CRANSTON, RI.- Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers will kick off the New Year in style with a 444-lot Estate Fine Art, Antiques & Collectibles Auction on Saturday, January 4th, online and in the gallery at 63 Fourth Avenue in Cranston. The auction will begin promptly at 11 am Eastern time.
The sale will feature a fine selection of listed artist paintings, etchings and prints; a collection of Austrian and Bohemian art glass and figural lamps from a Long Island, New York collection; a select group of antique historical telephones from the Pioneers of America Museum in Pennsylvania; and a great single-owner collection of Japanese robes.
Also offered will be a nice selection of Asian arts; five rare 18th and 19th century Rhode Island and Massachusetts almanacs; a high-end Leica spotting scope; sterling silver chalices; and estate sterling lots, jewelry, sculpture and more. Previews will be held Thursday and Friday, January 2nd and 3rd, from 9-5 each day, and on auction day at 8 am.
“Four days into the New Year and we are already starting it with a bang,” said Kevin Bruneau, the president of Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers. “As eclectic as this auction is, it is sure to draw in a large crowd. Someone will be driving off in style in their new Rolls Royce, our very first lot.”
He was referring to the first item to come up for bid, a 1985 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit car with just 35,000 miles on the odometer. The full-size, British-made sedan is a full-size luxury Rolls that’s been perfectly maintained. The car, which boasts an ivory colored interior with the finest burl wood inlays, has all service records, title and registration. It should sell for $8,000-$12,000.
Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. specialist and auctioneer, remarked, “I find it very cool that we get to handle a nice selection of contemporary Indian arts in Rhode Island, and I’m sure they’ll attract very strong internet and phone bidding. They won’t be staying in Rhode Island for long.”
The category will be led by a watercolor painting by Maqbool Fida Hussain (India/England, 1913-2011), dubbed “the Picasso of India”. The Cubist figural rendering depicts two blue horses galloping beneath a monochromatic sky with a purple sun. The framed 2002 painting is signed “Hussain” lower right and measures 19 ½ inches by 16 ½ inches (est. $15,000-$20,000).
Two other works by Indian artists have estimates of $6,000-$9,000. One is a contemporary portrait pastel drawing by Ganesh Pyne (1937-2013). The pastel and ink on paper Modernist portrait depicts a Hindu figure and measures 7 inches by 6 inches. It’s signed “Ganesh Pyne” lower right corner and was exhibited at the 2018 India Art Festival, Nehou Center in Mumbai.
The other is a watercolor on paper by B Prabha (1933-2001), showing a partially abstracted view of staggered houses lit up by a glowing sun. The frame work has an image area of 15 inches by 18 ½ inches and is signed “B Prabha” and dated “1960” middle right. The painting comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Sunil Badgelwar, legal heir and manager of Prabha’s estate.
An abstract bronze grey spirit sculpture by Joel Perlman (N.Y., b. 1943), geometric form with a pierced design, 42 inches tall by 25 inches wide, has a pre-sale estimate of $2,500-$4,000. Joel Perlman is well known for his abstract shape sculptures. His work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York.
A mixed media abstract painting by Cynthia Gallagher (American, b. 1949), displaying vivid colors with expressive strokes that glide across the paper, encased in an orange spotted frame, should reach $1,000-$2,000. The 42 ½ inch by 61 ½ inch painting is framed and signed “Cynthia Gallagher”. It’s dated “1991” and annotated “The Biggest One With Spots” on verso.
An 18th century or earlier Dutch winter wonderland painting, from the circle of Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1636) or Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), depicting various people ice skating on a frozen lake with a home in the background, is expected to garner $1,000-$2,000. The framed oil on canvas work is faintly signed and measures 9 ¾ inches by 13 inches.
And finally, for something completely different, an early 20th century African big game bust mount giraffe – a fine taxidermy specimen of a giraffe from the chest up, mounted to a wood base on wheels for easy moving, stands 9 ½ feet tall and carries an estimate of $3,000-$4,000.
Online bidding will be offered by LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, Bidsquare.com and bidLIVE.Bruneauandco.com, plus the mobile app “Bruneau & Co.” on iTunes or GooglePlay.
