Deaccessioned from Forest Hill Abbey in Kansas City, Mo., this circa 1920 Tiffany Studios leaded, mottled and plated glass window, 72 by 24 inches, was the sale’s leading lot at $275,000 ($80/120,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
PITTSFIELD, MASS. — On June 6-7, Fontaine’s Auction Gallery conducted its Two-Day Fine & Decorative Arts Auction, a nearly 1,050-lot event that realized $7.75 million. Owner/auctioneer John Fontaine called the event a great sale, adding that it exceeded the projected high estimate, which was closer to $5.2 million. With 11,300 registered bidders in total, Fontaine shared that there was a significant influx in those bidding on Tiffany Studios lots, saying, “It was really high-end material; we added an additional 300 buyers to this sale, all for Tiffany pieces.”
Appropriately, the sale’s highest price came from a Tiffany Studios landscape window in leaded, mottled and plated glass. Depicting sheep along a riverbank in the valley of iridescent mountains, the window was deaccessioned from the Forest Hill & Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City, Mo., where it had hung in the Forest Hill Abbey. Made circa 1920, the piece was reportedly commissioned by Sidney Lovell, a Chicago-based architect who was recognized for his design of mausoleums and memorial buildings, according to catalog notes. Beneath the primary image, a text box featured an excerpt from Psalm 23: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures / He leadeth me beside the still waters.” Signed “Louis C. Tiffany, N.Y.,” this piece far exceeded its $80/120,00 estimate to achieve $275,000 and led a charge of seven windows from the abbey.
“They are splitting up. The seven windows were bought by three different buyers,” Fontaine explained. The six others — all with estimates ranging from $20/30,000 to $60/80,000 — included a figural window of a woman on a balcony with text from Psalm 121:1 ($100,000); “Woman with Irises & Lilies,” Matthew 5:8 ($81,250); “The Good Shepherd,” John 14:1-2 ($75,000); “Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock,” Revelation 3:20 ($62,500); another variation of “The Good Shepherd,” Luke 15:5 ($37,500); and a Poppy-bordered window featuring text from a memorial poem by Hugh Robert Orr ($37,500).
This Tiffany Studios memorial window from Forest Hill Abbey, circa 1920, 72 by 24 inches, was made with leaded, confetti, ripple, mottled and plated glass; it achieved $100,000 ($60/80,000).
Fontaine added, “In total, there were 250 pieces from Tiffany Studios in this auction. There was a collection of scales, a collection of paperweights that a guy gave me — just very cool stuff that’s hard to find.” One such lot that was “very cool” and “hard to find” was a 4¾-inch-long bronze paperweight that came from “an important Northeast collection.” The circa 1910 paperweight was in the form of a lizard and was impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 1105” to its underside. “It had a number on it, but when you look at the Tiffany archive, that number was in the book, but it was blank — they didn’t know what it was. This was the first one to come up with the number, so now we know!” Surpassing its $1,200 estimate, the piece filled in its own history for $7,500.
Among other notable results from Tiffany Studios were a number of table lamps, led at $143,750 for a Lotus Leaf shade (1524-11) on a ribbed base marked “Tiffany Studios, New York, 370.” This lamp was from a private collection in California, acquired before the 1950s. “Many of the Tiffany items, lamps especially, are coming from a family. ‘It was my grandfather’s lamp’ is what I hear all the time. Many times they inherit these lamps and don’t know what they are, so we get a lot of calls,” shared Fontaine. “Probably just one out of every ten is a real Tiffany lamp since there are a lot of reproductions and fakes out there.”
As collectors know to expect success with quality Tiffany material, and since it typically takes up the majority of the top lots in Fontaine’s auctions, we asked him which of the results from the sale were the most surprising. “The coins did way over our expectations — we actually couldn’t believe it,” Fontaine reported. “There was serious interest from ten different buyers. These were rare coins, not previously on the market, so nobody knew about them. They were in a private house in Connecticut, and nobody had a clue. That certainly helped, but condition has a lot to do with it, too.” The top result in the category was a collection of Saint-Gaudens $20 gold Double Eagles from 1907 through 1928. Comprising 18 coins in total —World War I stopped production from 1917 to 1919, and this set did not include 1921 — the collection was taken to $93,750.
Leading a selection of coins from a Connecticut collector at $93,750 was this set of Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagles, 1907-28, no 1921-P ($60/80,000).
From the same consignment, a single $5 gold coin from 1811 was pushed well past its $5/7,500 estimate to achieve $37,500. Having the Capped Bust design on its obverse, this uncirculated example was graded MS-63. Graded slightly higher at MS-65, a $10 gold Indian Head coin from 1908, without the “In God We Trust” motto on its reverse, was bid to $22,500 ($2/3,000).
“Midcentury pieces also did really well. We didn’t have a lot of it, but we’re getting more lately and it’s continuing to do well whether it’s a painting or furniture.” The auction included five pieces from designer Paul Evans “and all did much better than we thought they would.” Topping the selections was a Deep Relief Cabinet, model PE-42. The circa 1975 torch-cut, welded, polychromed and patinated steel and lacquered wood credenza was signed and dated to the underside of one door and finished just past its high estimate at $31,250. One of two small tables included in the auction was a circa 1970 Cityscape model in chrome-plated steel and brass with a burl wood top. This piece more than doubled its high estimate, finishing at $6,875.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
Fontaine’s next Fine & Decorative Arts auction is scheduled for September 26. For information, www.fontainesauction.com or 413-448-8922.
