The highlight of Neal Auction Company’s September 12 and 13 estates auction was a John James Audubon (American, 1785‱851) Havell engraving, “Blue Crane, or Heron,” which achieved the world record price of $82,250 †shattering the $71,700 record previously held by Christie’s for its sale of Audubons from the Ducal House of Sachsen-Meiningen. With active telephones, absentee bids, and saleroom interest, Neal Auction Company’s elephant folio engraving soared above its $30/50,000 estimate, selling to a Southern collector on the telephone.
A consignment from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, included many items from the Bayou Bend collection of Ima Hogg, African art and other museum deaccessions. With an overall estimate of $58/88,000, Part I of the sale of these deaccessions totaled $153,000.
A highlight was an early Eighteenth Century American William and Mary maple and mixed woods armchair, which sold well above its presale estimate to achieve $42,300. Accompanied by a distinguished provenance, which includes that of Hogg and Israel Sack, as well as by a copy of Hogg’s 1953 purchase receipt from John Kenneth Byard, Norwalk, Conn., the armchair witnessed considerable attention and extensive scrutiny from museum professionals, dealers and private collectors nationwide prior to the sale. With six telephone bidders, including one from the United Kingdom, competing against the saleroom floor, the museum’s William and Mary armchair sold to a Midwest American furniture collector after several minutes of intense bidding.
The sale carried several good examples of period English furniture consigned by an East Coast antiquarian. A professionally restored, circa 1790 George III mahogany and satinwood breakfront bookcase generated significant presale exhibition interest, particularly from the local collecting community where homes are large enough to accommodate such a substantial piece. The 8½-by-9¾-foot breakfront bookcase sold for $41,125 to a New Orleans family.
The sale offered Part I of the Edna and Robert Moore collection of American art, which included four William Aiken Walker (1838‱921) paintings. The first was a 6¼-by-12-inch oil on board depicting “Male and Female Cotton Pickers with Children.” Carrying a low estimate of $20,000, the Moore painting rose to $35,250 amid intense competition from three out-of-state telephones, one Louisiana phone bidder and considerable saleroom interest. Another Walker painting that performed notably, “Male and Female Cotton Pickers,” had seven competing telephone bidders, as well as active participation from the auction floor. It more than doubled its presale low estimate of $12,000 to achieve $27,025, selling to a Louisiana local.
Among a customary host of English and European art was an Edouard Léon Cortès (French, 1882‱969) painting, which commanded $28,200. The painting, “Parisian Street Scene,” saw interest from five telephones †which included bidders from France and England †one absentee bid, and the saleroom floor. The Cortès sold on the telephone to a Southern collector.
With multiple Louisiana telephones bidding against two out-of-state absentee bids, a Joseph Rusling Meeker (American, 1827‱889) painting performed just shy of its presale high estimate to achieve $22,325.
An early English case piece from the East Coast collection that also responded well to a New Orleans sale venue was a circa 1770 George III inlaid mahogany bureau bookcase. The 92½-inch-tall bookcase saw competition from multiple bidders from Texas and Louisiana, selling in the end to a Texas collector within the room for $22,200.
Against a $15,000 presale low estimate, Thomas Blinks’ (English, 1860‱912) sporting picture realized $21,150.
After undergoing stringent analysis and debate among Nineteenth Century American furniture aficionados brought on by the suggestion of a marriage between cabinetmakers, a rococo carved and laminated rosewood étagère attributed to the firm of J.&J.W. Meeks, New York, passed scrutiny. With four very active telephones from the Northeast to the Midwest, the Meeks étagère sold within estimate to a well-known scholar of American furniture for $21,150.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, www.nealauction.com or 504-899-5329.
