Review by Carly Timpson; Photos Courtesy Brunk Auctions
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — To kick off the new year, Brunk Auctions conducted back-to-back auctions featuring Property From a Historic South Carolina Plantation and items from the collection of David Bahlman and Howard Klosterman. Across the two sales, Brunk offered a total of 428 lots and successfully found buyers for 94 percent of all lots.
The top lot of the January 10 sale, “The Red Bud” by Alfred Heber Hutty (American, 1877-1954), possibly 1922, oil on canvas, 32¼ by 40 inches, in gilt wood frame, surpassed estimates to achieve $86,100 ($40/60,000).
Property From a Historic South Carolina Plantation
The 123-lot January 10 sale Property From a Historic South Carolina Plantation resulted in a total realized of $607,620 and boasts a 99 percent sell-through rate. The standout lot of the sale was “The Red Bud,” a circa 1922 oil painting by Alfred Heber Hutty. This oil on canvas work depicts a cypress swamp and was signed “Alfred Hutty” and “22.” It commanded the sale’s highest price of $86,100.
Finishing as the second-highest sale of the day was a rare Confederate 11-Star First National Flag for the South Carolina Palmetto Battalion Light Artillery. According to the accompanying research and historical records, this flag was used in “a number of engagements during the siege of Charleston, S.C., and was retired when Charleston fell in February 1865, although it was taken out and carried by a South Carolina Color Guard during the funeral procession of Gen. Robert E. Lee in 1870.” In addition to the flag’s storied history, it also has excellent provenance, formerly in the museum collection of Charles Gunther and the Chicago Historical Society. The flag flew out to a private collector for $51,660.
A circa Eighteenth to Nineteenth Century portrait depicting Chevalier Joseph Pinetti (circa 1750-1803), an internationally famous magician and professor of physics from Italy, was estimated at $2/3,000 but conjured $29,520. The unattributed French School portrait shows Pinetti in a faux general’s uniform and holding his 1784 book, Physical Amusements and Diverting Experiments. In a French-style wood and composition frame, the portrait has a label that reads “M. Voruz de Vaux/Interior Architect/635 Park Avenue/New York.”
“Intensity on Point” by Edmund Osthaus (American, 1858-1928), oil on canvas, 24 by 14 inches, fetched $29,520 ($8/10,000).
Similarly realizing $29,520 was an oil painting by Edmund Osthaus. The painting, aptly titled “Intensity on Point,” depicts two spaniel dogs, locked in focus on their target beneath them in the brush. A “Red Fox Fine Art, Middleburg, Virginia” label is affixed to the reproduction gilt wood and composition frame.
Following closely behind was another painting, this one by Elliott Daingerfield. Active in North Carolina, Daingerfield is best known for his local landscape paintings. This piece, “Sunset Glory, Blowing Rock, North Carolina,” was once exhibited at Norton Gallery and School of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla. With its fiery orange hues, the sunset landscape sold to a private buyer for $27,060.
A set of three letters of correspondence, each signed by a Confederate General, was bought for $22,140 by a collector. Each of the handwritten letters is framed with a photograph of the writer and a typed transcription of the letter. Dated April 18, 1863, a letter from General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson discusses the suspension of mail service on the Sabbath. In another, General James Ewell Brown “JEB” Stuart administers military commands to an unnamed colonel, dated March 7, 1862. The final of the three is from General Nathan Bedford Forrest. In this May 4, 1863, note, he provides instructions to procure resources in addition to brief strategy directions.
A collection of framed letters signed by Confederate generals Stonewall Jackson, Nathan Bedford Forrest and JEB Stuart went out at $22,140 ($6/9,000).
Another lot with Confederate photographs, this one consisting of four separately framed cartes de visite, elicited $17,220. The four men photographed were Generals Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, James Ewell Brown “JEB” Stuart and Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Jackson CDV, taken in 1863, was signed “T.J. Jackson” at the bottom and is one of his last known photographs. The image of Forrest shows him uniformed and facing while Stuart’s image shows the general uniformed and seated. The especially rare, full-length CDV of Lee was signed twice by the general. The lot was paired with three letters of authenticity.
Standing out from the two dominating themes in this sale was a sterling silver punch set. Made by S. Kirk & Son, the floral repoussé set included a punch bowl, 12 mugs and a ladle. The grouping showed minor signs of use and earned $21,760.
Leading the January 11 sale, this Tiffany Studios Dragonfly table lamp and Indian base (528), early Twentieth Century, leaded glass shade with bronze base, approximately 25 inches tall and 20 inches wide, earned $67,650 ($30/50,000).
Premier Auction Featuring Collection David Bahlman and Howard Klosterman
On January 11, Brunk returned to the auction block with 305 lots from the collection of David Bahlman and Howard Klosterman as well as some other private and estate collections. In all, the sale saw a 92 percent sell-through rate and generated $700,362.
Leading the sale was a Tiffany Studios table lamp with a Dragonfly shade and Indian base, which brought $67,650. The conical leaded glass lamp, stamped “Tiffany Studios/New York/1598,” is surrounded by dragonflies with teal bodies and red glass eyes. Despite the “1598” mark, the lamp actually appears to be Tiffany model number 1495. The glass contains shades of copper and orange, plus details of round green jewels towards the top. The 20-inch shade sits on a bronze three-socket Indian base, stamped “Tiffany Studios/New York/528.”
An oil painting by British landscape artist John Syer, “A Salmon Trap on the Conway” exceeded its $2/4,000 estimate to earn $29,520. The work, depicting two men setting a fishing trap in a rocky river, was sold to David Bahlman in 1987 by Durrett Galleries in Baltimore, Md., for just $6,770. It is in a painted and parcel gilt wood frame and was accompanied by Bahlman’s original sale receipt for the work.
Following closely behind the landscape was “Portrait of a Thirty Two Year Old Man” by Jacob Frans van der Merck. Best known for his portraiture, van der Merck’s sitter for this one was an unidentified man, presumably 32 years of age, wearing a damasked coat with a flat white lace collar. With recorded provenance to the estate of Susan Minns and the Massachusetts Historical Society before Bahlman and Klosterman acquired it in 2010, the 1642 painting crossed the block for $27,060.
Consigned by a family member of the painting’s original owner, “Zelda’s House” by Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (American, 1900-1948), gouache on paper, 10 by 14 inches, was won at $22,140 ($15/20,000).
One painting that did not originate from the Bahlman-Klosterman collection was an early work by Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. “Zelda’s House” was consigned by the grandchild of its original owner who was a childhood friend of the artist. The consignor shared, “Zelda’s painting of her home in Montgomery, hung in my grandparent’s home, then my parent’s and then hung in mine.” The abstract gouache on paper work, and all its memories, went off to a private collection for $22,140.
Bidders also found favor in paintings by unknown artists. Two such examples were “Portrait of a Woman in a Fur Trimmed Wrap” and “The Alexander and Royal Union Lines on a Country Road.” Bearing similarities to an 1811 graphite drawing of Marie-Jeanne-Catherine Delaigle by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the auction house attributed “Portrait of a Woman in a Fur Trimmed Wrap” to a French follower of Ingres. An overseas trade buyer won the oil portrait for $20,910. The other work, a circa Nineteenth-Twentieth Century British School painting of a coaching scene brought $11,070 — well above its modest estimate of $600/800. Though the artist is unknown, bidders may have been intrigued by this piece’s story. A label affixed verso reads “This oil painting was presented to George Book who is driving the first coach in recognition of his prowess as a driver. He was the brother of John Book of Thurlstone.” The painting is similar in composition to a watercolor by James Pollard (British, 1792-1867) titled “The Royal Union Coach Passing the Alexander Leeds Coach.”
“Portrait of Art Dealer Joseph Duveen” by Harrington Mann (British, 1864-1937), 1921, oil on canvas, 40 by 30 inches, found a buyer at $14,760 ($2/3,000).
Perhaps a bit meta, a portrait of an international art dealer was purchased by another international art dealer. “Portrait of Art Dealer Joseph Duveen” by Harrington Mann joined Bahlman’s collection in 2003 after being purchased from Leah’s Gallery, New York City, for $4,500. The sitter, Sir Joseph Duveen, Baronet (1869-1939) is considered to be one of the most influential dealers of all time and is credited with introducing thousands of European works to America, thus permanently changing the country’s relationship with art. The overseas buyer scored this 1921 portrait of Duveen for $14,760.
A circa 1800-20 Fayetteville, N.C., finely inlaid sideboard of walnut and yellow pine earned $13,530. The auction catalog notes, “This sideboard is from a small group of examples documented to the Fayetteville, N.C., area. Closely related examples have been recorded by MESDA and several are illustrated in John Bivins Jr’s The Furniture of Coastal North Carolina, 1700-1820.” At the center of the piece are two dovetailed drawers which are flanked by double-door cupboards.
All prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
Brunk Auctions will conduct its sale of The Great Outdoors: From Audubon To Zuni on February 21. For more information, www.brunkauctions.com or 828-254-6846.
