This Italian micromosaic tabletop, probably the workshop of Cesare Roccheggiani, Rome, late Nineteenth Century, was considered a great example with very little restoration and earned the distinction of top lot with a realized price of $21,250. It was purchased by a California collector who prevailed against international competition ($20/30,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Photos Courtesy Andrew Jones Auctions
LOS ANGELES — Andrew Jones Auctions’ March 26-27 Design for the Home and Garden sale offered nearly 600 lots and was more than 98 percent sold, totaling $1,019,262.
Attaining top-lot status was an Italian micromosaic tabletop that dated to the late Nineteenth Century that attracted international bidding but sold to a California collector for $21,250. Measuring 22¼ inches in diameter, the tabletop was attributed to the Rome workshop of Cesare Roccheggiani and depicted St Peter’s Square, surrounded by depictions of Roman landmarks including the Pantheon; the Arch of Titus; the Campidoglio; the Forum; the Colosseum; the Temple of Hercules Victor; Castel Sant’Angelo and the Tomb of Cecilia Metalla. The attribution to Roccheggiani was based on the subject matter and the refined execution and his signature detail of the trompe l’oeil Greek key border within two malachite bands. The auction catalog compares the tabletop, which came to Jones from a private Chicago collection, to a smaller example in another private collection, a slightly larger top that sold at Christie’s in 2020, and another slightly larger one Jones had handled in 2020.
This pair of Northern Italian polychrome chinoiserie decorated settees, in the manner of Giuseppe Levati, dated to the late Eighteenth Century and compared to examples cited in the auction catalog. An East Coast collector paid $18,750 for them ($15/20,000).
An exceptional pair of North Italian polychrome chinoiserie decorated settees, in the manner of Giuseppe Levati, Lombardy, late Eighteenth Century, sold for $18,750 to an East Coast collector. Related examples were cited in the catalog, which specified provenance to an Ohio collector who had acquired them in 2004 from Amy Perlin Antiques, New York City.
More than 450 lots in the sale were from the collection of Fritz and Lucy Jewett, a couple who traveled extensively and collected widely, initially Asian art but later art by regional artists and the Impressionists. The couple was known not only for their San Francisco home in Pacific Heights and their support of the San Francisco Ballet but their involvement in the sailing world, which spanned summers sailing on Cape Cod to leadership with racing and the America’s Cup.
The highest-selling lot from the Jewetts’ collection was “Rue Mouffetard, Paris,” a silver-gelatin print by Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, 1908-2004) that a local collector won for $20,000. Taken in 1954 but printed in 1995, the image remains one of the artist’s most iconic works and depicts life in one of the oldest and liveliest neighborhoods in Paris.
“Rue Mouffetard, Paris” by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1995, silver gelatin print, image 17½ by 11¾ inches on a sheet 20 by 16 inches, earned $20,000 from a local collector. Fritz and Lucy Jewett acquired it from a gallery in New Orleans and it was the highest-selling lot from their collection ($15/20,000).
The Jewetts’ passion for maritime showed through in several of the sale’s other top lots. An oil on board painting of two racing yachts at sea, believed to be Puritan and Genesta in an America’s Cup, circa 1886, and painted by James Edward Buttersworth (American/British, 1817-1894) sailed past its high estimate and sold to an East Coast trade buyer for $18,750. The Jewetts had acquired it from Kennedy Galleries in New York City in 1980 and the painting is reported to have been exhibited at the Huntsville Museum of Art (1978) and the Oglebay Institute (1979).
A shell-form sterling silver centerpiece basket, made by Robert Garrard in London in 1812, after a model by Paul De Lamerie, nearly quadrupled its high estimate and sold for $15,000 to a buyer in London.
The Jewett collection featured two works by Cape Cod folk artist Ralph Eugene Cahoon Jr (American, 1910-1982), “Municipal railway (Foggy Day in Frisco)” and “Bacchanalia on the Waterfront,” which earned $18,750 and $15,000, respectively.
Other highlights from the Jewett collection included an unusual Chinese polychrome glazed porcelain naturalistic bowl ($16,250), a Louis XVI parcel ebonized tulipwood, amaranth, boxwood and parquetry table a jeux by Louis Aubry ($12,500) and a Chinese incised decorated yellow ground porcelain bowl ($10,000).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.andrewjonesauctions.com or 213-748-8008.
