Sotheby’s New York – Important Russian Art

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

The Important Russian Art auction on 1 November features a selection of exceptional works by some of the most influential artists in Russian history. Highlights include two monumental masterpieces from important American institutions: Nicolai Fechin’s Bearing Away the Bride, 1908, from the collection of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, and Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin’s Pearl Mosque at Delhi, 1876-79, from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Other highlights include Natalia Goncharova’s early and pivotal A Street in Moscow; Boris Kustodiev’s Fireworks. Bronze Horseman, executed circa 1918 to commemorate the first anniversary of the October Revolution; Aristarkh Lentulov’s Faces of a Generation from his exceedingly rare Industrial Period; and twenty other masterworks by such masters as Ivan Shishkin, Ilya Repin, Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Larionov, Alexander Iacovleff and Boris Grigoriev.

 

Sotheby’s – Impressionist & Modern Art

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

Welcome to Sotheby’s new catalogue desk exclusively for the iPad. A selection of complimentary catalogues for our fall 2011 sales are available in this exciting new format. The full selection of our catalogues is accessible using your browser on our website, Sothebys.com.

Morphy’s Nov. 12 auction features antique doll collection of the late Lorraine Schoenthaler, private collection of rare teddy bears

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

Steiff apricot center-seam bear, circa 1905, 28 in., excellent original condition. Est. $15,000-$20,000. Morphy Auctions image.

DENVER, Pa. – Fine antique dolls and rare German teddy bears will take center stage in Morphy Auctions’ sleek new saleroom on Nov. 12 in a specialty auction numbering 569 lots. Many of the dolls to be auctioned came from the collection of the late Lorraine Schoenthaler, a well-known collector from New Jersey.

 

“Mrs. Schoenthaler was known for her Schoenhut dolls. There are more than 50 of them in the sale,” said Morphy’s doll and teddy bear expert Jan Foulke. Within the grouping are molded-bonnet and carved-hair types; character dolls, dolly faces, babies and a mama doll, among others.

 

The Schoenthaler collection also includes German character dolls, babies and Polly

Beautifully dressed early Jumeau bebe doll, 14 in., French bisque socket head incised ‘Depose E 5 J.’ Est. $6,500-$8,500. Morphy Auctions image.

Heckewelder dolls, which are rag dolls that were made by the Moravian Church Ladies Society in Bethlehem, Pa., as far back as 1872. Foulke said the desirable Pennsylvania folk dolls are still being made from old patterns and that the examples in the Schoenthalter collection range from early productions to later ones.

 

While the auction summary reveals a broad chronology of doll production, the main focus of the sale is antique dolls. Highlights among the French dolls include an all-original Steiner Gigoteur, an E.J., and a portrait Jumeau.

 

German bisque character man, 15 in., known as ‘Rembrandt,’ appears to be a Simon & Halbig No. 1308 C. Est. $10,000-$15,000. Morphy Auctions image.

An outstanding array of character dolls has been cataloged. A very unusual 14-inch Simon & Halbig bisque doll depicts a man with long curly hair, a moustache and a large hat. Its owner added a tag that said it was “Rembrandt from Holland,” and that it was a gift. Foulke said the doll appears to be an unmarked Model No. 1308, which is “a very rare number from around 1910.”

 

Another Simon & Halbig highlight is a No. 153 bisque boy dressed in a pink suit, nicknamed “Little Duke.”

 

A K*R No. 114 boy doll is unusual in that it has flocked hair and glass eyes. Most dolls with that model number have wigs and painted eyes.

 

Other character dolls include Kley & Hahn pouties, a Simon & Halbig 1488, Kestner 212, A.M. with intaglio eyes, Just

Kammer & Reinhardt 114 character boy doll, 20 in., bisque socket head incised ‘K*R 114 49.’ Est. $6,500-$9,500. Morphy Auctions image.

Me, SFBJ 226 and 247, and more.

 

Bisque babies include Tynie Babies, a Century Baby, Newborn Baby, Seigfried, Bye-los, a 2-faced Kley & Hahn doll, and many others.

 

Many artist dolls will be up for bid. Designers represented in this section of the sale include Martha Thompson, Martha Armstrong Hand and Dewees Cochran. Additionally, the auction inventory features a collection of Hitty dolls.

 

All-bisque dolls include mignonettes, a Simon & Halbig 886 with black stockings, large babies, and many small dolls. In addition to the aforementioned Polly Heckewelder dolls, the cloth doll offering includes multiple Kamkins and Chase designs.

 

Blond No. 1 Barbie Doll in box, 1959, near mint. Est. $6,000-$8,000. Morphy Auctions image.

For those who collect America’s favorite teen fashion doll, Barbie, there will be 25 lots of very nicely preserved examples. Highlights include a boxed No. 1 Barbie with blond ponytail, in very fine condition; a No. 4, a No. 5, and group lots.

 

The auction also features a private collection of irresistible antique and vintage teddy bears, including several rare, expensive productions from Steiff’s early days. In addition, approximately five Steiff dolls will cross the auction block at Morphy’s.

 

The most highly prized of all bears in the sale is a circa-1904 Steiff 20-inch rod bear. The bear is accompanied by an X-ray that visually confirms its interior rod construction, as well as a Teddy Bear and Friends magazine calendar illustrated with pictures of this particular bear. It is described in Morphy’s auction catalog as being one of the nicest, if not the nicest known example. Estimate $25,000-$50,000.

 

Other top bears include a circa-1912 Steiff 18-inch black “mourning” bear made to commemorate those who perished

Steiff ‘rod’ bear, circa 1904, 20 in., accompanied by X-ray confirming interior rod construction. Est. $25,000-$50,000. Morphy Auctions image.

on the Titanic, estimate $12,000-$20,000; and a circa-1905 apricot center-seam Steiff bear, 28 inches and in “stunning original condition.” It is estimated at $15,000-$20,000.

 

Jan Foulke summarized the sale’s contents as being “nice, fresh dolls – most coming from a single consignment – together with rare teddies and an excellent variety of other dolls to please even the most particular collector.”

 

The auction will take place on Saturday, Nov. 12, commencing at 10 a.m. Eastern time. All forms of bidding will be available, including live at the gallery, by phone or absentee, and live via the Internet through Morphy Live (sign up at www.morphyauctions.com) or LiveAuctioneers.com.

 

For additional information on any lot in the auction, call Morphy’s at 717-335-3435 or

e-mail serena@morphyauctions.com. View the fully illustrated catalog and all other auction information online at www.morphyauctions.com.

Artemis Gallery to launch Antiquities-Saleroom.com with online absentee auction closing week of Nov. 14

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

275+ lots include classical antiquities, pre-Columbian artifacts, ethnographic art

Pre-Columbian Lambayeque (Peru) erotic vessel with canine depictions, dating to 700 C.E. Published: Hasso Von Winning, The John-Platt Collection of Pre-Columbian Art (University of Virginia Art Museum, 1986), No. 238. Estimate $8,000-$10,000.

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – In a collecting category as highly specialized as antiquities, the most valuable asset an auction house can possess is not a 2,500-year-old Egyptian statue or a rare Pre-Columbian artifact – it’s integrity and reputation. For the past 20 years, Bob and Teresa Dodge, along with their business partner Elaine Jamieson, have built an internationally respected name for themselves as Artemis Gallery and Artemis Gallery Live. Now the Artemis name – whose reputation is synonymous with authentic, legally acquired and vetted antiquities – has been joined by ‘Antiquities-Saleroom.com,’ to reflect the company’s newly enhanced method of conducting their online-only absentee auctions.

 

“We’re not the new kid on the block,” stressed Managing Director Teresa Dodge. “Bob and I discovered and fell in love with antiquities while on our honeymoon in Greece and Turkey, in 1989. That trip led to what has become both our passion and our profession. We’ve been in the antiquities business for 20 years, now, and have been actively selling online since 1993. We may have re-branded and improved our online-auction business, but we’re still the folks from Artemis Gallery.”

 

Starting Nov. 14, 2011, Antiquities-Saleroom.com will make its debut with an auction of

Egyptian New Kingdom wood shabti, wood, late 18th dynasty (circa 1300 B.C.), relatively early and rare, especially in this quality. Estimate $12,000-$15,000

275+ lots of exceptional antiquities, pre-Columbian artifacts, and tribal and ethnographic art. The fully illustrated online auction catalog can be viewed and confidential absentee bids may be placed on any of the lots at Antiquities-Saleroom.com. Absentee bids are executed competitively against the existing highest bid.

 

“The way the bidding platform works, even Bob and I do not know what the high bid is on an item at any given time. We only know the status of the bids after each lot closes and the winning bid is revealed,” said Dodge.

 

The auction lots will close for bidding in a consecutive, staggered fashion over several days, beginning on Nov. 14. In the period leading up to the sale, bidders will be automatically notified via e-mail if they have been outbid on an item.

 

Many of the lots will be offered without reserve. “Everything in the auction is an authenticated, quality item that has been consigned by one of approximately eight to 10 invited dealers of excellent reputation who are both our friends and colleagues. We believe an antiquity will find its correct price in the market almost every time if it is offered with the assurance that it is authentic, legal to purchase and meets the timeline qualifications for UNESCO and various national treaties,” said Dodge.

 

Greek Attic pelike (used for storing wine and oil) with very fine red-figure decoration by the Washing Painter, a well-known artist who worked in Athens, circa 430-420 BC. Estimate $12,000-$14,000.

The first half of Antiquities-Saleroom.com’s November auction is devoted to classical antiquities and includes an extensive collection of Greek and Roman objects from a consignor in Florida. Among the highlights are a fine Etruscan amphora, a handful of small but exquisite Roman bronzes, a “very special” Roman marble bust, large and elaborate painted Daunian pottery (southern Italy, 300 B.C.), Roman glass, and ancient jewelry. Additionally, there are offerings of Greek Attic pottery from Athens’ Classic Era (525-450 B.C.), as well as a couple of desirable Greek covered pottery dishes known as lekanis.

 

Egyptian bronzes, including one of Hippocrates, will be auctioned, and excellent examples of Egyptian faience will be available. At least five coveted ushabtis will be offered, with the possibility of two or three more to be added later on.

 

“Ushabtis are servant figures that were placed in Egyptian tombs to handle daily chores for the deceased in the afterlife. Typically, there would have been 365 of them in a tomb, one for each day of the year,” Dodge explained.

 

The interest in pre-Columbian art is growing, Dodge said, thanks to an unexpected new group of buyers emerging from

Romano Egyptian relief-carved limestone head, Egypt, circa 1st century B.C./A.D. Estimate $6,000-$9,000.

China. For that reason, Antiquities-Saleroom.com made an extra effort to secure consignments of fine pre-Columbian pieces for their November sale. The selection includes pottery from West Mexico, the Mayan territories and most of the major cultures of Peru, Costa Rica and Panama; plus objects created from wood and precious metals, such as effigies made of gold.

 

There are silver vessels known as “keros, which were used by Latin-American cultures for drinking “chicha,” and cylinders that Mayans used for their cocoa.

 

The variety continues with Olmec (Atlantic coastal Mexico, 1000 B.C.) stone objects used in hallucinogenic ceremonial rites, 5,000-year-old Valdivian (Ecuador) stonework and ceramic figurines; and objects from the Chavin culture of northern coastal Peru. Also, many other Mayan and Incan artifacts from the Spanish Conquest era have been cataloged.

 

The auction will conclude with a Discovery section featuring reasonably estimated artifacts that dealers may be able to secure at wholesale prices for resale. “There will be ancient trinkets estimated at $50-$100, and at the other end of the spectrum, some truly exceptional objects. All present excellent buying opportunities, and like everything else in the sale, the Discovery pieces are fully authenticated, quality items,” Dodge said.

 

The catalog for Antiquities-Saleroom.com’s auction closing over the week of Nov. 14 can be viewed online at the company’s website: www.Antiquities-Saleroom.com. For questions on any item in the sale, call Teresa Dodge at 720-890-7700 or e-mail antiquitiessaleroom@gmail.com.

Swann Galleries – ART, PRESS & ILLUSTRATED BOOKS / 19TH & 20TH CENTURY LITERATURE

Monday, October 24th, 2011

The Art, Press & Illustrated Books portion of this sale contains works on architecture, art journals, curiosa, and design, as well as decorative arts & livres d’artiste. The 19th & 20th Century Literature portion of the sale contains first editions, signed & inscribed copies, books on food and drink, fore-edge paintings, and poetry.

Highlights Include:

25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy, New York, 1954, by Andy Warhol. Signed and inscribed by Warhol, this is one of 190 copies. Detail shown, top left.

A section of Curiosa (Erotica) features, 15 erotic plates & an illustrated title-page by Franz von Bayros entitled Erzahlungen am Toilettentische von Choisy Le Conin, number 137 of 510 copies, circa 1908. Detail shown, left.

An inscribed first edition of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. October 10 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Heller’s greatest literary and commercial success. Other Catch-22 highlights include a signed British first edition; a signed, uncorrected proof of Heller’s dramatization of his most famous novel; and a wonderful association copy and advance proof that once belonged to W.H. Auden.

A complete set in fine bindings of the first editions of Charles Dickens’s Christmas Books. Five volumes, uniformly bound, London, 1843-1848. Detail shown, left.

A first edition of the first Jewish cookbook published in the United States, The Jewish Cookery Book, Philadelphia, 1871.

Sotheby’s New York – Prints & Important Contemporary Prints from an American Collection Exhibition Reminder

Monday, October 24th, 2011

We are very pleased to present our first-ever evening sale of prints, Important Contemporary Prints from an American Collection, to be held on October 27th at 6 PM. The 37 lots include six complete Warhol portfolios purchased directly from the artist’s studio, including Campbell’s Soup I, Mao and Myths.  Other highlights comprise iconic images by Jasper Johns, such as False Start and the Seasons set, four examples from Roy Lichtenstein’s Reflections series and all five of Robert Rauschenberg’s Bellini prints from the late 1980s.

Phillips de Pury – Important Nordic Design: London Highlights

Monday, October 24th, 2011

London – Phillips de Pury & Company is pleased to announce Important Nordic Design, an academic exploration into 20th century and contemporary Nordic design and culture curated by acclaimed architect Lee F. Mindel, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and whose firm Shelton, Mindel & Associates is the winner of the 2011 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Interior Design.

Shelton, Mindel & Associates, New York, have had a lifelong passion and understanding of the contributions of architecture and design in Scandinavia. At Phillips de Pury & Company, Mr. Mindel will curate the auction catalogue and exhibition and will draw together rare and exceptional works from Sweden, Denmark and Finland where he has travelled extensively. In addition, photographs taken by Mr. Mindel, documenting those Nordic journeys, will be available for sale during the exhibition proceeds of which will be donated to various architectural and design institutions.

The auction is estimated to generate £2,000,000 – £2,800,000 and includes approximately 120 lots.

Sotheby’s New York – Property from the Collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Six years after the landmark auction of Property from the Collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra, Sotheby’s is honored to hold a second series of sales dedicated to the remarkable collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra. The four-day auction is comprised of six sale volumes whose contents represent the pinnacle of their respective collecting categories, from magnificent European furniture and works of art to Russian porcelain, Cosway bindings and 19th century paintings and interior watercolors.

Phillips de Pury – Contemporary Art

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Phillips de Pury & Company together with the Guggenheim Museum are proud to announce a special auction to benefit the Museum this fall. The Guggenheim auction will be the first of its kind to be held outside of the Museum and will be an evening sale taking place on November 7 at 6:30pm at Phillips de Pury at 450 Park Avenue.

Sotheby’s – Travel, Atlases, Maps & Natural History

Monday, October 24th, 2011

This sale includes a fine set of Braun and Hogenberg’s Civitates orbis terrarium, the first systematic city atlas, with wonderful bird’s-eye-views of towns from London to Constantinople. There are also atlases by Ptolemy, Ortelius and Mercator, a spectacular world map by Giovanni Cimerlino using a heart-shaped projection, Le Rouge’s atlas of the American Revolution, 1778, and a collection of 18th- and 19th-century fans decorated with cartographical designs.

There is a wealth of early topographical photographs in the sale, most notably a collection of over 220 newly-discovered photographs by pioneering British photographer Linnaeus Tripe of India and Burma. These important photographs taken in 1854 and 1855 are among the earliest views of Rangoon and Mysore and were presented to the 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, who sent Tripe as part of the Mission to Ava in 1855 as an “Artist in Photography,” and have come by descent to the present owner. The photographs include 42 unique prints and 5 previously unknown images by Tripe.

The Near and Middle East is well represented in books and prints and there is a fine copy of Young’s Portraits of the Emperors of Turkey. Closer to home, there is wonderful material on the British Isles, including Kip’s Theatre of Great Britain, Speed’s county atlas and a handsome set of works by Ackermann. Gould’s always-popular Birds of Great Britain is the centrepiece of the natural history section, along with a rare example of nature printing from the 18th century.