Auction highlights for our January 14, 2022 issue spotlight furnishings, artwork, and wooden assemblages. A Chinese bronze tripod censer cataloged possibly as Qing dynasty sold for $8,260 against its estimate of $1/3,000. Andy Warhol’s “Flowers” print blossomed to more than $200,000 against a $50/75,000 estimate at World Auction Gallery. An American National Co. juvenile auto pedal car zoomed past its $4/6,000 estimate to finish at $17,835. These and more in this weeks Across the Block.
Rapa Nui Figure Leads Skinner Native American & Tribal Sale
BOSTON – Leading Skinner’s American Indian & Tribal Art sale on December 17 was a Nineteenth Century Rapa Nui “Moai Kavakava” male figure from Easter Island. With a provenance that included Nelson Rockefeller, its presence in a 2014 book on Rapa Nui figures and several museum exhibitions, only further inspired bidders to take it from a $25/35,000 estimate to $100,000. For information, www.skinnerinc.com or 508-970-3211.
Margaret Jordan Patterson Woodcut Blossoms At Lotus International
GUILFORD, CONN. – Lotus International Auctions presented an online-only fine art auction, December 12, with all bidding through LiveAuctioneers. The auction had 424 artworks: oil paintings, watercolors, etchings, lithographs, sculptures, folk art, Regina disk player and more. Margaret Jordan Patterson’s “Garden Flowers,” a woodcut in colors, 10¼ by 7¼ inches, sold for $2,000 (shown). Two John William Hilton desert scenes, oil on board sold for $2,000 and $2,075. Many artworks of Arthur Cumings sold, and there are more to appear at the firm’s next auction, said Tom Mason. For information, 203-689-5062 or www.lotusauction.com.
No Loafing Around! Withington Bidders Pay Top Dollar For Combware Dish
GOFFSTOWN, N.H. – A 20-inch-long combware loaf dish, estimated at just $400/600, realized $6,250 in Withington Auctions’ December 29 Outstanding Country Auction. It was the top lot of the 312 lot sale, besting prices realized for country furniture, mochaware, iron lighting, textiles and fine art. For information, www.withingtonauction.com or 603-731-9876.
Chinese Bronze Censer Heats Up Nest Egg’s New Year’s Auction
PLANTSVILLE, CONN. – Of the nearly 400 lots that Nest Egg Auctions offered in its New Year’s Auction on January 2, a Chinese bronze tripod censer had the hottest price, realizing $8,260 against an estimate of $1/3,000. Cataloged as possibly Qing dynasty and dated as likely Nineteenth Century or earlier, the 6-inch diameter double eared vessel featured an old patina and four character marks. For information, 203-630-1400 or www.nesteggauctions.com.
Congdon Landscape Soars For Hudson Valley Auctioneers
BEACON, N.Y. – An oil on Masonite landscape by Anne Ramsdell Congdon (American, 1873-1958) was the top lot of nearly 450 lots offered by Hudson Valley Auctioneers on January 1, in the firm’s Annual New Year’s Day Estate sale. Measuring 24 by 29 inches and depicting a town scene with a windmill within rolling hills, the work flew past expectations to bring $52,500. For information, 845-831-6800 or www.hudsonvalleyauctioneers.com.
Schmidt Bidders Assemble For Betty Parsons Assemblage
YPSILANTI, MICH. – A wooden assemblage by Betty Parsons (American, 1900-1982) led the charge of more than 300 lots across the block at Schmidt’s Antiques’ January 1 New Year’s Day gallery auction. Estimated at $4/6,000, and standing 26 inches high, the mid-Twentieth Century abstract sculpture had been titled “Lost Temple” and had been included in a 1996 exhibition at the Center for the Arts in Vero Beach, Fla. It brought $25,000. For information, 734-434-2660 or www.schmidtsantiques.com.
‘Mini-Rolls’ Pedal Car Zips To Top Finish At Golden Gavel
EAST WINDSOR, CONN. – An estate collection of bronzes and presidential items, the contents of a large Victorian home and more awaited bidders at Golden Gavel’s December 30 annual antiques, jewelry and art auction. But it was an American National Co. juvenile auto pedal car that raced across the finish line in first place, selling for $17,835 against a $4/6,000 estimate. The miniature “Rolls Royce” from the late 1920s or early 1930s was offered in as-found condition with vintage accessories, original paint and pinstripe and measured 55 inches long. For information, 860-623-2100 or www.goldengavel.com.
Gun Cabinet Attracts Interest From Iroquois Bidders
BREWERTON, N.Y. – Iroquois Auctions’ 51st Annual Estate Firearm and Sportsman Sale on January 2 saw more than 400 lots come up for auction, with a Harden Furniture Company Mission-style quartersawn oak gun cabinet making $1,560 and selling within estimate. Noted as “one of a kind,” the fresh-to-the-market piece came from a Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y., camp. For information, 315-561-9777.
Warhol ‘Flower’ Power At World Auction Gallery
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – An important Andy Warhol “Flowers” print blossomed to more than $200,000 against a $50/75,000 estimate at World Auction Gallery’s first major auction of the New Year on January 2. The synthetic polymer and silkscreen inks on canvas was signed and dated ’64 with the original “Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris” label and measured 24 by 24 inches. It had provenance from a Midwest private collector. For information, 516-307-8180 or www.worldauctiongallery.com.
