Leading the sale at $15,000 was this Art Deco platinum bracelet, inlaid with approximately 41 pennyweights of diamonds, centered by a 1-carat marquise-cut diamond ($5/7,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
LARCHMONT, N.Y. — On February 9, Clarke Auction Gallery conducted its February Estates Auction, offering more than 500 lots of fine art, lighting, fountain pens, sterling and jewelry from a New Milford, Conn., estate.
Sparkling at $15,000 to lead the sale was an Art Deco platinum and diamond bracelet. The bracelet had many different cuts of diamond interspersed throughout, with a central marquise-cut diamond, as well as many smaller inlaid straight baguette-cut, single-cut and round faceted diamonds. From a Yonkers, N.Y., estate, the bracelet weighed a total of 41 pennyweights. It more than doubled the high end of its $5/7,000 estimate.
Jewelry continued to attract bidders, with a 119-piece lot of sterling and 18K gold accented brooches, bracelets, necklaces, pendants, earrings and rings earning the second-highest price of the day: $11,875. Excluding the removable gem cabochons included in the lot, the jewelry weighed approximately 44.56 troy ounces and was consigned from a New Milford, Conn., estate. Another lot of assorted sterling silver jewelry from the same estate made $6,875 against a $600/900 estimate.
Furniture was led by a set of four George Nakashima New Chairs, which had provenance to a Garden City, N.Y., estate. Branded “George Nakashima 271” and “Sundra,” the four dining chairs were made from walnut and had hickory spindle backs. They more than tripled their high estimate of $3,000 to achieve $10,625.
These four George Nakashima (American, 1905-1990) New Chairs, made from walnut and with hickory spindle backs, sat at $10,625, the third-highest price of the sale ($2/3,000).
A Charles & Ray Eames Midcentury Modern chair and ottoman also attracted bidder attention, swiveling to $6,000 and doubling its $2/3,000 estimate. The reupholstered set was made from rosewood and white leather and had provenance to a West 72nd Street, New York City, estate.
The majority of the highest-priced lots were fine art, led by “A Young Resting Beauty” by Charles Joshua Chaplin, which earned $8,750. The oil on canvas painting was signed lower left and was previously the property of a Manhattan estate.
Another group of oil paintings, one on canvas board and the other on Masonite, rocketed past its$800-$1,200 estimate to achieve $8,125: “The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York” and “Vernissage” by Gabriel Spat, which were sold together in one lot. Both were from the New Milford, Conn., estate. Six additional lots of Spat’s work crossed the block, with prices ranging from $875 for the oil on canvas titled “Clowns,” to $5,750 for another lot of two paintings: “Jardin Du Luxemborg” and “Races in Paris.”
American artist Sherrie Levine’s series titled “Meltdown,” which included four woodcut prints in color on Korean Kozo paper, sold in one lot for $7,500. “After Duchamp,” “After Kirchner,” “After Monet” and “After Mondrian” were all signed, dated, titled and numbered “23/35” verso, and had provenance to a Tarrytown, N.Y., collection.
Surpassing its $3/5,000 estimate to achieve $7,500 was “Sunset Bay” by Geoffrey Holder (Trinidadian/American, 1930-2014), 1986, pastel crayon on black paper, 41-3/8 by 53½ inches framed.
“Sunset Bay” by Trinidadian American artist Geoffrey Holder was acquired directly from the artist by the consignor. The pastel crayon on black paper work was signed and dated to its lower lefthand corner and was bid to $7,500.
A mixed media on canvas work by Donna Howell-Sickles more than doubled the high end of its $2/3,000 estimate to achieve $6,250. “A Measure of Curiosity” had provenance to both Contemporary Southwest Galleries in Santa Fe, N.M., and a Scarsdale, N.Y., estate, from which it was consigned.
Sculpture was led by “Cylindre au Christ à l’Idole,” a brown patina bronze sculpture after Paul Gauguin. Signed on its base “Gauguin” and stamped with the foundry mark “C. Valsuani Cire Perdue,” the 18½-inch-high sculpture had provenance to a Bronx, N.Y., estate and stood at $5,500.
Heading away from fine art, bidders were also interested in silver, with an approximately 244-piece German sterling silver flatware service setting the table for $9,375, just above its $6/9,000 estimate. The set was monogrammed “A” and the crescent-moon-and-crown German national mark, as well as an unidentified “N.R.” maker’s mark. The service had provenance to a Westchester, N.Y., estate.
With approximately 244 pieces, this German sterling flatware set, described as “monumental” in the auction catalog, did not bear a maker’s mark and included unique serving utensils such as lobster picks, a bonbon server and an asparagus server. The service set the table for $9,375 ($6/9,000).
Bidders could also set a small table with a Sèvres porcelain cup and saucer, which were adorned with a portrait of François Fénelon (1651-1715), a former French Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer. Inscribed “Fenelon,” the cup and saucer came with its original hardshell hinged presentation case and had provenance to a Pound Ridge, N.Y., estate. It poured to $6,875, surpassing its $800-$1,200 estimate.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 914-833-8336 or www.clarkeny.com.
