Gallery Report: March 2010

A James Whistler lithograph titled The Sisters sold for $24,150 at an auction held Feb. 6-7 by Carlsen Gallery in Freehold, N.Y. Also, a marble statue of cupid, signed C.B. Ives, went for $13,800; an etching signed by Henri Matisse and titled Nude brought $8,912; a circa 1790 Hepplewhite serpentine sideboard commanded $8,625; a signed work by Carl Wuermer titled Winter Silence (#153) gaveled for $8,625; Storm Clouds by F.J. Waugh realized $7,475; and two metal statues of deities rose to $5,750. Prices include a 15 percent buyer's premium.

An outstanding 20-inch by 16-inch marked KPM oval porcelain plaque with a finely detailed portrait titled Rembrandt's Mother sold for $7,250 at a sale of the lifetime personal collections of Elizabeth and Clarence Lee Dubois held Feb. 13 by Woody Auction in Wichita, Kan. Also, a pair of KPM porcelain vases, 12 1/2 inches tall and with colorful birds and great gold highlights brought $4,750; and a German porcelain plaque with a scene of La Belle Chocolatiere hit $3,900. Prices do not include a buyer's premium.

A figural bronze statue of a warrior on her steed by the German artist Franz Von Stuck (1863-1928) titled Amazon sold for $20,880 in an online Winter Antiques Auction held Feb. 3-17 by Litchfield County Auctions Inc. of Litchfield, Conn. Also, a set of 12 early 20th-century walnut high-back leather dining chairs in the 17th-century style commanded $20,400; a 17th-century North European Baroque walnut trestle table made $10,620; and a bronze by Russian artist Evgeni Lanceray hit $15,660. Prices include a 20 percent buyer's premium.

A copy of Detective Comics No. 28 sold for $30,510 at an estates sale held Feb. 27-28 by Philip Weiss Auctions in Oceanside, N.Y. Also, a copy of Detective Comics No. 1 soared to $28,250; a copy of Detective Comics No. 2 finished at $19,210; a copy of Batman Comics No. 2 realized $11,565; a pair of Peanuts dailies by Charles Schulz went for $18,080 each; a pair of Snow White animation cels made $5,085 each; a Herriman Krazy Kat Sunday page fetched $9,040; and a 1913 Bing train set garnered $1,243. Prices include a 13 percent buyer's premium.

A map depicting the siege of the Battle of Yorktown, believed to have once belonged to George Washington, sold for $1.15 million at an auction held Feb. 4-5 by James D. Julia Inc. in Fairfield, Maine. It was a new world record for a map sold at auction, a record for the Julia firm and the most expensive antique item ever sold at auction in Maine. Also, a four-page letter written by George Washington to his nephew, George Augustine Washington, in which he spoke of family issues and offered marital advice, hit $120,750. Prices include a 15 percent buyer's premium.

A rare Kelly Tires double-sided trade sign, showing a lady waving while driving, 24 inches in diameter, sold for $13,200 at the Spring Peotone Petroliana & Advertising Auction held Mar. 5 by Matthews Auctions LLC in Peotone, Ill. Also, an Avio Motor Oil single-sided embossed sign, 14 inches by 20 inches, with car and plane logo, climbed to $5,500; a United Motor Service arrow die-cut sign, with early touring car logo, made $6,050; and an Alligator Boot metal counter display garnered $5,500. Prices include a 10 percent buyer's premium.

A Masudaya battery-operated Target Robot with the original pictorial box and sealed bag of accessories sold for $52,900 at an auction held Feb. 26-27 by Morphy Auctions in Denver, Pa. Also, a J. & E. Stevens Breadwinners cast-iron mechanical bank in excellent to near-mint condition brought $28,750; a painted-zinc Indian brave tobacco figure cast in 1875 by Miller, Dubrul & Peters, 6 feet tall, demanded $15,525; and a circa 1880-1890 hand-painted linen poster of Buffalo Bill, framed, rose to $14,375. Prices include a 15 percent buyer's premium.

An original work by Andy Warhol, titled Self Defense and done 1985-86, sold for $506,500 at a Contemporary Art Auction held March 9 by Sotheby's in New York. Also, Robert Motherwell's Open #94 (1969) soared to $224,500; Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Still #63 (1980) coasted to $218,500; Ed Ruscha's Rusty Silencers (1979) topped out at $110,500; Peter Halley's White Cell With Conduit (1987) realized $104,500; and Tom Wesselmann's Smoker Sculpture Edition (1981) commanded $98,500. Prices include a 20 percent buyer's premium.

An original oil on canvas painting by Jules Emile Saintin, titled Pony Express, sold for $146,500 at a sale of Fine American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture held March 4 by Christie's in New York. It was a new world auction record for the artist. Also, an oil on canvas board by Milton Avery, titled Twilight Sea, crossed the finish line at $116,500; and an oil on canvas by Jane Peterson, titled White and Pink Dogwood, also breezed to $116,500. In all, 121 lots sold in a sale that grossed $2.4 million. Prices include a 20 percent buyer's premium.

A carte-de-visite image of Abraham Lincoln by Alexander Gardner, signed “A. Lincoln” as president, sold for $48,000 at an Autographs Auction held Feb. 11 by Swann Galleries in New York. The portrait photograph was taken Aug. 9, 1863. Also, a carte-de-visite signed and inscribed “Yours affectionately” by Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, breezed to $7,200; and a Matthew Brady carte-de-visite of Boston Corbett, the man who killed Booth, signed and inscribed on the reverse, hit $5,760. Prices include a 20 percent buyer's premium.

A 1905 book illustration by Jessie Willcox-Smith for A Child's Garden of Verses, her most important project, sold for $310,700 at a Signature Auction held Feb. 18 by Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas. Also, a pin-up artwork titled Duotone Varga Signature (1947), by Alberto Vargas, went for $101,575; an oil painting by Fritz Willis titled A Moment of Pleasure climbed to $41,825; Harry Ekman's Mishap at the Picnic finished at $33,460; and Pearl Frush's Miss Nassa, Aqua Tour Series (1947) made $35,850. Prices include a 15 percent buyer's premium.

A 4-inch-long finely carved Maori nephrite pendant (hei tiki), collected in the 1850s from the Rotorua area, North Island of New Zealand, sold for $45,750 at a sale of African, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian Art held Feb. 12 by Bonhams & Butterfields in San Francisco. Also, a 23-inch-long Tapuanu gable mask, Satawan Atoll, Mortlock Islands, presented to a Belgian missionary by a Chief from Lukunor Island, pre-World War II, realized $33,550; and a Yaure mask from the Ivory Coast rose to $9,150. Prices include a 20 percent buyer's premium.

An 1878 portrait by Eastman Johnson of the brothers William W. Caswell and John Caswell Jr., sold for $74,750 at an auction held Jan. 17 by Carl W. Stinson in North Reading, Mass. Also, a Connecticut Chippendale cherry tall clock by Peregrine White of Woodstock and works by David Woodell of Pomfret realized $10,350; a figural group by Vassily Yacovlevitch Gratchev, cast at the C.F. Woerffel Foundry in St. Petersburg, fetched $17,250; and an Aaron Willard shelf clock, circa 1815, hit $8,050. Prices include a 15 percent buyer's premium.

A temperance jug made in Kosse, Texas, and with applied snake and human form, sold for $17,250 at a sale of the stoneware and redware pottery collection of William Kelly Young held Jan. 30 by Crocker Farm in York, Pa. Also, a rare molded whippet with later paint decoration, marked John Bell, rose to $14,950; a rare Moravian squirrel bottle attributed to Rudolph Christ, Salem, N.C., made $15,525; and a rare Moravian bear form bottle, also attributed to Rudolph Christ, topped out at $9,775. Prices include a 15 percent buyer's premium.

A George II Chinese Chippendale silver table sold for $46,000 at a sale of English and Continental Furniture, Silver & Decorative Arts held Jan. 26-27 by Freeman's in Philadelphia. Also, a Charles II Joseph Knibb bracket clock realized $103,000; a Faberge gold-mounted spinach jade page turner fetched $20,000; a regence japanned commode went for $22,500; a large KPM porcelain plaque painted with a scene after Reubens hit $18,750; and a South Italian walnut bombe commode rose to $13,750. Prices include a 25 percent buyer's premium.

A 7 1/2-inch Satsuma porcelain bowl sold for $14,950 at a Winer Auction held Jan. 30 by CRN Auctions in Cambridge, Mass. Also, a Gustav Stickley oak director's chair, circa 1912, with pegged construction, a branded red mark and the original surface garnered $12,650; art glass vases by Daum Nancy went to the Midwestern trade for $9,775; a 19th-century Japanese wedding trunk - one of two offered - breezed to $8,625; and an Edo/Meiji Satsuma octagonal vase with ho-ho birds and flowers hit $5,175. Prices include a 15 percent buyer's premium.

A colorful Tiffany Studios leaded Favrile glass and bronze Bouquet hanging shade measuring 28 inches in diameter sold for $134,500 at a Belle Epoque Auction held Feb. 24 by Doyle New York in New York. Also, a Tiffany Studios gilt-bronze and Favrile leaded glass desk lamp in the Venetian pattern achieved $80,500; a Louis XVI-style gilt-bronze mounted amaranth, satinwood and sycamore side cabinet attributed to Francois Linke brought $59,375; and a Louis XV-style commode garnered $31,250. Prices include a 25 percent buyer's premium.

The collection of 14 personal letters and telegrams exchanged between then-U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy and a young Swedish woman, Gunila von Post, sold for more than $115,000 in an auction held Mar. 4 by Legendary Auctions in Lansing, Mich. The pieces – 11 letters and three telegrams – recounted the long-distance relationship as it ignited and unfolded between March 1954 and the late summer of 1956. The winning bidder was a West Coast collector who wished to remain anonymous. The price includes a 15 percent buyer's premium.

An original painting by Russian artist Alexandre Evgenievich Iacovleff, titled Kurds Near Kandahar, measuring 23 inches by 59 inches, sold for $175,030 at an estates sale held Feb. 6-7 by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine. Also, a rare Maine paint-decorated tapered-leg stand gaveled for $24,150; an American cherry Chippendale chest-on-chest with a fine old finish coasted to $6,500; and a pair of painted tin candle sconces with cutouts of a drum and French flags rose to $3,565. Prices include a 15 percent buyer's premium.