DENVER, PA.- The most exciting aspect of attending an auction is the suspense. Will any new trends emerge, will there be any surprising prices, and what will end up being the top lot of the day? At Morphy’s June 11-12 Fine & Decorative Arts Auction, which totaled $2.7 million, a total “dark horse” emerged from the more than 1,400 lots to cover all of those bases, not only crowning the overall prices realized but also leaving some to wonder how they could have missed its potential.
Catching many off guard, the big winner of the day was a circa-1906 terracotta sculpture created by Italian sculptor Salesio Lugli (1869-1936). Measuring more than two feet long, the artwork depicted a 1905 automobile with figures (cast in the mold) of a chauffeur turning around to watch an elegantly-dressed woman passenger gather the folds of her evening gown and carefully step down onto the running board. Estimated at $5,000-$20,000, the genre sculpture attracted 65 bids before coming to a full stop at $184,500. It certainly qualified as the auction’s “sleeper,” but why it outdistanced the rest of the day’s luxe offerings was a lively point of discussion. It had size, fine artistic execution and wonderful attention to detail going for it, but Salesio Lugli is not a household name, so what else was there to know about it?
Morphy Auctions’ founder and principal auctioneer, Dan Morphy, went straight to the heart of the matter when asked his thoughts. “It all came down to two bidders who decided prior to bidding that they wanted to own it. That’s all it takes at an auction for something to hammer an exceptional price.” As it turned out, the sculpture was not won by a person known primarily as a buyer of fine art. “It’s now with an automobilia collector in Europe,” Morphy confirmed, in a testament to the power of crossover bidding.
Although it did not bear an advertising slogan or message, a Villeroy & Boch terracotta Santa figure was another decorative artwork that elicited crossover interest from antique advertising fans as well as collectors of Christmas antiques and European ceramics. The 52-inch-tall figure appears in the German manufacturer’s 1900 catalog and is believed to have been made for a department store to display in its front window during the holiday shopping season. With scrupulously detailed facial features, the Christmas gift-giver holds a fir tree and stands atop a custom-made wood base. One of few known examples and in excellent condition, the fresh-to-the-market treasure sold for $79,950 against an estimate of $20,000-$30,000.
In the realm of 19th-century American paintings, depictions of children have always brought a premium, as the subjects are usually dressed in colorful clothing, perhaps holding a pet or endearing object, in contrast to the period’s somber portraits of adults in black attire. The visual factor came into play at Morphy’s when John Bradley’s (New York, active 1832-1847) Portrait of a Young Girl in a Green Dress took the spotlight. An oil-on-canvas signed J. Bradley, 128 Spring St. New York and stamped on verso with the phrase PREPARED BY THE O’KEEFE NEW YORK, the 34 1/8-inch by 27 1/8-inch artwork portrayed a child in a lace-trimmed silk dress with pantaloons, wearing gold hoop earrings and a double-strand red-stone necklace, and holding a floral basket. Closely related to Bradley’s circa-1840 Little Girl in Lavender, which is in The National Gallery of Art’s collection, the auction entry was bid to $73,800 against an estimate of $20,000-$50,000.
A carved tobacco store figure attributed to Samuel Anderson Robb (New York, 1851-1928) depicted an Indian maiden holding a rose with a tobacco package under her right arm and a tobacco leaf in her right hand. Its color palette of attractive but subtle colors allows for the excellence of the figure’s carving to be fully appreciated. Standing 57 inches on a base that was added at some later point in time, the figure achieved $41,820 against an estimate of $15,000-$30,000.
A prized European artwork, a cold-painted patinated bronze figure by Demetre Chiparus (Romanian/French, 1886-1947) was executed circa 1925 and titled Les Amis Toujours (Friends Forever). Its tableau included a chic lady with two hounds on an onyx base signed Chiparus. Both the base and skirt were stamped 204 / BRONZE and MADE IN FRANCE with the foundry seal L.N. / PARIS / J.L. In mint condition and similar to examples pictured in three respected reference books, it sold at the upper end of its estimate range for $27,060.
Many coveted pieces of Amphora pottery were featured in the sale, including a circa-1900 “Octopus and Crab” vase. It stood 19¾ inches tall and displayed intricate multicolor glazes with applied gilt and the impressed marks “RSTK” and “4103.” With modeling described by Morphy’s decorative arts specialist as “the best [we] have seen to date,” the mint-condition vase is the actual example illustrated in both Richard Scott’s Ceramics from the House of Amphora (2004) and Byron Vreeland’s Monsters & Maidens: Collector's Edition (2011). It reached a winning bid of $19,680 against a $7,000-$9,000 estimate.
With charm to spare, a monumental two-panel Black Forest clock was meticulously carved in linden wood to replicate fully-dimensional images of five bears. Four of the bears – each different – were fashioned as though climbing a pine tree, with a fifth bear gazing down at them from the tree’s pinnacle. Each was realistically detailed with a “furry” coat, painted red tongue and white teeth. In excellent condition, the clock chimed above its high estimate for $24,320.
A group lot of 24 exquisite and very special Chinese agates (Rain Flower pebbles), each natural and unworked, had a total weight of 4lbs 4.4oz and exhibited outstanding quality and variety. Due to construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, obtaining such incredible agates would be nearly impossible to do today because most of the stone-gathering area has been flooded. Collectors of geological specimens recognized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity the agates presented and bid accordingly. Against a $7,000-$10,000 estimate, the lot made $34,440.
Both historically important and intrinsically valuable, an original silver bar recovered from the Florida Keys shipwreck of the famed Spanish galleon Atocha weighed in at 73lbs 8oz. Accompanied by a Letter of Authenticity verifying its weight, tag number and manifest number, the hefty silver relic surpassed expectations, selling for $54,735 against an estimate of $30,000-$45,000.
Another form of precious metal, a solid 18K white gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36mm Day-Date ‘President’ men’s wristwatch, Ref 118239 and made circa 2006, featured a meteorite diamond dial marked SWISS MADE with baguette cut diamond markers at the 6 and 9. In excellent condition and accompanied by booklets, a holder and original hang tag, it landed within estimate at $27,060.
The fine lighting group was led by a Tiffany Studios turtleback hanging lamp whose 26-inch (diameter) shade was designed with a background of complex streaked butterscotch and amber-colored glass, and further accented by a row of iridescent gold turtlebacks. Signed Tiffany Studios New York inside the shade and assessed in excellent condition, the lamp realized $30,750 against an estimate of $10,000-$15,000. From Tiffany’s Connecticut competitor Handel, a reverse-painted table lamp with an 18-inch shade glowed with a motif combining a frosted green and purple painted background with a medley of colorful flowers and butterflies in its foreground. Mounted on its nicely-patinated original three-socket Handel base with verdigris accents, it achieved $10,455 against an estimate of $4,000-$6,000.
Vintage radio collectors tuned in when a circa-1933 Air King Model 52 Plaskon model in a rare red color was introduced. With classic Art Deco styling, it displayed a logo image of global hemispheres communicating via radio signals, as well as an image in the center of the tuner of Atlas hoisting the world on his back. In VG visual condition, with the only exception being a hairline crack on the top back edge, it was offered as a “non-working” vintage electronic device, garnering $20,910 against an estimate of $4,000-$10,000.
To discuss consigning a collection or single item to a future Fine & Decorative Arts auction at Morphy’s, call 877-968-8880 or email info@morphyauctions.com. All enquiries are kept strictly confidential, and there is never an obligation to consign. Online:
www.morphyauctions.com
