On October 28, A.B. Levy’s Worth Avenue jewelry, art and antiques auction featured a broad array of jewelry, decorative arts, furniture and sculpture. Overall, the sale totaled $2,738,850. Leading the sale was an Asscher cut diamond ring selling for $833,000. Another highlight was a Galle lamp, which realized $235,000.
The firm’s president, Albert Levy, said he was pleased with the sale’s results. “We had a full house. We only conduct these sales twice a year, and it created a lot of excitement,” he stated. There were about 80 bidders in the gallery, while 420 registered to bid by phone, absentee or Internet. Six phones were active during the sale and bidders participated from as far away as Dubai, London and Sweden.
The sale’s top lot, a 10.04-carat Asscher cut diamond ring came out of a private collection in Palm Beach, according to Levy, who added that he was not surprised that the lot bested its $700,000 low presale estimate. There was a lot of dealer interest in the ring, which was centered by a square emerald Asscher cut diamond weighing 10.04 carats, graded F color and VS1 clarity. It was flanked by two kite-shaped diamonds and completed by numerous round cut diamonds and had been mounted in platinum by David Morris, London. Two phone bidders battled it out, with one ultimately prevailing.
Excitement, too, was generated by an Emile Galle carved cameo glass table lamp, which opened at $100,000 and quickly shot up to a $235,000 selling price. The circa 1910 example’s 20-inch diameter shade and base each were signed in cameo Galle and the lamp itself stood 31 inches high.
Fetching $228,000 was a Continental carved ivory set of the Four Seasons, circa 1880. Each season was depicted as a standing female and the four were mounted on a rouge marble plinth with an overall height of 23½ inches. Going to a collector bidding by phone, the sales price was “reasonable,” according to Levy, who added that he had expected the lot to bring more.
The trade, bidding by phone, won a Francois Linke ormolu-mounted kingwood console table, circa 1900, for $132,000. Signed Linke, the table featured a shaped brèche violette marble top above the frieze centered by a scallop shell, flanked by four female busts raised on cabriole legs, joined by a shaped X-stretcher, surmounted by a man holding a mandolin. The piece measured 36 by 59 by 20 inches.
A Palm Beach collector will have to find an adequate spot in his or her residence to display a pair of Italian carved marble torcheres that Levy described as “fantastic quality.” Bringing $102,000, the circa 1870 torcheres in the Renaissance style featured a circular dish-form top supported by a finely detailed standard ending in a leaf kept plinth raised on paw feet on a platform base. Together with later alabaster globe-form shade, each reached 100 inches high.
Additional auction highlights included a Nineteenth Century Italian circular micromosaic table top, centered by a panel depicting Saint Peter’s Basilica, surrounded by 12 wedged panels depicting Roman scenes, $114,000; a monumental bronze sculpture with light brown patina by Marius Jean-Antonin Mercie (French, 1845‱916) titled “Gloria Victis,” raised on a green marble pedestal with overall height 97 inches, $96,000; and an oil on canvas by Eugenio Zampighi (Italian, 1859‱944), “The Favorite Story,” 22 by 30 inches, $72,000.
A Tiffany Studios internally decorated “Aquamarine” favrile glass vase, circa 1912, 115/8 inches high, also finished at $72,000, while a Rene Lalique gray glass “Le Jour Et La Nuit” mantel clock, circa 1926, featuring nude figures supported by a patinated metal base, 14¾ inches high, made $66,000.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For additional information, 561-835-9139 or www.ablevys.com .
