“Those were really nice, good examples, with big glass beads,” Chris Barber said of this pair of late Eighteenth Century Irish George III cut glass oval mirrors, 23¼ by 15¼ inches, that saw interest from Irish bidders and traded hands at $11,520 ($2/3,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
BOSTON — Doyle Boston plans to relocate to a new venue a short distance from its Clarendon Street gallery in the spring and conducted its last sale at its current location on February 7. Boston Collects presented a sale of nearly 200 lots, sourced both locally and farther away, that had been thoughtfully curated, giving consideration to lots that would be received best in New England. A total of more than $208,000 was closer to the higher side of its aggregate pre-sale estimate and the firm gaveled more than 90 percent down successfully. Chris Barber was busy fielding calls on unsold lots following the sale, but he happily made time to talk with Antiques and The Arts Weekly about some of the sale’s highlights.
“We’re very happy with how it did. There were some very good successes in this sale — and across categories — which is always nice to see. One-quarter of our buyers were new to Doyle and between 60 and 70 percent of the lots are staying in the area, which means we’re doing a good job of reaching the local market. We hosted the launch of a new magazine recently — My Boston — which was very successful, and we had a small private preview for this sale with folks all in their late 20s or early 30s in which we talked about bidding at auction. They were all very enthusiastic, it was a lot of fun and two of them ended up being new clients.”
A pair of Irish George III cut glass oval mirrors that dated to circa 1790 and measured about two feet tall was the sale’s top lot and earned $11,520, nearly four times its high estimate. While Barber could not divulge any information about the buyer, he confirmed “we had a lot of interest from Irish parties. The mirrors came from a private local collector who bought things from all the best dealers in New York City and London in the 90s and early 2000s but they are redoing their home in a more modern vein.”
This pair of wrought-iron andirons were made in the first half of the Twentieth Century and featured the clear signature of Edgar Brandt. Consigned from a local collection, they will be staying in Boston with a buyer who paid $3,200 for them ($2/3,000).
From the same collection was a pair of wrought iron andirons by Edgar Brandt that was snapped up for $3,200 by a local bidder who spotted them in the bay window of Doyle’s Clarendon Street gallery.
Artwork in the sale reached its apex at $7,680, for a gouache on paper of a sea eagle painted in 1883 by Scottish artist Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935). It was in good condition and skillfully rendered; its provenance to the Glenbow Foundation in Calgary, Canada, and New York City gallerist Graham Arader helped generate additional interest and it sold to a longtime Doyle client.
Henry Scott’s (British, 1911-2005) “Down Easter Harvey Mills in the Lower Inner Harbour, Boston. ‘Governors Island’ in the Distance,” had provenance to London dealers MacConnal-Mason & Son, Ltd., and came to Doyle from a Greenwich, Conn., collection where its local vistas warranted selling in Boston rather than New York City. It realized $5,120.
“Picture Gallery of the Boston Athenaeum” by Enrico Meneghelli (American, 1853-after 1912) was another local-interest piece that came to Boston from New York City and the collection of Alan W. Feld and Suzanne C. Feld. A Doyle client in the Midwest won it for $4,480, nearly four times its high estimate.
Another lot that came in through the New York City office was a group of ten 14K gold small spoons made by J.E. Caldwell. Offered at the end of the sale, following a small selection of jewelry, the spoons found a new home outside of the Boston area, for $5,760.
Watch this space for an interview with Doyle Boston’s vice president and director of Boston operations, Kathryn Craig, about the firm’s new Boston gallery, ahead of its opening.
In the meantime, upcoming sales in the firm’s flagship gallery in New York City include Doyle + Design on March 12, and Asian Works of Art, March 18-19.
For information, 212-427-2730 or www.doyle.com.
