La Belle Epoque – Multi-Estates Auction
March 18 at 11 am
71 8th Avenue New York, NY 10014
www.labelleepoque.com
auctions@labelleepoque.com
@labelleepoqueny
+1 212-362-1770

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers and auction lovers can now welcome back La Belle Epoque Auction House at 71 8th Avenue on the border of the Meatpacking District and the West Village in Manhattan, for the firm’s grand reopening multi-estates auction on Saturday, March 18, at 11 am.

The firm’s first new auction will offer a collection of fine art, antiques, silver, Midcentury Modern furniture, jewelry, fashion, lighting, memorabilia, collectibles, decorative items and more.

Leading the way is an early Eighteenth Century French Regence period commode of carved fruit wood with a thick molded marble top. The piece was part of the collection of Mrs Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, the former Duchess of Marlborough, and previously Matthew Shutz in New York City ($4/6,000). Another antique furniture standout is an Eighteenth Century Louis XVI French bergère, a fruitwood chair raised on fluted legs ($1,2/1,500), and an Italian Nineteenth Century Savonarola open armchair, Renaissance Revival style, carved walnut, over upholstered leather seat and back rest with ram’s head arm supports ($300/500).

Contemporary art highlights include an unusual patinated “Bronze Clad” sculpture of a female torso, mid- to late Twentieth Century, signed bottom right of base and approximately 30 inches in height ($1,2/1,500), along with a drawing of a woman attributed to Joan Miro (Spanish-Catalan, 1893-1983), signed and dated Miro lower right, 1917 ($700-$1,000). Also offered is a Piranesi-style print, two-sheet Eighteenth Century engravings of the Vatican ($1,5/1,800).

Rare collectibles will also be in the spotlight, the sale featuring about 30 lots of hard-to-find Lionel and other top name vintage trains. Highlights of this collection are the American Flyer “Hamiltonian,” including the American Flyer 4341 pullman carriage, American Flyer 4340 club car and American Flyer 4342 observation car ($500/700).

Also offered will be the American Flyer “President’s Special,” lot of four carriages, including Annapolis diner carriage 4393, Army-navy observation carriage 4392, West Point club car 4390 and Academy passenger carriage ($1/2,000) and a lot of eight American Flyer wide-gauge carriages, including “The Commander” no. 4689 in green as well as a red no. 4678 carriage ($800-$1,000).

In appealing to collectible buyers at all income levels, La Belle Epoque Auction is also featuring a series of vintage-themed lunch boxes, including a lot of two H.R Pufnstuf and Dr Seuss lunch boxes that include the original Dr Seuss thermos, both pieces circa 1970 ($150/200).

Modern furniture pieces will include a Maitland Smith leather chest of drawers, late Twentieth Century design, with metal detailing and leather handles. This eight-drawer chest is raised on suppressed ball feet ($400/600) and a set of eight billiard motif bar stools numbered 1-8, with pool balls for feet ($200/400).

In the Asian decorative arts arena, the sale offers an early Twentieth Century Chinese Rose Medallion vase, now mounted as a lamp on a wooden base and electrified ($800-$1,200) and a pair of Meiji period Satsuma vases, late Nineteenth/early Twentieth Century ($300/400), while also offering a sterling silver bowl by Lunt — American Twentieth Century Paul Revere reproduction ($400/500).

Fashion and accessories will also have a showing, with a Louis Vuitton Sirius 70 monogram soft luggage suitcase ($800-$1,200), a Dolce & Gabbana jacquard coat with pockets in an orange and vintage tile motif, marked size 40 ($200/300) and a two-piece Dolce & Gabbana blouse and shorts ($150/200).

Just as La Belle Epoque Auction House was getting off the ground in early 2022, disaster struck in the form of a small fire in the building upstairs one evening, setting off multiple sprinkler systems and causing ceilings, walls and floors, along with treasured posters and artwork, to be ruined.

Now, after ten months of major renovations, the business has reopened in a 7,000-square-foot space. The company is now taking consignments for upcoming auctions and will be hosting appraisal days for potential consigners and collectors.

Previews for the March 18 action will be conducted Thursday and Friday, March 16-17, noon to 5 pm. For information, www.labelleepoque.com or 212-362-1770.

Above: Prewar collectible American Flyer ‘Hamiltonian’ carriages. Estimate $500-$700.
Left: Bronze Clad Sculpture of Female Torso, Mid to late 20th-century modern patinated aged bronze clad sculpture. Estimate $1200-1500
Above: Pair of late 19th-early 20th-century Meiji period Satsuma Japanese vases. Estimate $300- $400