Earning the auction’s highest price was “Horses Upside Down” by Sam Gilliam (American, 1933-2022), 1998, acrylic and polypropylene on collaged cotton canvas, 40 by 39½ inches. It sold for $93,000 ($80/120,000).
Review by Carly Timpson; Photos Courtesy Weschler’s
ROCKVILLE, MD. — Offering more than 340 lots of fine art, furniture, decorative art and jewelry, Weschler’s Auctioneers & Appraisers closed its Capital Collections auction on April 12. Achieving a total just shy of $1 million, the sale had an 88 percent sell-through rate and achieved estimates. Allison Mulholland, a communications coordinator for Weschler’s, shared that bidders were somewhat conservative in this auction, but the surprising results were really strong. Some of the most notable surprises came in the form of Russian porcelain.
A complete set of 12 fairy tale plates from the Kornilov Brothers Porcelain Manufactory (St Petersburg, Russia), after Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (Russian, 1876-1942) sold to an East Coast buyer for $28,520. Each plate in this early Twentieth Century set was numbered one through 12 and bore the edition number “333,” which identified the border pattern. As described in the auction catalog, pattern number 333 was “decorated with floral scrolls alternating with municipal insignias/heralds of Russian Empire, consisting of: Crossed Anchors and Scepter (St Petersburg), Deer (Nizhny-Novgorod), Crowned Rooster (Kazan), Panther Under a Cloud (Pskov), Crowned Lion and Cross (Vladimir) and Crown Over a Saber (Astrakhan).” In the early 1990s, the Hillwood Museum in Washington, DC, had an exhibition of Russian works and the original owners of these plates visited and made connections with Anne Odom, a senior curator at the museum. Between 1991 and 1992, the set was authenticated by and on loan for research to Odom, as it is so rare to find a complete set in such great condition.
This Alexander III Russian Imperial Porcelain Factory cup and saucer from the Raphael Service, circa 1894, saucer diameter: 4-7/8 inches, realized $11,160 ($1,5/2,500).
Estimated at just $1,5/2,500, another Russian porcelain lot, this one a single cup and saucer from a different consignor, made $11,160 and is headed overseas. The Alexander III Russian Imperial Porcelain Factory cup and saucer were part of the Raphael Service commissioned in 1883. Dated 1884 and with the Alexander III cipher on the undersides of both pieces, Alexander III commissioned the service in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the birth of Raphael Sanzio da Urbino. Originally for the Great Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, it was moved to the Anichkov Palace for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in 1904. The primarily light blue and red cup and saucer came to auction from a private collection.
Achieving $93,000 — the sale’s highest price — was the Sam Gilliam’s 1998 painting, “Horses Upside Down.” Signed, titled and dated on the canvas stretcher, the abstract painting featured swirling lines of reds, oranges, yellows, blues, greens and white. Originally acquired directly from the artist by a private collector in Arkansas, the painting later entered a private Missouri collection in 2009 and was last sold by Swann Auction Galleries in the New York-based firm’s 2020 African-American Fine Art auction for $125,000. Consigned in this sale from a Washington, DC, collection, the painting was sold to an East Coast phone bidder.
Displayed in the “Tschang-Yeul Kim, Recent Paintings” exhibition at the New York-based Staempfli Gallery in 1979 and later given to the consignor, “ENS 216” from Kim Tschang-Yeul’s photorealistic “Waterdrop Series” finished as the second highest lot of the sale. The unframed square oil on canvas work was signed “T.K. Yeul,” titled “ENS 216” and dated “1979” on the tacking edge. “ENS 216” was sold to an overseas collector for $86,800 after significant phone and in-person bidding.
Untitled #2, Franciszek Starowieyski (Polish, 1930-2009), pastel on grey paper, 89¼ by 58 inches, sold to an overseas bidder for $17,500 ($5/7,000).
Polish artist Franciszek Starowieyski’s untitled pastel on paper illustration finished for $17,500, despite two significant tears. This was another surprise, exceeding its $5/7,000 estimate, and Mulholland commented that it seems like “Polish art is having a rebirth,” as Weschler’s has been seeing “success with Polish works from the 60s and 70s.” The large sheet — nearly 7½ by 5 feet — was unframed and showed minor creasing from being rolled. The artist signed the work with his monogram to the left of the primary figure and dated it “N. 16.79 A.”
An assembled French Empire-style dinner service, predominantly Arthus-Bertrand & Cie for export from the first half of the Twentieth Century, was being offered from a Maryland collection. In total, the collection comprised 41 pieces of hollowware, each with a maker’s stamp, including 12 service plates, 12 bread plates, 21 butter pats, a two-handled covered tureen, a Cardeilhac/Christofle fish platter, a Cardeilhac/Christofle oval serving tray and two oval platters. The face of each gilt silver piece was embellished with a starburst encircled falcon with a crown crest. Despite Weschler’s not having much information about this lot, the set was bid to $17,360.
For $13,640, an in-house bidder claimed this Unicorn Sofa, model U522, by Vladimir Kagan (American, 1927-2016), circa late 1960s, tufted velvet upholstered cast aluminum, 31½ by 101 by 44 inches ($10/20,000).
For $13,640, an in-house bidder won a late 1960s tufted velvet upholstered cast aluminum curved Unicorn Sofa by Vladimir Kagan. The green-blue Midcentury Modern couch came from a Kalorama, Washington, DC, collection and was in used condition with some repairs and minor scratches.
Two gold coin charm bracelets finished among the top 10 lots. Achieving the higher price was the bracelet made with 15 international coins, totaling approximately 143 pennyweights. The coins ranged from an 1863 Napoleon III 10-francs gold coin at the earliest to a 1960 Israeli Anniversary of the Birth of Theodore Herzl 20-lirot gold coin at the latest. Other coins were Turkish, Swiss, Mexican, Italian, English, Hungarian, Austrian, Dutch and Saudi Arabian. The 14K gold bracelet was won for $12,400. The other bracelet was made with 10 US gold coins and weighed approximately 120 pennyweights. The same buyer claimed the second bracelet for $11,160 ($6/7,000).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Weschler’s next Capital Collections auction will be held on September 20. For information, www.weschlers.com or 202-628-1281.
