Fontaine’s Fine & Decorative Arts Auction
May 21, 2022
1485 West Housatonic Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201
www.fontainesauction.com
jf@fontainesauction.com
(413) 448-8922

PITTSFIELD, MASS. — Featured in Fontaine’s Auction Gallery’s May 21 fine and decorative arts auction at 11 am will be Nineteenth and Twentieth Century lighting, art glass, leaded glass windows, silver, marble and bronze statuary, American and European furniture, jewelry and porcelains. Buyers may bid online or via the phone and absentee. Gilded highlights include a Tiffany Studios Spider lamp, circa 1905, in leaded glass and gilt bronze, standing 19 inches tall ($30/50,000); a Christofle & Cie Napoleon III gilt-bronze centerpiece late Nineteenth Century, embellished with foliate, flowers and ribbons ($12/15,000); and a French Napoleon III gilt-bronze mantel clock ($8/12,000), mid-Nineteenth Century, with cherubs, scrollwork and foliate.

“With just over 400 lots in this auction, buyers have so much to see, it might take a few days to preview this sale,” said John Fontaine, owner of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery. “Of course, we have several fine examples of rare Tiffany lamps, but the silver category is very strong, as is decorative arts from cameo glass to French clocks, leaded glass windows and much more.”

Of the 70 lots in the auction made by Tiffany, about two dozen are Tiffany Studios lamps in a range of patterns, including Pomegranate, Linenfold, Daffodil and Apple Blossom. Expected to lead the day is a Turtleback floor lamp ($40/60,000), circa 1910, leaded glass and patinated bronze, having the base and shade impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York,” 70 inches tall and a 22-inch diameter shade. Another example in this pattern is an early Twentieth Century Turtleback torchiere ($25/35,000), standing 67 inches tall.

Besides the abovementioned Spider lamp, Tiffany’s table lamps are well represented in the auction with a 21-inch-tall Tulip table lamp ($30/50,000), circa 1910, having a 16-inch diameter shade impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 1906.”

Cars don’t come up at auction often so when they do, buyers will likely get revved up as is the case with a 1993 Bentley Brooklands Sedan having only 32,920 miles that is driving up to the auction block with a $20/30,000 estimate and a 6.75-liter Rolls-Royce V8 engine.

Jewelry and silver offerings are shining extra bright with a sparkling platinum and diamond ring centered by a 2.44-carat, Old European cut diamond accented by baguette diamonds weighing 0.39 carats ($15/25,000). Buyers will also likely take a shine to an early Twentieth Century Reed & Barton “Love Disarmed” sterling silver flatware set of 114 pieces ($12/15,000).

While the Tiffany Studios name is iconic for its lamps, its desk accessories are highly collectible, and dropping into this auction is a Tiffany Studios Crab inkwell ($12/15,000), measuring 4 by 7¾ by 8 inches. The circa 1905 inkwell was made of patinated bronze and shell, having a glass insert, and is impressed “Tiffany Studios” with the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company monogram and “22/29233.” Also bearing the Tiffany name is a Tiffany & Co. sterling silver pitcher ($10/15,000), circa 1870-1891, 18 inches tall and weighing 78.56 troy ounces.

Looking very similar to one in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, this pitcher features a grotesque head set among leaves and berries, above a chased neck and gadrooned body.

Rounding out the auction will be an American jeweled and leaded glass floral window with a dove in flight above trumpeted flowers ($10/15,000), measuring 58½ by 34½ inches framed, and a late Nineteenth Century Berlin (KPM) porcelain plaque, “Kiss of the Wave” ($8/12,000), painted after Gustav Wertheimer (Austrian, 1847-1902) and measuring 18 by 20 inches (framed).

Fontaine’s Auction Gallery is at 1485 West Housatonic Street (Route 20). For information, www.fontainesauction.com or 413-448-8922.

Tiffany Studios “Spider” Table Lamp
Louis Icart (French, 1888-1950), “Thoroughbreds”
Tiffany Studios “Tulip” Table Lamp
Gorham Mfg. Co. Sterling Silver Tea Service
Black Forest Carved Fox Stand
Platinum & 2.44 Carat
Old European Cut Diamond Ring
American Jeweled & Leaded Glass Floral Window with Dove
French Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock
Berlin (K.P.M.) Porcelain Plaque “Psyche”
Tiffany Studios “Turtle-Back” Floor Lamp
Tiffany Studios “Crab” Inkwell
Continental Carved Walnut Fantasy Throne Chair
Berlin (K.P.M.) Porcelain Plaque “Kiss of the Wave”
After Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757-1822) “Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix”
Tiffany Studios “Linenfold” Table Lamp