Top lot status was rewarded to this Tiffany & Co., silver, mixed metal and mokume water pitcher, circa 1875, which had provenance to Sotheby’s, New York’s “Important Americana” auction in June 2019; it poured out a $87,500 finish.
Review by Kiersten Busch, Assistant Editor
DALLAS — Heritage Auctions’ Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu Signature Auction, which was conducted on May 9, showcased the best of makers including Tiffany & Company, Gorham, Paul Storr, Georg Jensen and the silversmiths of Taxco, Mexico. Pieces from the estates of longtime collector David Rosen (Beverly Hills, Calif.) and California-based collector Billy Williams were also featured.
“Overall, I was thrilled,” said Karen Rigdon, Heritage’s vice president of Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu, of the sale, which saw bidding from the US, England and Europe, among others and buying from a mix of dealers and private clients and collectors, including those in the Middle East, Asia and Australia. “We sold 99 percent by value. There were four unsold lots in this 493-lot sale.” In total, the auction made $1,760,205.
Close to 45 percent of the sale was made up of property from the Rosen estate. The collection, comprising 213 lots, was led by a pair of figural pitchers made by Emile Puiforcat in Paris in the late Nineteenth Century, which made $23,125. The 16¾-inch-tall pitchers contained three dimensional Classical motifs and weighed 195.61 troy ounces collectively.
This pair of Emile Puiforcat silver figural pitchers from late Nineteenth Century Paris, 16¾ inches tall each, were part of the estate of David Rosen (Beverly Hills, Calif.) and poured out for $23,125.
“Bidding on David Rosen’s collection was consistently strong,” said Rigdon. “Interest in the Baltimore landscape silver exceeded our expectations. The question was whether the extensive offering would have a negative impact. It did not!” she added. The highest earning example of landscape silver was a pair of S. Kirk & Son Company vases made in Baltimore between 1896 and 1924, which poured out at $22,500. “The pair of vases had multiple phone bidders, a proxy bid and numerous bidders online,” Rigdon clarified. Other S. Kirk & Son landscape silver examples from the collection which earned high prices included a pair of covered servers ($11,250), a water urn ($11,250), a pair of chased repoussé silver tazzas ($10,000) and four silver candlesticks ($9,375).
“It was not only Kirk’s landscape that brought bidding interest. The Loring Andrews & Co., had several strong results,” explained Rigdon. This circa 1910 Loring Andrews set included 12 chased repoussé silver landscape plates, which set the table for $17,500. Three of the plates contained an unidentified auction label on their reverse, while 11 contained the inscription “Helen Andrews 1926.” Another set of 12 plates, these ones bread and butter examples made in the early Twentieth Century which included the monogram “Marion H Brink,” made $2,375.
The Williams estate’s (Carpinteria, Calif.) offerings were made up of 68 lots, mostly featuring “the remarkable midcentury Taxco jewelry” amassed by the collector-turned-seller, noted Heritage’s pre-sale press release. “Williams’ collecting passion was shaped by childhood summers spent at his grandparents’ hotel in Taxco, Mexico, the heart of the country’s mid Twentieth Century silver renaissance. Encounters with William Spratling, coupled with his grandmother’s and mother’s love of silver, sparked an appreciation for the works of Spratling, Hector Aguilar, Antonio Pineda and other master artisans,” the release detailed.
“Billy Williams’ collection of Taxco silver garnered real interest. I was thrilled with the result of $18,750 for this seldom seen necklace design,” Karen Rigdon said of this mid Twentieth Century 18K gold and jadeite necklace from Taxco, Mexico, by William Spratling.
The top lot from his collection was an 18K gold and jadeite necklace by William Spratling, marked “18K” and “WS.” Made in the mid Twentieth Century, the piece will grace the neck of its new owner for $18,750. Spratling was well represented within Williams’ collection, as 15 other lots of his work were sold, ranging in price from $538 for two graduated silver and amethyst owl-form brooches, to $6,875 for an 18K gold and ebony Needle necklace.
On working with both estates, Rigdon commented, “My experience with both collections was sheer joy. There was a similarity. David’s [Rosen] children adored their father and are proud of the collection he created. I walked into David Rosen’s entry, passed the massive silver plateaus with garnitures and into the 30 foot by 30 foot dining room filled with eight-foot tables piled with silver, which joins the silver viewing room lined with beautifully lit cabinets, with yet more silver. It was overwhelming. In the same manner, I walked into Billy Williams’ home to a room with long tables lined with large jewelry cases, filled with magnificent pieces. It took my breath away. Billy Williams is incredible, his gracious spirit, enthusiasm for his collection and recollection of summers at his grandparents’ hotel in Taxco were mesmerizing. I could have listened to his stories all day.”
Outside of the Rosen and Williams estates, American silver maker Tiffany & Company had 77 lots of silver in the sale, ranging in price from $325 for an enameled silver porringer to the show-topping $87,500 earned for the top lot. The day was led by a silver and mixed metal water pitcher with mokume (or wood-grain metal) ornamentation. The pitcher was adorned with applied vines and a dragonfly in silver, copper and brass, and two mokume gourds. Consigned from a Richmond, Va., collection, it also had provenance to an Important Americana auction at Sotheby’s, New York’s in January 2019. “We were able to estimate the pitcher conservatively, without expectation of a grand result, which paid off spectacularly,” explained Rigdon. “We had six phone bidders and others online. An unreserved estimate allowed bidders to do what they do best when a rare object comes to the market.”
“Further research post-catalog production brought to light that rather than demitasse, these diminutive lovelies are liqueur cups,” said Karen Rigdon of this set of six Tiffany & Company partial gilt silver, mixed metal and mokume liqueur cups, made in New York circa 1879-91. Monogrammed “M.J.M.,” most likely after Mary Jane Morgan (1823-1885), the set sipped a $20,000 finish.
Two additional Tiffany mokume examples earned some of the highest prices of the day, including a tea caddy ($27,500) and a set of six gilt silver, mixed metal and mokume liquor cups ($20,000). The latter were engraved with the monogram “M.J.M.,” which Rigdon had more to say about: “they likely came from the collection of Mary Jane Morgan, as they relate strongly to the description of her 1885 auction catalog.”
For $45,000, a pair of Number 383A silver five-light candelabra designed by Georg Jensen post-1945 led a group of 21 lots by the Danish silversmith. They had “an attractive hand-hammered surface and elegant grape clusters,” according to catalog notes. The remaining 20 lots ranged in price from $625 for a Number 6 silver footed bowl, to $17,500 for a pair of Number 264 silver candlesticks. The latter were designed in 1926 and made circa 1930; they featured a grape cluster design with twisted columns and scalloped bases with a grapevine motif. “This pair of candlesticks is rarely seen at auction. I did not know where they might go, but pre-auction bidding took them to $6,000, and I knew there were still interested parties,” added Rigdon.
Gorham was also well represented in the sale, with 59 lots offered, led by a 661-piece sterling silver flatware dinner service for six in the Chantilly pattern, which set the table for $23,750. Designed in 1895 in Providence, R.I., the service weighed 625.59 troy ounces. Unique pieces of silverware in the service included two youth knives, two lemon forks, 11 strawberry forks, 11 five o’clock tea spoons, a set of poultry shears and one waffle server, among others. The additional 58 lots ranged in price from $625 for a silver salt set to $9,688 for an eight-piece silver tea and coffee set in the Florenz pattern.
The next Silver & Objects of Vertu Signature Auction will take place on November 12. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
For information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.com.
