It was smooth sailing for marine scenes and place settings at auction this week. South Bay led the regatta with a $36,000 James Edward Butterworth painting and Amero followed with a Guy Carleton Wiggins for $10,455. Eldred’s sold a Laverne “Medici” coffee table for $8,750 and Hudson Valley seated a dining set including a Stickley dining table and Harvey Ellis chairs for $5,000. Read on for more fine and decorative art finds.

Important Motherwell & Buttersworth Lead At South Bay

EAST MORICHES, N.Y. – South Bay Auctions featured a recently uncovered Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) painting in its October 22 sale, along with offerings across all categories with works by some of the most sought-after artists of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, including a large canvas by James Edward Buttersworth (1817-1894). Both paintings did well; in fact, they tied for top lot status at $36,000 each. The Motherwell oil painting on canvasboard titled “The Spanish Night,” 1959, created the year after the artist’s honeymoon in Spain and France with fellow Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), was small at 6 by 8 inches and came from a Manhattan Upper East Side estate, out of the public eye since 1961, when it was donated by Motherwell (at the request of Marcel Duchamp) to a benefit auction for the American Chess Foundation conducted at Parke-Bernet Galleries (now Sotheby’s). The Buttersworth painting featured a dynamic regatta scene in choppy seas. For more information, 631-878-2909 or www.southbayauctions.com.

Herend Is Elephant In The Room In Collectibles Auction

BROOKLYN, N.Y. РSJ Auctioneers conducted an online-only collectibles sale on October 23 featuring more than 250 lots of vehicle collectibles, trains, paperweights, art glass, porcelain, d̩cor, sterling silver, jewelry, fashion bags and Disney collectibles Рsomething for just about everyone. Herend pieces featured a large black fishnet pattern elephant (pictured), just under 10 inches tall, which sold for $1,280. For collectible pen aficionados, a Montblanc limited edition Marcel Proust ballpoint box/papers wrote up $1,024, and a Dent Hardware Co Toonerville Trolley cast iron toy in original box pulled in at $320. For information, www.sjauctioneers.com or 646-450-7553.

Hudson Valley Sits Down With Stickley

BEACON, N.Y. – Hudson Valley Auctioneers presented an unreserved antiques and estate auction on October 24, offering more than 450 lots, including the contents of a large Brooklyn, N.Y., estate. The top of these was a Stickley dining table with eight chairs designed by Harvey Ellis. The table had two leaves and was stamped on the underside, and the chairs show inlaid detail on their three splats. The dining set was in overall good condition and sold for $5,000. For information, 845-831-6800 or www.hudsonvalleyauctioneers.com.

Tying The Knot With Pook & Pook

DOWNINGTON, PENN. – Pook & Pook conducted an online-only Coins & Jewelry auction on October 26, offering 641 glittering lots of fine jewelry and rare coins. Diamonds were Pook’s best friend in the sale, with gold and platinum-mounted baubles occupying its top lots. The belle of these was a 14K gold and diamond engagement ring set in its original velvet blue box. The engagement ring was set with a round brilliant cut 2.10-carat diamond, flanked by two triangle-cut .30-carat diamonds. The wedding band displayed six .18-carat diamonds. All stones were color G with varying clarity, and the set walked down the aisle for $17,640, far above its $1,8/2,200 estimate. For information, 610-269-4040 or www.pookandpook.com.

Wiggins Harbor Scene Sails To Top At Amero

SARASOTA, FLA. – A coastal harbor scene with boats, painted by Guy Carleton Wiggins (American, 1883-1962) in oil on canvas, topped more than 400 lots when it was offered by Amero Auctions on October 16. Measuring 25 by 30 inches and sold from what Alan Amero described as “an old-school local private collector,” it carried an estimate of $8/12,000. A local buyer paid $10,455 for it. For information, www.ameroauctions.com or 941-330-1577.

Meiji Cloisonne Dragon Plate Rides To Top Price For Dixon’s Crumpton

CRUMPTON, MD. – On October 20, Dixon’s Crumpton Auction offered part 1 of the lifetime collection and estate of Mr and Mrs Allen Lundy. The 350-lot sale was led at $31,980, realized by a Meiji period Japanese cloisonne plate attributed to Namikawa. The 9½-inch diameter plate depicted a dragon with three talons on each foot, on a dark red/brown circular ground, all within a cream colored banded border with stylized foliage decoration. Old labels on the back referenced Namikawa. For information, 410-928-3006 or www.crumptonauctions.com.

Laverne ‘Medici’ Table Courts Eldred Bidders

EAST DENNIS, MASS. – A Philip and Kelvin Laverne “Medici” Coffee table from the 1960s was the top lot in Eldred’s Jewelry + Decorative Art sale on October 20-21. The 17-inch-tall, 61½-inch-wide and 31-inch-deep table had an etched patinated bronze over pewter and wood top that depicted classical figures. Philip (b 1907) and Kelvin (b 1937) LaVerne were a father-and-son duo in New York, who started making pewter and bronze pieces in the 1960s, experimenting with chemical reactions to the metals and hand-torching. Their early series focused on mythology and ancient civilizations, including Greek, Roman Egyptian and Chinese. The table came from a Cape Cod house and sold to a trade buyer for $8,750, well ahead of its $4/6,000 estimate. For information, 508-385-3116 or www.eldreds.com.

Showplace Flaunts Metal Masks

NEW YORK CITY – Bidders at Auctions at Showplace went for a different kind of mask on Sunday, October 23, taking a pair of Franz Hagenauer Art Deco chromed metal masks to $21,125, more than double the lot’s estimate of $8/12,000. The masks, which measured 20½ inches high by 14 inches wide, were marked and had come from the estate of pioneering female advertising executive, Judy Wald. For information, 212-633-6063 or www.nyshowplace.com.

Zimmerman Estate Auctioned By Davis & McKee

TIMONIUM, MD. – Davis & McKee Auctions hosted the Estate of Robert “Bob” A. Zimmerman on October 26, with all proceeds from the auction to benefit the Maryland Institute College of Art. Zimmerman’s eclectic collection yielded more than 400 lots of fine art, jewelry, Native American art, folk art and textiles. The top lots included work by Jasper Johns and Bertha Lum, but the highest price was achieved by Stephen Greene’s abstract oil on canvas titled “For A.W.” The verso revealed its history of exhibitions, rentals and storage, and the painting bid to $870. For information, 410-823-3993.