Leading the overall three-day sale was this early Eighteenth Century celadon blue porcelain clair de lune gu vase bearing a Qianlong mark from a Mount Kisco, N.Y., private collection, which topped out at $462,500. Possibly of the period (1711-1799), the heavily potted porcelain vase of lobed baluster form had a wide flaring rim and blue underglaze seal mark to underside with old retail stickers and stood 15½ inches high.
Review by W.A. Demers; Photos Courtesy Millea Bros
BOONTON, N.J. — Millea Bros presented its spring “Select” three-day auction on May 17, 18 and 19. The event, which totaled $3.1 million with a 93 percent sell-through rate, featured a collection of art, design and antiques from prominent New York area estates — including two blue-chip contemporary art collections, period Chippendale antiques and Persian rugs and the contents of a Manhattan home custom furnished with early Vladimir Kagan designs. Of particular note was an early Eighteenth Century celadon blue porcelain clair de lune gu vase bearing a Qianlong mark from a Mount Kisco, N.Y., private collection, which topped out at $462,500. Possibly of the period (1711-1799), the heavily potted porcelain vase of lobed baluster form had a wide flaring rim and blue underglaze seal mark to underside with old retail stickers and stood 15½ inches high. It was won by a Chinese bidder.
Day one’s focus was Modern and contemporary art and design, and there were two contemporary art collections on offer. Among the design highlights were two shagreen-clad coffee tables by Jean-Michel Frank (1895-1941), the French interior designer known for minimalist interiors decorated with plain-lined but sumptuous furniture made of luxury materials, such as shagreen, mica and intricate straw marquetry. Estimated just $6/8,000, one such circa 1930 example attributed to the designer brought $109,375. Of inverted U-shaped form, the table was veneered with galuchat panels, stamped “10557” on the bottom of its foot and measured 16 by 43½ by 19 inches. A low table from the 1920s was also attributed to the Art Deco designer. With a fruitwood and shagreen veneer, the parsons-style table on square legs with rectangular top featured inset galuchat sunburst inlay and was stamped “JM Frank Chanaux & Co.” and numbered 8037. Like the other table, it was property from the collection of a media executive and it was bid to $21,250.
Consigned from a circa 1955 Vladimir Kagan furnished home, this circular mosaic-topped coffee table with a 42-inch diameter tripled its high presale estimate to finish at $17,500.
Consigned from a circa 1955 Vladimir Kagan furnished home at 150 East 69th Street, a circular mosaic-topped coffee table tripled its high estimate to finish at $17,500. Circa 1950, it featured glass tiles, walnut and brass and measured 14 inches high with a 42-inch diameter.
From the collection of a media executive, a rare Josef Hoffmann (Austrian, 1870-1956) model 500/6 desk doubled its high estimate, leaving the gallery at $16,250. The Austrian-Moravian architect and designer was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. The circa 1905 desk of stained beech, leather and brass was made by J&J Kohn, Vienna, with a remnant paper label on its underside. It measured 38 by 43 by 23 inches and was lotted with a Fledermaus chair, vintage but unmarked, upholstered in an oatmeal line.
A fine art photography group offered on day one included works by William Wegman, Richard Avedon, Frank Thiel, Wim Wenders, Carrie Mae Weems and works by Irving Penn (American, 1917-2009) from the estate of photography agent Peter Schub. Fetching $30,000 was a Penn platinum-palladium print, “Three Rissani Women,” 1971, printed in 1978 on Rives paper mounted on aluminum sheet, signed, titled, dated and numbered 13/32 on verso with Conde Nast copyright stamps, edition stamp and pencil number “1868” in a circle. Matted in a Plexiglass box frame, the print was 21½ by 19½ inches.
The successful bidder for this group of 16 c-prints from 2014 by contemporary artist Sara Cwynar acquired an instant installation. Estimated $3/5,000, the group, titled “Flat Death,” did much better, crossing the block for $16,250. Overall, the installation measured 31 by 456 inches.
The successful bidder for a group of 16 c-prints from 2014 by contemporary artist Sara Cwynar acquired an instant installation. Estimated $3/5,000, the group did much better, crossing the block for $16,250. Cwynar who works with photography, collage, installation and book-making. She was born in Vancouver, Canada, in 1985 and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y. Titled “Flat Death,” the 16 chromogenic prints were deaccessioned from a private New York collection. Each was mounted on Plexiglass, and a gallery label and placement order verso, included a copy of the gallery invoice and hanging instructions. Overall, the installation measured 31 by 456 inches.
Also notable on day one was a sculpture by Cornelia Ann Parker (b 1956), an English visual artist, best known for her sculpture and installation art. “Alter Ego (Reflections), Coffee Pot,” comprising silverplated objects, one intact coffeepot, one squashed, made $15,000 against a $1,5/2,500 estimate.
The sale’s second day focused on Asian, American and British art and antiques. In addition to the top-selling clair de lune vase, a large modern scroll painting by Peng Wei (Chinese, b 1974) brought $48,750. The ink on silk scroll, 2006, incorporated a silk robe, signed and dated in Chinese along bottom edge, with artist’s ink seal, housed in a custom shadowbox frame, 99 by 59 inches.
This Chinese Qing dynasty bronze censer, estimated just $700-$1,000, smoked expectations by achieving $43,750.
Asian material further made a surprise turn as a Chinese bronze censer, estimated just $700-$1,000, smoked expectations by achieving $43,750. The Qing dynasty (Eighteenth/Nineteenth Century) censer was light brown patinated cast bronze, of flattened globular form, mounted with two loose ring handles, engraved seal mark to underside, 5 inches high and 7 inches in diameter.
A collection of period English Georgian furnishings included pieces sold to benefit the Rosenbach Museum and Library. Located within a historic Philadelphia townhouse, the Rosenbach contains period furniture and treasures of Philip Rosenbach, the preeminent early Twentieth Century dealer of rare books and decorative arts. Highlights from this group included a William France-attributed reading table that went out at $35,000.
One of the signers of America’s Declaration of Independence was Arthur Middleton (1742-1787), a representative from South Carolina in the Second Continental Congress. Attributed to him in this sale was a signature “Arthur Middleton” on a program from a musical concert, undated, printed on laid paper. Property from the collection of Charles E. Sigety, an entrepreneur, healthcare pioneer and New York real estate developer whose collection of rare books and Americana was sold by Christie’s in 2015, the program found a buyer at $18,750, a vast premium above its $400/600 estimate.
Day 3 was led by a 16-inch-high Egyptian basalt mortar or urn, ex-Rosenbach, that quadrupled its high presale estimate and sold for $25,000.
Day three featured continental art and antiques, antiquities and carpets. The day was led by a 16-inch-high Egyptian basalt mortar or urn, ex-Rosenbach, that quadrupled its high estimate and sold for $25,000. Likely Fifth/Sixth dynasty (circa 2500 BCE), the diorite vessel tapered from top to bottom and was carved with stylized lotus and palm around the exterior, lion or cat’s head lug handles near the top, with the carving likely done circa 712-388 BCE. Bringing the same amount against a $1/1,500 estimate was an Egyptian-style green jasper ring. Possibly 1370-1320 BCE, the size 8¼ ring’s simple band was decorated with a lunar barque on a flattened face.
Rounding out the day’s top highlights were an oil on canvas painting of “Bean Geese in a Marshy Landscape,” 1921, attributed to Swedish artist Bruno Liljefors (1860-1939) at $20,000 ($800-$1,200), a Spanish Colonial inlaid Mueble Enconchado at $18,750 ($3/5,000) and two pieces of spiky metalwork by Cass Gilbert for the Woolworth building, which left the gallery at $15,000. The latter lot, circa 1913, comprised two segments of pressed copper sheet metal with natural verdigris patina, which originally surrounded the roof of the Woolworth building at 233 Broadway, New York City, mounted to oak plinth, each 58 by 58 by 15 inches.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. The firm’s next “Select” sale will take place in November, dates to be announced. For information, www.milleabros.com or 973-377-1500.
