Fontaine’s Fine & Decorative Arts
May 20
www.fontainesauction.com
info@fontainesauction.com
413-448-8922

PITTSFIELD, MASS. — Fontaine’s will present a fine and decorative arts auction on Saturday, May 20, at 11 am, that includes more than 500 lots of Nineteenth/Twentieth Century lighting, art glass, leaded glass windows, silver, porcelain, marble and bronze statuary, paintings, American and European furniture, clocks, watches and jewelry. The auction will feature private collections from Texas, New York, Michigan, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Ohio and Massachusetts. Bidding is available via internet, phone and absentee methods.

The action starts off with a Tiffany Studios leaded glass lamp, setting the tone for what bidders can expect to see in this auction. Lot one is a circa 1910 Acorn & Bell table lamp ($20/30,000) having a 14-inch shade and with the base impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 68752.”

Examples of antique Tiffany lamps in desirable forms and patterns are increasingly harder to find, but buyers here seldom walk away disappointed as Fontaine’s always seems to have choice offerings. This auction features a Favrile glass decorated table lamp ($60/80,000), circa 1900, 29½ inches tall. The shade is engraved “F2663” and the oil font is marked “591984 / Pat. 10, 19, 97.” Coming out of the Linda L. Bean collection, the lamp is in a shade of green with iridescent swirls of purple, white and other colors.

Tiffany’s Daffodil shades are a perennially popular pattern with buyers, and Fontaine’s offers up a circa 1910 table lamp ($50/75,000), standing 27 inches tall and having a Twisted Vine base and a 20-inch shade impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 1497,” and the base impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 443.”

Tiffany lighting examples are abundant, but one need not have the Tiffany pedigree to be fine. Case in point is the R. Williamson & Co. floral leader glass and patinated metal chandelier that has matching sconces and hanging lights ($15/25,000), early Twentieth Century, measuring 66½ by 29 inches.

Statement piece jewelry will also make a showing early on in the auction, led by a platinum and diamond ring ($50/75,000), centered by a G color, VS1 clarity, 4.01-carat princess cut diamond accented with more than 1 carat of diamonds. Diamonds can be paired with a multitude of gemstones in bold or light colors. The pale crystal blue of tourmaline makes for a striking look when set off by white diamonds as in a trifecta of Paraiba tourmaline rings on offer here. Crossing the block will be an 18K white gold, diamond and 14.67-carat tourmaline ring ($30/50,000); a platinum, diamond and 21.13-carat tourmaline ring ($25/35,000); and an 18K white gold, diamond and 8.53-carat tourmaline ring ($20/30,000).

The auction touches on several prime collecting categories, extending far beyond jewelry and lamps. There will be eight Rolex wristwatches, two Cartier wristwatches plus others. Also, a notable lot is a set of three “Petrushka” goblets by Mihail Chemiakin (Russian, b 1943), estimated at $25/35,000. The goblets are made with sterling silver and gilt sterling silver and the largest has 14K gold accents.

The presence of Tiffany designs from the height of the Art Nouveau era is not limited to lighting, and this sale includes several grand leaded glass landscape windows with religious iconography, attributed to Tiffany Studios, including “Jesus Christ At The Well” ($20/30,000) and “Samaritan Woman At The Well” ($20/30,000) that clearly were meant to be displayed together. Both windows are circa 1895 and measure 77½ by 36 inches. An unusual entry not often seen at auction is a circa 1910 Tiffany Studios hanging medallion in the form of a Favrile glass roundel with gilt bronze with an 18½-inch diameter.

Leading a selection of furniture is an R.J. Horner & Co nine-piece carved oak dining room set ($20/30,000), circa 1890, comprising a table, china cabinet, server, sideboard, five chairs and six leaves. The pieces are lavishly decorated with carvings of caryatids, winged griffins, cherubs, cartouche shields, mythical heads, foliate and scrollwork.

Rounding out the auction are a Camille Fauré (French, 1874-1956) covered vase with flowers ($18/22,000), circa 1935, in enameled copper and marked “C. Fauré, Limoges,” standing 15¾ by 9 inches; a late Nineteenth Century, life-size bronze sculpture of Mercury, after Giambologna ($12/15,000), 80 inches tall; and a winter landscape by American artist William Lester Stevens ($5/7,500).

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