Achieving top-lot status was this Tiffany & Company sterling silver and mixed metals pitcher, embellished with vines and mokume gourds, that surpassed its $20/40,000 estimate to attain $86,400.
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
SARASOTA, FLA. — Setting a new record for the auction house, Sarasota Estate Auction broke the one-million-dollar mark with its June 13-14 auction comprising a Modern Art, Jewelry and Silver session on day one, followed by Tiffany, Fine Art and Antiques on day two.
“This was a historic auction for Sarasota Estate Auction, marking our first sale to surpass $1 million in total sales,” said Mia McDermott, the firm’s auction and marketing manager. “From a once-in-a-lifetime collection of Tiffany Studios lamps and an extraordinary sterling silver pitcher to exceptional estate jewelry and other remarkable discoveries, the auction generated tremendous excitement throughout the weekend. We are deeply grateful to our consignors, bidders and supporters and could not be more pleased with the results.”
The auction had an 85 percent sell-through rate and drew more than 10,000 registered bidders with about 40 percent of the sold lots going to online buyers. The remaining merchandise went to a mix of phone and absentee bidders.
This Tiffany & Company 18K gold necklace with 128 round brilliant-cut diamonds made $24,960 ($10/15,000).
The top lot of the auction was a Tiffany & Company sterling silver and mixed metals pitcher that was embellished with vines and mokume gourds as well as a grasshopper, dragonfly and butterflies. Estimated at $20/40,000, the vase was rich in symbolic motifs and soared to $86,400. Attracting much pre-sale interest, the pitcher spurred a bidding battle between six phone bidders and others online before selling to the phones. “It did catch quite a bit of interest prior to auction day. We even had a bidder ask if it could hold water — which it does!” McDermott explained. “Pitchers like this are pretty rare to come by, and Tiffany & Company is very sought after. We knew it would perform well since we had a Gorham one in our previous auction. We just didn’t know how well it would perform. We had six phone bidders the day of the auction and multiple bidders online.”
Jewelry led much of the action’s the first session, topped by such standouts as a Tiffany & Company 18K gold and diamond necklace with 128 round brilliant-cut diamonds that easily surpassed its high estimate to take $24,960. A vintage 18K gold and turquoise jewelry set, still with its original box, doubled its low estimate to realize $8,000. Also performing well were an 18K white gold, pearl and diamond tassel necklace that went for $6,400; an 18K yellow gold and diamond Piaget women’s wristwatch at $6,400; and an Italian 14K yellow gold collar necklace in a twisted-rope design that doubled its high estimate to realize $6,080. Italian jewelry was also represented, with a 14K gold and diamond Flex’it bracelet by Fope, in the brand’s Novecento mesh, making $5,120.
This massive trove of 1960s Beatles photos, recently discovered, sold for $17,280 ($20/30,000).
Fresh-to-market merchandise typically performs well at auctions, and a recently-discovered trove of 1960s photographs of The Beatles, including hundreds of original photographs, negatives and contact sheets, went for $17,280. Taken by San Francisco photographer Proctor Jones, the archive included images of the band’s first concert following their acclaimed debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The fine art category included two Florida paintings that ranged from a moody and atmospheric Cleve Gray (1918-2004) coastal landscape from 1958 that earned $8,000 to a vibrant and sunny landscape of a marsh scene with birds, trees and flora by Florida Highwaymen painter Sam Newton that took $5,440.
Another highlight from the first session was a 143-piece Georg Jensen sterling silver flatware set in the Acorn pattern, totaling 165 troy ounces, which sold over its high estimate at $11,520.
Day two kicked off with several paintings, including a Charles Sidney Raleigh maritime portrait oil on canvas that measured 3½ feet wide and realized a mid-estimate price of $9,280, but quickly moved on to the big guns — a collection of Tiffany Studios lamps made at the height of the Art Nouveau period, around the turn of the Twentieth Century. Each of the lamps drew multiple bidders and several of the top lots went to one buyer, who made an effort to drive out and attend the auction in person, McDermott shared. The standouts were a Belted Dogwood table lamp with a candlestick base that sold well at $46,080 ($24/28,000) and an Arrowroot table lamp on a bronze Urn base that also bested its estimate to bring $44,800 ($25/35,000).
This geometric ceiling light from Tiffany Studiost lit up at $29,440 ($3/5,000).
It wasn’t just table lamps that crossed the block from Tiffany Studios: a crowd favorite was a geometric ceiling light fixture in the form of an acorn that realized $29,440 ($3/5,000).
Asian arts were well represented, led by a Ming-style Chinese brass censer that handily outperformed its $400/600 estimate to hit $15,360. McDermott said this result was a nice surprise and noted that the piece drew much interest online in the weeks leading up to the auction. A Chinese Ming-style bronze spouted vessel with a mythical creature finial on its lid poured past its $100/150 estimate to take $13,440.
European and Continental paintings dominated the fine art highlights when Eugene von Blaas’ signed 1919 pastel on paper of three women in robes near a throne overruled its $6/9,00 estimate to attain $14,720. Another standout was a small, unassuming sketchbook by John Bennett (British, 1840-1907) that proved you can’t judge a book by its plain-jane and weathered cover. Inside, botanical studies in watercolors captured bidders’ interest, and the sketchbook blossomed past its $200/300 estimate to fetch $12,800.
Also selling well over estimate were an antique Persian silver inlaid copper bowl with a calligraphic band that made $2,944 ($300/450) and a German postmodern carved marble face of poet Eduard Mörike that brought $3,200 ($300/500).
The firm’s next auction will be August 29-30. Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, sarasotaestateauction.com or 941-359-8700.
