Leading the sale at $22,320 was this set of two standing figures with black hair and green garments on blue pedestals by Nek Chand (Indian, 1924-2015), concrete, pigment and colored glass rods, 19½ and 21 inches tall ($3/5,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
SUDBURY, MASS. — The end of May at Tremont Auctions brought 631 lots across the block in the firm’s Annual Spring Fine Arts & Antiques auction on May 31, offering silver and gold estate jewelry, paintings and prints from the Sixteenth to Twenty-First Century, bronze sculptures, Americana, porcelain decorative arts, American clocks, furniture and more. The sale had a 95 percent sell-through rate, with only around 30 lots unsold.
The leading lot was a set of two standing figures with black hair and green garments on blue pedestals by Indian artist Nek Chand, which realized $22,320 against a $3/5,000 estimate. Measuring 21 and 19½ inches tall respectively, the figures were made from concrete, pigment and colored glass rods.
Chand’s sculptures led a small group of 24 lots of Asian art and antiques, which was followed by Hiroshi Yoshida’s shin-hanga color woodblock print titled “Hodakayama After Rain.” Signed and titled lower left and right, the work realized $6,200. Two additional works by Yoshida crossed the block: the 1936 “Fuji New Grand Hotel, Lake Yamanaka” ($1,364) and “Seishi Temple” ($992). Another Japanese color woodblock print artist, Kawase Hasui, was represented by only one work, “Tabi Miyage No. 3 (Kintai Bridge),” which went for $3,224.
“Hodakayama After Rain” by Hiroshi Yoshida (Japanese, 1876-1950), shin-hanga color woodblock print, 30½ by 37¼ inches framed, cleared the skies for $6,200 ($2/3,000).
Chinese artwork was led by a Nineteenth Century portrait of the clipper ship Nesutan approaching Hong Kong. Nesutan, built in Medford, Mass., and owned by James O. Curtis, was flying the American flag in this portrait and had several figures on deck. The painting had an art label on its reverse for “Tong Wo / Photographer and / Portrait Painter… / Hong Kong” as well as a handwritten label dated “1869.” The portrait sailed toward the high end of its $2/3,000 estimate, docking at $2,976.
Just more than ten lots of Chinese export porcelain went to new homes, ranging in price from $186 for a pair of Eighteenth Century cups and saucers with shaped rims and floral decorations, to $2,480 for a set of Nineteenth Century famille rose graduated platters, which were decorated with numerous figures surrounding a motif of fruits and butterflies. The latter also had provenance to direct descendants of Joseph Augustus Peabody.
Non-Asian fine art numbered just under 150 lots, with an unnamed portrait of a woman holding a flower by German artist Wilhelm Lachnit leading the charge at $10,540. The oil on board was painted in 1933 and was signed and dated lower right. According to catalog notes, “After the Nazis seized power in Germany in 1933, Lachnit’s works were declared ‘degenerate.’ It’s possible this painting was one of the artist’s last before this declaration. Given the wider political climate, the sitter and her family emigrated Germany shortly after the portrait was completed.”
“March of Time” by Molly Luce (New England/New York, 1896-1986), oil on canvas, 36¼ by 48¼ inches framed, set the scene for $4,960 ($5/7,000).
Other figural works and portraits attracted bidders, such as “March of Time,” an oil on canvas by Molly Luce depicting a regionalist landscape with figures seated in the foreground. With provenance to Vose Gallery and a Belmont private collection, the work was raised to $4,960. Also selling for $4,960 was Mequitta Ahuja’s 2013 Untitled (African American Dancer), a mixed media acrylic, colored pencil and pastel on paper collage which was purchased by the consignor from Thierry Gallery in 2014.
An “unusual” Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century American folk art painting of George Washington in a landscape from the Rex Stark collection of Gardner, Mass., also made noise, far surpassing its conservative $400/600 estimate to achieve a presidential $3,720 finish. In the background of the oil on board was a military encampment, as well as a house and spying figure. Also earning $3,720 was an Old Master oil on oak panel portrait of a woman with a lace collar, pearls and a rose, whose identity, although unknown, was possibly Mary Queen of Scots.
Animals were depicted in a variety of forms, such as Antoine-Louis Barye’s “Lion au Serpent” bronze sculpture, which depicted a seated lion holding down a snake with its right paw. Sat on a naturalistic base, the sculpture was signed “Barye” and foundry-stamped “Cire Perdue / Leblanc – Barbedienne / A Paris.” It roared just past its $6,000 high estimate for $6,200. Another animal bronze was a painted example from Twentieth Century America by Sandy Scott. Titled “Eat More Beef,” the 17½-inch-tall work of a sitting pig was signed and dated “‘97,” numbered “54/75” and was bid to $3,224.
Antoine-Louis Barye’s “Lion Au Serpent,” bronze, 22 inches high by 16 inches long by 12 inches deep, was signed “Barye” and included a foundry stamp; it clawed its way to $6,200 ($4/6,000).
Animals depicted in two-dimensional forms included a polar bear hunting scene in watercolor and ink on paper by Alaskan and Inupiat painter James Kivetoruk Moses, which rose to $5,952, and the oil on canvas “After the Hunt” by Frederick Charles Underhill, which depicted hunting hounds in a barn surrounded by hunting accessories, which barked for $3,462.
Just under 60 lots of furniture crossed the block, led by a Gustav Stickley quarter sawn oak corner cabinet with patinated hardware and leaded glass windows, which shut its doors for $11,160. The piece was made circa 1902 at the Craftsman Workshops of Gustav Stickley in Eastwood, N.Y., and was sold with photos of its original Mission interior from a Mystic, Conn., home.
The majority of the high-selling furnishings were various types of clocks, including a Nineteenth Century Concord-type presentation banjo clock with finely painted frames, which was cataloged as “rare” due to its oil painted artist board illustrations on the clock’s throat and lower panel. The painting on the throat was of fire fighting devices and was dated 1879, while the lower panel’s depicted a pumper decorated with an American eagle. Ticking past its $1/2,000 estimate, the clock chimed for $3,720. Also finding new homes were an Aaron Willard, Jr, wood-front banjo clock numbered “No. 1870” ($3,720); a circa 1800 Providence, R.I.-made mahogany tall case clock attributed to Caleb Wheaton with a ship-decorated lunette ($3,472); a Boston-made gilt box form lyre clock attributed to Sawin and Dyar ($2,728); and a circa 1810 Allen Kelley mahogany and inlaid tall clock in a Boston manner ($2,356).
This David Webb 18K gold and platinum carved coral and diamond floral-form brooch, 2½ inches long, featured several flowers set with round-cut diamonds and centered with black pearls; it bloomed to $9,300 to lead jewelry selections ($8/12,000).
Jewelry occupied more than 200 lots of the 631 on offer, with an 18K gold and platinum carved coral and diamond floral-form brooch by David Webb earning the highest price at $9,300. Each carved coral flower was set with a single black pearl, surrounded by seven round-cut diamonds. It was marked “Webb 18K 10& Irid Plat” on its reverse.
Gold necklaces were multitudinous and sold well, most likely due to the consistently high gold prices in the industry. A few of the top-earning pieces included an 18K gold matching braided necklace and bracelet set marked “750” and “Italy” ($6,820), an 18K white and yellow gold heavy ring link necklace ($5,952) and an 18K gold satin and polished bead necklace ($4,960).
Hopi-Diné jeweler Jesse Monongya was represented by two pieces: a gold inlaid bolo tie and a 14K gold inlaid Cosmos ring, earning $8,680 and $8,060, respectively. The former featured a disc with a mosaic stone inlay depicting space scenes from the artist’s Cosmos series and had braided leather tassels capped in gold. It was accompanied by a book displaying examples of Monongya’s work, which was signed and inscribed by the artist. The former, the ring, had a multi-stone inlaid astronomical scene with stars, comets and planets and had additional inlays on its sides.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 617-795-1678 or www.tremontauctions.com.
