Notable sales detailed in our December 6, 2019 issue include a Chinese cinnabar lacquered tray that settled at $4,850 — ten times its low estimate. Among the higher-priced items, a Mary Deneale Morgan oil on canvas sold for $21,600, triple its low estimate, at Michaan’s. Other paintings highlighted below displayed similar active bidding. A Nineteenth Century Eskimo wood mask went way north if its estimate at Skinner to finish at $18,450, and an Izannah Walker doll brought more than $18,000 at Withington. Check out these results and more in this week’s Across The Block.
Antique Chinese Cinnabar Lacquered Tray Flies To $4,850
DANIA BEACH, FLA. – An antique Chinese cinnabar lacquered tray brought $4,850 at Kodner Galleries on November 6 as the firm conducted its estate jewelry, art and collectibles auction. It was not the top lot of the sale. That honor went to a vintage 40-carat diamond and platinum necklace, circa 1940s-50s, that finished at $43,560. The tray, however, was a “sleeper,” achieving more than ten times its low estimate of $400. Resting on a carved wooden stand, the unmarked outdoor scene with figures and mountains measured 2 by 15¼ by 10¼ inches on a stand measuring 10½ by 14½ by 6¼ inches. For information, 954-925-2550 or www.kodner.com.
Dreamy Orientalist Painting Heading To Paris
DEDHAM, MASS. – Caddigan Auctioneers presented its fall estate auction on November 2 at the Holiday Day Inn, a single-session event that featured American, Midcentury Modern country furniture, a collection of Native American jewelry and important paintings. Among these was a work by Antonio Torres Fuster (Spanish, 1874-1945), known for his odalisque portraits. In the Orientalist style, this painting in a large gilt frame sold for $5,575 to an internet buyer from Paris. “The auction was very well attended, especially by internet buyers,” noted Joan Caddigan. For information, 781-826-8648 or www.caddiganauctioneers.com.
1939 Polish Peasant Costumes Portfolio Returns To Poland
BEACON, N.Y. – Certainly noteworthy at Hudson Valley Auctioneers’ November 4 auction, according to Theo de Haas, was a folder titled, “Polisch Peasant Costumes,” a 1939 edition of a collection of Polish costumes by Zofia Stryjenska, copyright 1939 by C. Szwedzicki. It sold to a Polish client buying on the internet for $5,312. For information, 845-480-2381 or www.hudsonvalleyauctioneers.com.
Austrian American Artist Betty Lark-Horovitz Archive Achieves $3,900 At PBA Galleries
BERKELEY, CALIF. – At PBA Galleries on November 7, an archive of prints, drawings and ephemera from Austrian American artist Betty Lark-Horovitz sold for $3,900. With more than 1,000 individual pieces, many of which were multiples and assorted items from the artist’s collection, there were woodblock prints, etchings, engravings and drawings. The collection also included film negatives, printing blocks, proofs and ephemera. Betty Lark-Horovitz (also known as Betty Lark) studied at the renowned Viennese Graphische Lehr und Versuchsanstalt (State Graphics Institute). In 1926 she emigrated to the United States with her husband Karl Lark-Horovitz, a pioneer in the development of transistors, who became chair of the physics department at Purdue University. For information, 415-989-2665 or www.pbagalleries.com.
Mary Deneale Morgan’s ‘Monterey Coast’ Triples Estimate At Michaan’s
ALAMEDA, CALIF. – Mary Deneale Morgan (American, 1868-1948) “Late Afternoon, Monterey Coast” oil on canvas, sold for $21,600, triple its low estimate, at Michaans’ November 9 auction featuring diamonds and designer jewels, California paintings and sculpture, Continental antique furniture and a Hopi vase. The 38½-by-35-inch painting was purchased in the 1920s from the artist and has been in the same family ever since. For information, www.michaans.com or 510-740-0220.
Eldred’s Had A ‘Brooklyn Bridge’ It Would Sell You
EAST DENNIS, MASS. – One of the more interesting top sellers in Eldred’s November 7 antiques and accessories auction was an early Twentieth Century unsigned American School street scene with the Brooklyn Bridge. The 16-by-20-inch oil on board was a surprise, selling for $1,560 on a $300/500 estimate to an audience member. For information, 508-385-3116 or www.eldreds.com.
Seated Izannah Walker Doll Turns Heads At Withington’s
NASHUA, N.H. – Dolls, dolls, dolls took over the Holiday Inn November 6-8 for Withington Auction’s final doll event of 2019. A 17-inch Izannah Walker doll walked away with the top prize of $18,480 after holding court in an early turned leg doll chair with worn rush seat. From a Central Falls, R.I., collection, the doll featured a stockinet pressed head, painted facial features, black/brown spill curls, applied ears, painted black lace boots with red trim, muslin body (possibly recovered) and was dressed in an early antique blue polka dot dress. A dome top strap trunk with antique clothing and accessories accompanied the lot with provenance of purchase from Jeannette Fink 1984, originally a gift to Mary Cornelia Talbot 1865, born November 7, 1862, in Providence R.I. For information, 603-478-3232 or www.withingtonauction.com.
Eskimo Mask Goes Way North Of Its Estimate At Skinner
BOSTON, MASS. – The American Indian and ethnographic arts auction conducted by Skinner on November 9 was led by an Eskimo wood mask, Inupiaq, Alaska, early/mid-Nineteenth Century, which was bid to $18,450, leaving its $4/6,000 estimate far behind. The naturalistic face mask with pierced eyes, nostrils and mouth containing small teeth with some losses measured 7½ inches high and 5¼ inches wide. Provenance was traced to the Dr John Beach Driggs collection, Delaware, by family descent. Driggs was an Episcopal missionary physician and educator who served in Point Hope, Alaska, between 1890 and 1910. For information, 617-350-5400 or www.skinnerinc.com.
Silver Ram’s Horn Cigar Lighter Smokes The Competition At World Auction Gallery
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – The heaviest hitter in World Auction Gallery’s November 10 auction was a painting by Charles Webster Hawthorne, which sold for $9,300, but there were 300 lots of cigar memorabilia from the country cigar store advertisement and tobacconia collection of Jerry Terranova to contend with. No surprise that a rare sterling silver ram’s horn cigar lighter by Black Starr & Frost (shown) blew away the competition in this category to sell for $4,800. The entire 300 lots of cigar memorabilia sold for great prices, well above the estimates. The firm’s next auction is December 15, which will include an important collection of art glass. For information, 516-307-8180 or www.worldauctiongallery.com.
