Flying to the sale’s high price of $207,400 was this Four Dragonflies (Quatre Libellules) pendant by René Lalique (French, 1860-1945), circa 1903-05, enamel, aquamarine and 18K gold, 2⅞ by 2¾ inches ($40/60,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
GENESEO, N.Y. — Cottone Auctions’ November 20 Fine Art & Antiques sale brought 382 lots of art and decorative objects from private collections and institutions to the auction block. In total, the auction realized $1.02 million.
Achieving the auction’s highest price was a circa 1903 pendant necklace/brooch by René Lalique. Crafted in plique-à-jour and champlevé enamel with aquamarines set in 18K gold, the Four Dragonflies (Quatre Libellules) pendant exemplified the height of Lalique’s Art Nouveau vision, where jewelry became sculptural art. Fresh-to-market from a Rochester, N.Y., estate where it descended through the same family, the jewel flew well beyond its $40/60,000 estimate to achieve $207,400.
Following closely behind at $201,300 was a Tiffany Studios Peony lamp. The leaded glass shade featured red peonies against a blue background and used an assortment of different glass types, including drapery, which was “rarely seen in Peony lamps,” according to the catalog. This example had been pictured in The Lamps of Tiffany Studios by William Feldstein, Jr, and Alastair Duncan (New York, 1983) as well as several other references. The rare Peony shade was on a bronze Telescoping Library base. Michael Parsons, Cottone’s marketing director, shared that the top two lots had “great interest nationally and internationally,” ultimately both selling to private collectors.
Having a 22-inch shade, this circa 1910 Peony table lamp from Tiffany Studios, 32 inches tall, was lit to $201,300 ($125/175,000).
More than doubling its high estimate to achieve the third-highest price in the sale — $51,850 — was a vibrant ship painting by Orville Bulman. Titled “Vaisseau de ligne… Victorieux,” the fanciful scene showed figures in elaborate dress on top of the ship Victorieux. Signed “Bulman” to the lower left and dated “1965” to the reverse, this example had no inpainting or restoration and was consigned from a Florida collection. Matt Cottone said, “Interestingly enough, the Bulman sold to an overseas collector.”
“Ships on the Coast off Holland,” an oil on canvas by Charles P. Gruppe depicted a fishing scene of “Katwijk and surrounding area, influenced by his teacher Hendrik Willem Mesdag,” according to the catalog note. For $35,380, more than five times its high estimate, “the Gruppe painting sold to a collector in Maine underbid by a local Rochester, N.Y., collector,” Cottone told us.
A painting by Charles P. Gruppe’s son, Emile A. Gruppe (1896-1978), also earned an above-estimate result. The signed 30-by-25-inch oil on canvas of “Palm Trees on Florida Coast,” estimated $10/15,000, found a buyer at $18,910.
This portrait of “Sarah Bernhardt (F.S. II 234)” from Andy Warhol’s (American, 1928-1987) “Ten Portraits Of Jews Of The Twentieth Century” series, 1980, silkscreen, 40 by 32 inches, finished for $26,840 ($15/25,000).
Other notable artworks included a 1980 silkscreen portrait of French actress Sarah Bernhardt by Andy Warhol. The red-and-blue print, artist proof number 12 of 30, was from Warhol’s “Ten Portraits Of Jews Of The Twentieth Century” series, published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York, and Jonathan A Editions, Tel Aviv, was printed by Rupert Jasen Smith. It finished for $26,840.
A luminous “Autumn Moonrise” landscape by Walter Launt Palmer (American, 1854-1932) that was exhibited at the Albany (N.Y.) Institute of History & Art in 1984-83 and had provenance to Joseph S. Caldwell, III, The Fanlight, Inc., Manlius, N.Y., and a private local collection went out at $12,810.
Sculptures were led by August [sic] Rodin’s (French, 1840-1917) 41-inch-tall “Age of Bronze,” which was previously owned by the Nelson Rockefeller Collection, Inc (New York City), Charlton Hall Gallery (Columbia, S.C.) and a private collection in Utah (purchased in 1992). It bested its $12,000 high estimate, selling for $14,640. A marble sculpture of woman by Antonio Frilli (Italian, 1860-1902), 73 inches tall, and “The Vine” by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (American, 1880-1980), 12½ inches tall, both sold for $10,065.
At $13,420, a circa 1890 Paukeigope (Kiowa) cradleboard topped the selection Native American objects. A Plains perforated hide shirt brought $3,660 against an estimate of $500/800 and a pair of beaded Cherokee moccasins from circa 1810 were bid to $2,928 ($700-$1,000).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.cottoneauctions.com or 585-243-1000.
