Additional Sept. 16 session devoted to fine and rare books

Chinese 7-panel scroll dated 1230, tells the tale of Su Yuenan, a famed beauty and silk spinner, $2,500-$3,500. Quinn’s Auction Galleries image.

FALLS CHURCH, Va.- An exquisite early Chinese scroll is expected to be among the top performers in Quinn’s Saturday, Sept. 18 auction. The 507-lot sale Asian, fine and decorative art, with 19th-century French paintings, American bronzes and period furniture of the 17th to 20th centuries also among the highlights.

Following the success of Chinese fine art in their May sale, Quinn’s will offer in its Sept. 18 auction a scroll from the same estate, which tells the tale of famed beauty and silk spinner Su Yuenan. Poetry, words of adoration and views of silk weaving are painted on its seven panels, the earliest signed “Zhu Linjing” and dated 1230. It is expected to surpass its conservative estimate of $2,500-$3,500.

Henry Lesur, The Flower Vendor, mid-19th century, $2,500-$3,500. Quinn’s Auction Galleries image. Quinn’s Auction Galleries image.

Admirers of 19th-century French genre painting will appreciate The Flower Vendor by Henry Lesur, estimated between $2,500-$3,500. The scene is full of light and color, with the central subject being a richly dressed man scrutinizing a female flower merchant through his spectacles. In contrast, the 1929 bronze titled Pioneer Woman, by American sculptor Bryant Percy Baker ($3,000-$5,000), depicts a female figure striding forward confidently, clasping her son by the hand.

Four rare original oil paintings by renowned American railroad artist and historian Manville Burton Wakefield (1924-1975) that were discovered by Quinn’s experts during a recent estate appraisal will be offered in the Sept. 18 sale. The four artworks include The Mountain Railroad, Texas Round the Bend, The Mighty O&W Railroad and The Old Sap House.

The furniture highlights span the 17th to 20th centuries, with highlights including a late-17th to early 18th-century William and Mary burled walnut veneered highboy, $2,000-$3,000; and a Norwegian mid-century modern solid teak Bruksbo Mellemstrands bar cabinet, $800-$1,200.

On the Thursday prior to Quinn’s Asian, Fine & Decorative Art auction, the company’s rare books division, Waverly Auctions, will conduct 430-lot sale of fine and rare books. The Sept. 16 session will include catalogues raisonnes, antiquarian Japanese books dating from the 17th century, important travel volumes and classic children’s books for serious collectors.

Complete 9-volume Picasso Peintre-Graveur, compiled by Geiser and Brigitte Baer, $900-$1,200. Quinn’s Auction Galleries image.

A parade of catalogues raisonnes of American and European printmakers will cross the auction block, including the complete 9-volume Picasso Peintre-Graveur, compiled by Geiser and Brigitte Baer, which is expected to bring $900-$1,200. Another noteworthy group is from a Washington, D.C.-area collector who specialized in Japanese books dating from the 17th to 19th centuries, with a focus on the tea ceremony and floral arrangements. The collection also includes a handful of Hokusai manga and a modern printing of Hiroshige’s 56 Views of Tokaido Road ($180-$240).

An early travel publication, Ogilby’s China, is a two-volume set that deals with exploration and ethnography in 1673. Featuring marvelous plates, including 32 double-page engravings of landscapes and architecture, this masterwork is valued between $8,000-$12,000.

Equally stunning is the Hafs Qur’an, a hand painted jewel bound in dark brown leather and adorned with ornate gilt floral illuminations, $2,000-$3,000. While its transcriber and date are unknown, experts believe the manuscript is from mid-19th-century Ottoman Turkey.

From the collection of noted bibliophile Eric S. Quayle, comes a first edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, published in 1885 and originally owned by noted Scottish children’s author, R.M. Ballantyne. Appraised at $1,000-$1,500, this copy is accompanied by a letter from Ballantyne to his wife.

All forms of bidding will be available.  For additional information on Asian, fine or decorative art lots, contact Matthew Quinn at 703-532-5632, e-mail matthew.quinn@quinnsauction.com. For book or manuscript queries, call Anson Brown at 703-532-5632 or e-mail anson.brown@quinnsauction.com. Visit Quinn’s Auction Galleries online at www.quinnsauction.com.

Catalog Now Online

Property from a Private Collection,

Coconut Grove, Florida

Auction Sept 16th, 2010  New York

Auction Sept. 10th, 2010  10am

Featuring:

▪ Walter Meyer/Jensen USA ▪ Wallace ▪ Louis W. Rice ▪ Gucci ▪ Gorham ▪

▪ Dirk Van Erp ▪ Cartier ▪ Cellini ▪ Baccarat ▪ Archibald Knox ▪ Liberty & Co ▪

▪ Fine Jewelry ▪ Costume Jewelry ▪ Silver ▪ Bakelite ▪ Art Deco ▪ Cameos ▪

▪ Vintage Jewelry ▪ Watches ▪ Diamond Cocktail Rings ▪ Navajo Silver ▪ Asian ▪

▪ ”Jelly-Belly” Brooches ▪ Vintage Fruit Brooches ▪ Celtic Revival Jewelry ▪ more

Auction Sept. 9th, 2010  10am

Auction: Sept. 25th, 2010  Noon

Featuring: Fine Art, Furniture & Accessories, Objets D’Art, Glass & Porcelain, Ecclesiastical

Auction Sept. 21st, 2010

African Art – 1 p.m.
Murano Glass and an Italien private collection – 3 p.m.
Design – 6 p.m.

Auction Sept. 11th & 12th, 2010

Featuring: Antique Furniture, Fine Art and Chinese Jade & Ivory Carvings

SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. – It was a story that might easily have been written for television – but in this instance, it was strictly nonfiction. While assessing her late father’s possessions prior to sending a consignment off to auction, a Philadelphia woman made a fortuitous discovery in the garage of the family home. There, amongst the garden tools and bric-a-brac, she came across several weighty suitcases that had long been stashed out of sight. Thinking they might contain old clothes or discarded household articles, the woman was taken completely by surprise when she opened the cases to find a horde of valuable old coins, many of them silver and gold.

“Nobody knew about the collection. Her father had never told anyone about it,” said Tom Wakeley, general manager of Stephenson’s, the company that auctioned the coins on Sept. 20 at their suburban Philadelphia gallery.

The collection ended up being “a tremendous success” at auction, Wakeley said, garnering $88,000 inclusive of 10% buyer’s premium.

“At this sale we had more live bidding than we did absentee and phone bidding because there were a number of nice pieces of gold in the collection. Buyers of gold coins like to inspect them and judge the condition for themselves,” Wakeley explained. Ninety-five percent of the 417 lots offered were purchased by in-house bidders.

Nineteenth-century gold coins of various denominations were offered in the sale, including an 1899 $10 gold piece (lower right), which sold for $660. Stephenson’s Auctions image.

Top-selling specimens included a 1907 $2.50 gold piece that realized $632.50 and an 1899 $10 gold piece that made $660.

A wealth of silver was available to bidders, as well. Seven Morgan half dollars from the early 20th century were sold as one lot for $1,430; while a book containing 27 silver commemorative half dollars from the mid-20th century finished its bidding run at $2,640 – quite an impressive result for coins whose total face value was a mere $13.50. Wakeley commented that condition was what drove the price on the grouping. “The half dollars were in uncirculated or even brilliant uncirculated condition, and that’s what collectors are looking for,” he said. “With money being so tight, collectors won’t spend a lot for average-condition coins, but if a coin is pristine, the money will come out.”

Other highlights of the Aug. 20 sale at Stephenson’s included an 1849 Seated Liberty silver dollar, $715; a book of 21 early 19th-century half cents, $1,017.50; and an exceptionally nice, unopened proof set containing each U.S. coin minted in 1950, which sold for $660.

A grouping of Barber dimes from the late 19th century/early 20th centuries sold as one lot for $1,210. Stephenson’s Auctions image.

Wakeley commented that, compared to buyers of other types of antiques, collectors who purchase coins at auction will cut to the chase. “At some auctions, bidders will hold out in hopes that the auctioneer will open a lot at a lower price, but at a coin auction, if the auctioneer asks for $25 and the coin is worth $500, they’ll just yell it out,” Wakeley said. “They already have the value figured out according to the price of silver or gold. That helps the auction go a little more quickly, too.”

Stephenson’s will conduct its next coin auction on Oct. 1, 2010, and will offer part II of the same collection featured in the Aug. 20 sale. For additional information, call Stephenson’s Auctioneers at 215-322-6182 or e-mail info@stephensonsauction.com. Visit Stephenson’s online at www.stephensonsauction.com.

Catalog now online

Auction Sept. 13th, 2010  10am

Los Angeles

Auction Sept. 16th, 2010  10am

Featuring Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, Thea Porter, Carolina Herrera, Missoni, Givenchy, Valentino and many more.