CRANSTON, RI.- Fresh off a highly successful Winter Antiques & Fine Arts Auction held on January 6th that featured 379 lots of fine items from prominent New England homes,
Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers will soldier on with another big live and internet sale, this one a 353-lot affair it’s calling an Antiques & Fine Art Auction, slated for Saturday, February 3rd, at 11 am Eastern.
The auction will be held online, as well as in Bruneau & Co.’s spacious gallery, located at 63 Fourth Avenue in Cranston. Kicking off the festivities will be 43 paintings, followed by an eclectic mix of merchandise ranging from 36 lots of guns and antique ammunition to 47 lots of antiquarian books and chapbooks from a fine estate out of Coventry, Rhode Island.
Shoe-horned in will be part of the collection of the philanthropist and dedicated collector Alan Shawn Feinstein. The proceeds from his items will benefit the Feinstein Foundation.
“This is another interesting catalog loaded with fresh estate merchandise from across New England, from guns to French armorial porcelain and every subject in between,” said Kevin Bruneau, company president and auctioneer of Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers. “It will be a fun and eclectic sale as always, for the buyer and the seller – something for everybody.”
The top lot of the January sale was a fine bronze sculpture of a female nude by Mexican-born realist Enrique Alferez (La./Tex., 1901-1999), titled The Bather (1983), 8 ¼ inches tall. It sold for $13,750. The February auction will offer another figural bronze sculpture by a Mexican-born American artist, Jose Luis Cuevas (1934-2017). The 1985 work depicts a mother and her child.
“The Jose Cuevas bronze is out of the same estate as the Alferez sculpture, and so is the great Mexican modern bronze by Francisco Zuniga we sold in a previous auction,” said Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. specialist and auctioneer. The Cuevas sculpture, 10 ½ inches tall, is signed “Cuevas” and is editioned #7 of 9. It carries a reasonable pre-sale estimate of $3,000-$5,000.
A fine and rare French Sevres porcelain plate from the initial order of the “Service Ordinaire de Fontainebleau”, ordered by King Louis Philippe (1773-1850) for the Chateau de Fontainebleau, is also expected to realize $3,000-$5,000. The plate, 9 ½ inches in diameter, made around 1844, is profusely decorated and is a museum-quality example, not a common Limoges or later copy.
A pair of large and adorable Murano art glass penguins by the Venetian master Gino Cenedese (It., 1907-1973), the larger of the two standing 32 ½ inches tall and the smaller one 18 inches tall, is expected to bring $2,500-$4,000. The pair of penguins were done in the Sommerso technique, invented by Cenedese. Each penguin is incised with, “Gino Cenesdese Murano”.
A gorgeous Arts and Crafts Handel Dogwood leaded glass and patinated bronze table lamp, 18 ½ inches tall, with a leaded stained glass dogwood pattern shade signed “Handel”, is expected to illuminate the room for $2,000-$3,000. The lamp sits on a stepped rounded base, rising to a shaped bulbous shaft with inset glass panels. The base retains its original Handel cloth label.
A Danish .999 silver sculpture of a cheetah, 14 ½ inches long, by the Dutch-American artist Loet Vanderveen (1921-2015), titled Stalking Cheetah, has an estimate of $2,000-$3,000. The sculpture depicts the cat in a taut, immobile pose and has an edition designation of “20/250” and “142 T”. Vanderveen was known for combining patina and polished finishes to his sculptures.
An oil on canvas figurative portrait painting of a young girl by Israeli social realist Ruth Schloss (1922-2013), titled Batya of Jerusalem, 35 ½ inches by 30 ½ inches (framed), should breeze to $1,500-$2,500. The subject is pictured in a white headscarf with an emotionless expression. The painting is signed lower left and still has its original label from the Safrai Art Gallery in Israel.
A late 19th/early 20th century American cold painted cast zinc sculpture of the Archangel Gabriel, 36 inches tall and most likely cast by J.W. Fiske & Company or J.L. Mott Ironworks, should find a new owner for $1,500-$2,500. The full-bodied figure has been finely cast with detailed hair and wings. He’s wearing a flowing white robe with gilt accents. It’s in overall good condition.
A 19th century Moser Victorian Aesthetic enameled amethyst glass bronze mounted bowl, 8 ½ inches in diameter and made in Czechoslovakia, is expected to reach $1,000-$1,500. The bowl is decorated with a hummingbird confronting a snake coiled around a branch as it attempts to fetch the bird’s nestling, a fine example of sculptured Moser enameled glass in overall good condition.
An 18th century Italian Baroque carved and gilt wood framed oil on tin iconographic painting of the Crucifixion, 30 ½ inches tall by 18 inches wide, has an estimate of $1,500-$2,500. The work depicts Mary Magdalene kneeling and weeping at the foot of the cross, housed in a frame that’s surmounted by a highly ornamental pediment, with an ovoid oil on tin scene of the Holy Trinity.
A rare, pre-1940 single-sided porcelain sign for Indian Motorcycles (“Count the Indians on the Road”), 12 inches by 24 inches and made in the U.S., is expected to fetch $1,000-$2,000. The sign is decorated with the portrait of a smiling Indian Chief and is a great example of a mid-1930s advertising sign, with vibrant color and gloss and minimal wear. It’s not a reproduction.
Internet bidding will be made available through Bidlive.Bruneauandco.com, Invaluable.com, LiveAuctioneers.com and Bidsquare.com. Phone and absentee (left) bids will also be accepted. Previews will be held on Thursday, February 1st, from 9-5; on Friday, February 2nd, from 12 noon until 9 pm; and on Saturday, February 3rd, the date of auction, when the doors open at 8 am.
