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.

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.

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.

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 & 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.

Current Auction

Sat., Nov. 12 @ 11am:
19/20th C. American/European Art
Sun., Nov. 12 @ 1pm:
Post-War and Contemporary Art

Title: AMERICAN ART / CONTEMPORARY ART
Date: November 17, 2011
Time: 10:30 AM & 1:30 PM
Exhibition: Sat., Nov. 12, 10-4
Mon., Nov. 14, 10-6
Tues., Nov. 15, 10-6
Wed., Nov. 16, 10-6
Contact Person: Todd Weyman

Featured additional highlight: John Wayne’s silver-trimmed leather saddle

Bronze and Sevres porcelain clock and garniture set, one of many from a Beverly Hills private collection. Don Presley Auction image.

ORANGE, Calif. – The 90210 zip code has become a familiar destination for Southern California auctioneer Don Presley, and on Nov. 5-6, Presley will again present a premier private collection sourced directly from a Beverly Hills estate. This time the contents consist of superb clocks, silver, porcelains and other fine and decorative art from a collector whom Presley describes as having “an eye for the exquisite.” A fine jewelry wholesaler by profession, the consignor has always selected pieces of the highest quality for their collection, never settling for anything less.

The Beverly Hills collection comprises 400 of the 1,000 lots to be auctioned, and features 200 absolutely fresh to the market antique European and American clocks.

“This is such a great clock collection that visitors to our gallery have been asking if a high-end antique store went out of business – but that’s not the case. This is a collection built over many years by an individual who happens to love beautiful clocks and porcelains, and knows how to pick the very best,” Presley said.

“When I first went to visit the collection, my jaw dropped,” Presley continued. “I could not believe what I saw on the walls and shelves – gorgeous champleve clocks, Tiffany, Sevres, old silver. These are the kinds of things that make an auctioneer love his business.”

The spectacular array of fancy French clocks features 18th- and 19th-century designs, including gilt bronze figural,

Circa-1710 French boulle clock, signed “JB Baillon Paris,” one of the earliest of its type and one of three antique boulle clocks in the auction. From a Beverly Hills private collection. Don Presley Auction image.

tortoiseshell, dore bronze, inlaid marquetry, bronze and porcelain; and elegant champleve designs, as well as many 3-piece clock and garniture sets. There are no fewer than 10 jewel-face miniature French clocks and a fine collection of carriage clocks, including Tiffany & Co.

Among the innumerable highlights are six French boulle clocks – one of them dating to around 1710 and signed “JB Baillon Paris.” At least two of the clocks are among the earliest of their type to have been manufactured. A magnificent gilt bronze horse-drawn chariot clock, with figures of two riders and a lion, also dates to the 18th century.

Taking pride of place in the collection are no fewer than six clocks from Tiffany & Co., including a rare bronze bell-shape clock supported by two pillars and a crossbar. Japy Freres produced the mechanism for at least one of the Tiffany clocks to be auctioned.

A sumptuous 200-piece selection of fine porcelain features many designs by Sevres, including lavishly gilded pairs of lidded urns, clock sets and an ornately decorated tray. An Old Paris hand-painted vase exhibits the unmistakable aesthetic favored by many porcelain artists in the City of Paris during the mid to latter 18th century. Other manufactories represented in the collection include: Meissen, Limoges, Dresden, and Villeroy & Boch. These exalted names of golden-era porcelain are also seen in the vast array of cups and saucers to be sold.

Pair of marked 18th-century Jean Baptiste Francois candelabra having a total weight of 250 ozt. From a Beverly Hills private collection. Don Presley Auction image.

The Presley gallery is laden with heavy sterling silver, including a complete International Silver La Paglia-designed tea service with tray, an S. Kirk & Son double-handle repousse urn with lid, and a pair of 18th-century Jean Baptiste Francois candelabra having a total weight of 250 ozt. One of the candelabra has a Francois mark designated for Paris, while the other bears a 1784 stamp for Semur. Additional candelabra lots are Sevres style and of gilt bronze and marble.

A 31-piece Moser cranberry stemware set is among the top lots in the glassware and art glass section, which also includes designs by Galle, Lalique, Tiffany, Loetz and Steuben. Extravagantly gilded, a set of green glass goblets might be of Russian origin.

Antique Asian ivory continues to draw the bidders to Presley’s sales. The Nov. 5-6 event includes a pair of 3-ft.-tall elephant tusks, figures of Immortals and elephants, a “jeweled” Guan Yin figure on pedestal, and a lady’s fan with gilded frame, among many other ivory objects.

Paintings and bronzes – many by listed artists – will be auctioned. Russian icons and a pair of signed and framed Napoleon and Josephine portraits, hand-painted on ivory, are among the select offerings.

A featured lot that combines Hollywood legend with the lore of California’s Old West is a leather saddle made by the

John Wayne’s personal silver-trimmed saddle, initials ‘JW,’ with matching bridle and breast collar, extensive provenance. Don Presley Auction image.

Visalia Stock Saddle Co. of San Francisco for American screen icon John Wayne. Heavily tooled overall and trimmed with sterling silver conchos, stirrups and other adornments, the saddle also bears a silver diamond-shape cartouche engraved with the initials “JW.” The saddle comes with a matching bridle and breast collar, and is accompanied by extensive provenance and a letter of authenticity. “This saddle dates to the early days of John Wayne’s career, and with the interest currently so strong in items having a personal connection to John Wayne, this saddle should prove very appealing to collectors,” Presley said.

An additional 600 items from several California estates, collectors and other consignors add variety to the Nov. 5-6 auction inventory. The sale summary reveals many pieces of Chinese jade, hand-painted scrolls, musical instruments, a 40-piece majolica collection, a 1933 Rock-ola 5¢ Horse Race Sweepstakes trade stimulator, and novelty furniture designed as a 1956 Chevy sofa and Harley-Davidson chairs with saddlebags.

For the adventurous, Don Presley suggests the remote control twin-engine F-15 Navy jet. “It’s 7 feet long and can reach a top speed of 200 miles per hours. But before anyone decides to fire it up, they should be aware that it requires a special license. It’s a big plane,” Presley said.

Both the Saturday and Sunday sessions will commence at 12 noon Pacific Time. Preview daily 9-5. The gallery is located at 1319 W. Katella Ave., Orange, CA 92867. All forms of bidding will be available, including at the gallery, by phone, absentee or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers and Proxibid. For additional information, call Don Presley at 714-633-2437 or e-mail info@donpresleyauction.com. Visit the company’s website at www.donpresleyauction.com.