Almost every category was covered in this week’s recent auctions. Fine art was represented by lesser-known American and Russian artists, followed by outdoor sculpture and collectibles. Material Culture and Grogan supplied the textiles category, while Over & Above brought jewelry and Michaan’s rolled in a grand piano. Read on for details on these top lots.
Palace-Size Rug Sweeps Material Culture
PHILADELPHIA — Material Culture conducted the second half of its Oriental Rugs From American estates auction on May 22; the first auction occurred on February 27. The auction was well attended, with more than 2,000 bidders signed up from 17 countries. The sale sold about 88 percent of its 453 lots and totaled $902,000. According to George Jevremovic, founder and principal auctioneer of Material Culture, “This is the type of auction that will give [readers] a good overall sense of the current state of the Oriental rug auction market, from small and esoteric collectibles to room-size decorative.” Leading the sale was a palace-size Lavar Kerman pictorial Persian rug from the late Nineteenth Century. Measuring 17 feet, 9 inches by 26 feet, 4 inches and weighing in at 211 pounds, the rug was purchased from the Boatman’s Bank Collection, St Louis, Mo., in the 1970s and achieved $26,000 ($10/15,000). For information, 215-438-4700 or www.materialculture.com.
Bosendorfer Concert Grand Piano
Is Music To One’s Ears At Michaan’s
ALAMEDA, CALIF. — Michaan’s May 22 Luxury auction proved to be very impressive. A Bosendorfer concert grand piano garnered a lot of interest online and on the phones. One of the phone bidders won out to the tune of $46,125. The instrument had a black lacquer finish, its bench included and it bore the serial number 39582 10257, its soundboard stamped Austria with facsimile signature to left, center. Made in 1987, the piano had the approximate dimensions of 40 inches high by 61¼ inches wide by 88 inches in length. For information, 510-227-2505 or www.michaans.com.
Egyptian Revival Brooch Gets Second Life
At Over & Above Auction
TIMONIUM, MD. — Stunning with translucent enamel in varying shades of green, blue and yellow, a sterling Egyptian Revival plique-a-jour brooch sold for $1,722 at the May 25 auction conducted by Over & Above. Stamped “sterling,” the Egyptian winged scarab motif brooch featured a blue faceted stone, its head and tail made of pale blue faceted stones. For information, www.overandaboveonline.com or 410-458-5768.
Garden-Variety Antiques Capture
Top Bids At State Line
CANAAN, CONN. — State Line Auctions & Estate Services’ May 28 sale was billed as a “very nice springtime antiques auction.” Bidders were offered a big selection of garden elements and furniture, iron urns, iron fence and gates, teak furniture, decorative items, taxidermy heads, antlers, cowhide rugs and more. Topping the sale was an iron armillary (shown), which started the auction, and hammered down to $3,658. It was followed by a carved marble and iron garden element for $2,124. For information, 860-453-4370 or www.statelineauctionsandestateservices.com.
Roland Pours Out Pitcher
From Reingold Collection
GLEN COVE, N.Y. — Roland Auction hosted the single-owner sale of the Eileen and Marvin Reingold collection on May 24, offering more than 200 lots of American and European pottery from known makers, as well as more than 50 Haitian works of art. The trophy of the auction was a mixed media ceramic glazed porcelain pitcher by Jason Walker (b 1973) decorated with gas pump motifs and a crow’s nest, which sold just above its $800-$1,200 estimate at $1,216. Walker’s work can be found in prominent American institutional collections; he currently lives and maintains his studio in Utah, and also teaches full time at Southern Utah University. For information, www.rolandauctions.com or 212-260-2000.
Guy Carleton Wiggins’ Snowy NYC Scene Warms Bidders’ Hearts At William Smith Sale
PLAINFIELD, N.H. — Guy Carleton Wiggins (1883-1962) is an artist for all seasons, and it’s not surprising that his trademark snowy Manhattan scenes find favor, even as we head into summer. A Wiggins oil, “Mid-Town Winter,” depicting a New York City snowstorm, titled on back “Mid-Town Winter,” the street adorned with American flags and travelers in snow took $45,000 at William A. Smith’s May 31 auction. The painting was signed lower right and on the back “Guy Wiggins” and measured overall 23½ by 19½ inches. For information, www.wsmithauction.com or 603-675-2549.
Repin Portrait Gives Face To Showplace
NEW YORK CITY — The top lot in Auctions at Showplace’s May 21 Important Fine Art & Design sale was a rare portrait of a young man in the artist’s studio by Ilya Yefimovich Repin (Russian, born Ukraine, 1844-1930) from 1914, which sold for $87,500, ahead of its $40/60,000 estimate. Considered a charismatic example of work from the artist’s Finnish period, the oil on canvas was one of nearly 150 lots. It came to Showplace from an Upper East Side estate and sold to a collector. For information, 212-633-6063 or www.nyshowplace.com.
Staffordshire Polar Bear
Heats Up Strawser Auctions
WOLCOTTVILLE, IND. — The first of a four-day marathon of sales conducted by Strawser Auctions May 24-27 featured furniture, lighting, bookend collection, English biscuit tin collection, paintings, silver, mechanical banks, advertising and more but it was this last category that was the sale’s top lot: A rare Staffordshire polar bear advertising model for “James Atkinson’s bear grease. Estimated at $600/900, the 16-inch-long model was chased by persistent bidders, one of which bagged it for $5,310. For information, www.strawserauctions.com or 260-854-2859.
Gothic Tapestry Fragment Leads
Kearney Collection For Grogan
BOSTON — On June 1, Grogan & Co offered a small but exceptionally choice sale of just 35 lots from the collection of Lawrence Kearney. Beating out all other lots as well as its $2/3,000 estimate was a Gothic tapestry fragment, which achieved $40,625. The fragment was mounted and measured 17 by 23 inches and was dated to the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Century. For information, 617-720-2020 or www.groganco.com.
