“Pueblo Interior” by Eanger Irving Couse (American, 1866-1936), circa 1905, oil on canvas, 18 by 22 inches, exceeded its $30/50,000 estimate range to lead the auction at $139,700.
Review by Carly Timpson
ROCKVILLE, MD. — Weschler’s Auctioneers & Appraisers spent two days at the end of September auctioning jewelry, fine art, furniture and other antique and vintage finds. On September 24, the firm presented Fine Jewelry From a Private California Collector, and on September 25, they conducted the Capital Collections Auction.
Allison Mulholland, the firm’s marketing coordinator, reported, “With the combined exhibition for our Capital Collections and Fine Jewelry from a Private California Collector auctions, the ever-popular jewelry lots got a lot of attention in the gallery and plenty of views online.”
Fine Jewelry from a Private California Collector
“We continue to see solid prices for fine jewelry!” Mulholland shared, “This private collection offered a colorful range of jewelry from statement pieces to the whimsical! The sale finished with a 98 percent sell-through rate.”
Highlighting the Fine Jewelry auction was this platinum, diamond and blue sapphire ring, 5.7 pennyweights, ¾-inches in diameter, sold above estimate for $9,525 to a local bidder ($5/7,000).
The timed, online-only auction was led by a platinum, diamond and blue sapphire ring that sold above its high estimate of $5/7,000 to achieve $9,525 from a local bidder. The ring centered an approximately 2.55-carat bezel-set old European-cut diamond surrounded by French-cut sapphires and round brilliant-cut melee diamonds.
An 18K yellow-gold bamboo-link bracelet followed at $7,620. The six nearly square bamboo links measured approximately one inch in width each, and the bracelet weighed just over 45 pennyweights.
Approximately 333 diamonds totaling 12.9 carats dazzled on an 18K yellow-gold orchid-form brooch. The brooch was primarily detailed with round brilliant-cut white diamonds and was accented by 88 yellow diamonds and four baguette-cut white diamonds. A local bidder was the winner of the floral fashion, taking it for $6,250.
A final notable highlight was a vibrant blue sapphire, diamond and pink sapphire ring/pendant. Set in 18K white gold, the piece’s central oval faceted blue sapphire weighed approximately 7 carats and was surrounded by a ring of 14 round brilliant-cut diamonds, all surrounded by 12 faceted oval pink sapphires with eight additional round brilliant-cut diamonds at the shoulders. Convertible into a pendant or to be worn with its size 7 sing shank, the piece sold for $6,096.
Capital Collections Auction
The second day’s auction, featuring property from a number of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC-area collections and estates, comprised 253 lots in such categories as paintings, sculpture, jewelry, furniture, rugs, lighting, Asian antiques, decorative arts and more. The live auction with internet, phone and absentee bidding closed with an 86 percent sell-through rate, and Mulholland said, “The internet bidding was vigorous with periodic bursts of activity from phone bidders sprinkled in.”
“Thank You” by Mel Bochner (American, 1940-2025), monoprint with collage, engraving and embossment on hand-dyed Twinrocker handmade paper, 96 by 87¾ inches framed, sold for $60,325 to a bidder in North America ($30/50,000).
Achieving the highest price of either day was an Eanger Irving Couse oil painting titled “Pueblo Interior.” The circa 1905 painting exceeded its $30/50,000 estimate range to earn $139,700. In sharing the results, Mulholland professed, “The Couse had the best story of the sale!”
The work had provenance to J.C. Linde (April 28, 1906) and a private collection in Washington, DC (2018). Rachel Daley and Marissa Hendriks with the Couse-Sharp Historic Site (Taos, N.M.) helped Weschler’s in cataloging the work and added it to the forthcoming catalogue raisonné. The Lunder Research Center at the Couse-Sharp Historic Site provided images of Couse’s photo study and a preliminary sketch of the work for reference, though they were not for sale.
“It was purchased at a house sale in [Washington] DC, and the painting was so dark there was no signature! The owner really liked it, had it cleaned and the Couse signature appeared,” fine art specialist Collette Chipman added. “The Couse-Sharp Historic site is absolutely amazing to work with, and they quickly found it in their archives. Couse was meticulous in his process, taking photographs and doing preliminary studies of all of his subjects, and they were able to share those images with us for the cataloging.”
Vibrantly different from the Couse, a 2018 Mel Bochner work titled “Thank You” made $60,325, selling to a bidder in North America. The monoprint with collage, engraving and embossment on hand-dyed Twinrocker handmade paper featured bright-colored stripes with repeating messages of gratitude, including “Thanks A Million” and “I Can’t Thank You Enough!”
“D Train” by Richard Estes (American, b 1932), 1988, screenprint in color on German museum board, edition 23 of 125, 49 by 84 inches framed, sold for $44,450 to an overseas bidder ($20/30,000).
Another print, “D Train” by Richard Estes, sold to an overseas buyer for $44,450. The 1988 scene depicted a view of New York City, as seen from the inside of a subway car, with its iconic orange seats, moving across a bridge over the harbor. Signed by the artist and numbered “23/125” in graphite to the lower left, the color print came from a Potomac, Md., estate and is now traveling much further than New York!
Two bronze sculptures by Alabama artist Frank Fleming also found success in the auction. Sold together, the lot included Fleming’s six-foot-tall Tree House, depicting a small house atop a long, thin vine with a singular flower toward the bottom, and a 16½ inch tall Rabbit. With fine patina, the duo is heading back South after selling for $20,320.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Weschler’s will continue to conduct its weekly Metro Online auctions every Tuesday, and its next special auction is Magic & Collectibles, featuring items from Magic: The Gathering and more, on October 21. The next Capital Collections auction will be December 11. For information, www.weschlers.com or 202-628-1281.
