Far surpassing its $40/60,000 estimate to achieve $558,000, the highest price of the sale, was the James E. Davidson Window, a circa 1923 commission made by Tiffany Studios for Davidson and his wife’s mausoleum.
Review by Kiersten Busch
DETROIT — DuMouchelles prepared bidders for a luxurious Valentine’s Day with its two-day February 2025 auction, which was conducted February 13-14 and offered more than 750 lots. Day one focused on Louis XV- and XVI- style furniture, Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos clocks, Swarovski sculptures, jewelry, Pewabic Pottery works, sterling silver, Phyllis Morris furniture and antiques from estates in Michigan and New York. Day two featured rare books, bronzes and fine art, including Modernist works from the collection of Kempf Hogan. After the dust settled on the two days of bidding, the sale garnered a sell-through rate of nearly 90 percent.
“We were very pleased with the result of our February auction,” said owner Robert DuMouchelle. “We had a wide variety of high quality and fresh-to-market fine and decorative art, a rare book collection, fine jewelry, a Pewabic pottery collection, Midcentury Modern furniture — something for everyone. It resulted in robust bidding and interest from collectors around the globe.”
A gilded silver filigree reliquary containing 13 first class sacred relics was the highest selling lot of day one. The relics included inside the object were a fragment of the True Cross (housed in the central compartment) and bone fragments of Saints Peter, Andrew, Jacob Major, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the Minor, Thaddeus and Simon. Its original owner was Nicolaus Ferrante, Postulator Generalis of the Redemptorist Fathers, whose seal was on the piece in multiple places. It was purchased from Ferrante on February 16, 1962, by “The Bishop of Skid Row,” Monsenior Thomas Anthony Jobs, who was murdered in an armed robbery in 1976; his heirs consigned the reliquary to DuMouchelles. The certificate of purchase and the object’s original silk-lined, faux-leather-clad box were also included with the lot, which sold for $24,800, more than 24 times its high estimate. Of the Michigan phone bidder who won the lot, DuMouchelle said, “The bidder, who is well known to us, informed us that he intends to donate the reliquary to the Catholic Church.”
The highest price of day one went to this gilded silver filigree reliquary cross with glass jewels, which contained 13 first-class relics, including a piece of the True Cross and bone fragments from multiple different saints. With detailed provenance, the reliquary earned a devout $24,800 ($600-$1,000).
Fluttering all the way to Hong Kong for $11,780 was day one’s second-highest selling lot: a Swarovski crystal albino peacock sculpture by Clarita Brinkerhoff. Near life size, the 1966 statue was limited edition and came with a special stand to secure the bird when displaying it. It had provenance to a Detroit collector’s penthouse at The Rushmore in New York City.
A Lalique Deux Figurines molded and frosted glass mantel clock which appeared in Patricia Bayer and Mark Waller’s book The Art of René Lalique (Book Sales, 2006) ticked to $5,580. The electrified timepiece — which had its clockworks replaced — contained etched Arabic numeral hour markers and was mounted on a silver base with interior lighting. The clear arched-form clock’s design depicted a pair of Neoclassical women leaning over a floral-wreathed face.
Furniture on both days was led by an English Chippendale-style burled mahogany veneer breakfront with provenance to a Milford, Mich., private collector, which sold on day one. The 83¾-inch high piece of furniture stood on ball and claw cabriole legs with carved leaf knees and included five glass shelves in its central compartment. It closed its drawers for $5,270.
Hailing from the Twentieth Century was this 83¾-inch-high English Chippendale-style burled mahogany veneer breakfront with provenance to a Milford, Mich., private collector. It towered over its $2,2/3,500 estimate, earning $5,270 from a Michigan phone bidder.
The notable highlight of day two, a circa 1923 Tiffany Studios art glass window, was also the highest price of both days of the sale, earning a colorful $558,000 against its $40/60,000 estimate. The James E. Davidson Window depicted a landscape cut in two by a river, with trees flanking its banks. The favrile glass window was commissioned by Davidson’s daughter, Mrs C.A. Tomlison (Cleveland, Ohio), for his mausoleum. It had been in family storage since 1962, when it was removed from the mausoleum by Detroit Stained Glass Works after an act of vandalism; it was in excellent condition. However, sold one lot later for $19,840, was its severely damaged partner. Auctioned “as is,” the lot included the broken pieces salvaged from the damage caused by trespassing pheasant hunters who had smashed the window. It had provenance to a Westland, Mich., private collector, who is a direct descendant of the Davidsons. “We had significant interest in the windows from dealers and private collectors, with a dozen phone bidders and eight verified online bidders actively participating in the bidding,” explained DuMouchelle. The pair will remain together, won by the same US phone bidder.
Fine art was the star of day two, with three works by well-known painters landing prices in the top six best-selling lots of the day. “White Mountains, NH Nocturne,” an oil on canvas by Alfred Thompson Bricher, went to an East Coast online bidder for $19,840. The 1864 luminist painting depicted a couple and two children watching the moon rise over a lake, while two additional children watched the same event from the lawn of their home. According to catalog notes, the painting was “a rare work and one of a small number of nocturnes known to have been painted by the artist.”
Although not accepted into his catalogue raisonné in October 2024, “A Guinguette,” pastel and oil on canvas, inscribed and signed in black ink verso, was attributed to Édouard Manet (French, 1832-1883), and had provenance to Count Traversi (Italian, circa 1960s), Anne F. Sabo (New York City) and her nephew (Warren, Mich.). It sold to a Midwest phone bidder for $18,600 ($5/15,000).
“A Guinguette,” a pastel and oil on canvas work attributed to Édouard Manet but rejected from his catalogue raisonné in October 2024 by the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, made $18,600, while $16,120 was secured by a UK buyer online for Pablo Picasso’s linoleum cut on Arches wove paper print titled “Peintre Dessinant Et Modèle Nu Au Chapeau.”
DuMouchelles’ next sale will take place March 13-14. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 313-963-6255 or www.dumoart.com.
