Nadeau’s American Antiques, Chinese and Continental, & Jewelry Spring Auction
May 6 at 10 am
25 Meadow Rd., Windsor, CT 06095
www.NadeausAuction.com
info@NadeausAuction.com
860-246-2444 or 860-524-8735

WINDSOR, CONN. — Nadeau’s Auction Gallery will present on May 6 its spring auction of American antiques, Chinese, Continental and jewelry.

Examples of Asian art take several of the top lot slots in this sale. The expected top lot is an archaistic bronze vessel from the Chinese imperial Prince Kung collection. This oviform vessel is estimated at $100/200,000. It is detailed from top to bottom, featuring tapering sides rising from a flat foot to round shoulders, a contracted neck and flaring rim, and serrated, triangular lappet bands bordering its shoulder and foot. Its body is decorated with a modified Leiwen ground stud with turquoise boss inlays and a rich patina. This Han type example is 7½ inches tall and has a diameter of 11½ inches.

The beauty of this vessel is matched only by its history and provenance. It was owned by Prince Kung (Chinese, 1833-1898), an influential royal and statesman of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in China. It was sold at “The Prince Kung Collection” event conducted by the American Art Galleries auction house in New York on February 27-28, 1913. It was lot #306 and realized $1,550. In 2023 dollars, this is equivalent to $47,257. The vessel was purchased through an agent named W.W. Seaman, who was buying items on behalf of a private client. He would go on to purchase 66 items from the Kung collection sale. This bronze has been analyzed via category experts and has been matched to the one featured in the 1913 auction catalog photograph.

Through research and family information, it was determined that Homer Pace (American, 1879-1942) most likely was the Seaman’s auction client. Pace was the founder of Pace College in 1906 (later Pace University) and the college’s first president. The vessel stayed within the Pace family circle since then, passing from Homer Pace to his son Robert Pace upon Homer’s death in 1942, then to Robert’s sister-in-law Mae Neville sometime near the end of World War II, then to Mae’s friend Elinor Murray in 1969 or 1970 where it has resided until the present time.

Other Asian highlights include a Haldane Chinese Export armorial porcelain shallow bowl ($500-$1,000). This example was made for the English market and dates from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), circa 1725. It has a diameter of 8¾ inches and is painted in colored enamels and gilt. It is decorated with a center coat of arms of Haldane between eagle supports, the motto “Suffer,” a blue border underglaze and flowers.

Also of note in this category is a Chinese lapis lazuli tripod incense burner, ($3/5,000). This Ding example dates from the Eighteenth Century and measures 2¾ inches tall with a 5-inch diameter. It has a compressed body supported by three stylized paw feet and is detailed with rectangular openwork handles with carved foo lion terminals and scrolling gui dragons.

Fine art is also well represented in this sale. William Aiken Walker’s (1838-1921), “Log Cabin with Stretched Hide on Wall” ($5/9,000), 6 by 9 inches, pictures a log cabin, four people, a clothes line on wash day and a hide hanging from the building. It is signed on its lower right.

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer’s (English, 1803-1873) “Animalier Movement” ($20/40,000) is a framed, oil on canvas work from 1821 measuring 27 by 35 inches. It is initialed “EL” and dated on its lower right. It features a pair of cattle and a headstone reading “Beauty Aged 18 Years, Colley Daughter of Beauty, Aged 8 Years.”

Noteworthy antiques span traditional categories. The Porter Garden Telescope by Telescopes of Vermont is estimated at $20/40,000. This limited edition authorized exact reproduction of Russel W. Porter’s 1923 telescope is cast in bronze. Its reflecting telescope is decorated in sculpted lotus petals and curving leaves. Its optics are disguised in overlapping bronze leaves, and its motion controls are hidden in a pair of cylindrical flowers. This is one of 20 currently extant.

A covered Meissen porcelain tea canister in the manner of C.F. Herold ($2/4,000) is a marked, early Eighteenth Century example, 4½ inches tall and painted in Eisenrost with figures, the reverse with figures in a landscape with ruins near a harbor within gilt lines.

A pair of olive wood commodes ($2/4,000) is from the early Eighteenth Century, each measuring 35 by 56 by 26 inches. They are detailed with serpentine shaped tops, inlaid wood designs, serpentine drawers with blocked ends, cabriole legs and scrolled feet.

Nadeau’s Auction Gallery is at 25 Meadow Road. For more information, 860-246-2444 or www.nadeausauction.com.

Preview Times: Thursday May 4th, 2PM–6:30PM | Friday May 5th, 12PM–5PM | Saturday May 6th, 9AM–10AM
Featuring: American Antiques, Curated 20th century furnishings, Chinese porcelain, jewelry including Cartier brooch, watches, American and European artwork and works on paper, oriental rugs, and carpets
Chinese and Decorative Accessories: Jade, important Chinese Inlaid Archastic bronze vessel, artwork, porcelain
Drawn from Various Estates and Homes Including: Estate of Dr. Vallo Benjamin, E 57th St New York, Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Estate of Julius H Jacobson II a Fifth Avenue Estate, Estate from Farmington CT, and various homes and estates et al.