chicago” by Franz (Frank A.) Dvorak was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, in the museum’s March 1894 Third Annual Exhibition of the Cosmopolitan Art Club and had provenance to The Strangeland Estate (Chicago and San Marino, Calif.) as well as Fine Art Chicago, the gallery of Robert Henry Adams. The circa 1894 oil on canvas was also featured in the March 24, 1894, edition of the British weekly illustrated newspaper The Graphic. With a starting bid of $3,500, the work quickly gained traction, eventually selling for $11,250.
Of the more than 100 works of fine art on offer, 36 originated from the Colonial Latin American School. All 36 found new owners, with prices ranging from $188 for a Nineteenth Century oil on canvas titled “Santo Ramon Nonato,” to $6,875 for “Holy Family in Joseph’s Workshop,” an oil on copper that had provenance to a private collection in Carlsbad, Calif. Made in Cuzco, Peru, in the late Eighteenth Century and purchased from Madrid, Spain, “Holy Family in Joseph’s Workshop” was housed in a wood and bone frame. “There was a lot of Spanish and European competition on these Spanish Colonial works. They were all great examples,” added Schireson.
Playing to a different tune, three grand pianos sold on day one, led by a C. Bechstein Model B grand piano, made in Germany in 1936. Formerly belonging to the estate of Mrs Freeman Gosden (Beverly Hills, Calif.), the piano, which tickled the ivory for $7,500, came with factory documentation from Bechstein, touting that it was “all-original” and “virtually untouched.” The other two pianos that crossed the block were an 1896 Model B Steinway and Sons ($7,500) and a Gaveau art case model from circa 1923 ($2,813).
Playing a tune to $7,500 was this C. Bechstein Model B grand piano with an ebony-finished case, which was manufactured in Berlin, Germany, in 1936 ($5/7,000).
Lamps on day one ranged in price from $281 to $12,500 across 12 lots, making pieces accessible for a wide range of collectors. The top price came from a Tiffany-style patinated bronze and art glass table lamp, which sold for more than six times its high estimate. The lamp had a shade in the Pond Lily design and was marked “Tiffany Studios / New York” and “360” on its base. Other top prices in the category included $1,188 for a cameo glass table lamp, $1,125 for a pair of Neoclassical-style black and gilt metal urns repurposed into lamps and $938 for a pair of Rococo-style candelabra mounted as Bouillotte lamps.
Day two honed in on more than 70 lots of estate jewelry advertised in the sale’s description. A group of 21 rings hammered down for prices ranging from $938 for an 18K white gold, diamond and ruby ring, to the top lot’s $212,500. The top lot, an 18K white gold ring set with a modified marquise diamond flanked by two tapered baguette-cut diamonds, hailed from a private estate in Honolulu.
Only four watches, all made with 18K yellow gold, were offered on the second day, but all four attained prices above their estimates. A Piaget bangle watch, set with an oval lapis lazuli stone, ticked to $28,125 — the highest price of the four. It was “a rare watch,” according to Schireson. “I do believe our estimate was on the conservative side, but we were not exactly sure how the market would perform. Gold value has gone up recently which does help!” Additionally, a Jaeger-LeCoultre reverso moon phase watch with a leather strap eclipsed its $5/7,000 estimate to achieve $9,375, while a Corum coin watch flipped to $8,750 and a Chopard diamond watch sparkled at $4,688.
This 18K yellow gold Piaget bangle watch, 100 grams, had a dial set with an oval-shaped lapis lazuli stone; it ticked to $28,125 against a $6/8,000 estimate.
Gold was in other categories, too, and bidders competed for four lots of 10 Australian Philharmonic gold coins, two of which flipped to $31,250, while the other two earned $28,125 and $25,000, respectively. “The coins were split between two buyers,” said Schireson. “So, they each won two lots.”
David Hockney’s “Rue De Seine” was one of the highest selling lots of fine art on day two. The etching with aquatint on wove paper was an artist’s proof: one of only 60 printed by Petersburg Press, London, in 1971. With provenance to a Los Angeles estate, the work flowed to $37,500. Hockney was also represented in a different format in the sale: a limited-edition copy of his book, David Hockney: A Bigger Book (Cologne, Germany: Taschen, 2016), which was accompanied by a bookstand by Marc Newson, flipped to $3,125.
Alexander Calder and Salvador Dalí both had one work each cross the block. Calder’s 1968 gouache on Arches paper, titled “Blue, Red and Black” earned the highest price for fine art on day two: $46,875. Signed and dated lower right, the work had provenance to the Beima estate in southern California. “Venus Spatiale,” a bronze sculpture by Dalí, which posed for $22,500, was one of an edition of 350 and was published by Venturi Arte / Bologna.
“Blue, Red and Black” by Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976), 1968, gouache on Arches paper, 21½ by 29¾ inches framed, was signed and dated lower right and earned a colorful $46,875 ($20/30,000).
Schireson shared some lots from the sale that particularly surprised him: “The Menkes [“Street Scene with Figures and Donkey” and “Violinist” by Sigmund Joseph Menkes] achieved $13,750 and $15,000, which was a great surprise to the consignor. A pair of Niermann Weeks chinoiserie consoles were gorgeous and achieved $12,500 and saw a lot of competition. The Kenneth D. Snelson ‘Planar X-Tower,’ at $17,500 was a special piece that collectors of his work loved. His work is incredibly interesting. Billy Al Bengston’s ‘Psemtek’ did $16,250, which I was also happy about.”
Schireson added that most of the top selling lots of the sale were “purchased by Spanish dealers, New York and local jewelry dealers, collectors and even very important designers, who will want to remain private.”
Abell will conduct its Design Auction on April 17, and a single-owner estate auction of Hollywood legend Janis Page on April 26. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 323-724-8102 or www.abell.com.
