I sometimes wonder what people in earlier times would think of our contemporary construct of “safety.” Would Fourteenth Century mothers have combed through their children’s toys looking for small parts that their son or daughter could possibly choke on? Or would they have urged their sailor husbands to find new work since the mortality rate was surely higher than other professions? While death has always been certain, I imagine that, in a time where people exerted such little control over their element, with no medicine, constant conflict and struggling to meet their immediate needs like food and shelter, life was perhaps taken a bit more lightly. The inevitable was accepted more readily. Loss was common and life was harsh. The privileged notion of safety seems to be a very recent one, skipping over all eras of history, including the Nineteenth Century, as seen in Kaminski’s upcoming chaotic harbor scene painting by German artist Theodore Alexander Weber, which shows a stormy sea crashing over a crowded pier. Safety barriers are seen breaking apart as the high waves crash over the pier walkway, and all of this with a full crowd, directly in harm’s way, gathered around watching. A man is seen walking into a crashing wave with a young girl by his side, not so much as holding her hand. The crowd seems to stand still as the waves crash all around them, watching the boats out in the harbor as they teeter along the white-capped waves. A dangerous spectacle, but no one seems to mind. Just another day waiting for the world to sweep them out to sea. The painting joins other top lots from around the auction circuit in this week’s picks.
KAMINSKI
Sale Date: December 29–30, 2017
Lot 5704
Theodore Alexander Weber (1838–1907)
Large marine seascape of stormy seas at harbor entrance, with crowds of people, oil on canvas, 24 by 39½ inches.
Estimate: $6/9,000
THOS. CORNELL
Sale Date: January 1, 2018
Early Nineteenth Century Italian Silver Lucerna Oil Lamp
45½ inches high.
SCHMIDT’S ANTIQUES
Sale Date: January 1, 2018
Lot 137
Angel Botello (Spanish 1913–1986)
Bronze sculpture, “Mother and Child,” depicting a mother holding a child in her arms. Incised signature, cast #5, 38¼ inches high.
Estimate: $30/50,000
WILLIAM JENACK
Sale Date: December 31, 2017
Lot 287
Attributed To Jean-Gabriel Chauvin (French, 1889–1976)
Carved mahogany abstract figure of a woman, signed, 10¼ inches high.
Estimate: $600/900
COPAKE
Sale Date: January 1, 2018
Lot 2
Grandma (Anna Mary Robertson) Moses
“Father’s Home…,” oil on canvas, 18½ by 27½ inches.
Estimate: $3/5,000
NADEAU’S
Sale Date: January 1, 2018
Lot 555
Regence French Gilt-Bronze Boulle Cartel Wall Clock & Barometer
Having brass inlaid brown tortoiseshell with heavy ormolu mounts and two classical figures, circa 1725, 48½ inches high.
Estimate: $15/25,000
MORPHY
Sale Date: January 6, 2018
Lot 105
Vintage Rolex Stainless Steel Oyster Padellone Perpetual Precision
Model 8171, stamped inside the case back is model number 8171 and the serial number 436.
Estimate: $35/45,000
BAKKER AUCTIONS
Online, Through December 30, 2017
Lot 73
Jane Jarvis Mumford
“The Conversation,” Paris, 1914, oil on canvas, 29½ by 23½ inches.
Estimate: $3/5,000
ROLAND
Sale Date: January 6, 2018
Lot 182
Pair Of Swan Torchieres With Durand Shades
Pair of ornate iron torchieres with swan-form tops and curved bases, having swirl design art glass shades.
Estimate: $3/5,000
