June 30, 2011

Harpsichord Helps Jacksons’ Sales Hit the Tune of $2 Million

CEDAR FALLS, IA. - The belles of the ball proved to be an Italian 17th century harpsichord and a painting “The Apple Seller” by Austrian artist Eugen Von Blaas. Both headliners, along with strong bids on Russian works and Chinese jade, fueled the two-day May 24th & 25th auction attracting over 500 registered bidders from 32 countries and bringing in a little more than $2 million in sales at Jackson’s International in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The 17th century harpsichord with later carved and gilt gesso decoration in the Verni Martin style attracted buyers from all over the world occupying 16 phone lines and producing intense bidding. In the end, a gentleman from London, outbid and Italian bidder buying the harpsichord for $43,200 against an estimate of $1,500-$2,000.

Popular 19th/20th century genre painter Eugen Von Blaas’ oil on panel, “The Apple Seller,” once sat on the mantle of a rural Midwest cabin where it hung undisturbed for decades. The painting, which depicts a country girl with the straw hat and a basket of apples at her feet, is now a city girl once again, going from Venice (where it was originally painted) to the rolling hills of Wisconsin, and is now off to the home of a London buyer for the price of $192,000.

For every belle there must be a bloke. In this instance, a cased Imperial Russian Order of the Noble Bokhara 3rd Class which sold for $19,200 to a Moscow buyer. That was followed by an Imperial Russian Order of St. Stanislas Cross and Star that sold for $12,000 to a collector in New York.

Jackson’s once again proved to be the premier auction house for Russian Icons with a few highlights being a 28” x 22” circa 1880 “Year Icon” which sold for $10,800; a 13.9” x 12” Yaroslavl School Icon of the Deisis with Assembled Saints and Festivals sold for $12,000; an Old Testament Trinity from the 19th century sold for $9,600 and a scarce 19th century Russian Icon of All Saints sold for $8,400, both to New York collectors. Also selling was a rare 17th/18th century carved relief Icon of the Crucifixion measuring 12.25” x 10.5” in original, untouched condition which sold to a buyer from Paris for $9,000.

A small group of Imperial Russian period decorative arts were also represented in this sale. Examples include: a translucent pink enamel oval Faberge gold-mounted cigarette case, a 2.25” Faberge salmon colored enameled scent bottle, and a Henrik Wigstrom translucent raspberry enameled cigarette case which altogether totaled $30,000. A small offering of Imperial Russia porcelain was also offered. The hunger for two Imperial Porcelain Factory dinner plates from the Guriev Service produced a final sale price of $4,000. A set of 12 Russian porcelain dinner plates by Kornilov, circa 1890 and displaying borders with classic Russian scenes sold to a Minnesota collector for $9,000. A Russian porcelain plate with a decorated scene of the Bip Fortress and probably made by the Imperial Porcelain Factory sold to a collector from Moscow for $6,000, a pair of 12” white bisque Gardner figures depicting a mother and father with children were purchased for $8,400 by a Moscow bidder. And a mixed 46-piece set of Imperial Russia gilded silverware by Nichols and Plinke sold for $4,800 to a collector from Florida.

Some of the small offering of paintings, prints and sculpture worthy of note include a 19th century copy of Ghirlandaio’s “Adoration of the Magi,” which did $14,400. An example of the well-known Thomas Hart Benton AAA lithograph “Frankie and Johnnie” brought $10,200 from a collector near Kansas City. Irish painter James Humbert Craig’s landscape depicting a view of Connemara and measuring 24” x 20”sold to a California collector for a winning bid of $9,000. A watercolor of an Arab market scene by Italian artist Francesco Ballesio (1860-1923) sold for $8,400. A painting by Joseph Alexander Ames (American, 1816-1872) depicting a posthumous “Portrait of Captain George H. Bush of the 13th Regiment of the Massachusetts Infantry” (no relation to the President) in its original (albeit worn-out) press molded gilt frame sold to a Colorado collector for $7,800. Twentieth century French painter Paul-Emilie Pissarro’s oil on canvas titled “Horse and Carriage on Bridge” came in at $6,000, and a diminutive painting by American/German artist Ignaz Marcel Gaugengigl (1855-1932) measuring 12” x 8” sold for $3,840 to a Massachusetts collector.

One of the most intriguing lots offered has an interesting story. The group of 23 Malvina Cornell Hoffman (American 1887-1966) polychrome and cast plaster relief frieze panels is a beautiful example of the artist who studied with the great French master, Auguste Rodin. They also are an example of someone who was so moved with a real life experience that she converted it into a visual art form. In 1910, the young artist Hoffman traveled to London and witnessed a performance of the famous Russian dancers Pavlova and Mordkin. Hoffmann had been growing tired of the mundane task of sculpting portraits of diplomats and the like and when she returned to Paris from London she convinced her mentor Rodin to allow her to create the friezes which depict the beauty of the Russian dancers’ bodies in motion, yet frozen with garments swaying, muscles strained, and the love of life shining through to the beholder. The unique collection of plaster panels sold to a New York buyer for $27,840. Two other sculptures of note which also sold include a work attributed to Edouard Sandoz (Swiss 1881-1971) carved from Belgian marble and depicting two wild boars fighting; sold to a collector from Connecticut for $25,200.00 And a five inch model of a left hand cast by the Paris foundry of Alexis Rudier after the model by Auguste Rodin sold for $12,000.

White jade burned white hot during the auction with buyers from China, Australia, and the U.K. taking the lead. Some noteworthy examples comprise, a Chinese carved white jade seal, stand, and lidded cover from the Qing Dynasty sold for $52,800. But topping that was a six-inch white jade brush washer bearing a gilded and incised four character Qinglong mark which sold for $60,000. A lidded white carved jade vase from the Qing Dynasty for $22,800; an eight-inch dragon decorated white jade brush washer from the Qing Dynasty sold for $25,200; and an evenly toned and semi-translucent 9.75” white jade censer crossed the block at $15,600.

One plate doesn’t make a set, but a rare and small (5.75” diameter) Chinese Famille Rose ruby-backed saucer dish decorated with magpies perched on a pink and white blossoming branch with the Yongzheng mark brought the price of a entire set, selling for $9,600. A Kangxi Style blue and white porcelain vase made $5,760; a blue and white Qing Dynasty porcelain moon flask did $4,320; a pair of Qing Dynasty Famille Verte bowls on rose ground with scenic reserves measuring 5.75” each sold for $7,200; and a pair of blue and white Chinese Famille Verte Vases with a jar in the Yongzheng style sold for $6,000.

Another highlight of the auction was a small but interesting offering of early Italian carved furniture consigned from the Congregation of Divine Providence of San Antonio, Texas which totaled slightly more than $50,000 in sales to bidders worldwide, and included a large Italian Renaissance plank top table that sold for $12,000 to Italy by phone. An American Renaissance Revival walnut bedroom suite, circa 1870, from the Racine, Wisconsin mansion of the tractor and agricultural equipment pioneer Jerome Increase Case, founder of the J.I. Case Company, sold for $18,000. Some other items of note include: a 14” German carved ivory and silver gilded tankard which sold to a Brazilian buyer for $21,600. A South German carved relief ivory plaque measuring 13.5” in length and depicting a scene from Greek Mythology sold for $16,200. A circa 1900 Tiffany Favrile and gilt bronze damascene desk lamp measuring 14.5” tall sold for $10,200; a Russian Catherine the Great, Gold Novodel 10 Ruble coin sold for $9,000; a Chinese carved ivory tusk vase sold for $8,400; a pair of Japanese Shibayama decorated vases and matching koro made $7,200; a Japanese bidder paid $6,600 for a lime-colored Galle Pate de Verre Cameo glass vase with heart florals; a pair of French Limoges enameled and gilt bronze mounted lidded urns measuring 12” in height sold for $5,280 and a circa 1870 lidded French bronze vase with intertwining serpent handles measuring 16” in height was bought by a collector from Rio de Janeiro for 5,000.

The sale concluded with a small offering of coins from a Nebraska collection which totaled right at $90,000 and included: a damaged 1907 US $20 St. Gaudens that ended up at $9,000; a 1913 US Type 1 Buffalo Nickel in Matte Proof sold for a pretty penny bringing $5,760; and speaking of pennies, a 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent sold for $1,140.

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This Imperial Russian period Order of the Noble Bokhara, 3rd Class, by Morozov-St. Petersburg circa 1908, went to a New York buyer for $19,200.00.

This 18th century South German carved ivory relief panel attributed to the workshop of Antonio Leoni and measuring 13.5” x 5” sold for $16,200.00.

One of 23 painted plaster relief plaques made by American artist Malvina Cornell Hoffman. The set, depicting Russian dancers, sold to a New York buyer for $27,840.00.

One of a set of twelve Russian plates by Kornilov, circa 1890, that sold for $9,000.00.

This carved white jade dragon-decorated brush washer, while only 8 inches long, sold for $22,800.00.

This Youngzheng Chinese Famille Rose enameled dish measuring only 5.75 inches in diameter sold for $9,600.00.

The interest in this 17th Century harpsichord filled 16 phone lines and brought a winning bid from London of $43,200.00.