A silver gelatin print of a Givenchy hat, edition of 30, by Frank Horvat was bid to $14,000.
Review by W.A. Demers, Photos Courtesy Roland Auctions
GLEN COVE, N.Y. – It was a toss-up for top lot at Roland’s August 22 estate sale. Well, both the silver gelatin print and its subject – a Givenchy hat – by Frank Horvat would be candidates for being easily airborne, not so much a Gae Aulenti for Knoll jumbo table, with Rosso Alicante marble tops, supported on four individual column supports. Both the marble table and the print, edition of 30, signed in brown ink and in a brushed aluminum frame were bid to $14,000.
While continuing to observe all COVID-19 protocols to keep its staff, customers and the community safe – including observing social distancing during the preview period and requesting all attendees to wear masks – Roland Auctions said it continues to conduct its popular monthly estates sales. As per usual, this sale featured hundreds of lots of fine art, decorative arts, Twentieth Century modern, antique and vintage furniture, textiles, silver, gold and silver jewelry, rugs, collectibles, Asian art and lighting. The event took place in the gallery and online simultaneously. Those who could not attend the auction in person or online were able to leave bids or register to bid by phone.
Dinnerware was appealing to bidders. Thirty-three pieces of Hermes “La Siesta” porcelain dinnerware served up $4,688, while $4,800 was attained for a Royal Copenhagen blue fluted full lace porcelain dinner service. The Hermes set included six 11-inch dinner plates, six bread and butter plates, five soup bowls, five cereal bowls, eight fruit plates, three platters, together with three complementary Bernardaud Limoges dinner plates that were 10½ inches. The Royal Copenhagen group comprised 12 soup bowls, 12 fruit plates, 12 salad plates, 12 dinner plates, 12 cups, 12 saucers, one vegetable bowl, one round platter and one oval platter.
This Gae Aulenti for Knoll jumbo table with Rosso Alicante marble tops, supported on four individual column supports was tied for top lot in the sale, realized $14,000.
Fetching $4,800 also was a pair of bronze gates in the manner of Samuel Yellen (1884-1940), the Twentieth Century American master blacksmith and metal designer. Described as being in good condition, the gates, each measuring 78 by 24 inches, featured a swirl of bird, floral, leaf and open-work design. Yellin started his business, Samuel Yellin Metalworkers, in 1909. He called himself a blacksmith, but others called him a genius, a devil with a hammer in his hand. His business set high standards in design and craftsmanship that continue today.
Also paired in the sale were two Seventeenth or Eighteenth Century tapestries depicting a landscape of birds, trees and a castle each 116 by 52 inches. They were described as being in overall good original condition, in need of some repairs, and settled at $3,750.
More fine photography came to the fore with an iconic Horst P. Horst silver gelatin print of Noel Coward in Paris, 1936, smoking. Signed in pencil at bottom center “Horst” and measuring (sight) 18 by 13½ inches, the print was bid to $3,520.
For information, 212-260-2000 or www.rolandantiques.com.
