Tied for top-lot status at $9,225 was this Marc Chagall lithograph titled “The Painter’s Bouquet.”
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
ST PETERSBURG, FLA. — Burchard Galleries’ Estate Antiques, Fine Art and Jewelry Auction on July 19 offered something for collectors of all interests as top-lot status was shared by fine art and jewelry while the furniture category surprised some as a strong performer.
“Furniture was the hit of the show this time, believe it or not,” reported Jeffrey Burchard, president of Burchard Galleries.
Leading this category was a four-piece French François Leglas-Maurice bedroom suite that soared past its $3/5,000 estimate to attain $7,072. The Nineteenth Century suite comprised a nightstand and dresser, both with marble tops, a bed and a mirror-front armoire. Asked what made this grouping so desirable, Burchard said, “It had fantastic ormolu [mounts] and the marquetry inlay was an ebonist’s dream.”
Another aesthetically pleasing piece was an unusual and unfinished Herter Brothers parlor cabinet that bidders drove up to $7,072. The cabinet’s door, with an inlaid scholarly motif, opened to reveal a two-shelf compartmented interior. On either side, the piece featured gilded and ebonized columns with lion’s-paw feet. Despite its gilding not being finished, the American Victorian cabinet’s decoration and craftsmanship drew interest. Raised on casters and set on three marble display platforms, it stood about 54 inches tall.
This Reef Visit table, bronze base with glass top, by Robert Wyland sold for $5,227($5/8,000).
Also among furniture offerings was a “Reef Visit” table by Robert Wyland (American, b 1956). Featuring a bronze base depicting swimming marine animals under a glass top, the table realized $5,227.
The overall top lot, though, was a tie between a Marc Chagall lithograph, “The Painter’s Bouquet” (1967), which achieved a mid-estimate price of $9,225, and a 14K gold and diamond necklace. Featuring 154 round brilliant-cut diamonds, the necklace had a foliate motif.
When it came to fine art, the more colorful and intense the paint, the better. At least that’s what buyers seemed drawn to this time, as a vivid Florida Highwaymen ocean sunrise painting by Harold Newton overtook its $3/5,000 estimate to realize $7,380.
Asian arts were also well represented with nearly 50 examples ranging from brush pots, urns and bronze figures to vases, bowls and lamps. Leading this selection was a Chinese blue-and-white porcelain vase. The bottle-form vase had a lotus scroll motif and was conservatively estimated at $400/600. Boasting decoration of bok choy leaves and stylized waves at the collar, it sold for $3,997. To the underside, the vase was marked with a blue six-character mark for the Tongzhi period of the Qing dynasty. Another highlight that outperformed its estimate was a Chinese pale peach bloom glazed beehive water pot, or taibo zun, that made $2,952 ($400/700). Its domed body was covered in a reddish glaze and incised with three medallions of coiled archaistic kui dragons. A blue mark indicating it was made during the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty was painted to the underside.
Asian arts offerings were led by this bottle-form Chinese blue-and-white porcelain vase with a lotus scroll motif, at $3,997 ($400/600).
Another highlight of the auction was an 1866 ribbon map of the Father Of Waters, Mississippi River, by Myron Coloney and Sidney B. Fairchild, which sold near its high estimate at $3,444. The hand-colored lithographed strip map was on five joined sheets that reeled into its original oak cylinder case. Family provenance indicated this map was owned by the consignors great uncle, Mississippi river boat captain Russell Warner.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Burchard Galleries’ next auction will be a Discovery auction August 15 followed by a Premiere Auction August 16. For information, www.burchardgalleries.com or 727-821-1167.
