Nineteenth Century Zuni polychrome jar, $10,925.
Federal mahogany sidechairs, Baltimore, $6,900.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Weschler’s auction of European and American furniture and decorations took place on Groundhog Day, February 2, with few shadows at a sale in which 90-plus percent of the property found a new home.
A selection of Native American pieces offered the most action as bidding opened on American works. Topping this segment of the sale was a Zuni polychrome jar from the late Nineteenth Century. Decorated in white, black and red with deer and heart lines, the jar had a modest $2/4,000 estimate, due in large part to a crack to the body. Collectors’ enthusiasm was undampened by the condition issues, and active bidding sent the jar to a $10,925 selling price, including buyer’s premium.
A late entry to the sale, a Navajo Germantown “eyedazzler” weaving had a $300/500 presale estimate, and nearly tripled its high estimate to sell for $1,380. An inlaid wood effigy bowl from the Northwest Coast carved in the form of a sea creature floated to $1,610.
An American furniture highlight was two pairs of Federal mahogany side chairs from Baltimore, circa 1810, that went to $6,900. A parcel gilt and ebonized wood bronze-mounted walnut side cabinet, attributed to the workshop of Alexander Roux, New York, circa 1870, was aggressively bid to $4,600. A Renaissance Revival gilt and inlaid rosewood marble-top corner cabinet, probably New York, circa 1880, realized $2,530.
American decorative and fine art highlights included an American School portrait of Louisa Young Shipley, circa 1850. Formerly in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art, the young girl in a blue dress sold for $5,290 against a $2/3,000 estimate. A companion work from the Baltimore Museum of Art – a young boy and a dog – brought a within-estimate $3,450.
Chinese Export made for the American market had only one of 35 lots failing to find a buyer. The most sought after was a pair of Chinese export Canton blue and white punch bowls, Guangxu period, 1875-1908. The bowls, decorated with dragons and flaming pearls, realized $2,990.
An Italian rococo parquetry walnut serpentine commode, mid-Eighteenth Century, led the Continental furniture and decorations with a $6,325 winning bid. A Charles X satinwood inlaid rosewood commode from the second quarter of the Nineteenth Century brought $2,530.
Continental decorations included a selection of ivory triptych figures from the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century. The ivories depict such historic figures as Maria de Medici, her hinged skirt opening to view a scene of her wedding to Henry IV; Moses, whose hinged robes revealed a carved scene of the infant Moses in the bulrushes; and Napoleon and Josephine, with interiors showing scenes from their lives. The four lots of ivory figures brought a combined total of $7,130.
English furniture and decorations featured a George III mahogany secretary bookcase, circa 1800, selling for $5,060. A George II walnut tall-case clock realized $3,910. The sale offered two George III style partners’ desks. Both sold above estimate, with one bringing $6,900 against a $2/3,000 estimate. English decorative included a Regency satinwood inlaid mahogany tea caddy bringing $977.
Asian highlights featured a Korean molded white-glazed brush pot from the Choson Dynasty, Nineteenth Century. Molded with squirrels and grapevines, the brush pot harvested $3,450. A pair of Japanese iron stirrups, inlaid in brass with cherry blossoms, galloped away at $1,265. A Kutani 95-piece dinner service from the Meiji-Taisho period (1868-1926) reached $2,530. Two hanging scrolls by Yi Sang-Bom (Korean 1897-1972) failed to find buyers.
