Freeman’s closed a banner year with sales of silver and decorative arts, Oriental rugs and carpets and Asian arts on December 13–15, with highlights across all disciplines but none that topped the $341,625 paid for a Chelaberd Kazak from the estate of Robert Montgomery Scott.
The 6-foot, 1-inch by 5-foot, 4-inch single medallion rug was the subject of intense presale scrutiny, with potential buyers flying in from across the globe, driving a result that represented a new world record for a Caucasian carpet of any kind at auction.
The three days of sales resulted in a combined hammer plus premium of just over $2 million, carrying Freeman’s to its best year ever with a total of $23.1 million. Spurring on Freeman’s recent growth has been its English and Continental department, which was responsible for the silver and decorative arts sold on December 13. The top lot was a George III silver epergne by Thomas Pitts of London, circa 1768, which exceeded its high estimate at $32,265.
A Nineteenth Century Italian micromosaic table top with a central circular plaque depicting the doves of Pliny sold for $29,875, and a Victorian sterling silver gilt four-bottle decanter stand (Robert Garrard, London, 1852) soared past its $1,5/2,500 estimate to reach $17,925. A Minton pate-sur-pate exhibition vase by Louis Solon generated considerable presale buzz once the vase’s mate was discovered in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The vase sold to a buyer in England for more than double its high estimate at $27,485.
Besides the Kazak, a late Nineteenth Century Haji Jalili Tabriz ($20/30,000) from Northwest Persia led Day Two’s offerings and another Northwest Persian Tabriz, circa 1900, nearly quadrupled its estimate at $38,800.
More than 400 lots of Asian arts were presented on the final day, led by a matched pair of Japanese Palace cloisonné vases ($20/30,000). Standing five feet tall, the vases from a local estate sold to a buyer in Florida for $65,725. Two lots of Eighteenth Century late Qianlong Period Chinese export ‘Tobacco Leaf’ pattern items performed well. A rare pair of Pomegranate soup tureens with covers and stands realized $56,750 while a large oval soup tureen with cover and stand fetched $27,500.
For more information, www.freemansauction.com or 215-563-9275.
