Antique & Related News

DALLAS — Frank Miller’s 1982 cover for Daredevil #185 sparked one of the most ferocious bidding wars of the weekend to realize $225,000, leading Heritage Auctions’ March 10-12 International Original Art & Anime Signature auction. The auction achieved a $3,155,731 total with 814 lots. Before Miller’s star-making turn on “The Dark Knight Returns,” the writer-artist rescued Daredevil from Marvel’s margins, and the brink of cancellation, with what comics historian Les Daniels called “terse tales of urban crime.” Daredevil #185 was the first issue for which Miller handed the pencils to Klaus Janson. Miller wrote the story and drew the cover that featured two images of Daredevil, the heroic main rendering that fills the page and the smaller icon leaping out of the corner box. Prices quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 214-528-1425 or www.ha.com.... Read more

NEW YORK CITY — On March 15, Doyle hosted another of its popular Doyle + Design auctions, offering 315 lots of modern and contemporary decorative arts from prominent Twentieth and Twenty-First Century designers. Max Ingrand’s designs for Fontana Arte led the sale, the foremost being a gilt-metal and glass Dahlia chandelier. Made in the 1950s, the chandelier had 16 lights with curved and tapered translucent green petal-form shades. It was consigned from the property of a Miami collector and achieved $47,250. More on this and other top lots to follow; price quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.... Read more

GREAT FALLS, MONT. — Described as the finest Keyston Bros saddle ever made, a silver parade saddle, circa 1950, virtually covered with sterling silver and featuring 30 14K gold horsehead overlay decorations and more moseyed to the top of the March in Montana auctions March 17-18, selling for $79,950, including buyer’s premium. The silver and leather masterwork had 13 Ute Chieftain sterling decorations displayed together with all matching accessories, including serape, tapaderos, bridle and bit, martingale, corona and crupper/hipdrop, which is rarely seen on any of the these saddles. The silver and leather were engraved and tooled in floral designs, and “Dedicated to Millstream Hub” was engraved on the cantle. Included with the saddle was a custom stand, made in the style of Ed Bohlin, four fancy rider outfits and several miscellaneous parade decorations for the horse. Keyston Bros bought out Heiser Saddle Co in 1950 and many silver pieces were made from original Heiser dies, including the sterling Ute Chieftain head featured on this saddle. The 36th two-session live auction presented by Coeur d’Alene Galleries and the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction in the Elks Lodge drew dealers and buyers from around the world. March featured more than 750 lots of Western art and sculpture and cowboy and Native collectibles. A future review will discuss additional highlights.... Read more

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. — A few days before Peterborough Auctions’ third sale, co-owners Molly Williams and Nick Prior were justifiably concerned about how the weather might affect their March 19 sale. Although without power for a few days, the sale went smoothly, and they sold a Rolex GMT Master II for $11,250. That particular model has two sets of hands and can simultaneously tell time in two different time zones. There was a large selection of paintings, prints and etchings. “Picknik on the Dunes,” an Impressionist style oil on canvas by Rockport, Mass., artist Charles Paul Gruppe (1860-1940) brought $3,625, leading the fine art category. The sale included several pieces of jewelry, sterling silver, a 1599 bible, cased ship models, furniture and more. Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house; a full report will feature in a forthcoming issue.... Read more

ST LOUIS, MO. — Link Auction Galleries’ March Gallery Auction offered nearly 700 lots of dolls, porcelain glass, fine art and household furnishings March 17-18. One of the sale’s highlights — and setting a new auction record for a paper collage for George Morrison (Minnesota, 1919-2000) — was “Red Rock Rising,” which sold to a phone bidder from Florida for $7,800, including premium, a significant improvement over its $800-$1,200 estimate. Measuring 15¼ by 19½ inches, the work had been done in 1977 and was consigned from an unidentified corporate collection. The auction house thought the price realized was a result of direct marketing prior to the sale. Watch for a more extensive sale recap in an upcoming issue.... Read more

OAKLAND, CALIF. — A work on paper by American Pop art icon Andy Warhol offered on the second day of Clars’ March 16-18 auction series sold for $31,250, including buyer’s premium. The mixed media piece shows an ice cream cone with scoops of red, pink and white ice cream atop a cone that is decorated with playful linework reminiscent of Art Nouveau design. This work is one in a series of ice cream-themed designs drawn by Warhol during the 1950s and was likely inspired by the collaborative coloring parties that the artist would host at Serendipity 3, the New York dessert café at which he was a lifelong patron. Another top highlight was the largest single-owner precious metals collection to be offered in the gallery’s history, including uncirculated gold coins, silver bars, silver coins and presentation coins, some in unopened containers. More on this and other notable lots will be discussed in a future review.... Read more

LONE JACK, MO. — Coming just days before spring, this year’s late winter gallery auction of art and antiques conducted by Soulis Auctions on March 18 was later than usual to accommodate the arrival of important pieces from the collection of Josephine Bird Hall (1888-1948), whose father was a principal of Emery, Bird, Thayer Dry Goods, Kansas City’s oldest and finest department store, founded in 1884. Hall’s collection was assembled in the early days of the Twentieth Century. Topping the sale from her collection was a group of 12 Meiji Japanese zodiac symbol carved wood netsuke, bringing $71,340, including buyer’s premium, a nice jump up from the lot’s $1/2,000 estimate. Each artist-signed example with inlaid eyes was finely carved and displayed nice patina. This collection was displayed in a small, divided case with interesting labels and written information from Hall, a lifelong collector of Asian and other antiques. Additional highlights from this sale will be discussed in a forthcoming review.... Read more

CLEARWATER, FLA. — The American Sale at Blackwell Auctions offered almost 400 lots of material culture from throughout American history on March 18, including fine and folk art, early photography, ephemera and collectibles. Leading the sale was a portrait of the Lakota Sioux leader Thathánka Íyotake, better known as Sitting Bull (1831-1890), painted by Swiss American artist and activist Caroline Weldon (1844-1921). This was one of four portraits that Weldon made of Sitting Bull; two are in public museum collections, and two were presumed to be lost. This example was one of the latter, and belonged to Minnesota railroad construction engineer William Lafayette Darling and descended through his family. It was bid to $67,100 ($40/80,000). Price quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house, more on this and other top lots to follow.... Read more

DALLAS — Frank Miller’s 1982 cover for Daredevil #185 sparked one of the most ferocious bidding wars of the weekend to realize $225,000, leading Heritage Auctions’ March 10-12 International Original Art & Anime Signature auction. The auction achieved a $3,155,731 total with 814 lots. Before Miller’s star-making turn on “The Dark Knight Returns,” the writer-artist rescued Daredevil from Marvel’s margins, and the brink of cancellation, with what comics historian Les Daniels called “terse tales of urban crime.” Daredevil #185 was the first issue for which Miller handed the pencils to Klaus Janson. Miller wrote the story and drew the cover that featured two images of Daredevil, the heroic main rendering that fills the page and the smaller icon leaping out of the corner box. Prices quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 214-528-1425 or www.ha.com.... Read more

NEW YORK CITY — On March 15, Doyle hosted another of its popular Doyle + Design auctions, offering 315 lots of modern and contemporary decorative arts from prominent Twentieth and Twenty-First Century designers. Max Ingrand’s designs for Fontana Arte led the sale, the foremost being a gilt-metal and glass Dahlia chandelier. Made in the 1950s, the chandelier had 16 lights with curved and tapered translucent green petal-form shades. It was consigned from the property of a Miami collector and achieved $47,250. More on this and other top lots to follow; price quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.... Read more

GREAT FALLS, MONT. — Described as the finest Keyston Bros saddle ever made, a silver parade saddle, circa 1950, virtually covered with sterling silver and featuring 30 14K gold horsehead overlay decorations and more moseyed to the top of the March in Montana auctions March 17-18, selling for $79,950, including buyer’s premium. The silver and leather masterwork had 13 Ute Chieftain sterling decorations displayed together with all matching accessories, including serape, tapaderos, bridle and bit, martingale, corona and crupper/hipdrop, which is rarely seen on any of the these saddles. The silver and leather were engraved and tooled in floral designs, and “Dedicated to Millstream Hub” was engraved on the cantle. Included with the saddle was a custom stand, made in the style of Ed Bohlin, four fancy rider outfits and several miscellaneous parade decorations for the horse. Keyston Bros bought out Heiser Saddle Co in 1950 and many silver pieces were made from original Heiser dies, including the sterling Ute Chieftain head featured on this saddle. The 36th two-session live auction presented by Coeur d’Alene Galleries and the Coeur d’Alene Art Auction in the Elks Lodge drew dealers and buyers from around the world. March featured more than 750 lots of Western art and sculpture and cowboy and Native collectibles. A future review will discuss additional highlights.... Read more

Fine art, silver and early Americana were prominent in this week’s top lots. Silver was represented from early English candlesticks to a midcentury Danish coffee service. Warhol maintained his spot as top earner of most auctions, followed in price by Armenian artist Minas Avetisyan. Well-preserved examples of colonial American decorative art and portraiture also impressed. Read on for more successful bids. Circumnavigation Account Sails To Top At CT River Book Auction SOUTH GLASTONBURY, CONN. – Despite the threat of snow, a large group of book and ephemera enthusiasts made the trek to the Connecticut River Book Auction (CRBA) on March 3. The highlight of the evening was a surprise, but should not have been completely unexpected, according to owner Tom Gullotta. A later inscribed and dated printing of Joshua Slocum’s Sailing Alone Around the World was sold for $1,185 to an attendee. For those unfamiliar with this classic, it details his solo global circumnavigation aboard the sloop Spray. For information, www.ctriverbookauction.com or 860-908-8067. Connecticut Highboy Finds Buyer At D.L. Straight Sale STURBRIDGE, MASS. – A great sale of estate-fresh antiques from all across New England awaited bidders at D.L. Straight’s March 4 Americana and folk art auction. All periods of Americana were represented – from Pilgrim period furnishings, Queen Anne, Chippendale and later. A Suffield, Conn., Queen Anne highboy was the main attraction, selling for $3,750. Standing on carved Spanish feet, the maple and pine case piece, circa 1740, was fitted with original brasses and exhibited red painted surfaces, 73 by 36 by 17 inches. For information, www.dlstraightauctioneers.com or 508-769-5404. Early English Candlesticks Light Up Sarasota Silver Sale SARASOTA, FLA. – Featuring a lifetime collection of sterling silver, Sarasota Estate Auction’s March 4 silver sale included key examples, whether traditional English, French and American and... Read more

Consigned from a Dighton, Mass., estate, this shelf clock by B.C. Gilman (Exeter, N.H.) was bought by a collector at almost 25 times its high estimate for $49,200. Review by Z.G. Burnett, Photos Courtesy Bruneau & Co Auctioneers CRANSTON, R.I. – Bruneau & Co Auctioneers conducted its Double Session sale on February 27, beginning with a Couture and Jewelry auction in the morning and continuing with Fine & Decorative Arts in the afternoon. First was the penultimate session of the couture and jewelry collection from a prominent Cranston, R.I., collection, and the second session assembled fine and decorative arts from nearby New England estates. The two sessions totaled $243,500 combined; most of the couture went to collectors, and there was “a diverse demographic for the arts” according to Ashle M. Landry, Bruneau’s operations manager. The top seller of the two sessions came from the art and antiques section, a shelf clock that multiplied its $1/2,000 estimate to $49,200. Commonly known as a “Boston” or “Massachusetts” clock because of the form’s origins in that area, Benjamin Clark Gilman of Exeter, N.H., made this example in the early Nineteenth Century. The clock worked at the time of testing, included its wind-up keys and showed inlaid vine and leaf detailing on its case. Five phone bidders vied for this piece, but in the end only two remained until the end. Born in Exeter in 1763, Gilman began his career as a silversmith and applied these skills to clock and instrument-making, for which he earned acclaim. He was later hired to install the town’s aqueduct, then became the superintendent and treasurer of the Aqueduct Company in Boston. From the same Dighton, Mass., estate came a later Nineteenth Century clock from the Waltham Clock Company (active... Read more

Virginia Wolfe’s Mrs Dalloway tied with a George Washington letter for the sale’s highest price, $30,000. Only about 2,000 copies of this book were published and this one retained its original dust jacket. Review by Rick Russack, Photos Courtesy Swann Auction Galleries NEW YORK CITY – Swann Auction Galleries’ sale of Fine Books and Autographs on March 2 ranged from signed photos of Princess Diana and Prince Charles to George Washington letters and first editions of Moby-Dick and Tom Sawyer. In between, there were numerous autographs of presidents, letters from artists, signed photographs of astronauts, Watergate material, fine press and illustrated books and still more. Two items, a George Washington letter and a Virginia Wolfe first edition both earned $30,000 and shared the sale’s top-lot honor. Autographed material was sold first. Letters written by well-known men and women from history often reveal little known aspects of the personality of people we thought we knew well and some of their personal business affairs. Such was the case with a one-page handwritten letter by George Washington concerning a private business transaction. The letter was written during his presidency – in 1790 – to Ebenezer Tucker, who had served under him in the Revolutionary War. It discussed the desired character of prospective buyers of land he intended to sell. In the letter, Washington said that once prospective buyers had examined the land in Pennsylvania, and “act like fair and candid men – I am ready to treat with them. It is not my intention to dispose of the land for a song, nor is it my wish to higgle, or make many words to the bargain – for which reason I pray them to come to a decision at once, and that you would inform me... Read more

한국 경매업계에 지각 변동이 일어날 진동이 감지되고 있다. 진원(epicenter)은 글로벌 메이저 경매사 소더비다. 소더비는 한국 선두 경매사 ‘서울옥션’과 인수 협상을 진행하고 있는 가운데 한국 진출을 공식 선언했다. 이 같은 소더비 행보를 놓고, 한국 미술·경매업계는 촉각을 곤두세우고 있다.소더비에서 경매하는 모습(출처: 소더비 홈페이지)지난 8일 소더비는 ‘아시아에서 새로운 50년: 50년의 유산과 미래 비전’이라는 영상을 공개했다. 이 영상은 1970년대 홍콩 사무소 개설부터 지금까지 과정과 향후 비전 등을 담았다. 이 과정에서 아시아 고객 확대 전략과 함께 한국 신규 사무소 개소를 밝혔다. 다만, 개소 시점은 공개하지 않았다.지난해부터 한국 사무소 개소를 추진해온 소더비는 필립스옥션 한국 사무소 대표를 역임한 윤유선씨(Jane Yoon)를 신임 대표로 임명하고 인력 충원 등을 통해 개소를 준비하고 있다. 소더비의 이 같은 행보가 주목받는 이유가 있다. 소더비는 1990년 한국에 진출했다가 기대와 달리 시장이 무르익지 않아1996년 철수한 바 있다. 이후 2018년 필립스옥션이 한국에 사무소를 개소했고, 소더비는 재도전에 나선다. 크리스티는 1995년 한국에 사무소를 열어 지금까지 유지하고 있다.소더비의 한국 재진출 배경에는 한국 미술시장의 급성장이 있다. 코로나 시기를 거치며, 한국 미술시장은 크게 성장했다. 정확한 통계는 나오지 않았지만, 문화부는 지난해 한국 미술시장이 사상 첫 1조원 시대를 열었다고 밝혔다. 또 지난해 9월에는 세계 3대 아트페어 중 하나인 프리즈가 아시아에서 처음 서울을 택했고, 홍콩 정치상황 등에 맞물려 서울은 아시아 미술시장 허브의 유력 후보중 하나다. ‘아트바젤 리포트’는 한국을 신규 컬렉터 증가세가 가파른 나라 중 하나로 지목한 바 있다.미술업계 관계자는 “소더비가 20여년전 철수했다가 다시 돌아왔다는 측면은 중요하다. 소더비는 K-Pop을 필두로 한국 문화예술 시장이 크게 성장했고, 지난해 ‘프리즈 서울’이 호황을 기록한 것에도 관심을 갖고 있었을 것”이라며 “길게 보면 홍콩, 도쿄를 이을 아시아 미술시장 허브로 서울을 주목하고 있을 수도 있다”고 분석했다.미술 시장 정보 분석업체인 프랑스 아트프라이스는 최근 발표한 보고서에서 한국의 경매 매출 규모를 세계 9위로 분석했다. 아시아에서는 중국(2위), 일본(7위)에 이어 세번째다.  또 MZ세대들이 미술품과 경매에 큰 관심을 갖고 있다는 점도 주목받는 지점이다. 온라인 경매와 대체불가토큰(NFT) 등 새로운 경매 시장이 열리면서 자산 증식에 관심을 갖는 한국 젊은 층이 경매에 뛰어들거나 관심을 보이고 있다.서울옥션에서 경매하는 모습(출처: 서울옥션 홈페이지)매물로 나온 서울옥션... Read more