“Those are among their special things,” Mark and Michael Millea said of the auctions’ top lot, this pair of illuminated columns, 74½ inches tall, by Cesar & Jean-Claude Farhi. A buyer in France is taking them home, for $57,500 ($25/35,000).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring

BOONTON, N.J. — “It was a great sale; we’re very pleased,” Mark and Michael Millea shared with Antiques and The Arts Weekly in a post-auction conference call. “Day three was especially strong and had the most energy and live bidding.”

Michael and Mark are the brothers behind Millea Bros, the Northern New Jersey auction house that conducts online-only ABC auctions approximately every six week and the firm’s premier and flagship sale model, a three-day Select auction. The latest Select sale took place June 11-13 with about 1,000 lots, of which 90 percent gaveled down successfully. They reported that 12 percent of the sale sold to international buyers, a statistic that — for those watching how international buyers participate in US auctions — exactly matched the firm’s previous Select auction (December 4-6, 2024). “It’s pretty much still business as usual, though the days of mediocre things going really high are long over,” they said.

Modernism | Contemporary Art & Design

Modernism, Contemporary art and design were served up on the first day and the session saw some of the highest totals of the day, including the sale’s top lot. That honor went to a pair of illuminated columns by Cesar (French, 1921-1998) and Jean-Claude Farhi (French, 1940-2012) that were made in 1970 at Blanchet’s Paris foundry and featured gilded bronze figural tops and blue gradient Lucite. Previously selling for €106,250 when Christie’s, Paris, sold them in 2017, the pair achieved $57,500, from a buyer in France.

If one is looking at the ratio between estimate and prices realized, an untiled oil on canvas attributed to Oswaldo Guayasamin (Ecuadorian, 1919-1999), from a private Princeton, N.J., collection, was one to take note of. Estimated $1/1,500, it achieved $27,500.

This 40-by-30-inch untitled work attributed to Oswaldo Guayasamin significantly outpaced expectations, bringing $27,500 ($1/1,500).

Another painting that was attributed to its artist that also realized more than expected was an untitled abstract oil on canvas attributed to Richard Diebenkorn (American, 1922-1993) that went out for $13,750.
Daisy Youngblood’s (American, b 1945) bronze sculpture “Sitting Horse” was another strong result, running to $23,750, nearly five times its high estimate. Commentary on the contemporary sculpture in the sale would be incomplete without two whimsical bronze Minibeasts by The Haas Bros (Nikolai & Simon Haas, American, b 1984) that were sold nearly back to back and realized $9,375 and $8,750, respectively.
In the design category, a gilt metal and glass table by Philippe Hiquily (French, 1925-2013) that had sold at Sotheby’s, Paris, in 2017, hammed at its high estimate, a total of $22,500. It was followed at $17,500 by a Branches mirror designed by Herve van der Straeten (French, b 1965).

Asian Art | American & British Art & Antiques | Antiquities

The firm shifted gear on the second day to focus on Asian, American and British art and antiques, as well as antiquities. Hitting the high note and $23,750 was a first issue, first edition of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, published in 1826 by B.B. Schotts Sohnen, of both Mainz and Paris.

Another book-form highlight of the day was a circa 1950 bound Constitution of the Republic of India, a photolithographic reproduction of the hand-calligraphed and illuminated original that was from an edition of 1,000 copies. Estimated at $2/3,000, it did much better, earning $18,750.

This Constitution of India was printed in 1950, just one of 1,000 copies. It finished at $18,750 ($2/3,000).

The proofs for Maxfield Parrish’s (American, 1870-1966) illustrations for L. Frank Baum’s Mother Goose in Prose, which was published in 1897, were loosely bound in a red cloth-covered folio and realized $16,250.
Nearly two dozen lots of Pre-Columbian objects — most of which were gold — achieved prices in the sale from $1,188 to $12,500 while the Asian category reached its peak at $9,375 and a small celadon Korean Goryeo bowl that was being deaccessioned by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Continental Art & Antiques | Impressionist & Modern Art | Tribal Art

Continental fine and decorative arts, including late Nineteenth and Twentieth Century pieces, as well as works from indigenous peoples in the Americas and Africa, capped the final day with prices strong enough to compete at the highest levels overall.

Lighting up to an even $50,000 was a pair of mid Nineteenth Century Russian ormolu candelabra, in a design attributed to Feodor Grigorevitch Solntsev (Russian, 1801-1892), that had provenance to the Kremlin as well as a 1994 sale at Christie’s, London. A buyer in the US had the winning bid.

Mark and Michael reported the biggest surprise came with a patinated wax model of an elephant by Antoine-Louis Barye (French, 1795-1875), which had been exhibited in 1889 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, sold to a French bidder for $47,500; another of Barye’s animalier bronzes — depicting an elk stag with calves — sold to another French bidder, for $6,875.

This rare maquette for one of Antoine-Louis Barye’s animalier bronze will be returning to France, to a buyer who prevailed against competition and bagged it for $47,500 ($700-$1,000).

Animals were the primary decorative motif of a Seventeenth or Eighteenth Century Flemish Feuilles-de-Choux tapestry panel that came to Millea from a Southampton, N.Y., private collector. In fair condition and with what might have been newer border panels, bidders competed to $37,500 for it.

A sculptural bronze mantel clock, the dial inscribed “Le Sieur a Paris,” which had been auctioned in 1993, at Sotheby’s, New York, stood tall, to $21,250.

Three gouache compositions by Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, Duke of Verdura (Italian, 1898-1978), all of which had been in the collections of Charlene Marshall and Mrs Vincent Astor, were on offer and all three traded hands. “Strawberry Still Life” made $21,250, “Camelback Mountain” earned $15,000 and “Wiener Dog” ran to $4,688.

Millea Bros’ next ABC auction is scheduled for July 16-18 while dates for the Fall Select auction has not yet been announced.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.

For more information, 973-377-1500 or www.milleabros.com.