LOS ANGELES, CA.- Andrew Jones Auctions’ inaugural sale on Saturday, September 15th, drew great crowds, both in the room and online. The auction was 99 percent sold and grossed nearly $1.1 million (with buyer’s premium). Attendees enjoyed coffee and cold drinks, snacks, a box lunch and late afternoon ice cream to maintain their energy and focus throughout the day.
The sale – officially titled Design for the Home and Garden – was held in the Andrew Jones Auctions gallery, at 2221 South Main Street in Los Angeles. Nearly 500 lots came up for bid, with a merchandise mix that featured European decorative arts, fine silver, fine art, Asian works of art and design. Online bidding was provided by LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com.
“Our inaugural auction generated amazing and positive action,” said Andrew Jones, the president and owner of Andrew Jones Auctions. “Friends and clients, old and new, flooded to the gallery to participate in person, by phone, through absentee and via spirited online bidding from across the globe. All in all, the sale was a resounding success and a great platform on which to build.”
The anticipation and energy were palpable when auctioneer Tim McNab took his place on the rostrum before a standing room only audience. The star of the afternoon was a Tiffany Studios drop head Dragonfly lamp, which garnered a full bank of telephone bidders along with active bidding in the room and online. The lamp illuminated the gallery when it gaveled for $200,000.
Following are additional highlights from the auction, which attracted about 100 people in person to the event. Also, 640 people registered to bid online, placing a total of 510 bids. There were about 80 phone bidders and 50 absentee bidders. All prices quoted include the buyer’s premium.
The sale began strong with a selection of silver, which included Porter Blanchard and Georg Jensen, as well as a monumental Edward VII silver center bowl that brought $10,000. Other silver highlights included a lovely French silver and marble trophy bowl by Froment Meurice that made $15,000 and an Art Deco ebony mounted cocktail shaker that hammered for $6,250.
French works led the Decorative Arts section, including a marble and patinated bronze figure of Nature Revealing Herself Before Science by Louis-Ernest Barrias, which brought $36,250, a charming pair of cast iron figures of dogs by J.J. Ducel that realized $27,500 and an unusual pair of champlevé enamel bronze mounted onyx jardinières on rarely seen stands that made $26,250.
An elegant Paul Sormani gilt bronze mounted kingwood vitrine realized $15,000 and an early 20th century Louis Vuitton wardrobe trunk brought $11,250. Pieces by Lalique included a Rinceaux model lamp shade ($8,125) and a pair of Faunes model door handles ($4,750).
Asian works of art featured a pair of Japanese Koma Inu (Shinto Lion Dogs) that made $11,050 and a four-piece group of Chinese silk robes and skirts that realized $3,380. A diverse offering of fine art lots appealed to collectors with a Charles Wilbert White I Have a Dream lithograph ($4,750), and a Benjamin Chambers Brown depiction of The Kearsarge Pinnacles ($8,750).
