Leading the sale with a new world auction record for the artist was a landscape by Georges Michel (French, 1763-1843), oil on canvas, 20¼ by 27¼ inches, which finished far above its $10/15,000 estimate, achieving $46,800.
Review By Kiersten Busch
SARASOTA, FLA. — After a short postponement due to Hurricane Milton, Helmuth Stone’s Fine Art, Fine Rugs & Antiques auction was conducted on October 15, offering 351 lots. A lifetime collection of fine rugs from an Atlanta, Ga., estate was featured, alongside fine art pieces by Hunt Slonem, Max Weyl, Jose Velasco, James Whistler and the Old Masters, as well as porcelain, Moorcroft pottery, sterling silver and more.
“We were very pleased with the sale, especially after the hurricane postponement. Luckily there was no damage, and everything turned out great,” shared Austin Helmuth, co-owner of Helmuth Stone. Before additional post-auction purchases were taken into account, Helmuth estimated that the sale realized approximately $360,000.
The first lot to cross the block earned the fourth-highest price in the sale, closing its lid for $15,000. It was an all-original Louis Vuitton wardrobe steamer trunk from the 1920s, which came in the traditional LV monogram canvas pattern. The lot also incorporated one of the trunk’s original removable suitcases for shoe storage.
This Louis Vuitton wardrobe steamer trunk from the 1920s, which had its original LV monogrammed pattern, was the first lot to cross the block, and the fourth-highest price, at $15,000; it will travel to a private collector in Virginia ($8/14,000).
Leading the sale at three times its $10/15,000 estimate was an oil on canvas painting by Georges Michel, which went to a private collector in Switzerland for $46,800, a new world auction record for the artist. “The previous record for Georges Michel was in 2010. There was a lot of bidding participation from European collectors due to the large number of European pieces that we had in the auction,” said Helmuth of the new record achieved during the sale. The painting depicted figures and animals in the foreground of a cloudy landscape. Measuring 20¼ by 27¼ inches unframed, the work had recently undergone cleaning. According to the auction catalog, it had also “been authenticated by Michel Schulman and will be added to the catalog raisonné.”
Other fine art lots excelled in the sale, with a portrait of Maria Manuela — the first wife of Philip II of Spain — by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz selling to an institution in Antwerp for $21,450, the second highest price of the day. The oil on canvas had provenance to the personal collection of a Florentine gentleman. Pantoja, most successful as a portraitist, joined the Spanish court in 1580 and became the official painter of the king in 1596, according to catalog notes.
The second-highest price of the sale went to this portrait of Maria Manuela by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (Spanish, 1551-1608), oil on canvas, 55¼ by 44 inches, which crossed the block for $21,450 ($16/26,000).
Other works of fine art that performed particularly well included a 1934 aquatint and etching on Montval laid paper by Pablo Picasso titled “Garçon et Dormeuse à la Chandelle,” one of 100 different etchings originally part of Picasso’s “Vollard Suite” (1930-1937). The etching finished at $13,750, heading to a private collector in Washington, DC.
Turning to the decorative arts, a Seventeenth Century Italian royal marriage urn, listed as “important,” landed within estimate to earn the third highest price of the sale: $17,500. The bronze urn, bearing the combined arms of the House of Savoy and France, commemorated “the marriage of Henry IV and Marie de Medici’s daughter, Louis XIII’s sister, Christine Marie’s marriage to Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy” according to notes in the auction catalog. It had provenance to Heirloom & Howard Ltd., London, where it was purchased in 1974 by a Florentine gentleman, in whose collection it resided until its consignment for this sale. It will now decorate the home of a private collector in Florida.
This antique Mohtasham Keshan prayer rug measured 76 by 53 inches and rolled out to $13,750, more than four times its high estimate ($1,5/3,000).
Leading the rug category was an antique Mohtasham Keshan prayer rug, which had provenance to the estate of an important Atlanta, Ga., lifetime Oriental rug collection. It was won by a private collector in Chicago for $13,750. Two more antique rugs had prices that landed them in the top 10 highest-selling lots, including an antique silk Persian Tabriz prayer rug and Dabir Persian Keshan rug, both rolling out to $11,875. They were also consigned from the same Atlanta, Ga., collection.
Helmuth Stone’s last auction of the year has not yet been scheduled but will take place sometime in December.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.helmuthstone.com or 941-260-9703.
