One of two lots that achieved top lot status was this Nineteenth Century French gilt bronze-mounted mahogany bureau plat, 70 inches long, which stood at $13,125 ($10/15,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
DALLAS — Heritage Auctions dedicated a day to celebrate the decorative arts with its The Curated Home Decorative Art Signature Auction, which offered 250 lots of fine art, furniture, carvings, ceramics and porcelain, art glass, silver and vertu, rugs and textiles, lighting, timepieces, metalwork and decorative accessories on March 6. The sale, which had 1,226 bids and registered phone bidders, finished with a total of $528,800.
“It’s always exciting to see new buyers alongside our regulars — collectors who appreciate beautiful objects, designers curating remarkable spaces and more,” commented Karen Rigdon, vice president of fine silver and decorative arts at Heritage. “We were happy with the exceptional results on a pair of Louis XV-style gilt wood square planters, a bronze statue after Emile-Coriolan-Hippolyte Guillemin and an Italian marble torso of a Roman figure.”
Earning a top-lot price of $13,125 was the statue mentioned above by Rigdon as one of the lots that had “exceptional results.” The sculpture in question was a Twentieth Century bronze on a marble pedestal after Emile-Coriolan-Hippolyte Guillemin, titled “Janissaire du Sultan Mahmoud II.” The figure had provenance to Marshall Antique Gallery, Los Angeles, and was acquired by its consignors, Weider Health and Fitness, from the gallery in 1986. The statue was also marked “Ele. Guillemin” on its left shoulder. It exceeded it’s $5/7,000 estimate.
“Janissaire de Sultan Mahmoud II” after Emile-Coriolan-Hippolyte Guillemin (French, 1841-1907), Twentieth Century, bronze on marble pedestal, 34¼ inches high by 22 inches long by 15 inches deep, earned a royal $13,125 ($5/7,000).
Approximately 24 additional sculptures and carvings were on offer during the sale, and all received new owners, with prices ranging from $375 for a Chinese carved malachite Shoulao to $12,500 for an Italian Carrara marble figure of a young woman on a wooden base from the Nineteenth Century, which was marked “Steinhauser, 1840.” Another notable sculpture from Italy earned a chiseled $9,688: a marble torso of a male Roman figure, carved after an antique of the same form. The statue sold well above its $4/6,000 estimate.
A Nineteenth Century French gilt bronze mounted bureau plat was anotehr lot to earn the top price of $13,125; it complimented the wide array of desks and other types of tables on offer throughout the sale. The 70-inch-long writing desk sold within its pre-sale $10/15,000.
Louis XV-style furniture and decorative art items were accessible for an array of bidders with different budgets, as 16 lots in the category crossed the block with prices ranging from $600 to $10,625, for a pair of Louis XV-style gilt bronze-mounted mahogany commodes with marble tops. Other noteworthy high-performing Louis VX-style lots included a pair of Louis XV-style carved giltwood square planters with liners which bloomed to $10,000, and the $8,125 earned for a monumental gilt bronze table jardinière that measured 74 inches wide.
Heritage affirmed that good things come in pairs, as nearly 100 of the 250 lots on offer came in groups of two: from a pair of Chinese famille verte covered tea caddies ($313), to a pair of Italian Grand Tour-style specimen obelisks ($1,000), to a pair of Italian grotto-style partial gilt and painted benches ($2,250) and more. Those pairs near the top included, for $10,000, a set of Italian Renaissance-style revival Pietra Dura-inset vargueños — or portable Spanish writing desks — which sat on turned wood stands. The pair were cataloged as having an “attractive appearance” and were “grand sized.”
With only “very light wear” this pair of Italian Renaissance-style revival Pietra Dura inset vargueños which sat on turned wooden stands measured 76 inches high by 61 inches wide by 23 inches deep and came in just under estimate at $10,000 ($15/20,000).
Continuing with furniture, a pair of George II carved gilt wood console tables from the Eighteenth Century were the “first example with restoration to two proper right feet” that Heritage had handled, according to catalog notes. They were also bid to $10,000, surpassing their $7/9,000 estimate.
Turning from tables and desks to lighting, a pair of French gilt bronze and Carrara marble seven-light figural candelabras lit up for $8,750. The pair were in the form of Classical women, wearing togas and carrying amphoras or some other type of jug or pitcher on their shoulders.
Another lot with a “strong performance,” according to Rigdon, was an Eighteenth Century Flemish tapestry, depicting women eating in a palace garden, which was stitched up to $9,063.
Rigdon also shared what’s next for decorative arts at Heritage: “Looking ahead, we have some outstanding auctions this season. On April 17, we are presenting Sophisticated Palate — Decorative Arts, Property from the Collection of Frederick H. Schrader, Napa Valley. Our Signature Fine Furniture & Decorative Arts auction follows on June 5, with exceptional pieces soon to be online.”
Priced quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.com.
