Thank you to all of our clients and consignors for helping us have another successful year!
2015 started with a bang in February with snow all around us, but the cold weather didn’t keep our clients from bidding in our February 21st auction of Objects de Vertu. Lot 122, a Fine and Rare Swiss Gold and Multicolored Enamel Butterfly Music Box, Geneva, by Piguet and Meylan, circa 1830, sold for $128,100.
March saw brisk bidding on lot 1026, in our English, Continental & American Fine Auction, a Fine Oushak Carpet which sold for $79,300. Lot 243 was a rare find in a basement in Sheffield, a Pair of Chinese Turquoise Ground Porcelain Vases fetched $137,250. English furniture sought solid ground in lot 880, a Fine Early George III Carved Mahogany Settee, circa 1745, sold for $36,600 with a Stair & Co. provenance.
We were pleased to offer the Estate of Joseph Butler in April and the auction was a great success in many categories, most notably lot 613, Study St. Malo No. 11 by Maurice Prendergast, which fetched $189,100, a watercolor by the same artist, lot 612 sold for $29,280, and a watercolor by his brother Charles, lot 617, sold for $25,620. Lot 540, a pair of George III Terrestrial and Celestial Table Globes, by Cary sold for $28,060.
Our June 5th auction of Property from the Estate of Helen Frankenthaler was a huge success. Included in the sale were jewelry, clothing, handbags and furniture from her Connecticut home and studio. The following day, the Modern & Contemporary auction saw strong prices — lot 601, a Kumi Sugai, Chaine du Bleu sold for $31,720, and lot 654, Portrait of René Ricard by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for $19,520.
The Fine Art highlights continued in our June and October auctions, with lot 390 in our early summer sale selling for $91,500, Continental School: Battle Scene, and the surprise of the October sale, lot 241, Attributed to Juan Van Der Hamen Y Leon (1596-1631): Bodegon, which sold for $195,200. The December 5th Modern & Contemporary sale ended the season on a high note with lot 727, Yaacov Agam (b. 1928): Time Step, selling for $91,500, and lot 634, Roger Kuntz (1926-1975): Pedestrian Spiral selling for $36,600.
Jewelry performed well for us this year starting with a Cartier Gold and Diamond Ring, lot 167, belonging to Helen Frankenthaler (June 5th) which sold for $23,180. In our December 4th auction, lot 207, a Rare Bulgari Gold and Enamel Elephant Bangle Bracelet sold for $20,740 against a $6,000-$8,000 estimate.
Over the course of nineteen sales, the following are just some of the collections we have offered:
- The Estate of Helen Frankenthaler
- The Estate of Mrs. Spelman Prentice
- The Estate of CBS Anchorman Charles Collingwood
- The Estate of Sam and Grayson Hall, Writer and Lead Actress of ‘Dark Shadows’
- Private Roman Collector
- Private Hong Kong Collector
- The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. James Van Alen, Millbrook
- The Estate of Helga Marston, New York
- The Bergreen Family Collection
- The Collection of Arthur L. Jacobs
- The Estate of Holland Roberts Melson, New York
- Property from Cornelia Guest, Formerly the Collection of Winston & C.Z. Guest, Templeton
- The Collection of Vincent Petragnani
- The Estate of Sue Cunningham Blair, Kansas City, MO
- Estate of Joseph T. Butler, Tarrytown, NY
As this year comes to a close, we want to wish everyone a very happy and healthy New Year!